And they drove not out the Canaanites which dwelt in
Gezer,
&c.] Which was the border of their tribe length ways, and was
near the sea, ( Joshua 16:3 ) ; in this
they did not obey the command of God, and either they did not
drive them out, because they could not, God not delivering them
up into their hands, because of their sins; or through their
slothfulness, or it may be through covetousness, being willing to
make some advantage to themselves by them, being a trading
people, which seems to be intended in the next clause:
but the Canaanites dwelt among the Ephraimites unto this
day;
which Joshua, the writer of this book, might truly say, and be no
objection to it, since the same is observed after his death, (
Judges 1:29 )
; and indeed they continued to dwell there until the times of
Solomon, when it was taken by Pharaoh king of Egypt, and given as
a present to his daughter, the wife of Solomon, ( 1
Kings 9:15-17 ) ; and though this clause does not furnish out
an argument against the writing of this book by Joshua, yet, from
the instance given, it appears it must have been written before
the times of Solomon, and so not by Ezra, as some:
and serve under tribute;
so that they were under their power, and therefore could have
driven them out, or slain them, as by the command of God they
should; but they spared them for the sake of the tribute they
received from them, which seems to agree with the character of
the Ephraimites, ( Hosea 12:8 ) .