1 And the second lot came out for Simeon, even for the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their families: and their inheritance was in the midst of the inheritance of the children of Judah.
2 And they had for their inheritance Beer-sheba, or Sheba, and Moladah,
3 and Hazar-shual, and Balah, and Ezem,
4 and Eltolad, and Bethul, and Hormah,
5 and Ziklag, and Beth-marcaboth, and Hazar-susah,
6 and Beth-lebaoth, and Sharuhen; thirteen cities with their villages:
7 Ain, Rimmon, and Ether, and Ashan; four cities with their villages:
8 and all the villages that were round about these cities to Baalath-beer, Ramah of the South. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their families.
9 Out of the part of the children of Judah was the inheritance of the children of Simeon; for the portion of the children of Judah was too much for them: therefore the children of Simeon had inheritance in the midst of their inheritance.
10 And the third lot came up for the children of Zebulun according to their families; and the border of their inheritance was unto Sarid;
11 and their border went up westward, even to Maralah, and reached to Dabbesheth; and it reached to the brook that is before Jokneam;
12 and it turned from Sarid eastward toward the sunrising unto the border of Chisloth-tabor; and it went out to Daberath, and went up to Japhia;
13 and from thence it passed along eastward to Gath-hepher, to Eth-kazin; and it went out at Rimmon which stretcheth unto Neah;
14 and the border turned about it on the north to Hannathon; and the goings out thereof were at the valley of Iphtah-el;
15 and Kattath, and Nahalal, and Shimron, and Idalah, and Bethlehem: twelve cities with their villages.
16 This is the inheritance of the children of Zebulun according to their families, these cities with their villages.
17 The fourth lot came out for Issachar, even for the children of Issachar according to their families.
18 And their border was unto Jezreel, and Chesulloth, and Shunem,
19 and Hapharaim, and Shion, and Anaharath,
20 and Rabbith, and Kishion, and Ebez,
21 and Remeth, and Engannim, and En-haddah, and Beth-pazzez,
22 and the border reached to Tabor, and Shahazumah, and Beth-shemesh; and the goings out of their border were at the Jordan: sixteen cities with their villages.
23 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Issachar according to their families, the cities with their villages.
24 And the fifth lot came out for the tribe of the children of Asher according to their families.
25 And their border was Helkath, and Hali, and Beten, and Achshaph,
26 and Allammelech, and Amad, and Mishal; and it reached to Carmel westward, and to Shihor-libnath;
27 and it turned toward the sunrising to Beth-dagon, and reached to Zebulun, and to the valley of Iphtah-el northward to Beth-emek and Neiel; and it went out to Cabul on the left hand,
28 and Ebron, and Rehob, and Hammon, and Kanah, even unto great Sidon;
29 and the border turned to Ramah, and to the fortified city of Tyre; and the border turned to Hosah; and the goings out thereof were at the sea by the region of Achzib;
30 Ummah also, and Aphek, and Rehob: twenty and two cities with their villages.
31 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Asher according to their families, these cities with their villages.
32 The sixth lot came out for the children of Naphtali, even for the children of Naphtali according to their families.
33 And their border was from Heleph, from the oak in Zaanannim, and Adaminekeb, and Jabneel, unto Lakkum; and the goings out thereof were at the Jordan;
34 and the border turned westward to Aznoth-tabor, and went out from thence to Hukkok; and it reached to Zebulun on the south, and reached to Asher on the west, and to Judah at the Jordan toward the sunrising.
35 And the fortified cities were Ziddim, Zer, and Hammath, Rakkath, and Chinnereth,
36 and Adamah, and Ramah, and Hazor,
37 and Kedesh, and Edrei, and En-hazor,
38 And Iron, and Migdal-el, Horem, and Beth-anath, and Beth-shemesh; nineteen cities with their villages.
39 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Naphtali according to their families, the cities with their villages.
40 The seventh lot came out for the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families.
41 And the border of their inheritance was Zorah, and Eshtaol, and Ir-shemesh,
42 and Shaalabbin, and Aijalon, and Ithlah,
43 and Elon, and Timnah, and Ekron,
44 and Eltekeh, and Gibbethon, and Baalath,
45 and Jehud, and Bene-berak, and Gath-rimmon,
46 and Me-jarkon, and Rakkon, with the border over against Joppa.
47 And the border of the children of Dan went out beyond them; for the children of Dan went up and fought against Leshem, and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and possessed it, and dwelt therein, and called Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their father.
48 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families, these cities with their villages.
49 So they made an end of distributing the land for inheritance by the borders thereof; and the children of Israel gave an inheritance to Joshua the son of Nun in the midst of them:
50 according to the commandment of Jehovah they gave him the city which he asked, even Timnath-serah in the hill-country of Ephraim; and he built the city, and dwelt therein.
51 These are the inheritances, which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers' `houses' of the tribes of the children of Israel, distributed for inheritance by lot in Shiloh before Jehovah, at the door of the tent of meeting. So they made an end of dividing the land.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Joshua 19
Commentary on Joshua 19 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 19
In the description of the lots of Judah and Benjamin we have an account both of the borders that surrounded them and of the cities contained in them. In that of Ephraim and Manasseh we have the borders, but not the cities; in this chapter Simeon and Dan are described by their cities only, and not their borders, because they lay very much within Judah, especially the former; the rest have both their borders described and their cities names, especially frontiers. Here is,
Jos 19:1-9
Simeon's lot was drawn after Judah's, Joseph's, and Benjamin's, because Jacob had put that tribe under disgrace; yet it is put before the two younger sons of Leah and the three sons of the handmaids. Not one person of note, neither judge nor prophet, was of this tribe, that we know of.
Jos 19:10-16
This is the lot of Zebulun, who, though born of Leah after Issachar, yet was blessed by Jacob and Moses before him; and therefore it was so ordered that his lot was drawn before that of Issachar, north of which it lay and south of Asher.
Jos 19:17-23
The lot of Issachar ran from Jordan in the east to the great sea in the west, Manasseh on the south, and Zebulun on the north. A numerous tribe, Num. 26:25. Tola, one of the judges, was of this tribe, Jdg. 10:1. So was Baasha, one of the kings of Israel, 1 Ki. 15:27. The most considerable places in this tribe were,
Jos 19:24-31
The lot of Asher lay upon the coast of the great sea. We read not of any famous person of this tribe but Anna the prophetess, who was a constant resident in the temple at the time of our Saviour's birth, Lu. 2:36. Nor were there many famous places in this tribe. Aphek (mentioned v. 30) was the place near which Benhadad was beaten by Ahad, 1 Ki. 20:30. But close adjoining to this tribe were the celebrated sea-port towns of Tyre and Sidon, which we read so much of. Tyre is called here that strong city (v. 29), but Bishop Patrick thinks it was not the same Tyre that we read of afterwards, for that was built on an island; this old strong city was on the continent. And it is conjectured by some that into these two strong-holds, Sidon and Tzor, or Tyre, many of the people of Canaan fled and took shelter when Joshua invaded them.
Jos 19:32-39
Naphtali lay furthest north of all the tribes, bordering on Mount Libanus. The city of Leshem, or Liash, lay on the utmost edge of it to the north, and therefore when the Danites had made themselves masters of it, and called it Dan, the length of Canaan from north to south was reckoned from Dan to Beersheba. It had Zebulun on the south, Asher on the west, and Judah upon Jordan, probably a city of that name, and so distinguished from the tribe of Judah on the east. It was in the lot of this tribe, near the waters of Merom, that Joshua fought and routed Jabin, ch. 11:1, etc. In this tribe stood Capernaum and Bethsaida, on the north end of the sea of Tiberias, in which Christ did so many mighty works; and the mountain (as is supposed) on which Christ preached, Mt. 5:1.
Jos 19:40-48
Dan, though commander of one of the four squadrons of the camp of Israel, in the wilderness, that which brought up the rear, yet was last provided for in Canaan, and his lot fell in the southern part of Canaan, between Judah on the east and the land of the Philistines on the west, Ephraim on the north and Simeon on the south. Providence ordered this numerous and powerful tribe into a post of danger, as best able to deal with those vexatious neighbours the Philistines, and so it was found in Samson. Here is an account,
Jos 19:49-51
Before this account of the dividing of the land is solemnly closed up, in the last verse, which intimates that the thing was done to the satisfaction of all, here is an account of the particular inheritance assigned to Joshua.