And [then] the coast turneth to Ramah,.... Which was a city in the tribe of Naphtali, Joshua 19:36; and on the borders of Asher; though Jerom y distinguishes them, and speaks of a Ramah in Asher, and another in Naphtali, as different cities of the same name; as there were several of this name, so called from their being built on an eminence. Masius conjectures it is the same with Sarepta, Luke 4:26; famous for its wine; and Bacchus, as the poet says, loves the hills:
and to the strong city Tyre; it is thought this is not to be understood of the famous city, so much spoken of in other parts of Scripture, and in profane history; since, as it is observed, that is not mentioned in Scripture until the times of David; and though Homer makes frequent mention of Sidon, yet never of Tyre. The words signify the strong fortress of a rock, or a fortress on a high rock; so Kimchi and Ben Melech; and it might be a fortified city, which being built on a rock, might have the name of Zor or Tyre, and not be the famous city of that name. Jerom z renders it the fortified city of the Assyrians:
and the coast turneth to Hosah; of which we nowhere else read:
and the outgoings thereof are at the sea; the Mediterranean sea; where the coast ended this way:
from the coast to Achzib; this Jerom a says is Ecdippa, nine miles from Ptolemais, as you go to Tyre; and this is confirmed by a learned traveller of our own nation b; it is now called Zib;
y De loc. Heb. fol. 94. B. z De loc. Heb. fol. 94. B. a Ibid. fol. 88. I. b Maundrell's Journey from Aleppo, &c. p. 53.