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The Histories · Old Testament

Joshua 15

Judah's boundaries, Caleb's household and its cities

General context

Judah's allotment is described by its southern, eastern, northern and western boundaries. The Salt Sea marks the east, the southern line runs toward the river of Egypt and the sea, and the northern description passes the Jerusalem area toward the western coast. Within Judah, Caleb receives Hebron and drives out Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai, the three sons of Anak. He offers his daughter Achsah in marriage to whoever captures Debir, formerly Kirjath-sepher. Othniel takes it and receives Achsah as his wife. She asks Caleb for springs to accompany the southern land given to her, and he grants upper and lower springs. The chapter then lists Judah's towns and villages by regions, including southern country, lowland, hills and wilderness. Its final statement records a limit to possession: Judah could not expel the Jebusites, who continued living with Judah in Jerusalem.

Cited passages: Joshua 15:1, Joshua 15:2, Joshua 15:3, Joshua 15:4, Joshua 15:5, Joshua 15:6, Joshua 15:7, Joshua 15:8, Joshua 15:9, Joshua 15:10, Joshua 15:11, Joshua 15:12, Joshua 15:13, Joshua 15:14, Joshua 15:15, Joshua 15:16, Joshua 15:17, Joshua 15:18, Joshua 15:19, Joshua 15:20, Joshua 15:21, Joshua 15:22, Joshua 15:23, Joshua 15:24, Joshua 15:25, Joshua 15:26, Joshua 15:27, Joshua 15:28, Joshua 15:29, Joshua 15:30, Joshua 15:31, Joshua 15:32, Joshua 15:33, Joshua 15:34, Joshua 15:35, Joshua 15:36, Joshua 15:37, Joshua 15:38, Joshua 15:39, Joshua 15:40, Joshua 15:41, Joshua 15:42, Joshua 15:43, Joshua 15:44, Joshua 15:45, Joshua 15:46, Joshua 15:47, Joshua 15:48, Joshua 15:49, Joshua 15:50, Joshua 15:51, Joshua 15:52, Joshua 15:53, Joshua 15:54, Joshua 15:55, Joshua 15:56, Joshua 15:57, Joshua 15:58, Joshua 15:59, Joshua 15:60, Joshua 15:61, Joshua 15:62, Joshua 15:63

Joshua 15 (KJV)

1This then was the lot of the tribe of the children of Judah by their families; even to the border of Edom the wilderness of Zin southward was the uttermost part of the south coast.

2And their south border was from the shore of the salt sea, from the bay that looketh southward:

3And it went out to the south side to Maaleh-acrabbim, and passed along to Zin, and ascended up on the south side unto Kadesh-barnea, and passed along to Hezron, and went up to Adar, and fetched a compass to Karkaa:

4From thence it passed toward Azmon, and went out unto the river of Egypt; and the goings out of that coast were at the sea: this shall be your south coast.

5And the east border was the salt sea, even unto the end of Jordan. And their border in the north quarter was from the bay of the sea at the uttermost part of Jordan:

6And the border went up to Beth-hogla, and passed along by the north of Beth-arabah; and the border went up to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben:

7And the border went up toward Debir from the valley of Achor, and so northward, looking toward Gilgal, that is before the going up to Adummim, which is on the south side of the river: and the border passed toward the waters of En-shemesh, and the goings out thereof were at En-rogel:

8And the border went up by the valley of the son of Hinnom unto the south side of the Jebusite; the same is Jerusalem: and the border went up to the top of the mountain that lieth before the valley of Hinnom westward, which is at the end of the valley of the giants northward:

9And the border was drawn from the top of the hill unto the fountain of the water of Nephtoah, and went out to the cities of mount Ephron; and the border was drawn to Baalah, which is Kirjath-jearim:

10And the border compassed from Baalah westward unto mount Seir, and passed along unto the side of mount Jearim, which is Chesalon, on the north side, and went down to Beth-shemesh, and passed on to Timnah:

11And the border went out unto the side of Ekron northward: and the border was drawn to Shicron, and passed along to mount Baalah, and went out unto Jabneel; and the goings out of the border were at the sea.

12And the west border was to the great sea, and the coast thereof. This is the coast of the children of Judah round about according to their families.

13And unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh he gave a part among the children of Judah, according to the commandment of the Lord to Joshua, even the city of Arba the father of Anak, which city is Hebron.

14And Caleb drove thence the three sons of Anak, Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai, the children of Anak.

15And he went up thence to the inhabitants of Debir: and the name of Debir before was Kirjath-sepher.

16And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjath-sepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife.

17And Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife.

18And it came to pass, as she came unto him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she lighted off her ass; and Caleb said unto her, What wouldest thou?

19Who answered, Give me a blessing; for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And he gave her the upper springs, and the nether springs.

20This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Judah according to their families.

21And the uttermost cities of the tribe of the children of Judah toward the coast of Edom southward were Kabzeel, and Eder, and Jagur,

22And Kinah, and Dimonah, and Adadah,

23And Kedesh, and Hazor, and Ithnan,

24Ziph, and Telem, and Bealoth,

25And Hazor, Hadattah, and Kerioth, and Hezron, which is Hazor,

26Amam, and Shema, and Moladah,

27And Hazar-gaddah, and Heshmon, and Beth-palet,

28And Hazar-shual, and Beer-sheba, and Bizjothjah,

29Baalah, and Iim, and Azem,

30And Eltolad, and Chesil, and Hormah,

31And Ziklag, and Madmannah, and Sansannah,

32And Lebaoth, and Shilhim, and Ain, and Rimmon: all the cities are twenty and nine, with their villages:

33And in the valley, Eshtaol, and Zoreah, and Ashnah,

34And Zanoah, and En-gannim, Tappuah, and Enam,

35Jarmuth, and Adullam, Socoh, and Azekah,

36And Sharaim, and Adithaim, and Gederah, and Gederothaim; fourteen cities with their villages:

37Zenan, and Hadashah, and Migdal-gad,

38And Dilean, and Mizpeh, and Joktheel,

39Lachish, and Bozkath, and Eglon,

40And Cabbon, and Lahmam, and Kithlish,

41And Gederoth, Beth-dagon, and Naamah, and Makkedah; sixteen cities with their villages:

42Libnah, and Ether, and Ashan,

43And Jiphtah, and Ashnah, and Nezib,

44And Keilah, and Achzib, and Mareshah; nine cities with their villages:

45Ekron, with her towns and her villages:

46From Ekron even unto the sea, all that lay near Ashdod, with their villages:

47Ashdod with her towns and her villages, Gaza with her towns and her villages, unto the river of Egypt, and the great sea, and the border thereof:

48And in the mountains, Shamir, and Jattir, and Socoh,

49And Dannah, and Kirjath-sannah, which is Debir,

50And Anab, and Eshtemoh, and Anim,

51And Goshen, and Holon, and Giloh; eleven cities with their villages:

52Arab, and Dumah, and Eshean,

53And Janum, and Beth-tappuah, and Aphekah,

54And Humtah, and Kirjath-arba, which is Hebron, and Zior; nine cities with their villages:

55Maon, Carmel, and Ziph, and Juttah,

56And Jezreel, and Jokdeam, and Zanoah,

57Cain, Gibeah, and Timnah; ten cities with their villages:

58Halhul, Beth-zur, and Gedor,

59And Maarath, and Beth-anoth, and Eltekon; six cities with their villages:

60Kirjath-baal, which is Kirjath-jearim, and Rabbah; two cities with their villages:

61In the wilderness, Beth-arabah, Middin, and Secacah,

62And Nibshan, and the city of Salt, and En-gedi; six cities with their villages.

63As for the Jebusites the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not drive them out: but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem unto this day.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

The boundaries and city groups describe a tribal allotment by families, not a journey made by the patriarch Judah. The Caleb episode concerns a particular grant within that territory. Othniel is named as the son of Kenaz in the passage's family description. Verse 18 differs over who prompts the field request: KJV and ASV have Achsah urge him, while BBE has him prompt her. All three then give Achsah the spoken request for water. Place-name grouping also varies: KJV separates names in verse 25 that ASV and BBE join as Hazor-hadattah and Kerioth-hezron. The southern list states twenty-nine cities; it does not explain the relationship between that total and every separately written name. The continued Jebusite presence is the chapter's explicit conclusion.

Cited passages: Joshua 15:1, Joshua 15:12, Joshua 15:13, Joshua 15:14, Joshua 15:15, Joshua 15:16, Joshua 15:17, Joshua 15:18, Joshua 15:19, Joshua 15:20, Joshua 15:25, Joshua 15:32, Joshua 15:36, Joshua 15:63

Literary context

Boundary verbs trace the edge of Judah's portion before a household scene interrupts the territorial description. Achsah's direct request turns attention from receiving land to the water needed with it. The long catalogue then returns to cities and their villages, repeatedly stating regional totals. The final could not drive them out qualifies the picture of an assigned territory with an unresolved fact about its inhabitants.

Cited passages: Joshua 15:1, Joshua 15:2, Joshua 15:3, Joshua 15:4, Joshua 15:5, Joshua 15:6, Joshua 15:7, Joshua 15:8, Joshua 15:9, Joshua 15:10, Joshua 15:11, Joshua 15:12, Joshua 15:13, Joshua 15:14, Joshua 15:15, Joshua 15:16, Joshua 15:17, Joshua 15:18, Joshua 15:19, Joshua 15:20, Joshua 15:21, Joshua 15:22, Joshua 15:23, Joshua 15:24, Joshua 15:25, Joshua 15:26, Joshua 15:27, Joshua 15:28, Joshua 15:29, Joshua 15:30, Joshua 15:31, Joshua 15:32, Joshua 15:33, Joshua 15:34, Joshua 15:35, Joshua 15:36, Joshua 15:37, Joshua 15:38, Joshua 15:39, Joshua 15:40, Joshua 15:41, Joshua 15:42, Joshua 15:43, Joshua 15:44, Joshua 15:45, Joshua 15:46, Joshua 15:47, Joshua 15:48, Joshua 15:49, Joshua 15:50, Joshua 15:51, Joshua 15:52, Joshua 15:53, Joshua 15:54, Joshua 15:55, Joshua 15:56, Joshua 15:57, Joshua 15:58, Joshua 15:59, Joshua 15:60, Joshua 15:61, Joshua 15:62, Joshua 15:63

Key moments

  1. Judah's family allotment (Joshua 15:1). The opening names the tribe, its families and the southern extent of its portion.
  2. Othniel takes Debir (Joshua 15:17). Othniel captures the city and Caleb gives him Achsah in marriage.
  3. Achsah asks for springs (Joshua 15:19). Caleb answers his daughter's request by giving upper and lower springs.
  4. Jebusites remain in Jerusalem (Joshua 15:63). The closing verse says Judah could not drive out the city's Jebusite inhabitants.

For reflection

Achsah asks for the springs that make her land more useful. What practical provision might need to accompany something that has already been given?

People in this chapter

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