Attributed commentary excerpt
Keil & Delitzsch on Joshua 15:1
A historical reference excerpt for this verse. Read it alongside the biblical text and other available sources.
Commentary on the Old Testament
C. F. Keil & F. Delitzsch · 19th-century historical commentary
Source: BibleWord.ai's local reference edition of this named work.
Boundaries of the inheritance of the tribe of Judah. - Jos 15:1. Its situation in the land. "And there was (i.e., fell, or came out; cf. Jos 16:1; Jos 19:1) the lot to the tribe of Judah according to its families to the frontier of Edom (see at Num 34:3), to the desert of Zin southward, against the extreme south" (lit. from the end or extremity of the south), i.e., its inheritance fell to it, so that it reached to the territory of Edom and the desert of Zin, in which Kadesh was situated (see at Num 13:21), on the extreme south of Canaan. Jos 15:2-4 The southern boundary. This was also the southern boundary of the land of Israel generally, and coincided with the southern boundary of Canaan as described in Num 34:3-5. It went out "from the end of the salt sea, namely, from the tongue which turneth to the south," i.e., from the southern point of the Dead Sea, which is now a salt marsh. Jos 15:3-4 Thence it proceeded "to the southern boundary of the ascent of Akrabbim," i.e., the row of lofty whitish cliffs which intersects the Arabah about eight miles below the Dead Sea (see at Num 34:4), "and passed across to Zin," i.e., the Wady Murreh (see at Num 13:21), "and went up to the south of Kadesh-barnea," i.e., by Ain Kudes (see at Num 20:16), "and passed over to Hezron, and went up to Adar, and turned to Karkaa, and went over to Azmon, and went out into the brook of Egypt," i.e., the Wady el Arish. On the probable situation of Hezron, Adar, Karkaa, and Azmon, see at Num 34:4-5. "And the outgoings of the boundary were to the sea" (the Mediterranean). The Wady el Arish, a marked boundary, takes first of all a northerly and then a north-westerly course, and opens into the Mediterranean Sea (see Pent. p. 358). היה in the singular before the subject in the plural must not be interfered with (see Ewald, 316, a.). - The words "this shall be your south coast" point back to the southern boundary of Canaan as laid down in Num 34:2., and show that the southern boundary of the tribe-territory of Judah was also the southern boundary of the land to be taken by Israel. Jos 15:5 "The eastern boundary was the salt sea to the end of the Jordan," i.e., the Dead Sea, in all its length up to the point where the Jordan entered it. Jos 15:5-11 In Jos 15:5-11 we have a description of the northern boundary, which is repeated in Jos 18:15-19 as the southern boundary of Benjamin, though in the opposite direction, namely, from west to east. It started "from the tongue of the (salt) sea, the end (i.e., the mouth) of the Jordan, and went up to Beth-hagla," - a border town between Judah and Benjamin, which was afterwards allotted to the latter ( Jos 18:19, Jos 18:12), the present Ain Hajla, an hour and a quarter to the south-east of Riha (Jericho), and three-quarters of an hour from the Jordan (see at Gen 50:11, note), - "and went over to the north side of Beth-arabah," a town in the desert of Judah ( Jos 15:61), afterwards assigned to Benjamin ( Jos 18:22), and called Ha-arabah in Jos 18:18, about twenty or thirty minutes to the south-west of Ain Hajla, in a "level and barren steppe" (Seetzen, R. ii. p. 302), with which the name very well agrees (see also Rob. Pal. ii. pp. 268ff.). "And the border went up to the stone of Bohan, the son of Reuben." The expression "went up" shows that the stone of Bohan must have been on higher ground, i.e., near the western mountains, though the opposite expression "went down" in Jos 18:17 shows that it must have been by the side of the…
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