Joshua 15:32

_AND LEBAOTH, AND SHILHIM, AND AIN, AND RIMMON: ALL THE CITIES ARE TWENTY AND NINE, WITH THEIR VILLAGES:_ (27) AND LEBAOTH (place of lionesses). It is called (Joshua 19:6) Beth-lebaoth and (1 Chronicles 4:31) Beth-birei [Septuagint, Laboos]; placed by Wilton on a low hill northeast of 'Arad, the site of a ruin called el-Beyudh. There are numerous caves in the neighbourhood, and the footprints of lions have been discovered by several modern travelers. (28) AND SHILHIM. The list of cities in the Negeb assigned to Simeon contains (Joshua 19:6) Sharuhen, and that in 1 Chronicles 4:31, Shaaraim

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....

Verse 32. _ALL THE CITIES ARE TWENTY AND NINE, WITH THEIR_ _VILLAGES_] But on a careful examination we shall find _thirty-eight_; but it is supposed that nine of these are excepted; viz., _Beersheba, Moladah, Hazarshual, Baalah, Azem, Hormah, Ziklag,_ _Ain_, and _Rimmon_, which were afterwards given to the tribe of Simeon. This may appear satisfactory, but perhaps the truth will be found to be this: Several cities in the promised land are expressed by _compound_ terms; not knowing the places, different translations combine what should be separated, and in many cases separate what should be combined. Through this we have _cities_ formed out of _epithets_. On this ground we have _thirty-eight_ cities as the sum here, instead of _twenty-nine_....

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; of “the valley,” or “the plain” (“Shephelah”, Joshua 15:33); of “the mountains” Joshua 15:48; and of “the wilderness” Joshua 15:61. Many of the identifications are still conjectural only. Joshua 15:21. The Negeb was for the most part rocky and arid, and cannot have been at any time very thickly popul

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

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 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, Ne 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:...

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....

AND AIN, AND RIMMON: should be "and En-Rimmon"....

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...