Maon, Carmel, and Ziph, and Jutah,
Four names stand side by side here, towns in the hill country of Judah, with nothing said about them at all. Yet each one turns up again later in Israel's story. Commentators read both their history and the meaning of their names as instruction for us.
These are real places. One reference work puts this Carmel in the hill country of Judah and ties it to a well-known episode in David's life:
City in the hill-country of Judah, Joshua 15:55, the home of Nabal and Abigail the Carmelitess. 1 Sam. 25:2-40. Identified with el Kurmul.
One writer describes two ways of reading a list like this:
Most commentators had been able only to feel their way among the names. They could point out here and there a place identified by its modern Arabic name, or by some vague historical reference. This commentator did the opposite. He saw the list as the description of God's inheritance for His people on earth, and in a spiritual sense for ourselves. So in each tribe, with its borders, he found some feature of divine truth. In the name of each spring and hill and valley and town he found some spiritual blessing in Christ. So in what looks like a barren, meaningless desert of names, the Spirit made beautiful and precious fruit blossom for the saints.
The first of the four names sets the tone for the rest:
It is Maon, "dwelling place." Coming first, and with this emphasis, it speaks of God dwelling among His people. When that is a reality for Israel again, it will be the seal of their lasting blessing. It is a foretaste of what is said, in a wider and fuller sense, of the new earth at last: "The dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God." (Rev. 21:3.)
The next two names speak of God's work on His people:
First, Carmel comes from a word meaning "to prune." It points to what a vineyard always needs if it is to bear proper fruit. God's long labour of centuries cannot be at last in vain. Israel will yet answer to His work upon it… But for this to happen, they must go through harsher trial than they have known. Ziph, "place of refining," assures us that it will come.
David lived out that name in the wilderness of Ziph before he ever wore a crown:
In the wilderness of Ziph Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hands. And David learned by experience what the name Ziph means. It means "refining." That refining of suffering and endurance made the shepherd-king ready for the exaltation ahead.
The fourth name, spelled Jutah in some translations, points to what comes after the refining:
Jutah, "enlargement," their borders stretched out, and with corresponding spiritual increase.
At Carmel lived a rich man named Nabal:
This Nabal was an Israelite, and he stands in sharp contrast with David. David was anointed king of Israel, yet he had nowhere to lay his head. He wandered from mountain to mountain, and from cave to cave. Nabal was a selfish man, with no sympathy for David. If he had blessings, he had them for himself.
Ziph and Maon appear together in one of David's closest escapes:
We find him next in the wilderness of Ziph. There Jonathan came to him with warm sympathy, noble courage and devotion, and "strengthened his hand in God." How he needed it! The Ziphites offered to betray him to Saul, and Saul blessed them in the name of the LORD for having compassion on him! Guided by them, Saul led his forces in pursuit. He reached the mountain near Maon, and David and his men were on the other side. The peril was extreme… Only God's direct intervention could save them.
- Real ground. Carmel here is a real town in Judah's hill country — the home of Nabal and Abigail.
- Names speak. The list is not dead filler; each name carries some spiritual blessing in Christ.
- Maon — dwelling. The first name is "dwelling place": God living among His people, a foretaste of God dwelling with man at last.
- Carmel and Ziph — pruning, refining. A vineyard needs pruning to bear fruit, and harder trial is the refining that follows. David learned by experience what Ziph means before God exalted him.
- Juttah — enlargement. Borders stretched out, with spiritual increase to match: the refining ends in room to grow.
and Jizreel, and Jokdeam, and Zanoah,
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.