miles from Gaza, Mr. Saudys" says ten, but it was
eight or nine miles from Ashdud; and, as Josephus {x}
says, was five hundred and twenty furlongs from Jeru-
salem. It was the birth-place of Herod the great,
who from thence is called an Ashkelonite; but the
king or governor of it was cut off before his time. It
was governed by kings tbrmerly. Justin * makes
mention era king ofAshkelon; according to the Sama-
ritan interpreter, Gen. xx. 1, it is the same with
Gerar, which had a king in the times or' Abraham;
hence a sceptre is here ascribed to it: and I will turn
mine hand against Ekron: to destroy that; another of
the chief cities of the Philistines. It was about ten
miles from Gath; four of the five Iortlships are here
mentioned, but not Gath, which was the fifth; see
1 _Sam. vi. 17, 18. because, as Kimchi says, it was in
the hands of Judah. All these places were inhabited
by Heathens, and guilty of gross idolatry, which must
be one of the transgressions for which they were
punished. Gaza was a place much given to idolatry,
as it was even in after-times; when other neighbour-
ing cities embraced the Christian religion, the inhabit-
ants of it were vie.tent persecutors; hence that saying
of Gregory Nazianzen {}," who knows not the madness
"of the inhabitants of Gaza ?" here stood the temple
of the god Mamas {a}, which with the Syrians signified
the lord of men: at Ashdud or Azotus stood the
temple erDagun, where he was worshipped, 1 Sam.
v. 2 1 Maccab. x. 84. Near Ashkelon, as DiodorusSi-
culus {b} relates, was a large and deep lake, full of fishes;
and by it was a temple of a famous goddess, called by
the Syrians Derceto, who had a woman's face,. but the
rest of her body in the form of a fish; being, as the
fable goes, changed into one upon her casting herself
into the above lake on a certain occasioin ; hence the
Syrians abstained from fishes, and worshipped them as
gods. Herodotus {} calls this city a city of Syria, and
speaks of a temple dedicated toUraniaVenus; and in the
Talmud a mention is made of the temple of Zeripha, or
of a molten image at Ashkelon.; and, besides idolatry,
this place seems to have been famous for witchcraft;
for it is said {} that Simeon ben Shetach h.ung on one
day at Ashkelon fourscore women for being witches;
and, at Ekron, Baal-zebub or the god of the fly was wor-
shipped: and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish,
saith the Lord God; all the other towns and cities be-
longing to them, besides those mentioned; which very
likely had its accomplishment in the times of the
Maccabees, when they fell into the hands of the Jews.
Ver. 9. Thus saith the Lord, .for three transgressions
of Tyrus, &c.] Or Tyre, a very ancient city in Pales-
tine; of which see the note on Isa. xxiii. 1: and for
.four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; see
the note on ver. 3: because they delivered up the whole
captivity to EdOm: such of the Israelites that fell into
their hands, or fled to them for shelter, they delivered
up to the Edomites, their implacable adversaries, or
sold them to. them,. as they did to the Grecians, Joel
iS. 6: and remembered not the brotherly covenant;
either the covenant and agreement that should be
among brethren, as. the !ews and Edomites were
which the Tyrians should have remembered, and per-
suaded them to live peaceably; and not have delivered
the one into the hands of the other, to. be used in a
cruel manner as slaves : or else the covenant made be-
tween Hiram king of Tyre,. and David k'ing of Israel,
and which was renewed between Hiram and Solomon,
on account of which they called each other brethren,
2 Sam.. v. 11. 1 Kings v. 1, 12.. and ix. l& The.
Phcenicians, of whom ,the Tyrians were the principal,
are noted for being faithless and treacherous {}. Punlea
tides {g} was the same as French faith n.ow; the perfidy
of Hannibal is well known {h}. Cicero {i} saysthe Carthagi-.
nians, which were a colony of the Tyrians, were a de-
ceitfill and lying people ; and Virgil, calls the Tyrians
themselves Tyrios bitingues, double-tongued, which,
Settins interprets deceitful, as referring more to the.
mind than to the tongue; and observes from Livy the.
perfidy of the Phoenicians in general, that they have
nothing tru. e nor sacred among them; no fear of God,
uo regard to an oath, t, or any religion; and which are
the three or four transgressions for which they are said
here they should be punished ;. for, besides their ill
usage of the Jews, their idolatry no doubt came into-
the account: the god that was worshipped at Tyre was-
Hercules, by whom was meant the sun, as Macrobins '
observes; and as there were several Heathen gods of
this name, he whom the Tyr. ians worshipped is the
fourth of the name with Cicero {m}; the same is the Me-
licarthus of Sanchoniatho {n}, which signifies the king
of the city, by which Bothart {o} thinks Tyre is. in-
tended.. To'be a priest of Hercules was the
cond hunour to that of king, as Justin {p} oberves;
and so. careful were the Tyrians of this deity, that
they used to chain him, that he might not depart
from them; see Jet... x. 4. ands most magnificent
temple they had in hunour of him, and which,.
they pr. etended, was exceeding ancient, as old as the
city itself, the antiquity of which they speak extra-
vagantly of. Herodotus {q} says he saw this temple, and
which was greatly ornamented, and particularly had
two pillars, one ot' gold, and another of emerald; and
inquiring of the priests, they told; him it was built
when their city was, ten thousand three hundred years
before that tin, e; but according to their own historians {r},
Hiram, who lived in the days of Solomon, built the
temple of Hercules, as well as that of Astarte; for-
though she is called the goddess of the Sidonians, she

{w} Travels, p. 151.
{x} De Bello Jud. 1. 3. c. 2. sect. 1.
{y} E Trogo, I. 18. c. 3.
{z} Orat. 3. adv. Julian. p. 87.
{a} Hieronymus in lsa. xvii. fol. 39. K.
{b} Bibliothec. 1. 2. p. 92.
{c} Clio, sive I. 1. c. 105.
{d} T. Bab. Avoda Zara, fol. 11. 2.
{e} T. Hieros. Sanhedrin, fol 23. 3.
{f} Alex. ab Alex. Genial Dier 1. 5. c. 10.
{g} Vid. Reinesium de Ling. Punic. c. 2. sect. 12.
{h} Vid. Valer. Maxim. 1. 9. c. 6.
{i} Contra Rullum, Orat. 16.
{k} AEneid. 1. 1.
{l} Saturnal. 1. 1. c. 20.
{m} De Natura Deorum, I. 3.
{n} Apud, Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. 1. 2. p. 38.
{o} Canaan, l. 2. col. 709.
{p} E Trogo, 1. 18. c. 4.
{q} Euterpe sive I. 2. c. 44.
{r} Meanander  Dius apud Joseph. Antiqu. l. 8. c. 5. sect. 3.