Bereshis 10:19

19 And the boundary of the Kena’ani was from Tzidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto Azah (Gaza); as thou goest, unto Sodom, and Amora (Gomorrah), and Admah, and Tzevoyim, even unto Lesha.

Bereshis 10:19 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 10:19

And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon
This is to be understood, not of the Canaanites, properly so called, but of them in general; and is a description of the bounds of the land of Canaan, as possessed by the people of Israel: the northern or north west border of it was Sidon, see ( Genesis 10:15 ) and is to be understood of the country which reached from that city towards the east almost as far as Jordan:

as thou comest from Gerar unto Gaza;
two cities of the Philistines, well known in Scripture, the former for being the place where Abraham and Isaac sometimes sojourned, and the latter for Samson's exploits in it; these were the southern or south west border of the land of Canaan:

as thou goest unto Sodom and Gomorrah, and Admah and Zeboim;
four cities destroyed by fire from heaven, as is after related in this book; these lay to the south or south east part of the land:

even unto Lashah;
which, according to the Targum of Jonathan, is Callirrhoe, a place famous for hot waters, which run into the Dead sea, and who in this is followed by Jerom; but since it was not in the southern part of Judea, as Lashah was, Bochart proposes F1 Lusa, as being more likely to be the place, a city of the Arabs, which Ptolemy


FOOTNOTES:

F2 puts in the midway between the Mediterranean and the Red sea; but this is objected to by Reland F3, since the southern borders of the land of Canaan were from the extremity of the Dead sea unto the Mediterranean sea, from which Lusa was at a great distance: the Samaritan version of this verse is very different from the Hebrew, and is this,

``and the border of the Canaanites was from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates, and unto the hinder sea:''

i.e. the western or Mediterranean.


F1 Phaleg. l. 4. c. 37. col. 309.
F2 Geograph. l. 5. c. 17.
F3 Palestina Illustrata, tom. 2. p. 871.

Bereshis 10:19 In-Context

17 And the Chivvi, and the Arki, and the Sini,
18 And the Arvadi, and the Tzemari, and the Chamati; and afterward were the mishpechot haKena’ani spread abroad.
19 And the boundary of the Kena’ani was from Tzidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto Azah (Gaza); as thou goest, unto Sodom, and Amora (Gomorrah), and Admah, and Tzevoyim, even unto Lesha.
20 These are the Bnei Cham, after their mishpechot, after their leshonot, in their territories, and in their Goyim.
21 Also unto Shem avi kol Bnei Ever, and the older brother of Yephet, even to him were offspring born.
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