Joshua 19:22

19:17-51 Joshua waited till all the tribes were settled, before he asked any provision for himself. He was content to be unfixed, till he saw them all placed, and herein is an example to all in public places, to prefer the common welfare before private advantage. Those who labour most to do good to others, seek an inheritance in the Canaan above: but it will be soon enough to enter thereon, when they have done all the service to their brethren of which they are capable. Nor can any thing more effectually assure them of their title to it, than endeavouring to bring others to desire, to seek, and to obtain it. Our Lord Jesus came and dwelt on earth, not in pomp but poverty, providing rest for man, yet himself not having where to lay his head; for Christ pleased not himself. Nor would he enter upon his inheritance, till by his obedience to death he secured the eternal inheritance for all his people; nor will he account his own glory completed, till every ransomed sinner is put in possession of his heavenly rest.

And the coast reacheth to Tabor,.... Tabor was the name of a mountain in those parts; it is generally supposed to be the mountain on which our Lord was transfigured, though it is not sufficiently evident; See Gill on Jeremiah 46:18 . There was a city of this name near it, 1 Chronicles 6:77 , and which is meant here, and which either gave unto or received name from the mount. The Greeks call it Itabyrium, and it is described by Polybius (g) as situated on a hill rising in the form of a pap or breast, and has an ascent of more than fifteen furlongs, and he calls it a city: and Shahazimah is not mentioned any where else: and Bethshemesh; there seem to have been several cities, at least more than one, of the name of Bethshemesh; one in the tribe of Judah, Joshua 21:16; and another in the tribe of Naphtali, Joshua 19:38; which perhaps may be the same with this, it lying on the borders of both tribes. In this, and so in others of the same name, was a temple dedicated to the sun by the Heathens, as there was one of the same name in Egypt for the same reason, Jeremiah 43:13, and the outgoings of their border were at Jordan; here it ended: so Josephus says, that the border of this tribe in the length of it were Mount Carmel (at one end), and the river (i.e.

22 . and the coast reacheth to Tabor ] Not the mountain, but a town upon the mountain, given to the Levites ( 1 Chronicles 6:77 ), and to Shahazimah and Beth-shemesh . The site of neither of these places is known, for the Beth-shemesh here mentioned is not the town of that name in the tribe of Judah (ch. Joshua 15:10 ) the outgoings of their border ] The Jordan formed the eastern boundary of the tribe, but how far its territory extended down into the Jordan Valley is not stated. sixteen cities ] Which number is correct, if Tabor is taken as a city. Being a border town, it is not remarkable that here it is reckoned to Issachar, and in 1 Chronicles 6:77 to Zebulun.

En-gannim - i. e. "fountain of gardens;" also a Levitical city Joshua 21:29 , and called Ahem 1 Chronicles 6:73 , the modern "Jenin," a place on the main road from Jerusalem to Nazareth, just where it enters the plain of Jezreel. Many of the places enumerated in these verses are not known. Tabor Joshua 19:22 is perhaps not the famous mountain, but the town on it of the same name 1 Chronicles 6:77 , given up to the Levites. Beth-shemesh (perhaps "Bessum") is not the same as Beth-shemesh of Judah Joshua 15:10 , nor of Naphtali Joshua 19:38 .

Verse 22. - The coast reacheth. Literally, the border skirteth , as in ver. 11. Tabor . Perhaps the same as Chisloth-Tabor in ver. 12 (cf. 1 Chronicles 6:77 ). It would therefore be, as Mount Tabor certainly was, on the boundary between the tribes of Issachar and Zebulun. Beth-shemesh. Not the well known town in the tribe of Judah ( Joshua 15:10 ). The repetition of this name is a proof of the extent to which sun worship prevailed in Palestine before the Israelite invasion. Joshua 19:22

"And the boundary touched Tabor, Sahazim, and Beth-shemesh." Tabor is not the mountain of that name, but a town upon the mountain, which was given to the Levites, though not by Issachar but by Zebulun ( 1 Chronicles 6:62 ), and was fortified afresh in the Jewish wars (Josephus, Bell. Jud. iv. 1, 8). In this passage, however, it appears to be reckoned as belonging to Issachar, since otherwise there are not sixteen cities named. At the same time, as there are several discrepancies between the numbers given and the names actually mentioned, it is quite possible that in this instance also the number sixteen is incorrect. In any case, Tabor was upon the border of Zebulun ( Joshua 19:12 ), so that it might have been allotted to this tribe. There are still the remains of old walls and ruins or arches, houses, and other buildings to be seen upon Mount Tabor; and round the summit there are the foundations of a thick wall built of large and to a great extent fluted stones (see Rob. iii. pp. 453ff.; Seetzen, ii. p. 148; Buckingham, Syr. i. pp. 83ff.). The places which follow are to be sought for on the east of Tabor towards the Jordan, as the boundary terminated at the Jordan. Sachazim (Shahazimah) Knobel connects with el Hazetheh, as the name, which signifies heights, points to a town situated upon hills; and el Hezetheh stands upon the range of hills, bounding the low-lying land of Ard el Hamma, which belonged to Naphtali. The reason is a weak one, though the situation would suit.

There is more probability in the conjecture that Beth-shemesh, which remained in the hands of the Canaanites ( Judges 1:33 ), has been preserved in the ruined village of Bessum (Rob. iii. p. 237), and that this new name is only a corruption of the old one, like Beth-shean and Beisan. It is probable that the eastern portion of the northern boundary of Issachar, towards Naphtali, ran in a north-easterly direction from Tabor through the plain to Kefr Sabt, and thence to the Jordan along the Wady Bessum. It is not stated how far the territory of Issachar ran down the valley of the Jordan (see the remarks on Joshua 17:11 ).