Joshua 19 - New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)

Chapter 19

Simeon. ¹ The second lot fell to Simeon. The heritage of the tribe of Simeonites by their clans lay within that of the Judahites. ^{2 (A)}For their heritage they received Beer-sheba, Shema, Moladah, ³ Hazar-shual, Balah, Ezem, ⁴ Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah, ⁵ Ziklag, Bethmar-caboth, Hazar-susah, ⁶ Beth-lebaoth, and Sharuhen; thirteen cities and their villages. ⁷ Also Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan; four cities and their villages, ⁸ besides all the villages around these cities as far as Baalath-beer (that is, Ramoth-negeb). This was the heritage of the tribe of the Simeonites by their clans. ⁹ This heritage of the Simeonites was within the confines of the Judahites; for since the portion of the latter was too large for them, the Simeonites obtained their heritage within it.

Zebulun. ^{10 [a]}The third lot fell to the Zebulunites by their clans. The boundary of their heritage was at Sarid. ¹¹ Their boundary went up west and through Mareal, reaching Dabbesheth and the wadi that is near Jokneam. ¹² From Sarid eastward it ran to the district of Chisloth-tabor, on to Daberath, and up to Japhia. ¹³ From there it continued eastward to Gath-hepher and to Eth-kazin, extended to Rimmon, and turned to Neah. ¹⁴ Skirting north of Hannathon, the boundary ended at the valley of Iphtahel. ¹⁵ Thus, with Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem, there were twelve cities and their villages. ¹⁶ This was the heritage of the Zebulunites by their clans, these cities and their villages.

Issachar. ^{17 [b]}The fourth lot fell to Issachar. The territory of the Issacharites by their clans ¹⁸ included Jezreel, Chesulloth, Shunem, ¹⁹ Hapharaim, Shion, Anaharath, ²⁰ Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez, ²¹ Remeth, En-gannim, En-haddah, and Beth-pazzez. ²² The boundary reached Tabor, Shahazumah, and Beth-shemesh, ending at the Jordan: sixteen cities and their villages. ²³ This was the heritage of the Issacharites by their clans, these cities and their villages.

Asher. ^{24 [c]}The fifth lot fell to the Asherites by their clans. ²⁵ Their territory included Helkath, Hali, Beten, Achshaph, ²⁶ Allammelech, Amad, and Mishal, and reached Carmel on the west, and Shihor-libnath. ²⁷ In the other direction, it ran eastward of Beth-dagon, reached Zebulun and the valley of Iphtahel; then north of Beth-emek and Neiel, it extended northward to Cabul, ²⁸ Ebron, Rehob,^(B) Hammon, and Kanah, near Greater Sidon. ²⁹ Then the boundary turned back to Ramah and to the fortress city of Tyre; thence it cut back to Hosah and ended at the sea. Thus, with Mahalab, Achzib, ³⁰ Ummah, Acco, Aphek, and Rehob, there were twenty-two cities and their villages. ³¹ This was the heritage of the tribe of the Asherites by their clans, these cities and their villages.

Naphtali. ^{32 [d]}The sixth lot fell to the Naphtalites. ³³ Their boundary extended from Heleph, from the oak at Zaanannim, including Adami-nekeb and Jabneel, to Lakkum, and ended at the Jordan. ³⁴ In the opposite direction, westerly, it ran through Aznoth-tabor and from there extended to Hukkok; it reached Zebulun on the south, Asher on the west, and the Jordan on the east. ³⁵ The fortified cities were Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Chinnereth, ³⁶ Adamah, Ramah, Hazor, ³⁷ Kedesh, Edrei, En-hazor, ³⁸ Yiron, Migdal-el, Horem, Beth-anath, and Beth-shemesh;^(C) nineteen cities and their villages. ³⁹ This was the heritage of the tribe of the Naphtalites by their clans, these cities and their villages.

Dan. ^{40 [e]}The seventh lot fell to the tribe of Danites by their clans. ⁴¹ Their heritage was the territory of Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir-shemesh, ⁴² Shaalabbin, Aijalon, Ithlah,^{(D) 43} Elon, Timnah, Ekron, ⁴⁴ Eltekoh, Gibbethon, Baalath, ⁴⁵ Jehud, Bene-berak, Gath-rimmon, ⁴⁶ Me-jarkon, and Rakkon, with the coast at Joppa. ^{47 (E)}But the territory of the Danites was too small for them; so the Danites marched up and attacked Leshem,^[f] which they captured and put to the sword. Once they had taken possession of Leshem, they dwelt there and named it after their ancestor Dan. ⁴⁸ This was the heritage of the tribe of the Danites by their clans, these cities and their villages.

Joshua’s City. ⁴⁹ When the last of them had received the portions of the land they were to inherit, the Israelites assigned a heritage in their midst to Joshua, son of Nun. ⁵⁰ According to the command of the Lord, they gave him the city he requested, Timnah-serah^(F) in the mountain region of Ephraim. He rebuilt the city and made it his home.

⁵¹ These are the heritages which Eleazar the priest, Joshua, son of Nun, and the heads of families in the tribes of the Israelites apportioned by lot in the presence of the Lord, at the door of the tent of meeting in Shiloh. Thus they finished dividing the land.

Footnotes

1. 19:10–16 Zebulun’s territory was in the central section of the Jezreel Valley and of southern Galilee; it was bounded on the south by Manasseh, on the southeast by Issachar, on the northeast and north by Naphtali, and on the west by Asher. The site of the later city of Nazareth was within its borders. Bethlehem of Zebulun was, of course, distinct from the city of the same name in Judah. Twelve cities: apparently seven of the names are missing from v. 15, unless some of the places mentioned in vv. 12–14 are to be included in the number.
2. 19:17–23 Issachar’s land was on the eastern watershed of the Jezreel Valley, but also included the southeastern end of the Galilean mountains. It was surrounded by Manasseh on the south and east, by Naphtali on the north, and by Zebulun on the west. Jezreel (v. 18) dominated the valley to which it gave its name, the later form of which was Esdraelon.
3. 19:24–31 Asher inherited the western slope of the Galilean hills as far as the Mediterranean, with Manasseh to the south, Zebulun and Naphtali to the east, and Phoenicia to the north.
4. 19:32–39 Naphtali received eastern Galilee; Asher was to the west and Zebulun and Issachar were to the south, while the upper Jordan and Mount Hermon formed the eastern border. Part of the tribe of Dan later on occupied the northern extremity of Naphtali’s lands, at the sources of the Jordan (v. 47).
5. 19:40–46 The original territory of Dan was a small enclave between Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and the Philistines.
6. 19:47 Leshem: called Laish in Jgs 18, where the story of the migration of the Danites is told at greater length.

Cross references

1. 19:2–8 : 1 Chr 4:28–33.
2. 19:28–30 : Jgs 1:31.
3. 19:38 : Jgs 1:33.
4. 19:42 : Jgs 1:35.
5. 19:47 : Jgs 18:27–29.
6. 19:50 : Jos 24:30; Jgs 2:9.