Joshua 19:30

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.

Ummah also,.... Ummah is not mentioned any where else: and Aphek; of which; see Gill on Joshua 12:18, and Rehob; of which; see Gill on Joshua 19:28, twenty and two cities with their villages: there are more set down in the account, but some of them did not belong to the tribe, only were on the border of it.

30 . Ummah also ] Of the three cities here mentioned, Ummah, Aphek , and Rehob , the first and third are unknown. Aphek apparently lay in the extreme north of Asher, and is probably the same place as that alluded to above, ch. Joshua 13:4 , beyond Sidon, the Aphaca of classical, and the Afka of modern, times. twenty and two cities ] Which number does not correspond with the cities given, and at present the explanation is not clear.

29. and then the coast turneth to Ramah—now El-Hamra, which stood where the Leontes (Litany) ends its southern course and flows westward. and to the strong city Tyre—The original city appears to have stood on the mainland, and was well-fortified. From Tyre the boundary ran to Hosah, an inland town; and then, passing the unconquered district of Achzib (Jud 1:31), terminated at the seacoast.

These verses refer to the northern portion of the territory of Asher, on the Phoenician frontier. Some names may have dropped out of the text, the number Joshua 19:30 not tallying with the catalogue. Ramah still retains its ancient name, and lies about twelve miles southeast of Tyre. Achzib is the modern "Zib," on the coast, eight or nine miles north of Acre.

Verse 30. - Aphek (see Joshua 13:4 ). Twenty and two cities with their villages. The difficulty of tracing the boundary of Asher seems to be that it was traced, not by a line plainly marking out the territory, but less accurately, by a reference to the relative position of its principal cities. Joshua 19:30

"And the boundary turned (probably from the territory of Sidon) to Ramah, to the fortified town of Zor." Robinson supposes that Rama is to be found in the village of Rameh, on the south-east of Tyre, where several ancient sarcophagi are to be seen (Bibl. Res. p. 63). "The fortified town of Zor," i.e., Tyre, is not the insular Tyre, but the town of Tyre, which was on the mainland, the present Sur, which is situated by the sea-coast, in a beautiful and fertile plain (see Ritter, Erdk. xvii. p. 320, and Movers, Phnizier, ii. 1, pp. 118ff.). "And the boundary turned to Hosah, and the outgoings thereof were at the sea, by the side of the district of Achzib." Hosah is unknown, as the situation of Kausah, near to the Rameh already mentioned (Rob. Bibl. Res. p. 61), does not suit in this connection. מחבל, lit. from the district, i.e., by the side of it. Achzib, where the Asherites dwelt with the Canaanites ( Judges 1:31-32 ), is the Ekdippa of the Greeks and Romans, according to the Onom. (s. v. Achziph) nine Roman miles, or according to the Itiner. Hieros. p. 584, twelve miles to the north of Acco by the sea, the present Zib, a very large village, three good hours to the north of Acre, - a place on the sea-coast, with considerable ruins of antiquity (see Ges.

Thes. p. 674; Seetzen, ii. p. 109; Ritter, xvi. pp. 811-12). - In Joshua 19:30 three separate towns are mentioned, which were probably situated in the eastern part of the northern district of Asher, whereas the border towns mentioned in Joshua 19:28 and Joshua 19:29 describe this district in its western half. Ummah (lxx Ἀμμά) may perhaps have been preserved in Kefr Ammeih, upon the Lebanon, to the south of Hammana, in the district of Jurd (Rob. iii. App.; Ritter, xvii. p. 710). Aphek is the present Afka (see at Joshua 13:4 ). Rehob cannot be traced with certainty. If it is Hub, as Knobel supposes, and the name Hub, which is borne by a Maronite monastery upon Lebanon, in the diocese of el-Jebail (to the north-east of Jebail), is a corruption of Rehob, this would be the northernmost town of Asher (see Seetzen, i. pp. 187ff., and Ritter, xvii. p. 791). The number "twenty-two towns and their villages" does not tally, as there are twenty-three towns mentioned in Joshua 19:26-30 , if we include Sidon, Tyre, and Achzib, according to Judges 1:31-32 . The only way in which the numbers can be made to agree is to reckon Nehiel ( Joshua 19:27 ) as identical with Neah ( Joshua 19:13 ). But this point cannot be determined with certainty, as the Asherites received other towns, such as Acco and Aclaph, which are wanting in this list, and may possibly have simply fallen out.

[Reformed Biblical] Hammath, or, Hamath ; of which see #Numbers 34:8 1 Kings 8:65 2 Kings 23:33 . ## Chinnereth; whence the lake of Chinnereth or Gennesaret received its name. Ver. 36. No text from Poole on this verse. Ver. 37. No text from Poole on this verse. ## Ver. 38. Nineteen cities: See Poole "Joshua 19:15" , See Poole "Joshua 19:22" , See Poole "Joshua 19:30" . Ver. 39. No text from Poole on this verse. Ver. 40. No text from Poole on this verse. ## Ver. 41. Their inheritance; which is here described only by its cities, not by its borders, which are in part the same with Judah’s; and their inheritance is in good part taken out of Judah’s too large portion, as appears from divers of the cities here mentioned, which are also reckoned as in Judah’s portion. Ver. 42. No text from Poole on this verse. Ver. 43. No text from Poole on this verse. Ver. 44. No text from Poole on this verse. Ver. 45. No text from Poole on this verse. Ver. 46. No text from Poole on this verse. ## Ver. 47. Went out too little for them, Heb. went out from them , to wit, out of their hands or possession; for so this Hebrew word is used concerning those lands, which in the year of the jubilee are said to go out , #Leviticus 25:28,30,31,33 , i.e. out of the hands of the present possessor, to the first and ancient owner. And so peradventure this may signify that many of the Danites were forced by their powerful neighbors the Philistines to relinquish their coast, and their allotted habitations; which put them upon the following course.

THE CITIES OF THE GERSHONITES. (Camp. Joshua 21:27-33.) 1Chronicles 6:71-76. (71) Unto the sons of Gershom.—Supply they gave, from 1Chronicles 6:67. Golan in Bashan (comp. the classical Gaulanitis, a district east of the sea of Galilee) was a city of refuge, like Hebron and Shechem. Ashtaroth.—Images of Ashtoreth (Astarte, queen of heaven); a name like Anathoth (1Chronicles 6:60), which means “images of Anath,” or Anatum, the consort of Anurn (the sky). The two cities must have been ancient seats of the worship of Ashtoreth and Anath. The names still survive in Tell-Ashtereh and Anâta. Joshua (50100) reads Be’eshterah—perhaps a popular pronunciation of Beth-Ashterah (house of Ashtoreth). (72) Kedesh means “sanctuary.” Joshua 19:20; Joshua 21:28 has Kishion, which may have borne the other name, as being the seat of a famous sanctuary. (73) Ramoth.—In Joshua 21 Jarmuth, but in Joshua 19:21 Remeth. Jarmuth occurs in Joshua 12:11, and is probably right. Anem.—Joshua 21:29; Joshua 19:21 has En-gannim. Joshua 15:34 mentions a Judæan city called ha-Enam (the two fountains), and that not far from En-gannim (fount of gardens). Anem is very much like Enam. (74) Mashal is perhaps a popular pronunciation of Mish’al (Joshua 21:30; Joshua 19:26). (Comp. Shēlâh = She’ēlâh.) (75) Hukok.—Helkath (Joshua 19:25). Hukkôk was a city of Naphtali (Joshua 19:34). (76) Kedesh in Galilee.—A city of refuge (Joshua 21:32); the modern Kedes.