and they occupied beforehand all the tops of the high mountains, fortified the villages that were in them, and stored supplies for the provision of war, for their fields were newly reaped.
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 5. Priest. Greek “the great priest in Jerusalem, in those days, wrote to the inhabitants of Betouloua, ( Bible. Bethulia, in the tribe of Simeon) and of Betemestham, (Bethsames. Calmet.) which is over-against Esdrelon, and the plain near Dothaim, giving orders to seize the mountainous ascents, by which there was a passage into Judea; and it was easy to stop their progress, as the passage was narrow, and would not admit above two men at once.” This reminds us of the heroic resistance which Leonidas, with his 300 Spartans, made to the millions in the army of Xerxes, at Thermopylæ. Bible.—It seems that Jews attempted to defend these defiles. They had received the orders before the enemy encamped near Scythopolis.