Joshua 15:20–41

And the uttermost cities of the tribe of the children of Judah,.... That is, those cities which were the outward part of the tribe of Judah, the southern border of it; for the midland cities are not in this part, of the description reckoned, which reaches from hence to the end of Joshua 15:32, toward the coast of Edom southward: it begins about the dead sea, and goes on in that part of the land of Canaan which bordered on Idumea, and so proceeds on westward towards Gaza, and the Mediterranean sea: the cities in this part of the tribe were Kabzeel, called Jekabzeel, Nehemiah 11:25; and was the native place of Benaiah, one of David's mighty men, 2 Samuel 23:20, and Eder and Jagur; of which we have no mention elsewhere.

And Kinah,.... Of this city we read of nowhere else: and Dimonah; the second city is thought to be the same with Dibon, Nehemiah 11:25; and Jerom (b) observes, that a place elsewhere was indifferently called in his time Dibon and Dimon; and Adadah; the last of these cities is nowhere met with. (b) Comment. in Esaiam, c. 15. 9.

And Kedesh,.... The first of these cities seems to be Kadeshbarnea, which was to the south of the land, and on the borders of Edom, from whence the spies were sent, Numbers 32:8, and Hazor is another city from that which is mentioned, Joshua 11:1; and was in the tribe of Naphtali: and Ithnan, which Jerom (c) calls Jedna, was, according to him, six miles from Eleutheropolis, as you go to Hebron; the Greek version joins this and the former city together, and makes them one. (c) De loc. Heb. fol. 92. H.

Ziph,.... Ziph was of the tribe of Judah in the south, on the borders of Eleutheropolis, as Jerom says (d) and was eight miles from Hebron to the east; and in his time a village was shown, where David was hid; but that Ziph seems to be in another part of this tribe near Carmel, and from whence a wilderness had its name; see Joshua 15:55, and Telem is supposed to be the same with Telaim, 1 Samuel 15:4, and Bealoth; of this city we read nowhere else. (d) De loc. Heb. fol. 95. G.

And Hazor, Hadattah, and Kerioth, and Hezron, which is Hazor. According to the Targum, two cities only are here meant, which reads, "and Hazorhadattah, and Keriothhezron, which is Hazor"; and this reading seems to be right; there were three Hazors in this tribe, one in Joshua 15:23, and two more here, which are distinguished; the first is called Hazorhadattah, or new Hazor; of which Jerom says (e), there is a village at this day called Asor, in the borders of Ashkelon, to the east of it, which fell to the lot of the tribe of Judah; the Scripture makes mention of it, calling: it new Asor, to distinguish it from the old; and Keriothhezron is the same with Hezron, Joshua 15:3; and had also the name of Hezron. From this place Judas Iscariot is thought to have his name, being Ishceriot, a man of Keriot. (e) De. loc. Heb. fol. 88. B.

Amam,.... Of Amam we read nowhere else: and Shema is thought by some to be the same with Sheba, though wrongly, given afterwards to the tribe of Simeon, as was also Moladah, mentioned with it, Joshua 19:2, and Moladah; it is also spoken of in 1 Chronicles 4:28, and seems to be the same with Malathi or Malatis, about twenty miles from Hebron (f). (f) Vid. Reland. Palest. Illustrat. tom. 2. p. 885, 886.

And Hazargaddah,.... The first of these, it is probable, is the same, Jerom (g) calls Gadda, in the tribe of Judah, which was in his day a village in the extreme borders of Daroma to the east, hanging over the dead sea: and Heshmon is met with nowhere else: and Bethpalet is in Nehemiah 11:26, where it is called Bethphelet. (g) Ut supra, (De loc. Heb.) fol. 92. B.

And Hazarshual,.... The first of these seems to have its name from an haunt of foxes here, and was given to the tribe of Simeon, Joshua 19:3; and is mentioned as here with Beersheba, 1 Chronicles 4:28 Nehemiah 11:27, and Beersheba was a city well known in the extreme border of the land of Canaan southward; hence the phrase "from Dan to Beersheba", Judges 20:1, of which Jerom says (h), Bersabee, in the tribe of Judah or Simeon, is at this day a large village, twenty miles from Hebron to the south, in which there is a Roman garrison; and from hence the borders of the land of Judea begin, and go on to Dan, which is by Paneas: and Bizjothjah, of which mention is made elsewhere. (h) lbid. fol. 89. E. F.

Baalah,.... Baalah was given to the tribe of Simeon, Joshua 19:3; for Baalah is the same with Balah there, as it is with Bilba, 1 Chronicles 4:29; though according to the Jerusalem Talmud (i) it is the same with Baalah, given to the tribe of Dan, Joshua 19:44; and was one of those places whose houses were in Judah and their fields in Dan: and Azem was also given to the tribe of Simeon, Joshua 19:3; it is the same with Ezem, 1 Chronicles 4:29, and Iim, of which we read nowhere else. (i) Hieros. Sanhedrin, fol. 18. 3.

And Eltolad,.... The first of these cities is called Tolad, 1 Chronicles 4:29, and Chesil seems to be the same with Bethul and Bethuel, Joshua 19:4 1 Chronicles 4:30; and here the Greek version calls it Baithel: and Hormah is the same with Zephath, Judges 1:17. All these three cities were given to the tribe of Simeon, Joshua 19:4.

And Ziklag,.... Ziklag was also given to the tribe of Simeon, Joshua 19:5, it was in the bands of the king of Gath, in the times of David, who gave it to him; it bordered on the Amalekites, and is placed by Jerom (c) in Daroma, on the south of the lot of Judah or Simeon. and Madmannah, according to the same writer (d), was in his time called Menois, a town near the city Gaza: and Sansannah, of which no mention is made elsewhere. (c) De loc. Heb. fol. 94. I.((d) Ibid. fol. 93. E.

And Lebaoth,.... Whether Lebaoth is the same with Bethlebaoth, given to the tribe of Simeon, Joshua 19:6; is not certain: and Shilhim is nowhere else spoken of: and Ain seems to be the same with that in Numbers 34:11; also See Gill on Numbers 34:11. and Rimmon, the place Jerom (e) calls Eremmon, which he says was a large village of the Jews, sixteen miles from Eleutheropolis to the south, in Daroma; this and the preceding are joined together as one, and called Enrimmon, Nehemiah 11:29. It is probable they were near to each other, and in process of time the buildings of each might increase, so as to meet and join each other: all the cities are twenty and nine, with their villages; but according to our version, and as we point them, they are thirty eight; some make them thirty six, others thirty seven; the Jews generally make thirty eight of them, as we do, and account for the difference of number thus; that nine of these cities were given to the tribe of Simeon, Joshua 19:1; and these being taken out of the thirty eight, there remain twenty nine; so Jarchi and Kimchi account for it; but as the number of the cities is uncertain, and this account is given before the separation of the nine, and they are all reckoned together, this does not seem to be satisfactory; rather, as Abarbinel observes, the twenty nine of the places enumerated were cities, and the other were villages, unwalled towns, or not of so much note as the twenty nine. (e) De loc. Heb. fol. 91. C.

And in the valley,.... In Joshua 15:33 are enumerated the several cities belonging to the tribe of Judah which lay in the valley. Jerom (f) says, that now all the plain and champaign country near Eleutheropolis, which verges to the north and west, is called "Sephela", or the valley: Eshtaol; the two first of these seem to be given afterwards to the tribe of Dan, Joshua 19:41; between these two places Samson was born and buried, Judges 13:2; they were both at the same distance from Eleutheropolis, according to Jerom; of Eshtaol he says (g), it is showed to this day ten miles from Eleutheropolis, to the north, as you go to Nicopolis or Emmaus: and Zoreah, of which he calls Saara, he says (h) it is a village on the borders of Eleutheropolis, as you go to Nicopolis, about ten miles of it in the tribe of Dan or Judah: and Ashnah, of which no mention is made elsewhere; there was another place of the same name, but different from this, Joshua 15:43. (f) De. loc. Heb. fol. 94. M. (g) Ibid. fol. 91. C. (h) lbid. fol. 94. I.

And Zanoah,.... The first of these, Jerom says (i), is in the borders of Eleutheropolis, as you go to Aelia (or Jerusalem); there is at this day a village called Zanua: and Engannim, which signifies a fountain of gardens, is now (according to the same writer (k)) a village near Bethel: and Tappuah was a royal city, of which see Joshua 12:17. Enaim, in the tribe of Judah, Jerom says (l) in his day was the village Bethenim, about the turpentine tree, or oak of Mamre; but that seems to be the same with Ain, Joshua 15:32; of which he says the same under that word, and makes it to be two miles from the oak, and four from Hebron. Masius thinks it is the same with Enam, near to Timnath, of which See Gill on Genesis 38:14; it following Tappuah one would be tempted to think with Jarchi it was the same with Entappuah, but that that was on the borders of Manasseh, Joshua 17:7, and Enam; it has an prefixed to it, and may be read "that Enam", as pointing out some known and remarkable place, though now unknown. (i) De loc. Heb. fol. 95. G. (k) Ibid. fol. 91. E. (l) Ibid. fol. 91. E.

Jarmuth, and Adullam,.... The two first of these were royal cities, of which see Joshua 10:3, Socoh; Jerom says (m) there were two little villages in his day of the name of Socho, as you go to Aelia (or Jerusalem), from Eleutheropolis, in the ninth mile on the public way, one in the mountain, and the other in the plain, (the same with this,) both of which were called Socoth: of this place was Antigonus, president of the sanhedrim, and successor of Simeon the just, called in the Misnah (n) a man of Socho: and Azekah; See Gill on Joshua 10:10; it appears to be near to Socoh from 1 Samuel 17:1, where the Philistines are said to pitch their camp between them. (m) De loc. Heb. fol. 94. I.((n) Pirke Abot, c. 1. sect. 3.

And Sharaim,.... Sharaim seems to be the Saara of Jerom, which he describes as a village on the borders of Eleutheropolis, to the north as you go to Nicopolis (or Emmaus), about ten miles from it in the tribe of Dan or Judah (o); there was a place called Bethshaaraim, where the sanhedrim sometimes sat (p), and where R. Judah was buried (q). This seems to be the same with Shaaraim in 1 Samuel 17:52, and Adithaim; Jerom observes (r), under the word "Adithaim", that there is a village called Adia, near Gaza, and another Aditha, near Diospolis (or Lydda), to the east: and Gederah, which seems to be the same Jerom calls Gaddera, in the tribe of Judah (s), now, he says, called a village belonging to the country of Aelia (or Jerusalem), by the name of Gadera, about the turpentine tree. and Gederothaim, of which we nowhere else read; Kimchi thinks Gederah and Gederothaim were one city: fourteen cities with their villages; but, upon counting them, it will appear there are fifteen, which may be reduced to fourteen, if with Kimchi we take the two last to be but one, who in this way reconciles it; or with Jarchi make Tappuah and Enam to be one also, called Entappuah, which is the way he takes to solve the difficulty; but perhaps the case is this, that one of the places in the account was not a city, but a village. (o) Ut supra. (De loc. Heb. fol. 88. E.) (p) T. Bab. Roshhashauah, fol. 31. 2.((q) Gloss. in T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 47. 1.((r) Ut supra, (De loc. Heb.) fol. 88. F. (s) De loc. Heb. fol. 92. B.

Zenan,.... Here begins another list or catalogue of the cities in the valley or plain. Zenan perhaps is the same with Zaanan, Micah 1:11, and Hadashah was so small a city in Judea in the times of the Misnic doctors, that they say (t) it had but fifty dwellings in it; and Jerom speaks (u) of a place called Adasa, in the tribe of Judah, in his times a village near Guphua; it should be Taphna: and Migdalgad, of which we nowhere else read; some think it had its name from some famous exploit done here by one of the tribe of Gad, who came over with Joshua to assist in the war, as the stone of Bohan the Reubenite, Joshua 15:6. (t) Misn. Eruvim, c. 5. sect. 6. (u) De loc. Heb. fol. 88. F.

And Dilean,.... Of the first of these nothing is to be said: and Mizpeh, of which name there were cities in other tribes; this in the tribe of Judah was in the times of Jerom (w) called Mapha, on the borders of Eleutheropolis to the south, as you go to Aelia, or Jerusalem: and Joktheel, of which nothing is to be said. (w) De loc. Heb. fol. 93. D.

Lachish,.... Lachish and Eglon were royal cities, of which see Joshua 10:3, and Bozkath, is called Boscath, of which place was the mother of King Josiah, 2 Kings 21:1; some take it to be the same with Bascana, as in the Apocrypha:"And when he came near to Bascama he slew Jonathan, who was buried there.'' (1 Maccabees 13:23) and Eglon also was a royal city, of which see Joshua 10:3.

And Gederoth,.... Gederoth is reckoned among the cities of the low country, and south of Judah, 2 Chronicles 28:18, and Bethdagon; in it very probably was a temple of Dagon, which was a principal deity of the Philistines, 1 Samuel 5:2; Jerom says (x) in his time was shown a large village called Capherdagon, between Diospolis and Jamnia; of Naamah, the same writer says nothing, only that it was a city of the tribe of Judah: and Makkedah; see Joshua 10:10; it was a royal city, Joshua 12:16; sixteen cities with their villages; and is the exact number of them, as before enumerated. (x) De loc. Heb. fol. 89. F.

We have here a list of the several cities that fell within the lot of the tribe of Judah, which are mentioned by name, that they might know their own, and both keep it and keep to it, and might neither through cowardice nor sloth lose the possession of what was their own. I. The cities are here named, and numbered in several classes, which they then could account for the reason of better than we can now. Here are, 1. Some that are said to be the uttermost cities towards the coast of Edom, Jos 15:21-32. Here are thirty-eight named, and yet said to be twenty-nine (Jos 15:32), because nine of these were afterwards transferred to the lot of Simeon, and are reckoned as belonging to that, as appears by comparing Jos 19:2, etc.; therefore those only are counted (though the rest are named) which remained to Judah. 2. Others that are said to be in the valley (Jos 15:33) are counted to be fourteen, yet fifteen are named; but it is probable that Gederah and Gederathaim were either two names or two parts of one and the same city. 3. Then sixteen are named without any head of distinction, Jos 15:37-41, and nine more, Jos 15:42-44. 4. Then the three Philistine-cities, Ekron, Ashdod, and Gaza, Jos 15:45-47. 5. Cities in the mountains, eleven in all (Jos 15:48-51), nine more (Jos 15:52-54), ten more (Jos 15:55-57), six more (Jos 15:58, Jos 15:59), then two (Jos 15:60), and six in the wilderness, a part of the country not so thick of inhabitants as some others were. II. Now here, 1. We do not find Bethlehem, which was afterwards the city of David, and was ennobled by the birth of our Lord Jesus in it. But that city, which at the best was but little among the thousands of Judah (Mic 5:2), except that it was thus dignified, was now so little as not to be accounted one of the cities, but perhaps was one of the villages not named. Christ came to give honour to the places he was related to, not to receive honour from them. 2. Jerusalem is said to continue in the hands of the Jebusites (Jos 15:63), for the children of Judah could not drive them out, through their sluggishness, stupidity, and unbelief. Had they attempted it with vigour and resolution, we have reason to think God would not have been wanting to them to give them success; but they could not do it, because they would not. Jerusalem was afterwards to be the holy city, the royal city, the city of the great King, the brightest ornament of all the land of Israel. God has designed it should be so. It may therefore be justly looked upon as a punishment of their neglect to conquer other cities which God had given them that they were so long kept out of this. 3. Among the cities of Judah (in all 114) we meet with Libnah, which in Joram's days revolted, and probably set up for a free independent state (Kg2 8:22), and Lachish, where king Amaziah was slain (Kg1 14:19); it led the dance in idolatry (Mic 1:13); it was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion. Giloh, Ahithophel's town, is here mentioned, and Tekoa, of which the prophet Amos was, and near which Jehoshaphat obtained that glorious victory, Ch2 20:20, etc., and Maresha, where Asa was a conqueror. Many of the cities of this tribe occur in the history of David's troubles. Adullam, Ziph, Keilah, Maon, Engedi, Ziklag, here reckoned in this tribe, were places near which David had most of his haunts; for, though sometimes Saul drove him out from the inheritance of the Lord, yet he kept as close to it as he could. The wilderness of Judah he frequented much, and in it John Baptist preached, and there the kingdom of heaven commenced, Mat 3:1. The riches of this country no doubt answered Jacob's blessing of this tribe, that he should wash his garments in wine, Gen 49:11. And, in general, Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise, not envy.

And Cabbon, and Lahmam, and Kithlish. Cities of which we can give no account, not being mentioned elsewhere.