Joshua 19:46

And Mejarkon, and Rakkon, with the border before Japho.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

19:17-51 Joshua waited till all the tribes were settled, before he asked any provision for himself. He was content to be unfixed, till he saw them all placed, and herein is an example to all in public places, to prefer the common welfare before private advantage. Those who labour most to do good to others, seek an inheritance in the Canaan above: but it will be soon enough to enter thereon, when they have done all the service to their brethren of which they are capable. Nor can any thing more effectually assure them of their title to it, than endeavouring to bring others to desire, to seek, and to obtain it. Our Lord Jesus came and dwelt on earth, not in pomp but poverty, providing rest for man, yet himself not having where to lay his head; for Christ pleased not himself. Nor would he enter upon his inheritance, till by his obedience to death he secured the eternal inheritance for all his people; nor will he account his own glory completed, till every ransomed sinner is put in possession of his heavenly rest.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Japho (the modern Jaffa, or Yafa), elsewhere (see the margin) called Joppa, is often mentioned in the history of the Maccabees and was, as it still is, the leading port of access to Jerusalem both for pilgrims and for merchandise. It is a very ancient town.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

Jos 19:40-48. Of Dan.

40-46. the seventh lot came out for the tribe … Dan—It lay on the west of Benjamin and consisted of portions surrendered by Judah and Ephraim. Its boundaries are not stated, as they were easily distinguishable from the relative position of Dan to the three adjoining tribes.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And Mejarkon, and Rakkon,.... Of the two first of these we read no where else.

with the border before Japho; Japho is the same with Joppa, now called at this day Jaffa, a port in the Mediterranean sea, famous for being the place where Jonah took shipping; see Gill on Jonah 1:3; and where the Apostle Peter resided some time; see Gill on Acts 9:36; and See Gill on Acts 9:38. It is not certain whether Joppa itself was in the tribe of Dan, or only on the borders of it; the coast of Dan reached "over against" it, as it may be rendered, and included the villages and little cities that were near it; for such there were, as Josephus (b) testifies.

(b) De Bello Jud. l. 3. c. 8. sect. 4.

Geneva Study Bible

And Mejarkon, and Rakkon, with the border before {k} Japho.

(k) Called Joppa.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

46. Me-jarkon, and Rakkon] still remain to be discovered.

with the border before Japho] i.e. with the whole district extending to the suburbs opposite to Japho.

Japho] (= “beauty”) is the Hebrew form of the more familiar Joppa (2 Chronicles 2:16; Ezekiel 3:7). It was situated on the south-west coast of Palestine, and having a harbour attached to it was afterwards the port of Jerusalem. It was the spot (a) whither the cedar and pinewood were floated from Phœnicia by Hiram, king of Tyre, for Solomon’s temple (2 Chronicles 2:16); (b) whither similar materials were conveyed by the permission of Cyrus for the rebuilding of the second temple under Zerubbabel (Ezekiel 3:7); (c) where Jonah took ship to flee “from the presence of the Lord” (Jonah 1:3); (d) where Jonathan Maccabæus met Ptolemy (1Ma 11:6); (e) where St Peter had the vision on the housetop of Simon the tanner (Acts 10:9-18). On the east the town is surrounded by a wide circle of gardens and groves of noble trees. “The figs and oranges of Joppa are noted for their size and flavour. The water-melons, which thrive on the sandy soil around, are in great repute, and are carried in great numbers to Alexandria and Cairo. Through all Syria, too, they have a reputation.… The horticulturist Bové, who visited the place in 1832, observed three kinds of figs, apricots, almonds, pomegranates, peaches, oranges, pears, and apples, plums, bananas and grapes, while the sugar-cane grows to the height of five or six feet.” Ritter, Geog. Pal. iv. 259. In a.d. 1188 Saladin destroyed its fortifications, to be rebuilt by Richard of England, who was here confined by sickness. In 1253 it was occupied by St Louis, and afterwards fell into the hands first of the Sultans of Egypt and then of the Turks.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 46. - Before. Or opposite. Japho. The Joppa of the New Testament, and the modern Jaffa. It is called Joppa in 2 Chronicles 2:16, in Ezra 3:7, and in the book of Jonah (Jonah 1:3), in an which places it is mentioned as a famous seaport, a position it still maintains, being still, as it was of old, the port of Jerusalem. The LXX. and Vulgate have Joppa here, and it is unfortunate that our translators, in this instance only, should have adhered to the Hebrew form. Joppa appears to have been an important city in the time of the Maccabees (see 1 Macc. 10:75, 76; and 2 Macc. 4:21). Its mention in the New Testament as the place where St. Peter's vision occurred will be known to all. The name signifies "beauty," though Joppa does not seem to be distinguished above all other places in Palestine by the beauty of its situation. But according to Hovers, Japho signifies in Phoenician, "high place." It is certainly built on a range of terraces above the sea, but the term "high place" would seem unsuitable. The soil is very productive, and it is "the only harbour in Central Palestine" (Ritter). Joshua 19:46

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Me-jarkon, i.e., aquae flavedinis, and Rakkon, are unknown; but from the clause which follows, "with the territory before Japho," it must have been in the neighbourhood of Joppa (Jaffa). "The territory before Japho" includes the places in the environs of Joppa. Consequently Joppa itself does not appear to have belonged to the territory of Dan, although, according to Judges 5:17, the Danites must have had possession of this town. Japho, the well-known port of Palestine (2 Chronicles 2:15; Ezra 3:7; Jonah 1:3), which the Greeks called Ἰόππη (Joppa), the present Jaffa (see v. Raumer, Pal. pp. 204-5, and Ritter, Erdk. xvi. pp. 574ff.).