Commentary Critical and Explanatory
Joshua 15:5
And the east border was the salt sea, even unto the end of Jordan. And their border in the north quarter was from the bay of the sea at the uttermost part of Jordan:
The east border was the salt sea, even unto the end of Jordan - i:e., the territory of Judah was bounded on the east by the entire extent of the Dead Sea.
And their border in the north quarter was from the bay of the sea at the uttermost part of Jordan - i:e., the creek which, at the embouchure of the Jordan, forms the northwestern extremity of the Dead Sea. Commencing at this point, the northern border line ran westward, and, passing by Beth-hogla ('partridge-house,' or, according to others, 'temple of the wheel,' or the 'circulator'-a kind of Stonehenge, where the stones were ranged in a circular order, and the rites performed according to the course of the sun), now Ain Hajla, two miles from the Jordan toward Jericho (Jerome, 'Onomast.'), went on by the north of Beth-arabah (house of the desert) through the mountain defiles, and by the spot marked by the stone of Bohan (unrecognized by any traveler, except De Saulcy (vol. 2:, p. 50) and Ainsworth, who identify it with the venerable monolith called Hadjar-lasbah, at the entrance of the Wady Dabeur. Bohan was probably a Reubenite chief, who, while siding his brethren in the war of invasion in the country west of Jordan, had distinguished himself; and the stone referred to was set up as a memorial of his valour), to Debir, an unknown place (though also supposed by De Saulcy and Ainsworth to be found in the ruined khan called Thour-ed-Dabour), beside the valley of Achor, Wady Debir or Dabour [the Septuagint does not view it as a proper name, but renders the words epi to tetarton tees farangos Achoor]; thence through Adummim (the pass of the red) (Adummim is supposed by Jerome ('De locis Hebraicis') to derive its name from the blood shed by the, robbers who have always infested that spot. 'But the more natural meaning of the word is "the pass of the red-haired men, in allusion to some Arab tribe; and so the Septuagint take it as: anabasis purroon. It may be worth while to mention that there are no red rocks, as some have fancied, in order to make out a derivation. The whole pass is white limestone' (Stanley, 'Sinai and Palestine,' p. 416).
It is beside the eminence opposite Gilgal, on the south side х lanaachal (H5158)], of the torrent Wady Kelt), along the line of road which still conducts from Jericho (Robinson, 'Biblical Researches,' 1:, p. 558) to Enshemesh (spring of the sun), supposed to be Ain-Haud (the fountain of the apostles), about a mile below Bethany (Bonar, 'Land of Premise,' p. 309), or the fountain near Saba (Robinson, vol. 1:, p. 493), and En-rogel (the spring of the fuller, Bir Eyub); whence, going up the valley on the south side of "the Jebusite" (Jerusalem), it crossed the hill near the point where the valley of Hinnom or Tophet (2 Kings 23:10) unites with that of Jehoshaphat (Bonar, 'Land of Promise,' p. 122; also 'Appendix,' 5:, p. 492; Bovet, 'Voyage en Terre Sainte,' p. 307; Barclay, 'City,' p. 314).