Chapter 15
Land Allotment for Judah
The land allocation begins with the tribe of Judah. Earlier we looked at the instructions from God that the allocations were to be done according to the size of the tribe (see Numbers 33:54), but with this first allotment on the west side we see Judah receiving a disproportionately large portion of land that was later remedied, “The inheritance of the people of Simeon formed part of the territory of the people of Judah. Because the portion of the people of Judah was too large for them, the people of Simeon obtained an inheritance in the midst of their inheritance.” (Joshua 19:9, ESV) Regarding the level of detail offered in this description one commentator wrote:
Judah’s boundary list is painstaking and true to life in its presentation, describing, it seems, every twist and turn, every dip and rise, every right angle of the lines that marked off this tribe.[1]
Due to the fact that most of these locations remain unknown and difficult to pronounce, the list can be tedious to read.
15:1 The allotment for the tribe of the people of Judah according to their clans reached southward to the boundary of Edom, to the wilderness of Zin at the farthest south.
Some question the reference to Edom which is typically connected to land east of the Jordan, but there is a connection to the wilderness of Zin with Edom. Amalek was one of Esau’s sons (see Genesis 36:16) and the Amalekites lived in the land of the Negeb (see Numbers 13:29) which is close to the wilderness of Zin and Edom (see Numbers 34:3-5).
15:2 And their south boundary ran from the end of the Salt Sea, from the bay that faces southward. 3 It goes out southward of the ascent of Akrabbim, passes along to Zin, and goes up south of Kadesh-barnea, along by Hezron, up to Addar, turns about to Karka, 4 passes along to Azmon, goes out by the Brook of Egypt, and comes to its end at the sea. This shall be your south boundary. 5 And the east boundary is the Salt Sea, to the mouth of the Jordan. And the boundary on the north side runs from the bay of the sea at the mouth of the Jordan. 6 And the boundary goes up to Beth-hoglah and passes along north of Beth-arabah. And the boundary goes up to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben. 7 And the boundary goes up to Debir from the Valley of Achor, and so northward, turning toward Gilgal, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim, which is on the south side of the valley. And the boundary passes along to the waters of En-shemesh and ends at En-rogel. 8 Then the boundary goes up by the Valley of the Son of Hinnom at the southern shoulder of the Jebusite (that is, Jerusalem). And the boundary goes up to the top of the mountain that lies over against the Valley of Hinnom, on the west, at the northern end of the Valley of Rephaim. 9 Then the boundary extends from the top of the mountain to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah, and from there to the cities of Mount Ephron. Then the boundary bends around to Baalah (that is, Kiriath-jearim). 10 And the boundary circles west of Baalah to Mount Seir, passes along to the northern shoulder of Mount Jearim (that is, Chesalon), and goes down to Beth-shemesh and passes along by Timnah. 11 The boundary goes out to the shoulder of the hill north of Ekron, then the boundary bends around to Shikkeron and passes along to Mount Baalah and goes out to Jabneel. Then the boundary comes to an end at the sea. 12 And the west boundary was the Great Sea with its coastline. This is the boundary around the people of Judah according to their clans.
Judah’s land allocation is the furthest south of all the tribes, in summary, to the wilderness of Zin in the south (the brook of Egypt), the entire western shoreline of the Dead Sea (Salt Sea) on the east, to the Mediterranean Sea (Great Sea) on the west, and north to the southern border of the Jebusites (Jerusalem). When reading the Bible regarding boundaries or any form of traveling, the up direction means to head south (for example see verse seven) and to head down means to head north (click here to read more about this change).
15:13 According to the commandment of the LORD to Joshua, he gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh a portion among the people of Judah, Kiriath-arba, that is, Hebron (Arba was the father of Anak). 14 And Caleb drove out from there the three sons of Anak, Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai, the descendants of Anak. 15 And he went up from there against the inhabitants of Debir. Now the name of Debir formerly was Kiriath-sepher. 16 And Caleb said, “Whoever strikes Kiriath-sepher and captures it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter as wife.” 17 And Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, captured it. And he gave him Achsah his daughter as wife. 18 When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she got off her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you want?” 19 She said to him, “Give me a blessing. Since you have given me the land of the Negeb, give me also springs of water.” And he gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.
As mentioned in the previous chapter, Caleb had a special inheritance due to his willingness to follow God and fight (see Joshua 14:6-15). Being a member of the tribe of Judah, his allocation of land is included in this section. Caleb inherited lands where the Anakim were living, which was not a problem for Caleb (see commentary for Joshua 14:13-15). Caleb offers an incentive for anyone willing to conquer Kiribati-sepher (Debir) he will give them his daughter Achsah to marry. His nephew Othniel captures Debir and Caleb gives Achsah to him to marry. Afterwards she asks her father for a blessing (some relate this request as a wedding gift) as she has been given land in the mostly dry Negeb (part of Judah’s inheritance, but could be a reference of how dry Debir was), she asks for “springs of water,” and Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs (the Hebrew word translated as ’springs’ is gǔl·lōṯ which can also be translated as a basin, reservoir, or cistern).
15:20 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Judah according to their clans.
The following, through to verse sixty-two, is a listing of 123 cities (not including the various villages). The counts may vary as some of these cities have two or more words in their names (for example “Kerioth-hezron”). Many have significant roles in history, but most do not. This commentary will not exegete these verses.
15:21 The cities belonging to the tribe of the people of Judah in the extreme south, toward the boundary of Edom, were Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur, 22 Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah, 23 Kedesh, Hazor, Ithnan, 24 Ziph, Telem, Bealoth, 25 Hazor-hadattah, Kerioth-hezron (that is, Hazor), 26 Amam, Shema, Moladah, 27 Hazar-gaddah, Heshmon, Beth-pelet, 28 Hazar-shual, Beersheba, Biziothiah, 29 Baalah, Iim, Ezem, 30 Eltolad, Chesil, Hormah, 31 Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah, 32 Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain, and Rimmon: in all, twenty-nine cities with their villages.
15:33 And in the lowland, Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah, 34 Zanoah, En-gannim, Tappuah, Enam, 35 Jarmuth, Adullam, Socoh, Azekah, 36 Shaaraim, Adithaim, Gederah, Gederothaim: fourteen cities with their villages.
15:37 Zenan, Hadashah, Migdal-gad, 38 Dilean, Mizpeh, Jokthel, 39 Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon, 40 Cabbon, Lahmam, Chitlish, 41 Gederoth, Beth-dagon, Naamah, and Makkedah: sixteen cities with their villages.
The city identified as Beth-dagon refers to the house or temple of Dagon, a Philistine god (see 1 Samuel 5:4-5) one of many pagan facilities that was required to be destroyed.
15:42 Libnah, Ether, Ashan, 43 Iphtah, Ashnah, Nezib, 44 Keilah, Achzib, and Mareshah: nine cities with their villages.
15:45 Ekron, with its towns and its villages; 46 from Ekron to the sea, all that were by the side of Ashdod, with their villages.
15:47 Ashdod, its towns and its villages; Gaza, its towns and its villages; to the Brook of Egypt, and the Great Sea with its coastline.
15:48 And in the hill country, Shamir, Jattir, Socoh, 49 Dannah, Kiriath-sannah (that is, Debir), 50 Anab, Eshtemoh, Anim, 51 Goshen, Holon, and Giloh: eleven cities with their villages.
15:52 Arab, Dumah, Eshan, 53 Janim, Beth-tappuah, Aphekah, 54 Humtah, Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), and Zior: nine cities with their villages.
15:55 Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah, 56 Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah, 57 Kain, Gibeah, and Timnah: ten cities with their villages.
15:58 Halhul, Beth-zur, Gedor, 59 Maarath, Beth-anoth, and Eltekon: six cities with their villages.
15:60 Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), and Rabbah: two cities with their villages.
15:61 In the wilderness, Beth-arabah, Middin, Secacah, 62 Nibshan, the City of Salt, and Engedi: six cities with their villages.
15:63 But the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the people of Judah could not drive out, so the Jebusites dwell with the people of Judah at Jerusalem to this day.
This review of the land and city inheritance allocation closes with a somber note, Joshua and the people of Judah were not able to drive out the Jebusites from Jerusalem. It is interesting to note that we can find an almost identical verse in the book of Judges, but instead of referring to the people of Judah it states “the people of Benjamin” (see Judges 1:8, 21). Perhaps to match the two allocations as Jerusalem was just inside Benjamin’s territory on the border (see Judges 18:28).
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[1]Howard, D. M., Jr. (1998). Joshua (Vol. 5, p. 333). Broadman & Holman Publishers.