Joshua 15

¹The lot for the tribe of Judah by their clans fell toward the boundary of Edom, the wilderness of Zin in the Negeb, in the extreme south.[#Nm 34:3.]

²Their southern boundary ran from the end of the Salt Sea, from the tongue of land that faces the Negeb,[#Nm 34:3–12.; #: the Dead Sea. The “tongue,” a prominent feature of the landscape, is a spit of land thrusting into the Dead Sea from its eastern shore; it is now called by its Arabic name, ’el lisân , “tongue.”]

³and went southward below the pass of Akrabbim, across through Zin, up to a point south of Kadesh-barnea, across to Hezron, and up to Addar; from there, looping around Karka,

⁴it crossed to Azmon and then joined the Wadi of Egypt before coming out at the sea. (This is your southern boundary.)[#: the natural boundary between Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula.]

⁵The eastern boundary was the Salt Sea as far as the mouth of the Jordan.

The northern boundary climbed northward from the tongue of the sea, toward the mouth of the Jordan,

⁶up to Beth-hoglah, and ran north of Beth-arabah, up to Eben-Bohan-ben-Reuben.[#Jos 18:18–19, 22.]

⁷Thence the boundary climbed to Debir, north of the Valley of Achor, in the direction of the Gilgal that faces the pass of Adummim, on the south side of the wadi; from there it crossed to the waters of En-shemesh and emerged at En-rogel.[#Jos 7:26; 18:16–18.]

⁸Climbing again to the Valley of Ben-hinnom on the southern flank of the Jebusites (that is, Jerusalem), the boundary rose to the top of the mountain at the northern end of the Valley of Rephaim, which bounds the Valley of Hinnom on the west.[#: the southern limit of Jerusalem. Ben-hinnom means “son of Hinnom.” The place was also called Valley of Hinnom, in Hebrew ge-hinnom , whence the word “Gehenna” is derived.; #Jos 18:16.]

⁹From the top of the mountain it ran to the fountain of waters of Nephtoah, extended to the cities of Mount Ephron, and continued to Baalah, or Kiriath-jearim.[#Jos 18:15.]

¹⁰From Baalah the boundary curved westward to Mount Seir and passed north of the ridge of Mount Jearim (that is, Chesalon); it descended to Beth-shemesh, and ran across to Timnah.

¹¹It then extended along the northern flank of Ekron, continued through Shikkeron, and across to Mount Baalah, from there to include Jabneel, before it came out at the sea.

¹²The western boundary was the Great Sea and its coast. This was the complete boundary of the Judahites by their clans.[#: the Mediterranean.]

Conquest by Caleb.

¹³As the Lord had commanded, Joshua gave Caleb, son of Jephunneh, a portion among the Judahites, namely, Kiriath-arba (Arba was the father of Anak), that is, Hebron.[#Jgs 1:10–15.; #Jos 14:13–15.]

¹⁴And Caleb dispossessed from there the three Anakim, the descendants of Anak: Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.[#Nm 13:22; Jgs 1:20.]

¹⁵From there he marched up against the inhabitants of Debir, which was formerly called Kiriath-sepher.[#Jos 10:38.]

¹⁶Caleb said, “To the man who attacks Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give my daughter Achsah in marriage.”

¹⁷Othniel captured it, the son of Caleb’s brother Kenaz; so Caleb gave him his daughter Achsah in marriage.[#The story of Othniel is told again in Jgs 1:13–15; cf. also Jgs 3:9–11.]

¹⁸When she came to him, she induced him to ask her father for some land. Then, as she alighted from the donkey, Caleb asked her, “What do you want?”

¹⁹She answered, “Give me a present! Since you have assigned to me land in the Negeb, give me also pools of water.” So he gave her the upper and the lower pools.

Cities of Judah.

²⁰This is the heritage of the tribe of Judahites by their clans:

²¹The cities of the tribe of the Judahites in the extreme southern district toward Edom were: Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur,

²²Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah,

²³Kedesh, Hazor, and Ithnan;

²⁴Ziph, Telem, Bealoth,

²⁵Hazor-hadattah, and Kerioth-hezron (that is, Hazor);

²⁶Amam, Shema, Moladah,

²⁷Hazar-gaddah, Heshmon, Beth-pelet,

²⁸Hazar-shual, Beer-sheba, and Biziothiah;

²⁹Baalah, Iim, Ezem,

³⁰Eltolad, Chesil, Hormah,

³¹Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah,

³²Lebaoth, Shilhim, and Ain and Rimmon; a total of twenty-nine cities with their villages.

³³In the Shephelah: Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah,

³⁴Zanoah, Engannim, Tappuah, Enam,

³⁵Jarmuth, Adullam, Socoh, Azekah,

³⁶Shaaraim, Adithaim, Gederah, and Gederothaim; fourteen cities and their villages.

³⁷Zenan, Hadashah, Migdal-gad,

³⁸Dilean, Mizpeh, Joktheel,

³⁹Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon,

⁴⁰Cabbon, Lahmas, Chitlish,

⁴¹Gederoth, Beth-dagon, Naamah, and Makkedah; sixteen cities and their villages.

⁴²Libnah, Ether, Ashan,

⁴³Iphtah, Ashnah, Nezib,

⁴⁴Keilah, Achzib, and Mareshah; nine cities and their villages.

⁴⁵Ekron and its towns and villages;

⁴⁶from Ekron to the sea, all the towns that lie alongside Ashdod, and their villages;

⁴⁷Ashdod and its towns and villages; Gaza and its towns and villages, as far as the Wadi of Egypt and the coast of the Great Sea.

⁴⁸In the mountain regions: Shamir, Jattir, Socoh,

⁴⁹Dannah, Kiriath-sannah (that is, Debir),

⁵⁰Anab, Eshtemoh, Anim,

⁵¹Goshen, Holon, and Giloh; eleven cities and their villages.

⁵²Arab, Dumah, Eshan,

⁵³Janim, Beth-tappuah, Aphekah,

⁵⁴Humtah, Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), and Zior; nine cities and their villages.

⁵⁵Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah,

⁵⁶Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah,

⁵⁷Kain, Gibbeah, and Timnah; ten cities and their villages.

⁵⁸Halhul, Beth-zur, Gedor,

⁵⁹Maarath, Beth-anoth, and Eltekon; six cities and their villages. Tekoa, Ephrathah (that is, Bethlehem), Peor, Etam, Kulom, Tatam, Zores, Karim, Gallim, Bether, and Manoko; eleven cities and their villages.

⁶⁰Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim) and Rabbah; two cities and their villages.[#Jos 18:14.]

⁶¹In the wilderness: Beth-arabah, Middin, Secacah,[#: in the Jordan rift near the Dead Sea.]

⁶²Nibshan, Ir-hamelah, and En-gedi; six cities and their villages.

⁶³But the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem the Judahites could not dispossess; so the Jebusites dwell in Jerusalem beside the Judahites to the present day.[#Jgs 1:21; 2 Sm 5:6.]