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Joshua 15:21

in Joshua 15

These were the southernmost cities of the tribe of Judah in the Negev toward the border of Edom:

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And the uttermost cities of the tribe of the children of Judah toward the border of Edom in the South were Kabzeel, and Eder, and Jagur,

KJV

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

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This verse in Joshua 15

Commentary

5 notes on this verse
List of the towns of the tribe of Judah. These are arranged in four divisions, according to the natural features of the district; namely,, those of the Negeb or south country Jos 15:21-32; of “the valley,” or “the plain” (“Shephelah”, Jos 15:33-47); of “the mountains” Jos 15:48-60; and of “the wilderness” Jos 15:61-62. Many of the identifications are still conjectural only. Jos 15:21-32. The Negeb was for the most part rocky and arid, and cannot have been at any time very thickly populated.

This site's exposition

This is the inheritance of the clans of the tribe of Judah

on Joshua 15:20-32

The cities are grouped by region rather than listed at random, and this run covers the dry south toward Edom. A list like this is a legal record of title, which is why later books can argue from it, and why a town's tribe can be settled by looking it up. Beersheba stands in the middle of it at verse 28, already old by Genesis 21:31.

This site's exposition

southernmost cities of the tribe of Judah in the Negev

Barnes divides the list into four districts by the lie of the land: the Negev in verses 21 to 32, the lowland in 33 to 47, the hills in 48 to 60, and the wilderness in 61 and 62. The Negev, he says, was rocky and dry and never thickly settled. Edom lies beyond it.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

And when this was done there was a more equal dividend (either in quantity or quality) of the remainder among the seven tribes. And this, probably, was intended in that general rule which was given concerning this partition ( Num. xxxiii.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

And the uttermost cities of the tribe of the children of Judah,....

The words behind it

13 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיִּֽהְי֣וּand they were

    vaiyihyuH1961 →3559 times

  • הֶעָרִ֗יםthe cities

    hearimH5892 →1090 times

  • מִקְצֵה֙from [the] end

    miktzehH7097 →97 times

  • לְמַטֵּ֣הof [the] tribe of

    lematehH4294 →252 times

  • בְנֵֽי־[the] descendants of

    venei-H1121 →4930 times

  • יְהוּדָ֔הJudah

    yehudahH3063 →819 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • גְּב֥וּל[the] border of

    gevulH1366 →240 times

  • אֱד֖וֹםEdom

    ʾedomH123 →

  • בַּנֶּ֑גְבָּהin the south <towards>

    banegbahH5045 →112 times

  • קַבְצְאֵ֥לKabzeel

    kavtzeelH6909 →

  • וְעֵ֖דֶרand Eder

    veederH5740 →

  • וְיָגֽוּר׃and Jagur

    veyagurH3017 →

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

5 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Genesis 35:21Israel again set out and pitched his tent beyond the Tower of Eder.5 works2 Samuel 23:20And Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a man of valor from Kabzeel, a man of many exploits. He struck down two champions of Moab, and on a snowy day he went down into a pit and killed a lion.4 works1 Chronicles 11:22And Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a man of valor from Kabzeel, a man of many exploits. He struck down two champions of Moab, and on a snowy day he went down into a pit and killed a lion.3 worksNehemiah 11:25As for the villages with their fields, some of the people of Judah lived in Kiriath-arba, Dibon, Jekabzeel, and their villages;2 worksObadiah 1:19Those from the Negev will possess the mountains of Esau; those from the foothills will possess the land of the Philistines. They will occupy the fields of Ephraim and Samaria, and Benjamin will possess Gilead.2 works

The walk

4 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Nehemiah 11:25

    As for the villages with their fields, some of the people of Judah lived in Kiriath-arba, Dibon, Jekabzeel, and their villages;

    it leads to

    • Joshua 14:15

      (Hebron used to be called Kiriath-arba, after Arba, the greatest man among the Anakim.) Then the land had rest from war.

    • Joshua 15:21–22

      These were the southernmost cities of the tribe of Judah in the Negev toward the border of Edom:

  • Through

    Genesis 35:21

    Israel again set out and pitched his tent beyond the Tower of Eder.

    it leads to

    • Micah 4:8

      And you, O watchtower of the flock, O stronghold of the Daughter of Zion—the former dominion will be restored to you; sovereignty will come to the Daughter of Jerusalem.”

    • Luke 2:8

      And there were shepherds residing in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks by night.

Where this verse is studied

About Joshua

Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still upon Gibeon, John Martin, 1816, National Gallery of Art. Public domain.
Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still upon Gibeon, John Martin, 1816, National Gallery of Art. Public domain.
Joshua: the study guide →Read Joshua 15 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and The Berean Standard Bible, Joshua 15, with the verses cited in the note.

Read on in Joshua 15 →