Joshua 5:1-2
kings ............. kings <04428> [all the kings.]
Canaanite <03669> [Canaanites.]
west ............. seacoast <03220> [which were by.]
When <08085> [heard.]
breathe <07307> [neither was.]
flint knives <02719 06697> [sharp knives. or, knives of flints.]
Before the use of iron was common, all the nations of the earth had their edge tools made of stones, flints, etc. Our ancestors had their arrows and spearheads made of flint; which are frequently turned up by the plough. And even when iron became more common, stone knives seem to have been preferred for making incisions in the human body. The Egyptians used such to open the bodies for embalming; and the tribe of Alnajab in Ethiopia, who follow the Mosaic institution, perform the rite of circumcision, according to Ludolf, {cultris lapidibus,} with knives made of stone.
circumcise <04135> [circumcise.]
Joshua 9:4
did ... clever <06195 06213> [work wilily.]
provisions <06737> [ambassadors.]
The word {tzir,} an ambassador, properly denotes a hinge; because an ambassador is a person upon whom the business turns as upon a hinge. So the Latin {Cardinalis,} from {cardo,} a hinge, was the title of the prime minister of the emperor Theodosius, though now applied only to the Pope's electors and counsellors.
wineskins <04997 03196> [wine bottles.]
These bottles being made of skin, were consequently liable to be rent, and capable of being mended; which is done, according to Chardin, by putting in a piece, or by gathering up the wounded piece in the manner of a purse; and sometimes by inserting a flat piece of wood.
