INTRODUCTION TO JOSHUA 19
In this chapter an account is given of the lots of the six remaining
tribes, and the cities in them, as of Simeon, whose cities were
chiefly within the tribe of Judah, Joshua 19:1; of Zebulun, its border
and cities, Joshua 19:10; of Issachar, its border and cities,
Joshua... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE SECOND LOT CAME FORTH TO SIMEON,.... That is, the second of
the seven lots, of which Benjamin's was the first; otherwise there
were the two lots of Judah and Joseph, which preceded both these:
[EVEN] FOR THE TRIBE OF THE CHILDREN OF SIMEON, ACCORDING TO THEIR
FAMILIES; for though many of th... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY HAD IN THEIR INHERITANCE BEERSHEBA AND SHEBA,.... Or,
Beersheba, that is, Sheba; for so the particle "vau" is sometimes used
z, and must be so used here; or otherwise, instead of thirteen, it
will appear that there are fourteen cities, contrary to the account of
them, Joshua 19:6; so Kimchi... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HAZARSHUAL,.... Joshua 15:28;
AND BALAH, AND AZEM; of these places SEE GILL "JOS 15:29"; for Balah
is the same with Baalah there, and with Bilhah 1 Chronicles 4:29; and
Azem with Ezem there.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ELTOLAD, AND BETHUL, AND HORMAH. These were all cities of Judah,
Joshua 15:30; Eltolad is the same with Tolad, and Bethul with Bethuel,
1 Chronicles 4:29, and with Chesil, Joshua 15:30, mentioned there
along with Hormah; Joshua 15:30.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ZIKLAG,.... Another of the cities of Judah,
Joshua 15:31;
AND BETHMARCABOTH, AND HAZARSUSAH; or Hazarsusim, as in 1 Chronicles
4:31; the one signifies a chariot house, and the other a court or
stable for horses, which made Bochart conjecture a, that they were
places where Solomon kept his char... [ Continue Reading ]
AND BETHLEBAOTH, AND SHARUHEN,.... Whether the first is the same with
Lebaoth, a city of Judah, Joshua 15:32; and with the Bethleptepha of
Josephus b, and the Betholene of Pliny c, is not certain: in this
place secret to have been an idol temple of the Canaanites, dedicated
to lions, as in Egypt the... [ Continue Reading ]
AIN, REMMON,.... Of the two first, which were cities of Judah,
Joshua 15:32;
AND ETHER, AND ASHAN; of the two last, SEE GILL "JOS 19:42";
FOUR CITIES AND THEIR VILLAGES; Ain, Remmon, therefore, could not be
one city, at this time, as it seems to have been in the times of
Nehemiah, Ne 11:29; or ot... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ALL THE VILLAGES THAT [WERE] ROUND ABOUT THESE CITIES,.... Not
only the suburbs adjoining to those cities which are mentioned before,
but the several small distinct towns and villages, scattered up and
down in the country:
TO BAALATHBEER, RAMATH OF THE SOUTH: this is the same with Baal in 1
Chr... [ Continue Reading ]
OUT OF THE PORTION OF THE CHILDREN OF JUDAH [WAS] THE INHERITANCE OF
THE CHILDREN OF SIMEON,.... Which is the reason why no description is
given of the border of their inheritance, because that is before given
in the account of the lot of Judah:
FOR THE PART OF THE CHILDREN OF JUDAH WAS TOO MUCH FO... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE THIRD LOT CAME UP FOR THE CHILDREN OF ZEBULUN,
ACCORDING TO THEIR FAMILIES,.... Who, though younger than Issachar,
has his lot before him, agreeably to the order in which his blessing
is predicted, both by Jacob and Moses, Genesis 49:13;
AND THE BORDER OF THEIR INHERITANCE WAS UNTO SARID;... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEIR BORDER WENT UP TOWARD THE SEA,.... Westward towards the
Mediterranean sea, which fulfilled the prophecies of Jacob and Moses,
that Zebulun should dwell by the sea, be an haven of ships, and take
of the abundance of the seas, as in the places before referred to; and
so Josephus says, the Ze... [ Continue Reading ]
AND TURNED FROM SARID EASTWARD,.... This describes the southern
border, going on from west to east:
TOWARDS THE SUNRISING, UNTO THE BORDER OF CHISLOTHTABOR; this Jerom
places in the tribe of Issachar, it bordered on both tribes; and he
says l, that in his time there was a little village called Chas... [ Continue Reading ]
AND FROM THENCE PASSETH ON ALONG ON THE EAST TO GITTAHHEPHER,....
Which was the native place of Jonah the prophet, 2 Kings 14:25; and
where Jerom says r his grave was shown, and was a small village in his
time two miles from Sippore, then called Diocaesarea,
TO ITTAHKAZIN; of this place we have no... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE BORDER COMPASSETH IT FROM THE NORTH SIDE TO HANNATHON,....
This is the northern border of the tribe, which took a circuit from
the last place to this; of which and the following place we have no
account; Jerom only makes mention of them as in the tribe of Zebulun:
AND THE OUTGOINGS THEREOF... [ Continue Reading ]
AND KATTATH, AND NAHALLAL,.... Of the two first of these we read
nowhere else, but in Joshua 21:34;
AND SHIMRON was a royal city, the king of which Joshua took and
hanged, Joshua 11:1;
AND IDALAH is a place Bochart conjectures t where the goddess Venus
was worshipped, Idalia being one of her names... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS IS THE INHERITANCE OF THE CHILDREN OF ZEBULUN, ACCORDING TO THEIR
FAMILIES,.... Which was allotted to it and divided, according to the
number of its families:
THESE CITIES WITH THEIR VILLAGES; before enumerated, excepting such as
only bordered on them; though indeed there were other cities whi... [ Continue Reading ]
[AND] THE FOURTH LOT CAME OUT TO ISSACHAR,.... The fourth of the seven
drawn at Shiloh:
FOR THE CHILDREN OF ISSACHAR, ACCORDING TO THEIR FAMILIES: among whom
the inheritance that came to them by the lot was divided, according to
the number of them.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEIR BORDER WAS TOWARDS JEZREEL,.... Which was a royal seat in
the time of Ahab, 1 Kings 21:1; and according to Jerom was near to
Maximianopolis; Hosea 1:5; and the same writer u says in his day a
large village of this name was shown in the great plain between
Scythopolis and Legion (he means t... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HAPHARAIM,.... The first of these is by Jerom y called Aphraim, a
city of the tribe of Issachar; and adds, there is at this day a
village called Affarea, six miles from Legion to the north;
AND SHION; of Seon or Soen, the same with Shion here, he says z, there
was a village of this name shown i... [ Continue Reading ]
AND RABBITH,.... The first of these Jerom calls a Rabboth in the tribe
of Issachar;
AND KISHION, as Masius notes, seems to given name to the river Kishon
near it; some take it to be the same with Kedesh, 1 Chronicles 6:72;
AND ABEZ, of which no mention is made elsewhere.
a De loc. Heb. fol. 94. B... [ Continue Reading ]
AND REMETH,.... Remeth seems to be the same with Jarmuth,
Joshua 21:29; and with Ramoth, 1 Chronicles 6:73;
AND ENGANNIM seems to be the same with Anem in 1 Chronicles 6:73:
there were several of this name, which seem to have been places full
of gardens, and well watered; for the word signifies a... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE COAST REACHETH TO TABOR,.... Tabor was the name of a mountain
in those parts; it is generally supposed to be the mountain on which
our Lord was transfigured, though it is not sufficiently evident;
Jeremiah 46:18. There was a city of this name near it, 1 Chronicles
6:77, and which is meant h... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS [IS] THE INHERITANCE OF THE TRIBE OF THE CHILDREN OF
ISSACHAR,.... Which fell to them by lot, as before described:
ACCORDING TO THEIR FAMILIES; was divided among them, according to the
number of them:
THE CITIES AND THEIR VILLAGES; the cities before enumerated, and the
villages adjacent to th... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE FIFTH LOT CAME OUT FOR THE TRIBE OF THE CHILDREN OF ASHER,....
Which entitled them to an inheritance next described:
ACCORDING TO THEIR FAMILIES; which was sufficient for them, and
divided to them according to their number.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEIR BORDER WAS HELKATH,.... Helkath seems to be the same with
Hukok, 1 Chronicles 6:75; and according to Masius it lay ten or twelve
miles above Ptolemais;
AND HALI, of which we read nowhere else.
AND BETEN is by Jerom h called Bathne, and was in his time a village
by the name of Bethebem, e... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ALAMMELECH, AND AMAD,.... Of the two first of these there is no
mention elsewhere;
AND MISHEAL is the same with Mashal, 1 Chronicles 6:74; and is by
Jerom l called Masan, and said to be near Carmel to the sea:
AND REACHETH TO CARMEL WESTWARD; or, "to the sea", as Carmel is called
"Carmel by th... [ Continue Reading ]
AND TURNETH TOWARDS THE SUNRISING,.... Or eastward,
TO BETHDAGON; there was a city of this name in the tribe of Judah,
Joshua 15:41. Dagon, being a god of the Phoenicians, had temples built
for him in various places in Canaan:
AND REACHETH TO ZEBULUN; not the tribe of Zebulun, but a city so
calle... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HEBRON,.... Hebron seems to be the same with Abdon,
Joshua 21:30; ר and ד being changed, of which there are other
instances; and hereby this is distinguished from another Hebron in the
tribe of Judah, more commonly known, Joshua 15:54;
AND REHOB; in the time of Jerom s, there was a village cal... [ Continue Reading ]
AND [THEN] THE COAST TURNETH TO RAMAH,.... Which was a city in the
tribe of Naphtali, Joshua 19:36; and on the borders of Asher; though
Jerom y distinguishes them, and speaks of a Ramah in Asher, and
another in Naphtali, as different cities of the same name; as there
were several of this name, so ca... [ Continue Reading ]
UMMAH ALSO,.... Ummah is not mentioned any where else;
AND APHEK; of which, Joshua 12:18;
AND REHOB; of which, Joshua 19:28;
TWENTY AND TWO CITIES WITH THEIR VILLAGES: there are more set down in
the account, but some of them did not belong to the tribe, only were
on the border of it.... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS [IS] THE INHERITANCE OF THE TRIBE OF THE CHILDREN OF ASHER,....
As before described, a goodly heritage; it was, according to the
prediction of Jacob and Moses, Genesis 49:20; a very fruitful country.
Josephus c says, the country from Carmel called the valley, because it
was such, even all over... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SIXTH LOT CAME OUT TO THE CHILDREN OF NAPHTALI,.... The tribe of
Naphtali, and directed what should be the inheritance of this tribe:
[EVEN] FOR THE CHILDREN OF NAPHTALI, ACCORDING TO THEIR FAMILIES;
which was to be divided among them, according to the number of their,
families.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEIR COAST WAS FROM HELEPH,.... That is, their northern coast,
reaching from west to east, as appears by the ending of it at Jordan;
the Alexandrian copy of the Greek version calls it Mlepeh, the Targum,
Meheleph, and Jerom, Mealeb, which he calls the border of Naphtali;
which, though to the no... [ Continue Reading ]
AND [THEN] THE COAST TURNETH WESTWARD TO AZNOTHTABOR,.... This was the
southern border, reaching from east to west; it began at Aznothtabor,
which Jerom g says was a village in his time belonging to the country
of Diocaesarea, in the plains; there is another place called
Chislothtabor, on the border... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE FENCED CITIES [ARE] ZIDDIM,.... The later name of Ziddim,
according to the Talmud i, was Cepharchitiya, or the village of wheat,
perhaps from the large quantity or goodness of wheat there;
ZER is called by Jerom k Sor, and interpreted Tyre, the metropolis of
Phoenicia, very wrongly, and, in... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ADAMAH,.... Adamah is different from Adami,
Joshua 19:33; and may seem to confirm the notion of some, that Nekeb
there is an epithet of it, and so distinguishes it from Adamah here;
AND RAMAH; of Ramah, as there were several places of this name,
Joshua 19:29;
AND HAZOR was a royal city, of w... [ Continue Reading ]
AND KEDESH,.... This is Kedesh in Galilee, in Mount Naphtali, to
distinguish it from others of the same name; it was one of the cities
of refuge, Joshua 20:7. Jerom says m in his day it was called
Cidissus, and was twenty miles from Tyre by Paneas;
Joshua 12:22.
AND EDREI is a different place from... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IRON,.... Of Iron no mention is made elsewhere;
AND MIGDALEL, which Jerom calls Magdiel, he says m was shown a small
village, five miles from Dara, as you go to Ptolemais;
AND HOREM is not mentioned anywhere elsewhere;
AND BETHANATH; Jerom also relates n, that Bathana, in the tribe of
Naphtal... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS IS THE INHERITANCE OF THE TRIBE OF THE CHILDREN OF NAPHTALI,....
Which Josephus o thus describes;
"the country to the east, as far as Damascus the city, and upper
Galilee, the Naphtalites took, unto Mount Lebanon, and the fountains
of Jordan, which flow out of the mount, reaching the northern... [ Continue Reading ]
[AND] THE SEVENTH LOT CAME OUT FOR THE TRIBE OF THE CHILDREN OF
DAN,.... Which was the last lot drawn, and which appointed an
inheritance to this tribe:
ACCORDING TO THEIR FAMILIES; the number of them.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE COAST OF THEIR INHERITANCE WAS ZORAH, AND ESHTAOL,.... The
tribe of Dan is not described by places the boundaries of it, as other
tribes, but by its cities, which were chiefly, at least several of
them, taken out of the tribe of Judah, as the two first of these most
manifestly were; Joshua 1... [ Continue Reading ]
AND SHAALABBIN,.... The first of these is the same with Shaalbim,
Judges 1:35; and which Jerom r calls Selab, in the tribe of Dan; and
which he says was in his day shown a large village on the borders of
Sebaste, by the name of Selaba.
AND AJALON is famous for the standing still of the moon in its... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ELON,.... Of Elon no mention is made elsewhere;
AND THIMNATHAH is a different place from Timnah in the tribe of Judah,
Joshua 15:10. Jerom s speaks of the Thamnitic country, so called from
the village Thamna, which seems to be this;
AND EKRON was one of the five principalities of the Philisti... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ELTEKEH,.... Eltekeh was a city given to the Levites,
Joshua 21:23; and supposed by some to be the same with Eltekon in the
tribe of Judah given to the Danites, Joshua 15:59;
AND GIBBETHON was in the hands of the Philistines in the reign of Asa,
1 Kings 15:21; and in the same place Jerom t ca... [ Continue Reading ]
AND JEHUD,.... Of Jehud no mention is made elsewhere;
AND BENEBERAK signifies sons of lightning; see Mark 3:17. Jerom x
speaks of tills as the name of two places, Bane in the tribe of Dan,
and Barach in the same tribe, and which was in his day near Azotus.
This place was famous in later times among... [ Continue Reading ]
AND MEJARKON, AND RAKKON,.... Of the two first of these we read no
where else.
WITH THE BORDER BEFORE JAPHO; Japho is the same with Joppa, now called
at this day Jaffa, a port in the Mediterranean sea, famous for being
the place where Jonah took shipping, Jonah 1:3; and where the Apostle
Peter resi... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE COAST OF THE CHILDREN OF DAN WENT OUT [TOO LITTLE] FOR
THEM,.... Being a very numerous tribe, the cities allotted them were
not sufficient for them; or rather, leaving out the supplement "too
little", the words will run, it "went out from them"; they lost part
of it, being driven out of the... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS [IS] THE INHERITANCE OF THE TRIBE OF THE CHILDREN OF DAN,....
Before described by its cities, which were in it. This tribe was
bounded by Ephraim on the north, by Judah on the east, by Simeon on
the south, and by the Mediterranean sea on the west. Josephus h says,
the Danites enjoyed the vale w... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN THEY MADE AN END OF DIVIDING THE LAND FOR INHERITANCE BY
THEIR COASTS,.... That is, Eleazar, Joshua, and the ten men appointed
for this, purpose; when all the lots were drawn, and the several
inheritances which came up to them were divided among the families of
the respective tribes, this w... [ Continue Reading ]
ACCORDING TO THE WORD OF THE LORD,.... Or mouth of the Lord; either
according to the oracle of Urim and Thummim, which Eleazar consulted
on this occasion; or according to what the Lord had said to Moses, at
the same time that Hebron was ordered to Caleb, Joshua 14:6; and
THEY GAVE HIM THE CITY WHIC... [ Continue Reading ]
THESE [ARE] THE INHERITANCES WHICH ELEAZAR THE PRIEST, AND JOSHUA THE
SON OF NUN,.... The one the high priest, and the other the chief
governor of the nation:
AND THE HEADS OF THE FATHERS OF THE TRIBES OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL;
the princes appointed for this service, whose names are given
Numbers... [ Continue Reading ]