Joshua 15:9

9 then the boundary extends from the top of the mountain to the spring of the Waters of Nephto'ah, and from there to the cities of Mount Ephron; then the boundary bends round to Ba'alah (that is, Kir'iath-je'arim);

Joshua 15:9 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 15:9

And the border was drawn from the top of the hill
Mount Moriah, and went round in a circuit, so Jarchi and Kimchi:

unto the fountain of the water of Nephtoah;
which lay at the bottom of it; which, according to the Jewish writers, is the same with the fountain of Etam, from whence a stream flowed to the dipping room in the water gate of the temple, where the high priest for the first time dipped himself on the day of atonement ^F16;

and went out to the cities of Mount Ephron;
Jerom ^F17 speaks of an Ephron in the tribe of Judah, which was a very large village in his time, and went by the name of Ephraea, and was twenty miles from Aelia or Jerusalem to the north; and which Eusebius better places eight miles from it; and Jarchi observes, that the line went to the north side, and the border enlarged to this place; near to this mountain were cities, and it is not improbable that one of them might have its name from it; but whether this, or what mountain is here meant, is uncertain: some have thought of Ephraim, with its towns, mentioned in ( 2 Chronicles 13:19 ) ; which seems to have been in the tribe of Ephraim; though Reland ^F18 places it in the tribe of Benjamin:

and the border was drawn to Baalah, which [is] Kirjathjearim;
called Kirjathbaal, or the city of Baal, ( Joshua 15:60 ) ; where it is probable there was a temple of Baal; and when it came into the hands of the Israelites, they changed its name to Kirjathjearim, or the city of the woods, because of the great number of trees which grew about it; for which reason it might have been pitched upon by the Heathens for their idolatrous service; it was one of the cities of the Gibeonites, ( Joshua 9:17 ) ; and, according to Eusebius and Jerom ^F19, it was nine or ten miles from Jerusalem, as you go to Lydda; it is also called Baalah in ( 1 Chronicles 13:6 ) ; and Baale of Judah, ( 2 Samuel 6:2 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F16 T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 31. 1. & Gloss. in ib. & T. Bab. Zebachim, fol. 54. 2. Kimchi in loc.
F17 De loc. Heb. fol. 91. A.
F18 Palestin. Illustrat. tom. 2. p. 765.
F19 Apud ib. tom. 1. p. 488.

Joshua 15:9 In-Context

7 and the boundary goes up to Debir from the Valley of Achor, and so northward, turning toward Gilgal, which is opposite the ascent of Adum'mim, which is on the south side of the valley; and the boundary passes along to the waters of En-she'mesh, and ends at En-ro'gel;

8 then the boundary goes up by the valley of the son of Hinnom at the southern shoulder of the Jeb'usite (that is, Jerusalem); and the boundary goes up to the top of the mountain that lies over against the valley of Hinnom, on the west, at the northern end of the valley of Reph'aim;

9 then the boundary extends from the top of the mountain to the spring of the Waters of Nephto'ah, and from there to the cities of Mount Ephron; then the boundary bends round to Ba'alah (that is, Kir'iath-je'arim);

10 and the boundary circles west of Ba'alah to Mount Se'ir, passes along to the northern shoulder of Mount Je'arim (that is, Ches'alon), and goes down to Beth-she'mesh, and passes along by Timnah;

11 the boundary goes out to the shoulder of the hill north of Ekron, then the boundary bends round to Shik'keron, and passes along to Mount Ba'alah, and goes out to Jabneel; then the boundary comes to an end at the sea.