Joshua 19:18
in Joshua 19Their territory included Jezreel, Chesulloth, Shunem,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And their border was unto Jezreel, and Chesulloth, and Shunem,
KJV
And their border was toward Jezreel, and Chesulloth, and Shunem,
⋯
This verse in Joshua 19
Commentary
6 notes on this verseJezreel - This city, according to Calmet, was situated in an open country, having the town of Legion on the west, Bethshan on the east, on the south the mountains of Gilboa, and on the north those of Hermon. Shunem - This city was rendered famous by being the occasional abode of the prophet Elisha, and the place where he restored the son of a pious woman to life. 2Ki 4:
This site's exposition
the fourth lot came out
on Joshua 19:17-23
Issachar is given by its towns rather than by a traced border, because the tribe sits enclosed between portions already described. Jezreel at verse 18 becomes the second royal city of Israel and the ground of Naboth's vineyard at 1 Kings 21:1. Shunem in the same verse is where the Philistines pitch their camp before Saul's last night at 1 Samuel 28:4, and where the woman who kept a room for Elisha lived at 2 Kings 4:8. Mount Gilboa, where Saul falls, rises on the southern edge of the same plain.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Jezreel - The royal city, 1 Kings xxi, 1. This tribe, because it lay between Benjamin on the south, and Zebulun on the north, is not here described by its borders, which were the same with theirs; but by some of its cities.
And their border was towards Jezreel,.... Which was a royal seat in the time of Ahab, 1Ki 21:1; and according to Jerom was near to Maximianopolis; See Gill on Hos 1:5; and the same writer (u) says in his day a large village of this name was shown in the great plain between Scythopolis and Legion (he means the plain of Jezreel), and it was the border of Issachar: and Chesulloth was different from the Chislothtabor, Jos 19:12; that, as Masius observes, was to the north, this to the south of Mount Tabor: and Shunem is a place well known for being the dwelling place of a certain woman in the times of Elisha, whose son the prophet raised from the dead, 2Ki 4:8; Jerom calls it Sonam, where was the Shunammite woman; but this city here seems to be what he calls Salem, in the tribe of Issachar; and he adds, that there was shown in his day a village by this name, five miles from Mount Tabor to the south (w): according to Bunting (x), it was forty eight miles from Jerusalem to the north, not far from Nain. (u) De loc. Heb. fol. 92. I. (w) De loc. Heb. fol. 94. K. L. (x) Travels, p. 143.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
the fourth lot came out to Issachar--Instead of describing the boundaries of this tribe, the inspired historian gives a list of its principal cities. These cities are all in the eastern part of the plain of Esdraelon.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Jezreel and its famous and fertile plain are the choicest part of the inheritance of Issachar Jos 17:16. Shunem - Here the Philistines pitched before the battle of Gilboa 1Sa 28:4. The place is also known as the home of Abishag 1Ki 1:3, and in connection with Elisha 2Ki 4:8; 2Ki 8:1. It is identified with “Solam” (or, Sulem), a small and poor village on the slope of Little Hermon.
The words behind it
5 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְהִ֖י | vayhi | and it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| גְּבוּלָ֑ם | gevulam | border their | H1366 → | 240 times |
| יִזְרְעֶ֥אלָה | yizreelah | Jezreel towards | H3157 → | 36 times |
| וְהַכְּסוּלֹ֖ת | vehakesulot | and <the> Kesulloth | H3694 → | |
| וְשׁוּנֵֽם׃ | veshunem | and Shunem | H7766 → |
וַיְהִ֖יand it was
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
גְּבוּלָ֑םborder their
gevulamH1366 →240 times
יִזְרְעֶ֥אלָהJezreel towards
yizreelahH3157 →36 times
וְהַכְּסוּלֹ֖תand <the> Kesulloth
vehakesulotH3694 →
וְשׁוּנֵֽם׃and Shunem
veshunemH7766 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
1 Kings 1:3Then they searched throughout Israel for a beautiful girl, and they found Abishag the Shunammite and brought her to the king.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 4:8
One day Elisha went to Shunem, and a prominent woman who lived there persuaded him to have a meal. So whenever he would pass by, he would stop there to eat.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Esther 2:4
Then let the young woman who pleases the king become queen in place of Vashti.” This suggestion pleased the king, and he acted accordingly.
- 2 Kings 4:8
Through
2 Kings 9:30Now when Jehu arrived in Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it. So she painted her eyes, adorned her head, and looked down from a window.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 4:30
And you, O devastated one, what will you do, though you dress yourself in scarlet, though you adorn yourself with gold jewelry, though you enlarge your eyes with paint? You adorn yourself in vain;…
- Ezekiel 23:40
Furthermore, you sisters sent messengers for men who came from afar; and behold, when they arrived, you bathed for them, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with jewelry.
- Jeremiah 4:30
Through
2 Kings 4:12And he said to Gehazi his servant, “Call the Shunammite woman.” And when he had called her, she stood before him,
it leads to
- 2 Kings 8:4–5
Now the king had been speaking to Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, “Please relate to me all the great things Elisha has done.”
- 2 Kings 8:4–5
Through
2 Kings 4:8One day Elisha went to Shunem, and a prominent woman who lived there persuaded him to have a meal. So whenever he would pass by, he would stop there to eat.
it leads to
- Job 1:3
and he owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very large number of servants. Job was the greatest man of all the people of the East.
- Job 32:9
It is not only the old who are wise, or the elderly who understand justice.
- 2 Kings 4:11–12
One day Elisha came to visit and went to his upper room to lie down.
- Job 1:3
About Joshua

Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PlaceNorthern IsraelJezreelAhab's summer capital beside Naboth's vineyard; the city of the dogs' prophecy, where Jezebel fell and Jehu's wheels rolled.
- PlaceJezreel ValleyShunemHome of the great woman who built the prophet's chamber on the wall; her son, given and raised, is one of Elisha's greatest signs.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.
