And Zabad his son, and Shuthelah his son, and Ezer, and Elead, whom the men of Gath that were born in that land slew, because they came down to take away their cattle.
Whom the men of Gath that were born in that land slew - i:e., born in the eastern part of the Delta, or Lower Egypt; perhaps the extensive district of Goshen itself, where a multitude of Philistine nomads ranged, as being an outlying pastoral region under the jurisdiction of Egypt, but not an integral part of that country (Genesis 46:34); or like the Cherethim, these men of Gath were mercenaries in Egyptian service, and had a portion of land allotted them. This interesting little episode gives us a glimpse of the state of Hebrew society in Egypt; because the occurrence narrated seems to have taken place before the Israelites left that country; and it shows that, looking back to Palestine as their proper home, some of them without waiting the appointed time, attempted prematurely, by dint of their own achievements, to take forcible possession of the promised land (cf. 1 Chronicles 4:22; Psalms 78:9).
The patriarch Ephraim was then alive, though he must have arrived at a very advanced age; and the Hebrew people, at all events those of them who were his descendants, still retained their pastoral character. It was in perfect consistency with the ideas and habits of Oriental shepherds that they should have made a raid on the neighbouring tribe of the Philistines, for the purpose of plundering their flocks; because nothing is more common among them than hostile incursions on the inhabitants of towns, or on other nomad tribes with whom they have no league of amity. But a different view of the incident is brought out, if, instead of "because," we render the Hebrew particle 'when' they came down to take their cattle; because the tenor of the context leads rather to the conclusion that "the men of Gath" were the aggressors, who, making a sudden foray on the Ephraimite flocks, killed the shepherds, including several of the sons of Ephraim. The calamity spread a deep gloom around the tent of their aged father, and was the occasion of his receiving visits of condolence from his distant relatives in the other tribes, according to the custom of the East, which is remarkably exemplified in the history of Job (Job 2:11; cf. John 11:19).