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The Borders of Judah

15 This was the allotment for the tribe of the descendants of Judah according to their clans. It extended south to the border with Edom and through the Negev to the Wilderness of Zin in the extreme south.

Their border on the south started from the south end of the Dead Sea,[a] from the bay[b] that faces south.

It goes south from the Ascent of Akrabbim and crosses over to Zin and ascends from south of Kadesh Barnea.

Then it crosses over to Hezron and ascends to Adar and curves around to Karka.

Then it crosses over to Azmon and goes out to the Stream of Egypt.[c]

The border ends at the Mediterranean Sea.

This is your southern border.

The border on the east is the Dead Sea,[d] up to the mouth of the Jordan.

The border on the north side starts from the bay of the sea at the mouth of the Jordan.

The border ascends to Beth Hoglah and crosses over north of Beth Arabah.

Then the border ascends to the Stone of Bohan, the son of Reuben.

Then the border ascends to Debir from the Valley of Achor and turns north toward Gilgal, which is opposite the Ascent of Adummim, which is south of the streambed.

Then the border crosses over to the waters of En Shemesh, ending at En Rogel.

Then the border ascends through the Valley of the Son of Hinnom at the slope of the Jebusites on the south side of Jerusalem.

Then the border ascends to the top of the mountain that is across the Valley of Hinnom on the west side, where Hinnom meets the north end of the Valley of Rephaim.

Then the border bends from the top of the mountain to the spring of the Waters of Nephtoah and goes out to the cities of Mount Ephron.

Then the border bends toward Baalah—that is, Kiriath Jearim.

10 The border curves around from Baalah westward to Mount Seir and crosses over to the slope of Mount Jearim from the north—that is, Kesalon—and descends to Beth Shemesh, then crosses over to Timnah.

11 The border goes out to the slope of Ekron, on the north.

Then the border bends to Shikkeron and crosses over Mount Baalah and goes out to Jabne’el, and the border ends at the sea.

12 The border on the west—the Mediterranean Sea[e] is the border.

This is the border on all sides for the descendants of Judah according to their clans.

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Footnotes

  1. Joshua 15:2 Hebrew Salt Sea
  2. Joshua 15:2 The Hebrew word lashon, translated bay in this verse and in verse 5, means tongue. Tongue might plausibly refer to a tongue-shaped bay, but there are no noticeable bays or peninsulas on the north and south shores of the sea, so the significance of the term in these verses is uncertain. It may simply mean shore or end.
  3. Joshua 15:4 This is not the Nile but one of the seasonal streams in the wilderness, perhaps at Arish. It is also called the Wadi of Egypt or the Brook of Egypt.
  4. Joshua 15:5 Hebrew Salt Sea
  5. Joshua 15:12 Hebrew the Great Sea