Joshua 15:1

This chapter deals with the actual division of the land of Canaan. Judah, as we have seen, was first by right of Jacob's blessing, and here we have an outline of the borders of Judah's territory in ideal terms Joshua 15:1-12), an account of Caleb's occupation of Hebron and Debir (Joshua 15:13-19), and a statistical list of the cities awarded to Judah (Joshua 15:20-63).

OUTLINE OF JUDAH'S TERRITORY

"And the lot for the tribe of the children of Judah according to their families was unto the border of Edom, even to the wilderness of Zin southward, at the uttermost part of the south. And their border was from the uttermost part of the Salt Sea, from the bay that looketh southward; and it went out southward of the ascent of Akrabbim, and passed along to Zin, and went up by the south of Kadesh-barnea, and passed along by Hezron, and went up to Addar, and turned about to Karka; and it passed along to Azmon, and went out at the brook of Egypt; and the goings out of the border were at the sea: this shall be your south border. And the east border was the Salt Sea, even unto the end of the Jordan. And the border of the north quarter was from the bay of the sea at the end of the Jordan; and the border went up to Beth-hoglah, and passed along by the north of Beth-arabah; and the border went up to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben; and the border went up to Debir from the valley of Achor, and so northward, looking toward Gilgal, that is over against the ascent of Adammim, which is on the south side of the river; and the border passed along to the waters of Enshemesh, and the goings out thereof were at Enrogel; and the border went up by the valley of the son of Hinnom unto the side of the Jebusite southward (the same is Jerusalem); and the border went up to the top of the mountain that lieth before the valley of Hinnom westward, which is at the uttermost part of the vale of Rephaim northward; and the border extended from the top of the mountain unto the fountain of the waters of Nephtoah, and went out to the cities of the mount of Ephron; and the border extended to Baalah (the same is Kiriath-jearim); and the border turned about from Baalah westward unto mount Seir, and passed along unto the side of mount Jearim on the north (the same is Chesalon), and went down to Beth-shemesh, and passed along by Timnah; and the border went out unto the side of Ekron northward; and the border extended to Shikkeron, and passaged along to mount Baalah, and went out at Jabneel; and the goings out of the border were at the sea. And the west border was to the great sea, and the border thereof. This is the border of the children of Judah round about according to their families."

Philbeck gives us this approximation of Judah's border:

"It ran from the lower tip of the Dead Sea southwest to Kadesh-barnea, and thence northwest to the Mediterranean Sea. This was the southern border. The northern border followed the line a traveler would normally follow in going from the northern tip of the Dead Sea (where Jordan enters) to the Mediterranean, Judah's land included all the territory between the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean as restricted by the north and south borders. This included all the land of the Philistines. It did not include Jerusalem, but lay south of that city."[1]

"Jabneel, or Jabneed ..." (Joshua 15:11). This is the place where the northern border of Judah met the Mediterranean. "This place is located seven or eight miles south of Joppa.[2]

Of course, Judah did not subdue the Philistines who remained powerful enemies of Israel right down to the times of David and Solomon. As many have pointed out, these boundaries were more ideal than actual, dealing with what God had promised Israel rather than being restricted to what Israel was able to possess. A comparison with Numbers 34:3-5 reveals that these are essentially the same boundaries of southern Israel that are mentioned there.