Attributed commentary excerpt
Barnes' Notes on Joshua 15:61
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Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · 19th-century historical commentary
Source: BibleWord.ai's local reference edition of this named work.
List of the towns of the tribe of Judah. These are arranged in four divisions, according to the natural features of the district; namely,, those of the Negeb or south country Joshua 15:21-32; of “the valley,” or “the plain” (“Shephelah”, Joshua 15:33-47); of “the mountains” Joshua 15:48-60; and of “the wilderness” Joshua 15:61-62. Many of the identifications are still conjectural only. Joshua 15:21-32. The Negeb was for the most part rocky and arid, and cannot have been at any time very thickly populated. Joshua 15:21 Kabzeel was the native place of Benaiah 2 Samuel 23:20, who was famous as a slayer of lions. The Negeb was a principal haunt of these beasts. Joshua 15:24 Telem may be the Telaim of 1 Samuel 15:4, where Saul mustered his army for the expedition against the Amalekites. It is possibly to be looked for at “El-Kuseir”, a spot where the various routes toward different parts of the Negeb converge, and which is occupied by the Arab tribe the “Dhullam”, a word identical with Telem in its consonants. Bealoth is probably the “Baalath-beer - Ramath of the south” Joshua 19:8, and was one of the towns afterward assigned to the Simeonites. It is identified with the modern Kurnub. Joshua 15:25 And Hezron which is Hazor - In this verse are the names of two towns only, not of four. Two places bearing the common topographical appellation, Hazor (“enclosure”) are here mentioned and distinguished as “Hazor Hadattah” and “Kerioth-Hezron,” otherwise termed Hazor, simply: the former has been identified by some with “El-Hudhera”; the latter is probably the modern “El-Kuryetein”. Kerioth, prefixed to a name, bespeaks military occupation, as Hazor points to pastoral pursuits. The place would therefore seem to be an ancient pastoral settlement which had been fortified by the Anakims, and called accordingly Kerioth; to which name the men of Judah, after they had captured it, added that of Hezron, in honor of one of their leading ancestors (compare Genesis 46:12; Ruth 4:18). Kerioth was the home of Judas the traitor, if the ordinary derivation of Iscariot (= קריות אישׁ 'ı̂ysh qerı̂yôth), i. e. man of Kerioth) be accepted: Matthew 10:4. Joshua 15:26 Moladah is probably the modern “El-Milh”, and like Hazar-shual (“Berrishail” near Gaza) ( “enclosure of foxes”) occurs Joshua 19:2-3; 1 Chronicles 4:28, as a town belonging to Simeon, and Nehemiah 11:26-27 as a place occupied by Jews after the captivity. Joshua 15:29-32 Baalah Joshua 19:3 is found in the modern “Deir-el-Belah”, near Gaza. Iim, i. e. “ruinous heaps” or “conical hills” (Numbers 21:11 note) is by some connected with Azem; and the compound name, “Ije Azem”, is traced in El-Aujeh, in the country of the Azazimeh Arabs, in whose name the ancient Azem may perhaps be traced. Eltolad is connected with “Wady-el-Thoula”, in the extreme south of the Negeb. Chesil appears to be the town called Bethul Joshua 19:4, and probably the Bethel 1 Samuel 30:27 situated not far from Ziklag. The name Chesil ( “fool”) was most likely bestowed by way of opprobrium (compare the change of Bethel, house of God, into Bethaven, house of vanity, Hosea 4:15). As Chesil signifies the group of stars known as Orion (compare Job 38:31; Amos 5:8), probably it was the worship of the heavenly bodies in particular that was carried on here. Bethel may have been the ancient name, and the spot was perhaps the very one near Beer-sheba where Abraham planted a tamarisk tree Genesis 21:33. The place is probably “El Khulasah”, the Elus…
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