Joshua 15

1. This then was the lot, etc.** “The lot . . . was at the border of Edom at the desert of Zin, towards the south, from the extreme south”; i.e., this was the southern extremity of the whole land.

8 the border went up, etc. So that the greater part of the city of Jerusalem, including the temple when it was built, lay just within the portion of the Benjamites; but the fortress of Zion probably belonged to Judah; see ver. 63.

the valley of the giants. Or, of Rephaim (R.V.), on the south-west of Jerusalem. It was famed for its fertility (Isa. xvii. 5), and for a victory over the

Philistines gained by David, who lay in wait behind its mulberry-trees (1 Sam. v. 22-25).

14. Caleb drove thence.** His expectation and God’s promise were thus fulfilled.

16 will I give Achsah my daughter. Thus encouraging the valour of others, who might afterwards maintain and extend the Israelites’ power. Othniel, the hero of this exploit, was the first deliverer and judge of the nation after the time of Joshua (Judges iii. 9).

17 the brother of Caleb. Kenaz being apparently the name of a common ancestor, it must be Othniel who is called Caleb’s younger brother (Judges i. 13), by which word a cousin or nephew may be meant.

32 twenty and nine. The total is thirty-eight; but either there is some corruption of the text, or only twenty-nine remained in the possession of Judah, the rest being given to Simeon.

59 six cities with their villages. After this, the LXX inserts eleven other cities and villages, including Bethlehem Ephratah, some of which have been identified by travellers and scholars. The “villages” of cities are their suburbs or cultivated districts.