Joshua 15:2

2 Their southern border began at the tip of the Dead Sea on the south bay^[a]

Joshua 15:2 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 15:2

And their south border was from the shore of the salt sea
Sometimes called the dead sea, the sea of Sodom, and the lake Asphaltites, which, as Jarchi observes, was southeast of the land of Israel:

from the bay that looketh southward;
or the "tongue", as the Hebrew, which the Targum and Kimchi interpret of a rock or promontory, the point that ran out into the sea, looking to the southeast.

Joshua 15:2 In-Context

1 Now the allotment for the tribe of the descendants of Judah by their clans was in the southernmost region, south of the wilderness of Zin to the border of Edom.

2 Their southern border began at the tip of the Dead Sea on the south bay

3 and went south of the ascent of Akrabbim, proceeded to Zin, ascended to the south of Kadesh-barnea, passed Hezron, ascended to Addar, and turned to Karka.

4 It proceeded to Azmon and to the Brook of Egypt and so the border ended at the Mediterranean Sea. This is your southern border.

5 Now the eastern border was along the Dead Sea to the mouth of the Jordan. The border on the north side was from the bay of the sea at the mouth of the Jordan.

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit Sea at the tongue that turns southward