Joshua 19:15

15 Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem; twelve cities and their villages.

Joshua 19:15 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 19:15

And Kattath, and Nahallal
Of the two first of these we read nowhere else, but in ( Joshua 21:34 Joshua 21:35 ) ( Judges 1:30 ) ;

and Shimron
was a royal city, the king of which Joshua took and hanged, ( Joshua 11:1 ) ( 12:20 ) ;

and Idalah
is a place Bochart conjectures ^F20 where the goddess Venus was worshipped, Idalia being one of her names;

and Bethlehem
is a different place from that which was the birthplace of our Lord, called Bethlehem of Judah, to distinguish it from this:

twelve cities with their villages;
more are named, but some of them belonged to other tribes, and only lay on the borders of this; and others might not be properly cities, but small towns.

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FOOTNOTES:

F20 Canaan, l. 1. c. 3. col. 356.

Joshua 19:15 In-Context

13 From there it passes [along] to the east toward the sunrise, to Gath Hepher and to Eth Kazin, and continuing [to] Rimmon, it turns [to] Neah;

14 it changes direction from the north of Hannathon, and {it ends} at the valley of Yiptah-El;

15 Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem; twelve cities and their villages.

16 This [is] the inheritance of the descendants of Zebulun according to their families, these cities and their villages.

17 The fourth allotment {fell} for Issachar, for the descendants of Issachar, according to their families.