Joshua 19:43

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 Elon,.... Of Elon no mention is made elsewhere: and Thimnathah is a different place from Timnah in the tribe of Judah, Joshua 15:10. Jerom (s) speaks of the Thamnitic country, so called from the village Thamna, which seems to be this: and Ekron was one of the five principalities of the Philistines, and never possessed by the Israelites; it first fell by lot to the tribe of Judah, and afterwards given to the tribe of Dan, Joshua 15:45. (s) De loc. Heb. fol. 88. E.

Jos 19:40-48. Of Dan. 40-46. the seventh lot came out for the tribe … Dan—It lay on the west of Benjamin and consisted of portions surrendered by Judah and Ephraim. Its boundaries are not stated, as they were easily distinguishable from the relative position of Dan to the three adjoining tribes.

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."

Elon, which is mentioned again in 1 Kings 4:9 , with the addition of Beth-hanan, has not yet been traced; according to Knobel, it "may possibly be Ellin, near Timnath and Beth-shemesh, mentioned by Robinson in his Pal. vol. iii. App." Thimna (Thimnathah) and Ekron, on the boundary of Judah (see at Joshua 15:10-11 ).

Bendeker was in Makaz, a city only mentioned here, the situation of which is unknown, but which is at any rate to be sought for in the tribe of Dan, to which the other cities of this district belong. Shaalbim has probably been preserved in the present Selbit, to the north-west of Ylo (see at Joshua 19:42 ). Bethshemesh, the present Ain-Shems (see at Joshua 15:10 ). Elon (אילון), which is distinguished from Ajalon ( Joshua 19:42 and Joshua 19:43 ) by the epithet Bethchanan, and belonged to the tribe of Dan, has not yet been discovered (see at Joshua 19:43 ). The lxx have arbitrarily interpolated ἕως before Bethchanan, and Thenius naturally takes this under his protection, and consequently traces Bethchanan in the village of Beit Hunn (Rob. Pal. ii. p. 371), but without considering that ἕως yields no reasonable sense unless preceded by מן, ἐκ (from; cf. 1 Kings 4:12 ).

But when Thamar, after waiting a long time, saw that Shelah had grown up and yet was not given to her as a husband, she determined to procure children from Judah himself, who had become a widower in the meantime; and his going to Timnath to the sheep-shearing afforded her a good opportunity. The time mentioned ("the days multiplied," i.e., a long time passed by) refers not to the statement which follows, that Judah's wife died, but rather to the leading thought of the verse, viz., Judah's going to the sheep-shearing. ויּנּחם: he comforted himself, i.e., he ceased to mourn. Timnath is not the border town of Dan and Judah between Beth-shemesh and Ekron in the plain ( Joshua 15:10 ; Joshua 19:43 ), but Timnah on the mountains of Judah ( Joshua 15:57 , cf. Rob. Pal. ii. 343, note), as the expression "went up" shows. The sheep-shearing was a fte with shepherds, and was kept with great feasting. Judah therefore took his friend Hirah with him; a fact noticed in Genesis 38:12 in relation to what follows.

Verse 9. - The son of Dekar [ Ben. Dekar ] , in Makaz [unknown otherwise], and in Shaalbim [ Joshua 19:42 ; Judges 1:35 ] and Beth-shemesh [called Irshemesh, Joshua 19:41 . Now Ain Shemes ] , and Elon-beth-hanan. [Elon, Joshua 19:43 . Probably Beth-hanan is a different place, the "and" ( ו ) having accidentally dropped out of the text. The LXX. ( ἕως Βηθανὰν ) favours this view. It has been identified by Robinson with Beit Hunun. This second district embraces Daniel] 1 Kings 4:9