From the hilltop the border curved to the spring of the Waters of Nephtoah, proceeded to the cities of Mount Ephron, and then bent around toward Baalah (that is, Kiriath-jearim). Then the boundary continuedThe Hebrew word for "boundary" is "גְּבוּל" (gevul), which signifies a border or limit. In the context of the Promised Land, boundaries were divinely ordained, marking the inheritance of the tribes of Israel. This continuation of the boundary signifies the unfolding of God's promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as the land is being apportioned to the tribes. It is a reminder of God's faithfulness and the importance of respecting divinely established limits. to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah
The "spring of the waters" indicates a natural water source, essential for sustaining life in the arid regions of ancient Israel. "Nephtoah" is believed to be located near present-day Lifta, northwest of Jerusalem. Springs were vital for settlement and agriculture, symbolizing God's provision and sustenance. In a spiritual sense, water often represents life and purification, pointing to the living water that Christ offers (John 4:10). and went out to the cities of Mount Ephron
"Mount Ephron" is a location that is not extensively detailed in other biblical texts, but its mention here indicates its significance in delineating tribal territories. The name "Ephron" may derive from a root meaning "fawn-like" or "dusty," suggesting a geographical or visual characteristic. The cities around this mount would have been strategic for defense and trade, highlighting the importance of community and cooperation among the Israelites. and extended to Baalah
"Baalah" is another name for Kiriath-jearim, a city with historical and religious significance. The name "Baalah" means "mistress" or "lady," possibly indicating a place of importance or reverence. This city later becomes notable as the temporary resting place of the Ark of the Covenant (1 Samuel 7:1-2), symbolizing God's presence among His people. The extension of the boundary to Baalah underscores the integration of sacred spaces within the tribal lands. (that is, Kiriath-jearim)
"Kiriath-jearim" translates to "City of Forests," suggesting a lush, wooded area. This city played a crucial role in Israel's history, particularly in the narrative of the Ark. Its mention here connects the physical land with the spiritual journey of the Israelites, as they move from wandering to establishing a nation under God's covenant. The dual naming of the city reflects the layered history and significance of the land, reminding believers of the depth and richness of God's promises. Persons / Places / Events 1. Mount EphronA mountain mentioned as part of the boundary of the land allotted to the tribe of Judah. Its exact location is not well-known today, but it was significant in marking territorial limits. 2. Spring of the Waters of NephtoahA water source that served as a landmark in the delineation of Judah's territory. Springs were vital in ancient times for survival and settlement. 3. Baalah (Kiriath-jearim)A city that was part of the boundary description for Judah. It later became significant in Israel's history as the place where the Ark of the Covenant was kept for a time. 4. Tribe of JudahOne of the twelve tribes of Israel, receiving its inheritance in the southern part of the Promised Land. Judah's territory included significant cities and landmarks. 5. JoshuaThe leader of Israel who succeeded Moses and led the Israelites into the Promised Land. He was responsible for dividing the land among the tribes. Teaching Points The Importance of BoundariesBoundaries are essential for order and identity. Just as God set physical boundaries for the tribes of Israel, He sets spiritual and moral boundaries for our lives today. Significance of Land in God's PromisesThe land was a tangible sign of God's promise to His people. It reminds us of God's faithfulness and the importance of trusting in His promises. God's Sovereignty in AllocationThe division of the land was not random but divinely orchestrated. This teaches us to trust in God's sovereignty over the details of our lives. Historical and Spiritual LegacyPlaces like Kiriath-jearim remind us of the historical and spiritual legacy we inherit as believers. We are called to remember and honor God's work in history. Bible Study Questions 1. What does the detailed description of boundaries in Joshua 15:9 teach us about God's attention to detail and care for His people? 2. How can understanding the historical significance of places like Kiriath-jearim enhance our appreciation of God's work in the Bible? 3. In what ways do the boundaries God sets for us today (spiritual, moral, relational) serve to protect and bless us? 4. How does the allocation of land to the tribe of Judah foreshadow the coming of Jesus, the Lion of the tribe of Judah? 5. Reflect on a time when you experienced God's faithfulness in fulfilling a promise. How does this encourage you to trust Him with your current circumstances? Connections to Other Scriptures Numbers 34This chapter outlines the boundaries of the Promised Land, providing context for the specific territorial descriptions in Joshua. 1 Samuel 7Kiriath-jearim is mentioned as the location where the Ark of the Covenant was kept for 20 years, highlighting its importance in Israel's religious history. Psalm 78This psalm references the movement of the Ark and the significance of God's presence, which ties back to the historical and spiritual importance of places like Kiriath-jearim. People Achsah, Addar, Ahiman, Anak, Anakites, Arba, Ben, Bohan, Cain, Caleb, Dagon, Debir, Dumah, Eder, Eglon, Ephron, Gad, Gedor, Hezron, Hoglah, Jebusites, Jephunneh, Jezreel, Joshua, Kenaz, Maon, Naamah, Othniel, Pelet, Reuben, Seir, Shamir, Shema, Sheshai, Shual, Talmai, Tappuah, Telem, Timnah, ZurPlaces Achzib, Adadah, Addar, Adullam, Adummim, Ain, Akrabbim, Amam, Anab, Anim, Aphekah, Arab, Ashan, Ashdod, Ashnah, Azekah, Baalah, Bealoth, Beersheba, Beth-anoth, Beth-arabah, Beth-dagan, Beth-hoglah, Beth-pelet, Beth-shemesh, Beth-tappuah, Beth-zur, Biziothiah, Bozkath, Brook of Egypt, Cabbon, Carmel, Chesalon, Chesil, Chitlish, City of Salt, Dannah, Debir, Dilean, Dimonah, Dumah, Eder, Edom, Eglon, Ekron, Eltekon, Eltolad, Enam, En-gannim, Engedi, En-rogel, En-shemesh, Eshan, Eshtaol, Eshtemoh, Ether, Ezem, Gaza, Gederah, Gederoth, Gederothaim, Gedor, Gibeah, Gilgal, Giloh, Great Sea, Hadashah, Halhul, Hazar-gaddah, Hazar-shual, Hazor, Hazor-hadattah, Hebron, Heshmon, Hezron, Holon, Hormah, Humtah, Iim, Iphtah, Ithnan, Jabneel, Jagur, Janim, Jarmuth, Jattir, Jebus, Jerusalem, Jokdeam, Joktheel, Jordan River, Juttah, Kabzeel, Kadesh-barnea, Kain, Keilah, Kerioth-hezron, Kinah, Kiriath-arba, Kiriath-baal, Kiriath-jearim, Kiriath-sannah, Kiriath-sepher, Lachish, Lahmam, Lebaoth, Libnah, Maarath, Madmannah, Makkedah, Maon, Mareshah, Middin, Migdal-gad, Mizpeh, Moladah, Mount Baalah, Mount Ephron, Mount Jearim, Mount Seir, Negeb, Nephtoah, Nezib, Nibshan, Rabbah, Rimmon, Salt Sea, Sansannah, Secacah, Shaaraim, Shamir, Shema, Shikkeron, Shilhim, Socoh, Tappuah, Telem, Timnah, Valley of Achor, Valley of Hinnom, Valley of Rephaim, Zanoah, Zenan, Ziklag, Zin, Zior, Ziph, ZorahTopics Along, Baalah, Ba'alah, Bends, Border, Boundary, Cities, Curved, Drawn, Ephron, Extended, Extends, Fountain, Headed, Hill, Hill-country, Jearim, Kiriath, Kiriath-jearim, Kir'iath-je'arim, Kirjathjearim, Kirjath-jearim, Limit, Marked, Mount, Mountain, Nephtoah, Nephto'ah, Proceeded, Reached, Round, Spring, Towns, WatersDictionary of Bible Themes Joshua 15:1-63 5235 boundary
7266 tribes of Israel Library The Sea of Sodom
The bounds of Judea, on both sides, are the sea; the western bound is the Mediterranean,--the eastern, the Dead sea, or the sea of Sodom. This the Jewish writers every where call, which you may not so properly interpret here, "the salt sea," as "the bituminous sea." In which sense word for word, "Sodom's salt," but properly "Sodom's bitumen," doth very frequently occur among them. The use of it was in the holy incense. They mingled 'bitumen,' 'the amber of Jordan,' and [an herb known to few], with …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and HebraicaTiglath-Pileser iii. And the Organisation of the Assyrian Empire from 745 to 722 B. C.
TIGLATH-PILESER III. AND THE ORGANISATION OF THE ASSYRIAN EMPIRE FROM 745 to 722 B.C. FAILURE OF URARTU AND RE-CONQUEST Of SYRIA--EGYPT AGAIN UNITED UNDER ETHIOPIAN AUSPICES--PIONKHI--THE DOWNFALL OF DAMASCUS, OF BABYLON, AND OF ISRAEL. Assyria and its neighbours at the accession of Tiglath-pileser III.: progress of the Aramaeans in the basin of the Middle Tigris--Urartu and its expansion into the north of Syria--Damascus and Israel--Vengeance of Israel on Damascus--Jeroboam II.--Civilisation …
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 7 John the Baptist --visit of Jesus to John, and his Abode in the Desert of Judea --Adoption of the Baptism of John.
An extraordinary man, whose position, from the absence of documentary evidence, remains to us in some degree enigmatical, appeared about this time, and was unquestionably to some extent connected with Jesus. This connection tended rather to make the young prophet of Nazareth deviate from his path; but it suggested many important accessories to his religious institution, and, at all events, furnished a very strong authority to his disciples in recommending their Master in the eyes of a certain class …
Ernest Renan—The Life of Jesus Divers Matters.
I. Beth-cerem, Nehemiah 3:14. "The stones, as well of the altar, as of the ascent to the altar, were from the valley of Beth-cerem, which they digged out beneath the barren land. And thence they are wont to bring whole stones, upon which the working iron came not." The fathers of the traditions, treating concerning the blood of women's terms, reckon up five colours of it; among which that, "which is like the water of the earth, out of the valley of Beth-cerem."--Where the Gloss writes thus, "Beth-cerem …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica Epistle xxvi. To Theoctista, Patrician
To Theoctista, Patrician [1704] Gregory to Theoctista, &c. That your Excellency, though placed in so great a tumult of affairs, is full of the fruitfulness of the sacred word, and incessantly pants after eternal joys, for this I give great thanks to Almighty God, in that in you I see fulfilled what is written of the elect fathers, But the children of Israel walked on dry land through the midst of the sea (Exod. xv. 19). But on the other hand, I am come into the depth of the sea, and the storm hath …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great Emmaus. Kiriath-Jearim.
"From Beth-horon to Emmaus it was hilly."--It was sixty furlongs distant from Jerusalem.--"To eight hundred only, dismissed the army, (Vespasian) gave a place, called Ammaus, for them to inhabit: it is sixty furlongs distant from Jerusalem." I inquire, whether this word hath the same etymology with Emmaus near Tiberias, which, from the 'warm baths,' was called Chammath. The Jews certainly do write this otherwise... "The family (say they) of Beth-Pegarim, and Beth Zipperia was out of Emmaus."--The …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica The Coast of the Asphaltites, the Essenes. En-Gedi.
"On the western shore" (of the Asphaltites) "dwell the Essenes; whom persons, guilty of any crimes, fly from on every side. A nation it is that lives alone, and of all other nations in the whole world, most to be admired; they are without any woman; all lust banished, &c. Below these, was the town Engadda, the next to Jerusalem for fruitfulness, and groves of palm-trees, now another burying-place. From thence stands Massada, a castle in a rock, and this castle not far from the Asphaltites." Solinus, …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica And thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, too little to be among the thousands of Judah
"And thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, too little to be among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall come forth unto Me (one) [Pg 480] to be Ruler in Israel; and His goings forth are the times of old, the days of eternity." The close connection of this verse with what immediately precedes (Caspari is wrong in considering iv. 9-14 as an episode) is evident, not only from the [Hebrew: v] copulative, and from the analogy of the near relation of the announcement of salvation to the prophecy of disaster …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament Moses and his Writings
[Illustration: (drop cap W) Clay letter tablet of Moses' time.] We now begin to understand a little of the very beginning of God's Book--of the times in which it was written, the materials used by its first author, and the different kinds of writing from which he had to choose; but we must go a step farther. How much did Moses know about the history of his forefathers, Abraham and Jacob, and of all the old nations and kings mentioned in Genesis, before God called him to the great work of writing …
Mildred Duff—The Bible in its Making The Power of Assyria at Its Zenith; Esarhaddon and Assur-Bani-Pal
The Medes and Cimmerians: Lydia--The conquest of Egypt, of Arabia, and of Elam. As we have already seen, Sennacherib reigned for eight years after his triumph; eight years of tranquillity at home, and of peace with all his neighbours abroad. If we examine the contemporary monuments or the documents of a later period, and attempt to glean from them some details concerning the close of his career, we find that there is a complete absence of any record of national movement on the part of either Elam, …
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 8 Some Helps to Mourning
Having removed the obstructions, let me in the last place propound some helps to holy mourning. 1 Set David's prospect continually before you. My sin is ever before me' (Psalm 51:3). David, that he might be a mourner, kept his eye full upon sin. See what sin is, and then tell me if there be not enough in it to draw forth tears. I know not what name to give it bad enough. One calls it the devil's excrement. Sin is a complication of all evils. It is the spirits of mischief distilled. Sin dishonours …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12 Sennacherib (705-681 B. C. )
The struggle of Sennacherib with Judaea and Egypt--Destruction of Babylon. Sennacherib either failed to inherit his father's good fortune, or lacked his ability.* He was not deficient in military genius, nor in the energy necessary to withstand the various enemies who rose against him at widely removed points of his frontier, but he had neither the adaptability of character nor the delicate tact required to manage successfully the heterogeneous elements combined under his sway. * The two principal …
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 8 Kadesh. Rekam, and that Double. Inquiry is Made, Whether the Doubling it in the Maps is Well Done.
The readers of the eastern interpreters will observe, that Kadesh is rendered by all Rekam, or in a sound very near it. In the Chaldee, it is 'Rekam': in the Syriac, 'Rekem': in the Arabic, 'Rakim'... There are two places noted by the name Rekam in the very bounds of the land,--to wit, the southern and eastern: that is, a double Kadesh. I. Of Kadesh, or Rekam, in the south part, there is no doubt. II. Of it, in the eastern part, there is this mention: "From Rekam to the east, and Rekam is as the …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica Joshua
The book of Joshua is the natural complement of the Pentateuch. Moses is dead, but the people are on the verge of the promised land, and the story of early Israel would be incomplete, did it not record the conquest of that land and her establishment upon it. The divine purpose moves restlessly on, until it is accomplished; so "after the death of Moses, Jehovah spake to Joshua," i. 1. The book falls naturally into three divisions: (a) the conquest of Canaan (i.-xii.), (b) the settlement of the …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Joshua 15:9 NIVJoshua 15:9 NLTJoshua 15:9 ESVJoshua 15:9 NASBJoshua 15:9 KJV
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