And the LORD delivered them into the hand of Israel, who smote them, and chased them unto great Zidon, and unto Misrephothmaim, and unto the valley of Mizpeh eastward; and they smote them, until they left them none remaining. Great Zidon - If this were the same with the Sidon of the ancients, it was illustrious long before the Trojan war; and both it and its inhabitants are frequently mentioned by Homer as excelling in works of skill and utility, and abounding in wealth: -
Ενθ' εσαν οἱ πεπλοι παμποικιλοι, εογα γυναικων
Σιδονιων.
Iliad, lib. vi., ver. 289.
"There lay the ventures of no vulgar art,
Sidonian maids embroidered every part."
Pope.
Αργυρεον κρητηρα τετυγμενον· ἑξ δ' αρα μετρα
Χανδανεν, αυταρ καλλει ενικα πασαν επ' αιαν
Πολλον, επι Σιδονες πολυδαιδαλοι ευ ησκησαν.
Iliad, lib. xxiii., ver. 741.
"A silver urn that full six measures held,
By none in weight or workmanship excell'd;
Sidonian artists taught the frame to shine,
Elaborate with artifice divine."
Pope.
Εκ μεν Σιδωνος πολυχαλκου ευχομαι ειναι.
Odyss. xv. 424.
"I am of Sidon, famous for her wealth."
The art of making glass is attributed by Pliny to this city: Sidon artifex vitri, Hist. Nat. l. v., c. 19.
Misrephoth-maim - Or, Misrephoth of the waters. What this place was is unknown, but Calmet conjectures it to be the same with Sarepta, a city of Phoenicia, contiguous to Sidon. The word signifies the burning of the waters, or inflammation; probably it was a place noted for its hot springs: this idea seems to have struck Luther, as he translates it, die warme wasser, the hot waters.