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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Joshua 15:1 - 15:12
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The Boundaries of Judah.
v. 1. This, then, was the lot of the tribe of the children of Judah by their families, as it was drawn from the urn or as it fell upon casting; even to the border of Edom, the land be longing to the Edomites, south of the Dead Sea, the Wilderness of Zin southward was the uttermost part of the south coast. The territory of Judah thus extended to the very edge of the great desert in which the people had spent so many weary years.
v. 2. And their south border was from the shore of the Salt Sea, the Dead Sea, from the bay that looketh southward, the swampy tongue or branch of the Dead Sea toward the southwest;
v. 3. and it went out to the south side to Maaleh-acrabbim, where the country rises to the foothills of the mountains which form the boundary of the wilderness, and passed along to Zin, either a city or a mountain in the Wilderness of Zin, and ascended up on the south side unto Kadesh-barnea, Num_34:3, and passed along to Hezron, turning to the west after passing Kadesh, and went up to Adar, and fetched a compass to Karkaa;
v. 4. from thence it passed toward Azmon, and went out unto the river of Egypt, Num_34:4-5; and the goings out of that coast were at the sea, the boundary followed this brook or river to the Mediterranean Sea; this shall be your south coast.
v. 5. And the east border was the Salt Sea, even unto the end, the mouth, of Jordan. And their border in the north quarter, on the north side, was from the bay of the sea at the uttermost part of Jordan, just where it entered the Dead Sea;
v. 6. and the border went up to Bethhogia, between Jericho and the Jordan, and passed along by the north, that is, northwardly, of Betharabah, not far from the northwest end of the Dead Sea; and the border went up to the stone of Bohan, the son of Reuben, toward the west or southwest;
v. 7. and the border went up toward Debir, in the neighborhood of Gilgal, from the Valley of Achor, where Achan was executed, Jos_7:26, and so northward, looking toward Gilgal, that is before the going up to Adummim, which is on the south side of the river, of a small watercourse coming down from the neighborhood of Jerusalem; and the border passed toward the waters of Enshemesh, the sun-spring, some two or three miles northeast of Jerusalem, and the goings out thereof were at Enrogel, the fullers' spring on the south side of Jerusalem, at the junction of the Kidron and the Hinnom valleys;
v. 8. and the border went up, almost due west, by the valley of the son of Hinnom unto the south side of the Jebusite, just below the city of Jerusalem; the same is Jerusalem; and the border went up to the top of the mountain that lieth before the Valley of Hinnom westward, which is at the tend of the Valley of the Giants northward, a rocky ridge overlooking the fertile valleys;
v. 9. and the border was drawn, brought around, bent, from the top of the hill unto the fountain of the water of Nephtoah, one hour northwest of Jerusalem, and went out to the cities of Mount Ephron, a prominent ridge, and the border was drawn to Baalah, which is Kirjath-jearim, three hours northwest of Jerusalem;
v. 10. and the border compassed from Baalah westward unto Mount Seir, a small range of hills, and passed along unto the side of Mount Jearim, which is Chesalon, on the north side, toward the north, a wooded hill, now called Kesia, and went down, on the other side of the mountain, to Bethshemesh, and passed on to Timnah, later the home of Samson, Jdg_14:1-4;
v. 11. and the border went out unto the side of Ekron, the Philistine city, a small line of hills running parallel with the coast, and went out unto Jabneel, the small Philistine town of Jabneh; and the goings out of the border were at the sea.
v. 12. And the west border was to the Great Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, and the coast thereof, from Jabneh to the river of Egypt. This is the coast of the children of Judah round about according to their families. It was a large and rich territory, well suited for the governing tribe in Israel.