Skip to content
mannafest.faith
Read

Joshua 18:13

in Joshua 18

From there the border crossed over to the southern slope of Luz (that is, Bethel) and went down to Ataroth-addar on the hill south of Lower Beth-horon.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And the border passed along from thence to Luz, to the side of Luz (the same is Beth-el), southward; and the border went down to Ataroth-addar, by the mountain that lieth on the south of Beth-horon the nether.

KJV

And the border went over from thence toward Luz, to the side of Luz, which is Beth–el, southward; and the border descended to Ataroth–adar, near the hill that lieth on the south side of the nether Beth–horon.

⋯

This verse in Joshua 18

Commentary

3 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

The first lot came up for the clans

on Joshua 18:11-20

Benjamin draws first and gets a strip between Judah and Joseph. The southern border is Judah's northern line from 15:5-9 traced in reverse. Barnes holds that the text of this chapter and the next is in disorder and that many places named can no longer be located.

This site's exposition

the southern slope of Luz (that is, Bethel)

From the ridge the line drops west toward the coastal plain, touching Ataroth-addar and Lower Beth-horon, which also mark Ephraim's edge at 16:3 and 16:5. Genesis 28:19 records that Bethel was earlier named Luz. Joshua chased the southern kings down this Beth-horon road at 10:10-11.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And the border went over from thence towards Luz,....

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

Their northern boundary. Their northern boundary was the Jordan, since the border started from the east and went up alongside Yericho from the north. It went from there westward alongside Yericho and the border line is drawn on the northside of Yericho.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Joshua 18:12:1, via Sefaria, The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
And the boundary circled and went around the western side southward. At Atros-ador, the length of the northern boundary ended; it went from east to west. From there the boundary line encircled the western boundary of Binyomin to go southward from north to south.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Joshua 18:14:1, via Sefaria, The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

22 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.

  • וְעָבַר֩and it passes on

    veavarH5674 →556 times

  • מִשָּׁ֨םfrom there

    mishamH8033 →834 times

  • הַגְּב֜וּלthe border

    hagevulH1366 →240 times

  • ל֗וּזָהLuz towards

    luzahH3870 →8 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • כֶּ֤תֶף[the] slope of

    ketefH3802 →67 times

  • ל֙וּזָה֙Luz <towards>

    luzahH3870 →8 times

  • נֶ֔גְבָּהsouth -ward

    negbahH5045 →112 times

  • הִ֖יאthat

    hi'H1931 →1879 times

  • בֵּֽית־[is] Beth-

    beit-H1008 →142 times

  • אֵ֑ל-el

    ʾelH1008 →142 times

  • וְיָרַ֤דand it goes down

    veyaradH3381 →381 times

  • הַגְּבוּל֙the border

    hagevulH1366 →240 times

  • עַטְר֣וֹתAtaroth

    atrotH5853 →4 times

  • אַדָּ֔רAddar

    ʾadarH5853 →4 times

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • הָהָ֕רthe mountain

    haharH2022 →546 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֛רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • מִנֶּ֥גֶב[is] from [the] south

    minegevH5045 →112 times

  • לְבֵית־of Beth

    leveit-H1032 →28 times

  • חֹר֖וֹןHoron

    choronH1032 →28 times

  • תַּחְתּֽוֹן׃lower

    tachtonH8481 →

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

Related verses

8 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.

Joshua 16:2It went on from Bethel (that is, Luz) and proceeded to the border of the Archites in Ataroth.5 worksJoshua 16:5This was the territory of the descendants of Ephraim by their clans: The border of their inheritance went from Ataroth-addar in the east to Upper Beth-horon5 worksGenesis 28:19and he called that place Bethel, though previously the city had been named Luz.4 worksJoshua 16:3Then it descended westward to the border of the Japhletites as far as the border of Lower Beth-horon and on to Gezer, and it ended at the Sea.3 worksJudges 1:22–26The house of Joseph also attacked Bethel, and the LORD was with them.2 worksJoshua 10:11As they fled before Israel along the descent from Beth-horon to Azekah, the LORD cast down on them large hailstones from the sky, and more of them were killed by the hailstones than by the swords of the Israelites.2 works
The other 2 cross-references, with their words ▾
Joshua 21:22Kibzaim, and Beth-horon—four cities, together with their pasturelands.2 worksNehemiah 11:31The descendants of Benjamin from Geba lived in Michmash, Aija, and Bethel with its villages;2 works

The walk

8 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

    Genesis 28:19

    and he called that place Bethel, though previously the city had been named Luz.

    it leads to

    • Genesis 48:3

      Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there He blessed me

    • Genesis 35:1

      Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and settle there. Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.”

    • Hosea 12:4–5

      Yes, he struggled with the angel and prevailed; he wept and sought His favor; he found Him at Bethel and spoke with Him there—

    • Genesis 12:8

      From there Abram moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built an altar to the LORD,…

    • Judges 1:22–26

      The house of Joseph also attacked Bethel, and the LORD was with them.

  • Through

    Joshua 10:11

    As they fled before Israel along the descent from Beth-horon to Azekah, the LORD cast down on them large hailstones from the sky, and more of them were killed by the hailstones than by…

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 28:2

      Behold, the Lord has one who is strong and mighty. Like a hailstorm or destructive tempest, like a driving rain or flooding downpour, he will smash that crown to the ground.

    • Psalms 18:12–14

      From the brightness of His presence His clouds advanced— hailstones and coals of fire.

    • Exodus 9:22–26

      Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that hail may fall on all the land of Egypt—on man and beast and every plant of the field throughout the…

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 18 →

This page draws on 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 and The Berean Standard Bible, Joshua 18, with the verses cited in the note.

Read on in Joshua 18 →