Joshua 19:37

Which in the Jerusalem Targum is called Zapherin; and Jerom {s} says, that in his time this city was called Zephyrium, a town in Cilicia; but this seems to be at too great a distance: and the goings out of it shall be at Hazarenan; which was the utmost of the northern border, and so it is in Ezekiel 47:17 and there called the border of Damascus: Reland {t} takes it to be the same with Enhazor, a city in the tribe of Naphtali, Joshua 19:37, the words only inverted: this shall be your northern border: from the Mediterranean sea to Hazarenan in Naphtali. {s} Comment. in ver. 15. {t} Palestin. lllustrat. par. 1. l. 1. p. 123. Numbers 34:10 Ver. 10. And ye shall point out your east border from Hazarenan to Shepham. From the place where the northern border ended, which Jerom says {u} the Hebrews call Apamia, as both the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem do here. Shepham was a city between Hazarenan and Riblah in the tribe of Naphtali, where Adrichomius {w} places it. {u} Comment. ut supra. (cf. ver. 15.) {w} Theatrum Terrae Sanct. p. 114. Numbers 34:11 Ver. 11. And the coast shall go down from Shepham to Riblah,....

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 Kedesh,.... This is Kedesh in Galilee, in Mount Naphtali, to distinguish it from others of the same name; it was one of the cities of refuge, Joshua 20:7 . Jerom says (m) in his day it was called Cidissus, and was twenty miles from Tyre by Paneas; See Gill on Joshua 12:22 . and Edrei is a different place from one of that name in the kingdom of Og, Numbers 21:33, and Enhazor, of which we read nowhere else. (m) Ut supra, (De loc. Heb.) fol. 90. B.

37 . Kedesh ] or Kedesh Naphtali ( = “ the Holy Place of Naphtali ”), see above, ch. Joshua 12:22 , originally, as we have seen, was a royal, and probably a sacred city of the Canaanites. It was conquered by Joshua (ch. Joshua 12:22 ), and made subsequently “a city of refuge.” Here ( a ) Barak was born; here ( b ) he was when Deborah summoned him to fight the battle of his country; hither ( c ) the prophetess came with him; and hence ( d ) having rallied the warriors of Zebulun and Naphtali he marched with 10000 men to Tabor ( Jdg 4:1-10 ). Edrei, and En-hazor ] are unknown. This Edrei must not be confounded with the well-known Edrei in Bashan.

34. Aznoth-tabor—on the east of Tabor towards the Jordan, for the border ran thence to Hukkok, touching upon that of Zebulun; and as the territory of Zebulun did not extend as far as the Jordan, Aznoth-tabor and Hukkok must have been border towns on the line which separated Naphtali from Issachar. to Judah upon Jordan toward the sunrising—The sixty cities, Havoth-jair, which were on the eastern side of the Jordan, opposite Naphtali, were reckoned as belonging to Judah, because Jair, their possessor, was a descendant of Judah (1Ch 2:4-22) [Keil].

The number of the fortified cities of Naphtali is remarkable, though it does not tally with the catalogue. It was no doubt good policy to protect the northern frontier by a belt of fortresses, as the south was protected by the fenced cities of Judah. Hammath, a Levitical city (compare Joshua 21:32 ; 1 Chronicles 6:76 ), is not to be confounded with the Hamath on the northeastern frontier of the land Numbers 13:21 . The name (from a root signifying "to be warm") probably indicates that hot springs existed here; and is perhaps rightly traced in Ammaus, near Tiberias. Rakkath was, according to the rabbis, rebuilt by Herod and called Tiberias. The name ("bank, shore") suits the site of Tiberias very well. Migdal-el, perhaps the Magdala of Matthew 15:39 , is now the miserable village of "El Mejdel."

Verse 37. - Kedesh (see Joshua 12:22 ). It was the residence of Barak ( Judges 4:6 ). Known to Josephus (Bell. Jud., 4.2.3.) as Cydoessa, to Eusebius and Jerome as Cydissus; it is now Kedes (see Robinson, 'Later Biblical Researches'). Edrei . Not the Edrei of Og, which was beyond Jordan. Joshua 19:37

Kedesh (see at Joshua 12:2 ). Edrei, a different place from the town of the same name in Bashan ( Joshua 1:2 , Joshua 1:4 ), is still unknown. En-hazor is probably to be sought for in Bell Hazur and Ain Hazur, which is not very far distant, on the south-west of Rameh, though the ruins upon Tell Hazur are merely the ruins of an ordinary village, with one single cistern that has fallen to pieces (Rob. Bibl. Res. pp. 80, 81).

(15) The eighth division is the upper valley of the Jordan, south of Mount Hermon, including part of the north-west coast of the sea of Gennesareth and the water of Merom. In it lie Hazor, forming the centre of the native confederacy of the north, and the Levitical city of refuge, Kedesh-Naphtali ( Joshua 12:22 ; Joshua 19:37 ; Judges 4:6 ).

Verse 72. - Kedesh . There were three places of this name. 1. Kedesh, at the extreme south of Judah ( Joshua 15:23 ; Joshua 19:20, 21 ), perhaps the same with Kadesh-barnea ( Joshua 15:3 ). 2. The Kedesh of this verse, perhaps the same with the Kedesh of Joshua 13:22 ; it is called Kishon in Joshua 21:28 . 3. The Kedesh of ver. 76, i.e. Kedesh in Galilee, one of the cities of refuge in the tribe of Naphtali (Joshua 19: 37; 20:7; 21:32; Judges 4:6-10 ). Daberath (Authorized Version, Dabaroh, Joshua 21:28 ); mentioned as on the boundary of Zebulun in Joshua 19:12 . 1 Chronicles 6:72