Joshua 19:50

50 by the commandment of the Lord, the city which he asked (for), Timnathserah, in the hill (country) of Ephraim; and he builded the city, and dwelled therein (and lived there).

Joshua 19:50 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 19:50

According to the word of the Lord
Or mouth of the Lord; either according to the oracle of Urim and Thummim, which Eleazar consulted on this occasion; or according to what the Lord had said to Moses, at the same time that Hebron was ordered to Caleb, ( Joshua 14:6 ) ; and

they gave him the city which he asked, [even] Timnathserah in Mount
Ephraim;
he chose a place in his own tribe, for he was of the tribe of Ephraim; and it seems that what he chose was none of the best of places; for Paula, as Jerom ^F9 relates, when she travelled into those parts, wondered that the distributor of the possessions of the children of Israel should choose such a rough and mountainous place for himself; of its situation, see ( Joshua 24:30 ) ;

and he built the city, and dwelt therein;
he rebuilt it, and fitted it for his own habitation, and for those that belonged to him.

(Timnathserah means "an abundant portion" or "a place in the sun". Joshua great reward was in seeing the promises of God fulfilled before his very eyes ( Joshua 21:45 ) ( 23:14 ) and the children of Israel serving the Lord's during his lifetime ( Joshua 24:31 ) . Joshua may have received but a small inheritance in the promised land but this was just an earnest of his future glorious inheritance in eternity. The saints of God have the best portion saved for the last ( John 2:10 ) whereas the worldling has his best portion now; his worst is yet to come. Editor.)

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FOOTNOTES:

F9 Epitaph. Paulae, fol. 59. L.

Joshua 19:50 In-Context

48 This is the possession of the lineage of Dan, by their families, the cities, and the towns of those.

49 And when they had fulfilled to part the land by lot to all men by their lineages, the sons of Israel gave (a) possession to Joshua, the son of Nun, in the midst of them,

50 by the commandment of the Lord, the city which he asked (for), Timnathserah, in the hill (country) of Ephraim; and he builded the city, and dwelled therein (and lived there).

51 These be the possessions which Eleazar, the priest, and Joshua, the son of Nun, and the princes of the families, and of the lineages of the sons of Israel (and the heads of the families of the tribes of the Israelites), parted by lot in Shiloh, before the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle of (the) witnessing; and (so) they parted the land.