Joshua 15: What the Passage Says

The Chapter in a Sentence

This chapter maps out the land given to the tribe of Judah, tracing its southern, eastern, northern, and western borders. It then tells how Caleb received Hebron, drove out the three sons of Anak, offered his daughter Achsah in marriage to whoever captured Kirjathsepher, and gave her springs of water when she asked. The rest of the chapter lists Judah's towns region by region, with totals, and ends by saying Judah could not drive the Jebusites out of Jerusalem, so the two peoples were still living there together when this was written.

Claim by Claim

1. 15:1
   • The lot fell to the tribe of the descendants of Judah by their clans.
   • Judah's allotment reached to the border of Edom.
   • The allotment extended to the wilderness of Zin toward the south.
   • The wilderness of Zin was at the farthest southern extremity of the allotment.
2. 15:2
   • Judah's southern border began at the edge of the Salt Sea.
   • It began from the bay of that sea that faces southward.
3. 15:3
   • The border went out south of the Ascent of Akrabbim.
   • It passed on to Zin.
   • It went up south of Kadesh-barnea.
   • It passed on to Hezron.
   • It went up to Addar.
   • It turned around toward Karka.
4. 15:4
   • The border passed on to Azmon.
   • It went out to the Brook of Egypt.
   • The border ended at the sea.
   • Joshua states that this was to be their southern border.
5. 15:5
   • The eastern border was the Salt Sea as far as the mouth of the Jordan.
   • The northern border began from the bay of the sea at the mouth of the Jordan.
6. 15:6
   • The border went up to Beth-hoglah.
   • It passed north of Beth-arabah.
   • The border went up to the Stone of Bohan son of Reuben.
7. 15:7
   • The border went up to Debir from the Valley of Achor.
   • The border turned northward toward Gilgal.
   • Gilgal lies opposite the Ascent of Adummim.
   • The Ascent of Adummim is south of the ravine.
   • The border passed on to the waters of En-shemesh.
   • The border ended at En-rogel.
8. 15:8
   • The border went up the Valley of the Son of Hinnom to the southern slope of the Jebusite city.
   • The Jebusite city is Jerusalem.
   • The border went up to the top of the mountain that lies opposite the Valley of Hinnom on the west.
   • That mountain is at the northern end of the Valley of Rephaim.
9. 15:9
   • From the top of the mountain the border bent toward the spring of the Waters of Nephtoah.
   • It went out to the cities of Mount Ephron.
   • The border bent toward Baalah.
   • Baalah is Kiriath-jearim.
10. 15:10
    • The border turned from Baalah westward to Mount Seir.
    • It passed to the northern slope of Mount Jearim.
    • Mount Jearim is Chesalon.
    • The border went down to Beth-shemesh.
    • It passed on to Timnah.
11. 15:11
    • The border went out to the northern slope of Ekron.
    • The border bent toward Shikkeron.
    • It passed on to Mount Baalah.
    • It went out to Jabneel.
    • The border ended at the sea.
12. 15:12
    • The western border was the Great Sea and its coast.
    • This was the border of the descendants of Judah all around, by their clans.
13. 15:13
    • A portion among the descendants of Judah was given to Caleb son of Jephunneh.
    • The giving was done according to the command of the LORD to Joshua.
    • The portion was Kiriath-arba.
    • Arba was the father of Anak.
    • Kiriath-arba is Hebron.
14. 15:14
    • Caleb drove out from there the three sons of Anak.
    • The three were Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.
    • Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai were descendants of Anak.
15. 15:15
    • He went up from there against the inhabitants of Debir.
    • The former name of Debir was Kiriath-sepher.
16. 15:16
    • Caleb said that whoever strikes Kiriath-sepher and captures it would receive his daughter Achsah as wife.
    • Caleb promised to give Achsah his daughter in marriage to that man.
17. 15:17
    • Othniel son of Kenaz captured the city.
    • It is ambiguous whether Caleb's brother is Kenaz or Othniel.
    • Caleb gave Achsah his daughter to Othniel as wife.
18. 15:18
    • When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field.
    • She got down from the donkey.
    • Caleb said to her, asking what she wanted.
19. 15:19
    • She asked him to give her a blessing.
    • She said he had given her land in the Negev.
    • She asked him also to give her springs of water.
    • He gave her the upper springs.
    • He gave her the lower springs.
20. 15:20
    • This was the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants of Judah by their clans.
21. 15:21
    • These were the outermost cities of the tribe of the descendants of Judah toward the border of Edom in the Negev.
    • Kabzeel was among them.
    • Eder was among them.
    • Jagur was among them.
22. 15:22
    • Kinah was among them.
    • Dimonah was among them.
    • Adadah was among them.
23. 15:23
    • Kedesh was among them.
    • Hazor was among them.
    • Ithnan was among them.
24. 15:24
    • Ziph was among them.
    • Telem was among them.
    • Bealoth was among them.
25. 15:25
    • Hazor-hadattah was among them.
    • Kerioth-hezron was among them.
    • Kerioth-hezron is Hazor.
26. 15:26
    • Amam was among them.
    • Shema was among them.
    • Moladah was among them.
27. 15:27
    • Hazar-gaddah was among them.
    • Heshmon was among them.
    • Beth-pelet was among them.
28. 15:28
    • Hazar-shual was among them.
    • Beersheba was among them.
    • Biziothiah was among them.
29. 15:29
    • Baalah was among them.
    • Iim was among them.
    • Ezem was among them.
30. 15:30
    • Eltolad was among them.
    • Chesil was among them.
    • Hormah was among them.
31. 15:31
    • Ziklag was among them.
    • Madmannah was among them.
    • Sansannah was among them.
32. 15:32
    • Lebaoth was among them.
    • Shilhim was among them.
    • Ain was among them.
    • Rimmon was among them.
    • The cities numbered twenty-nine in all.
    • The cities had their villages with them.
33. 15:33
    • These cities were in the lowland.
    • Eshtaol was among them.
    • Zorah was among them.
    • Ashnah was among them.
34. 15:34
    • Zanoah was among them.
    • En-gannim was among them.
    • Tappuah was among them.
    • Enam was among them.
35. 15:35
    • Jarmuth was among them.
    • Adullam was among them.
    • Socoh was among them.
    • Azekah was among them.
36. 15:36
    • Shaaraim was among them.
    • Adithaim was among them.
    • Gederah was among them.
    • Gederothaim was among them.
    • These cities numbered fourteen.
    • The cities had their villages with them.
37. 15:37
    • Zenan was among them.
    • Hadashah was among them.
    • Migdal-gad was among them.
38. 15:38
    • Dilean was among them.
    • Mizpeh was among them.
    • Joktheel was among them.
39. 15:39
    • Lachish was among them.
    • Bozkath was among them.
    • Eglon was among them.
40. 15:40
    • Cabbon was among them.
    • Lahmam was among them.
    • Kithlish was among them.
41. 15:41
    • Gederoth was among them.
    • Beth-dagon was among them.
    • Naamah was among them.
    • Makkedah was among them.
    • These cities numbered sixteen.
    • The cities had their villages with them.
42. 15:42
    • Libnah was among them.
    • Ether was among them.
    • Ashan was among them.
43. 15:43
    • Iphtah was among them.
    • Ashnah was among them.
    • Nezib was among them.
44. 15:44
    • Keilah was among them.
    • Achzib was among them.
    • Mareshah was among them.
    • These cities numbered nine.
    • The cities had their villages with them.
45. 15:45
    • Ekron was included, with its dependent towns and its villages.
46. 15:46
    • The territory extended from Ekron to the sea.
    • All the places near Ashdod were included, with their villages.
47. 15:47
    • Ashdod was included, with its dependent towns and its villages.
    • Gaza was included, with its dependent towns and its villages.
    • The territory extended as far as the Brook of Egypt.
    • The Great Sea and its coast formed the boundary.
48. 15:48
    • These cities were in the hill country.
    • Shamir was among them.
    • Jattir was among them.
    • Socoh was among them.
49. 15:49
    • Dannah was among them.
    • Kiriath-sannah was among them.
    • Kiriath-sannah is Debir.
50. 15:50
    • Anab was among them.
    • Eshtemoh was among them.
    • Anim was among them.
51. 15:51
    • Goshen was among them.
    • Holon was among them.
    • Giloh was among them.
    • These cities numbered eleven.
    • The cities had their villages with them.
52. 15:52
    • Arab was among them.
    • Dumah was among them.
    • Eshan was among them.
53. 15:53
    • Janum was among them.
    • Beth-tappuah was among them.
    • Aphekah was among them.
54. 15:54
    • Humtah was among them.
    • Kiriath-arba was among them.
    • Kiriath-arba is Hebron.
    • Zior was among them.
    • These cities numbered nine.
    • The cities had their villages with them.
55. 15:55
    • Maon was among them.
    • Carmel was among them.
    • Ziph was among them.
    • Juttah was among them.
56. 15:56
    • Jezreel was among them.
    • Jokdeam was among them.
    • Zanoah was among them.
57. 15:57
    • Kain was among them.
    • Gibeah was among them.
    • Timnah was among them.
    • These cities numbered ten.
    • The cities had their villages with them.
58. 15:58
    • Halhul was among them.
    • Beth-zur was among them.
    • Gedor was among them.
59. 15:59
    • Maarath was among them.
    • Beth-anoth was among them.
    • Eltekon was among them.
    • These cities numbered six.
    • The cities had their villages with them.
60. 15:60
    • Kiriath-baal was among them.
    • Kiriath-baal is Kiriath-jearim.
    • Rabbah was among them.
    • These cities numbered two.
    • The cities had their villages with them.
61. 15:61
    • These cities were in the wilderness.
    • Beth-arabah was among them.
    • Middin was among them.
    • Secacah was among them.
62. 15:62
    • Nibshan was among them.
    • the City of Salt was among them.
    • En-gedi was among them.
    • These cities numbered six.
    • The cities had their villages with them.
63. 15:63
    • The Jebusites were the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
    • The descendants of Judah could not drive out the Jebusites.
    • The Jebusites dwell with the descendants of Judah in Jerusalem.
    • They have done so to this day.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

15:1

"Lot" here does not mean chance in the modern sense. Land was divided by casting lots, marked stones or sticks drawn or thrown, a procedure Israel used to settle allocations without human favoritism. "Clan by clan" means the tribe's share was then subdivided among its extended family groups. Edom was the territory southeast of Judah, occupied by the descendants of Esau.

15:2

The Salt Sea is the Dead Sea, so called because its water is far too saline to drink or to support fish.

15:3

Maalehacrabbim means "the ascent of scorpions", a steep pass climbing out of the Dead Sea depression. Kadeshbarnea was the desert oasis where Israel had camped for years before entering the land; it was a well-known landmark, not just a name on a list.

15:4

The "brook of Egypt" is not the Nile but the Wadi el-Arish, a seasonal streambed in northern Sinai that runs with water only after rain. It was the customary dividing line between Canaan and Egypt.

15:5

"The mouth of the Jordan" is the point at the northern end of the Dead Sea where the river empties into it.

15:6

The Stone of Bohan was a standing stone serving as a boundary marker. Ancient property and tribal lines were fixed by such stones rather than by maps.

15:7

Achor means "trouble"; the valley was named after an earlier incident there. This Debir is a place on the northern boundary, not the southern town of the same name mentioned later in the chapter.

15:8

The Jebusites were the people holding Jerusalem before Israel took it; the writer adds "that is, Jerusalem" because the older name was going out of use. The Valley of Rephaim is called "the valley of the giants" in older English because Rephaim was the name of a people remembered as unusually tall.

15:9

Kiriath-jearim means "town of forests". It becomes important later as the place where the ark was kept for twenty years before David moved it to Jerusalem.

15:11

Ekron was one of the five main Philistine cities. The border here is running through territory Judah was assigned but did not actually control, which the chapter admits openly further down.

15:12

The Great Sea is the Mediterranean, called "great" because it was the largest body of water the writers knew.

15:13

Caleb was one of the two spies who, a generation earlier, had urged Israel to go into the land; the grant of Hebron is the promise made to him then being paid out. Anak's descendants had a reputation for great size and were the reason the earlier generation had refused to invade.

15:14

The Anakim were the population the scouts had reported as giants, tall enough that the scouts said they felt like grasshoppers beside them. Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai are probably clan names rather than three individual men, so "drove out the three sons of Anak" means he cleared out three related family groups.

15:15

Kiriath-sepher means roughly "town of the book" or "town of the scribe", which may point to a place where records were kept. The chapter keeps giving old names alongside new ones because its readers lived generations later and knew the places by their current names.

15:16

Offering a daughter in marriage as the reward for a military feat was a recognized way of sealing an alliance and settling a claim: the man who took the town gained both the family tie and standing within it. Kirjathsepher means roughly "town of the book" or "town of the scribe."

15:17

The Hebrew is ambiguous about whether "Caleb's brother" describes Othniel or his father Kenaz: that is, whether Othniel was Caleb's brother or his nephew. Translations differ, and the wording here leaves it open.

15:18

The Hebrew is uncertain about who urged whom: some manuscripts and ancient translations have Othniel urging Achsah to make the request. Getting down off her donkey was a deliberate gesture, dismounting in front of someone signaled that a formal request was coming.

15:19

"Give me a blessing" was an ordinary idiom for asking a favor or a gift, not a religious formula. The point of the request is practical: land in the dry southern country is worthless without a water source, so she asks for the springs that make it farmable.

15:20

"Inheritance" here does not mean property received from someone who has died. It is the technical term for land held permanently by a family or tribe, which was not supposed to be sold away from them.

15:21

"The dry south country" translates the Negev, the arid region south of the Judean hills, semi-desert grazing land rather than farmland.

15:25

Several towns in this list share the name Hazor, which simply means "enclosure" and was a common place name. None of them is the large northern city of Hazor mentioned elsewhere in Joshua.

15:28

Beersheba was the best known town at Israel's southern edge. People said "from Dan to Beersheba" the way we might say "from top to bottom."

15:32

The stated total of twenty-nine does not match the thirty-six names actually listed. The discrepancy is in the Hebrew text itself; it may be that some names are alternative forms of the same place, or that the total was counted from a shorter version of the list.

15:33

The "western foothills" translate the Shephelah, the belt of low chalk hills between the coastal plain and the high country of Judah, a distinct and well-known region, not just any low ground.

15:36

As with the earlier total, fifteen names are listed but fourteen are counted. Gederah and Gederothaim are probably two spellings of one town that both found their way into the list.

15:41

Bethdagon means "house of Dagon," a temple town named for a god worshiped along the Philistine coast.

15:45

"Towns and villages" renders a Hebrew phrase that literally calls the smaller settlements the "daughters" of the main town, outlying places that depended on it economically and for defense.

15:47

Ashdod, Gaza and Ekron were Philistine cities. Listing them among Judah's towns records the territory assigned to the tribe, not territory it actually controlled; the Philistines held these cities for centuries afterwards.

15:48

The "mountains" means the hill country, the high ridge of hills running down the middle of Judah where Hebron sits.

15:49

Kirjathsannah is an alternative name for Debir, the town Othniel captured earlier in the chapter.

15:51

This Goshen is a town in the southern hills of Judah. It has nothing to do with the region of Goshen in Egypt where Israel had lived.

15:54

Kirjatharba means "town of Arba," named after the ancestor mentioned in verse 13.

15:55

This Carmel is a small town in the hills south of Hebron, not Mount Carmel on the northern coast. Maon and Carmel show up again in 1 Samuel 25 as the home of Nabal and Abigail, and the surrounding wilderness is where David hid from Saul.

15:57

This Timnah is in the hill country and is a different place from the Timnah on the border in verse 10, which lay down in the foothills. Repeated place names were as common then as they are now.

15:59

The ancient Greek translation of Joshua includes an extra group of eleven towns at this point, among them Bethlehem. The line appears to have dropped out of the Hebrew text this translation follows.

15:60

Kirjathbaal means "town of Baal" and Kirjathjearim "town of forests." Places were often renamed when a name tied to a Canaanite god became unwelcome, and both forms survived in use.

15:61

The "wilderness" here is the bare rocky land above the Dead Sea. Almost no rain falls there, so very few people lived in it.

15:62

The City of Salt sat near the Dead Sea, in the same stretch of desert where the Dead Sea Scrolls were later found. En-gedi is a freshwater spring on the western shore of the Dead Sea, a green oasis with waterfalls in the middle of bare rock, and one of the few places anyone could live out there.

15:63

"To this day" means the day the account was written, not the reader's day. Jerusalem was not taken from the Jebusites until David's reign, generations later.