Joshua 14-15

Contemporary English Version

The Land West of the Jordan River

14 ^1-5^(A) Nine and a half tribes still did not have any land, although two and a half tribes had already received land east of the Jordan River. Moses had divided that land among them, and he had also said that the Levi tribe would not receive a large region like the other tribes. Instead, the people of Levi would receive towns and the nearby pastures for their sheep, goats, and cattle. And since the descendants of Joseph had become the two tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, there were still nine and a half tribes that needed land. The Lord had told Moses that he would show those tribes^[a] how to divide up the land of Canaan.

When the priest Eleazar, Joshua, and the leaders of the families and tribes of Israel met to divide up the land of Canaan, the Lord showed them how to do it.

Joshua Gives Hebron to Caleb

⁶^(B) One day while the Israelites were still camped at Gilgal, Caleb the son of Jephunneh went to talk with Joshua. Caleb belonged to the Kenaz clan, and many other people from the Judah tribe went with Caleb. He told Joshua:

You know that back in Kadesh-Barnea the Lord talked to his prophet Moses about you and me. ⁷^(C) I was 40 years old at the time Moses sent me from Kadesh-Barnea into Canaan as a spy. When I came back and told him about the land, everything I said was true. ⁸The other spies said things that made our people afraid, but I completely trusted the Lord God. ⁹^(D) The same day I came back, Moses told me, “Since you were faithful to the Lord God, I promise that the places where you went as a spy will belong to you and your descendants forever.”

¹⁰Joshua, it was 45 years ago that the Lord told Moses to make that promise, and now I am 85. Even though Israel has moved from place to place in the desert, the Lord has kept me alive all this time as he said he would. ¹¹I'm just as strong today as I was then, and I can still fight as well in battle.

¹²So I'm asking you for the hill country that the Lord promised me that day. You were there. You heard the other spies talk about that part of the hill country and the large, walled towns where the Anakim^[b] live. But maybe the Lord will help me take their land, just as he promised.

¹³Joshua prayed that God would help Caleb, then he gave Hebron to Caleb and his descendants. ¹⁴And Hebron still belongs to Caleb's descendants, because he was faithful to the Lord God of Israel.

¹⁵Hebron used to be called Arba's Town,^[c] because Arba had been one of the greatest^[d] of the Anakim.

There was peace in the land.

Judah's Land

15 The clans of the Judah tribe were given land that went south along the border of Edom, and at its farthest point south it even reached the Zin Desert. ²Judah's southern border started at the south end of the Dead Sea. ³As it went west from there, it ran south of Scorpion Pass^[e] to Zin, and then came up from the south to Kadesh-Barnea. It continued past Hezron up to Addar, turned toward Karka, ⁴and ran along to Azmon. After that, it followed the Egyptian Gorge and ended at the Mediterranean Sea. This was also Israel's southern border.

⁵Judah's eastern border ran the full length of the Dead Sea.

The northern border started at the northern end of the Dead Sea.^[f] ⁶From there it went west up to Beth-Hoglah, continued north of Beth-Arabah, and went up to the Monument of Bohan,^[g] who belonged to the Reuben tribe. ⁷From there, it went to Trouble Valley^[h] and Debir,^[i] then turned north and went to Gilgal,^[j] which is on the north side of the valley across from Adummim Pass. It continued on to Enshemesh, Enrogel, ⁸and up through Hinnom Valley on the land sloping south from Jerusalem. The city of Jerusalem itself belonged to the Jebusites.

Next, the border went up to the top of the mountain on the west side of Hinnom Valley and at the north end of Rephaim Valley. ⁹At the top of the mountain it turned and went to Nephtoah Spring and then to the ruins^[k] on Mount Ephron. From there, it went to Baalah, which is now called Kiriath-Jearim.

¹⁰From Baalah the northern border curved west to Mount Seir and then ran along the northern ridge of Mount Jearim, where Chesalon is located. Then it went down to Beth-Shemesh^[l] and over to Timnah. ¹¹It continued along to the hillside north of Ekron, curved around to Shikkeron, and then went to Mount Baalah. After going to Jabneel, the border finally ended at the Mediterranean Sea, ¹²which was Judah's western border.

The clans of Judah lived within these borders.

Caleb's Land

(Judges 1.12-15)

¹³^(E) Joshua gave Caleb some land among the people of Judah, as God had told him to do. Caleb's share was Hebron, which at that time was known as Arba's Town,^[m] because Arba was the famous ancestor of the Anakim.^[n]

¹⁴Caleb attacked Hebron and forced the three Anakim clans of^[o] Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai to leave. ¹⁵Next, Caleb started a war with the town of Debir, which at that time was called Kiriath-Sepher. ¹⁶He told his men, “The man who captures Kiriath-Sepher can marry my daughter Achsah.”

¹⁷Caleb's nephew Othniel^[p] captured Kiriath-Sepher, and Caleb let him marry Achsah. ¹⁸Right after the wedding, Achsah started telling Othniel that he^[q] ought to ask her father for a field. She went to see her father, and while she was getting down from^[r] her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What's bothering you?”

¹⁹She answered, “I need your help. The land you gave me is in the Southern Desert, so I really need some spring-fed ponds^[s] for a water supply.”

Caleb gave her a couple of small ponds, named Higher Pond and Lower Pond.^[t]

Towns in Judah's Land

²⁰The following is a list of the towns in each region given to the Judah clans:

^21-32The first region was located in the Southern Desert along the border with Edom, and it had the following 29 towns with their surrounding villages:

Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur, Kinah, Dimonah, Aradah,^[u] Kedesh, Hazor of Ithnan,^[v] Ziph, Telem, Bealoth, Hazor-Hadattah, Kerioth-Hezron, which is also called Hazor, Amam, Shema, Moladah, Hazar-Gaddah, Heshmon, Beth-Pelet, Hazar-Shual, Beersheba and its surrounding villages,^[w] Baalah, Iim, Ezem, Eltolad, Chesil, Hormah, Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah, Lebaoth, Shilhim, and Enrimmon.^[x]

^33-36The second region was located in the northern part of the lower foothills, and it had the following 14 towns with their surrounding villages:

Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah, Zanoah, En-Gannim, Tappuah, Enam, Jarmuth, Adullam, Socoh, Azekah, Shaaraim, Adithaim, Gederah, and Gederothaim.

^37-41The third region was located in the southern part of the lower foothills, and it had the following 16 towns with their surrounding villages:

Zenan, Hadashah, Migdalgad, Dilan, Mizpeh, Joktheel, Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon, Cabbon, Lahmas,^[y] Chitlish, Gederoth, Beth-Dagon, Naamah, and Makkedah.

^42-44The fourth region was located in the central part of the lower foothills, and it had the following nine towns with their surrounding villages:

Libnah, Ether, Ashan, Iphtah, Ashnah, Nezib, Keilah, Achzib, and Mareshah.

^45-47The fifth region was located along the Mediterranean seacoast, and it had the following towns with their surrounding settlements and villages:

Ekron and the towns between there and the coast, Ashdod and the larger towns nearby, Gaza, the towns from Gaza to the Egyptian Gorge, and the towns along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

^48-51The sixth region was in the southwestern part of the hill country, and it had the following eleven towns with their surrounding villages:

Shamir, Jattir, Socoh, Dannah, Kiriath-Sannah, which is now called Debir, Anab, Eshtemoh,^[z] Anim, Goshen, Holon, and Giloh.

^52-54The seventh region was located in the south-central part of Judah's hill country, and it had the following nine towns with their surrounding villages:

Arab, Dumah,^[aa] Eshan, Janim, Beth-Tappuah, Aphekah, Humtah, Kiriath-Arba, which is now called Hebron, and Zior.

^55-57The eighth region was located in the southeastern part of the hill country, and it had the following ten towns with their surrounding villages:

Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah, Jezreel,^[ab] Jokdeam,^[ac] Zanoah, Kain, Gibeah,^[ad] and Timnah.

^58-59The ninth region was located in the central part of Judah's hill country, and it had the following six towns with their surrounding villages:

Halhul, Beth-Zur, Gedor, Maarath, Beth-Anoth, and Eltekon.

The tenth region was located in the north-central part of Judah's hill country, and it had the following eleven towns with their surrounding villages:

Tekoa, Ephrath, which is also called Bethlehem, Peor, Etam, Culon, Tatam, Shoresh, Kerem, Gallim, Bether, and Manahath.^[ae]

⁶⁰The eleventh region was located in the northern part of Judah's hill country, and it had the following two towns with their surrounding villages:

Rabbah, and Kiriath-Baal, which is also called Kiriath-Jearim.

^61-62The twelfth region was located in the desert along the Dead Sea, and it had the following six towns with their surrounding villages:

Beth-Arabah, Middin, Secacah, Nibshan, Salt Town, and En-Gedi.

The Jebusites

⁶³^(F) The Jebusites lived in Jerusalem, and the people of the Judah tribe could not capture the city and get rid of them. That's why Jebusites still live in Jerusalem along with the people of Judah.^[af]

Footnotes

14.1-5 he would show those tribes: The Hebrew text has “those tribes must cast lots to find out.” Pieces of wood or stone (called “lots”) were used to find out what God wanted his people to do.
14.12 Anakim: See the note at 11.21.
14.15 Arba's Town: Or “Kiriath-Arba.”
14.15 Arba's Town, because … greatest: Hebrew; one ancient translation “Arba's Town. It was one of the main towns.”
15.3 Scorpion Pass: Or “Akrabbim Pass.”
15.5 at … Dead Sea: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
15.6 Monument of Bohan: Or “Bohan Rock,” possibly a natural rock formation.
15.7 Trouble Valley: Or “Achor Valley.”
15.7 Debir: Not the same town as in 10.38,39.
15.7 Gilgal: Not the same “Gilgal” as in 4.19.
15.9 ruins: Hebrew; one ancient translation “towns.”
15.10 Beth-Shemesh: Probably the same town as the Ir-Shemesh of 19.41-46. Two other towns were also named Beth-Shemesh (see 19.17-23 and 19.35-39).
15.13 Arba's Town: See the note at 14.15.
15.13 Anakim: See the note at 11.21.
15.14 clans of: Or “warriors.”
15.17 Caleb's nephew Othniel: Hebrew “Othniel the son of Caleb's brother Kenaz.”
15.18 Achsah … Othniel … he: Hebrew; one manuscript of one ancient translation and two ancient translations of the parallel in Judges 1.14 “Othniel … Achsah … she.”
15.18 getting down from: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
15.19 spring-fed ponds: Or “wells.”
15.19 small ponds … Pond … Pond: Or “wells … Well … Well.”
15.21-32 Aradah: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
15.21-32 Hazor of Ithnan: One ancient translation; Hebrew “Hazor and Ithnan.”
15.21-32 its … villages: One ancient translation; Hebrew “Biziothiah.”
15.21-32 Enrimmon: One ancient translation; Hebrew “Ain and Rimmon.”
15.37-41 Lahmas: Most Hebrew manuscripts; many other Hebrew manuscripts and one manuscript of one ancient translation “Lahmam.”
15.48-51 Eshtemoh: Another spelling for the name Eshtemoa (see 21.9-19).
15.52-54 Dumah: Most Hebrew manuscripts; some Hebrew manuscripts and one ancient translation “Rumah.”
15.55-57 Jezreel: Not the same Jezreel as in 19.17-23.
15.55-57 Jokdeam: Hebrew; one ancient translation “Jorkeam.”
15.55-57 Gibeah: Not the same Gibeah as in 18.25-28.
15.58,59 The tenth region … Manahath: One ancient translation; the Hebrew text does not have these words.
15.63 Jebusites … Judah: Israel captured Jerusalem in King David's time, but even then the Jebusites were not forced to leave.