Joshua 15:20

_THIS IS THE INHERITANCE OF THE TRIBE OF THE CHILDREN OF JUDAH ACCORDING TO THEIR FAMILIES._ No JFB commentary on this verse....

20._This is the inheritance, _etc He had formerly, indeed, traced out the boundaries of the children of Judah; but it is now shown for a different reason how large and fertile the territory was which the Lord in his great liberality had bestowed upon them. One hundred and thirteen cities with their towns and villages are enumerated. The number attests not only the populousness, but also the fertility of the country. And there cannot be a doubt that by the divine blessing a new degree of fertility was imparted to it. The goodness of God was, however, manifested in the very nature of the land selected for his people, a land abounding in all kinds of advantages. If we attend to the number of souls in the tribe, we shall find that one half of the country would have been amply sufficient for their habitation. For when eight hundred were allocated in each of the cities, the remainder had the t...

20-63 Here is a list of the cities of Judah. But we do not here find Bethlehem, afterwards the city of David, and ennobled by the birth of our Lord Jesus in it. That city, which, at the best, was but little among the thousands of Judah, Micah 5:2, except that it was thus honoured, was now so little as not to be accounted one of the cities....

EXPOSITION THE LOT OF JUDAH. JOSHUA 15:1 THE LOT OF THE TRIBE OF THE CHILDREN OF JUDAH. The first twelve verses of this chapter define the boundaries of Judah. With it compare Numbers 34:3, which gives the southern border of the Israelitish territory, corresponding closely with this account of the southern border of Judah. The word _tribe _here is, as might be expected from the context מַטֶה and not שֶּׁבֶט. EVEN TO THE BORDER OF EDOM. The literal translation, which makes the passage clearer, is, "the border of Edom, the wilderness of Zin towards the dry region (נֶגְבָּה) from the extreme limit of the south תֵימָן. The latter of these words, derived from יָמִי

THIS [IS] THE INHERITANCE OF THE TRIBE OF THE CHILDREN OF JUDAH, ACCORDING TO THEIR FAMILIES. The general description of which is given in the preceding part of the chapter, as the particular cities belonging to it are enumerated in the following part; the account of the gift of Hebron to Caleb, and the taking of Debir by Othniel, with the request of Achsah, and the grant of it, are inserted between them, and stand as it were in a parenthesis....

3. THE PORTION OF JUDAH CHAPTER 15 _ 1. The south-border of Judah's portion (Joshua 15:1)_ 2. The eastern and northern border (Joshua 15:5) 3. The western border (Joshua 15:12) 4. Caleb's conquest (Joshua 15:13) 5. Inheritance according to families (Joshua 15:20) This is a chapter which contains many names; nearly one hundred and fifty are recorded. With the help of a good concordance, or dictionary of Hebrew names, the English meaning may be ascertained. However, many of these names may be derived from

JOSHUA 15:1 reads rather confusedly. The statement is made that the following is the inheritance of Israel a late writer, wishing to be more exact, says the 9½ tribes, and then proceeds to point out how the number 9½ was obtained....

Cities of Judah in the South 20. _This is the inheritance_ "The speech of Achsah to her father was the best reason for the slight notice of this desert tract in later times, and is the best introduction to the real territory of Judah, on which we now enter. -Give me a blessing, _for_thou hast given me a _south_land; give me also _springs of water_." The wells of Beersheba were enough for the Patriarchs, the Amalekites, and the Kenites, but they were not enough for the daughter of Judah and the house of the mighty Caleb." Stanley's _Sinai and Palestine_, p. 161. The territory of Judah, in average length about 45 miles and in average breadth about 50, was from a very early period divided into four main regions (i) the South; (ii) the Lowland; (iii) the Mountain; (iv) the Wilderness. (α) _The South_was the undulating pasture country which intervened between the hills, the proper possessio...

_Cities of Judah Joshua 15:20-63_ 20 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Judah according to their families. 21 And the uttermost cities of the tribe of the children of Judah toward the coast of Edom southward were Kabzeel, and Eder, and Jagur, 22 And Kinah, and Dimonah, and Adadah, 23 And Kedesh, and Hazor, and Ithnan, 24 Ziph, and Telem, and Bealoth, 25 And Hazor, Hadattah, and Kerioth, and Hezron, which is Hazor, 26 Amam, and Shema, and Moladah, 27 And Hazar-gaddah, and Heshmon, and Beth-palet, 28 And Hazar-shual, and Beer-sheba, and Bizjothjah, 29 Baalah, and Iim, and Azem, 30 And Eltolad, and Chesil, and Hormah, 31 And Ziklag, and Madmannah, and Sansannah, 32 And Lebaoth, and Shilhim, and Ain, and Rimmon: all the cities are twenty and nine, with their villages: 32 And in the valley, Eshtaol, and Zoreah, and Ashnah,

THE ASSIGNMENT OF THE TERRITORY It has been noticed that there are many incidental features in this narrative which point to a contemporary document. Thus in the lot of Judah we have a full description, both of the frontier-lines (Joshua 15:1), and also of the chief cities contained within them (Joshua 15:21): and the same is true of Benjamin (Joshua 18:11). But these are the tribes which seem to have conquered their territory soonest and most completely. Ephraim and Manasseh, on the contrary, have only their boundaries mentioned without any list of cities (16). As a matter of fact, the children of Joseph seem to have had more difficulties with the Canaanites ...