Joshua 15:20-63 meaning
Joshua 15:20-63 opens with a summary and transitional formula: This is the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Judah according to their families (v 20). The term inheritance (Hebrew "nāḥala") designates an allotted portion of land granted to an individual or group, often transmitted as patrimonial property to subsequent generations. This terminology conveys the reality that the land of Canaan was not a product of human endeavor alone but was given by God, grounded in Yahweh's covenantal promise to Abraham (Genesis 13).
Although the Israelites entered and occupied the land through acts of military engagement, their victories are always attributed to Yahweh's intervention and faithfulness in fulfilling His promises (Joshua 6:2, 10:10-14, 42, 11:6-8, 21:43-45, 23:3, 9-10, 24:11-12.). God promised to give the land to them, but they still had to obey Him by going into battle. The same promise was available to their parents, who disobeyed by rejecting the inheritance due to their lack of faith (Numbers 14:22-23).
The author of the book of Hebrews makes the comparison between this failed first generation of Israelites and Christians who harden their hearts and become disobedient and unbelieving (Hebrews 3:12-19). New Testament believers can fail to prove themselves faithful, and can also "come short" of receiving their inheritance (Hebrews 3:6).
The promise of the inheritance did not benefit the first generation of Israelites because they did not walk in faith (Hebrews 3:18-19). Likewise, the promises of God also have no benefit to us without faith to walk in them. To inherit God's promises, we must act upon them. Without trusting in God, we cannot obey Him; faith is necessary to gain the reward of our inheritance (Hebrews 3:18-19).
This is not about our belonging to God or our salvation through initial faith in Christ, which nothing can change (Romans 5:20-21). The first generation of Israelites were still God's chosen people whom He took care of (Deuteronomy 8:3-4). But the additional rest, our own "entering the Land" requires acting on our faith.
Which is what the second generation did; they responded by acting with faith. God delivered the outcome, and they received their inheritance by trusting Him and following His commands.
For more, see our article, "Eternal Life: Receiving the Gift vs. Inheriting the Prize."
Previously, Joshua 15:1-19 delineated Judah's territorial boundaries and Caleb's allotment. Verses 20-63 name the cities within these boundaries, organized according to five major districts: the southern district (vv 21-32), the lowland (vv 33-44), the Philistine cities (vv 45-47), the hill country (vv 48-60), and the wilderness (vv 61-62). The last verse records Judah's inability to expel the Jebusites from Jerusalem, so they lived alongside the people of Judah (v 63).
The distribution of land to the sons of Judah was carried out according to their families (v 20). The term, rendered as families (Hebrew, "mishpacha") extends beyond the notion of one's immediate, nuclear household (two parent and their children). It can also denote an enlarged kinship structure or clan, encompassing multiple generations and collateral relatives⎯parents, siblings, cousins, uncles, aunts, and grandparents. The apportionment of Judah's inheritance was therefore conducted with careful regard for the demographic composition and proportional size of its clans, ensuring a fair and proportionate distribution among the constituent family units.
Beginning with the southern district, the narrative lists the cities at the extremity of the tribe of the sons of Judah toward the border of Edom. They were: Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur, Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah, Kedesh, Hazor, Ithnan, Ziph, Telem, Bealoth, Hazor-hadattah, Kerioth-hezron (that is, Hazor), Amam, Shema, Moladah, Hazar-gaddah, Heshmon, Beth-pelet, Hazar-shual, Beersheba, Biziothiah, Baalah, Iim, Ezem, Eltolad, Chesil, Hormah, Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah, Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain, and Rimmon (vv 21-32).
These towns center on Beersheba and stretch from the Edomite boundary to Sharuhen on the Mediterranean coast (see map): In all, twenty-nine cities, with their villages (v 32). Although the list enumerates thirty-six cities, the text records the total as twenty-nine, likely because seven of them were later assigned to the tribe of Simeon (Joshua 19:1-7).
After detailing the southern district, the text continues by arranging the cities in the lowland into three groups. The first group contains Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah, Zanoah, En-gannim, Tappuah, Enam, Jarmuth, Adullam, Socoh, Azekah, Shaaraim, Adithaim, Gederah, and Gederothaim (vv 33-36). In total, fourteen cities with their villages (v 36).
The second group is composed of sixteen cities with their villages: Zenan, Hadashah, Migdal-gad, Dilean, Mizpeh, Joktheel, Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon, Cabbon, Lahmas, Chitlish, Gederoth, Beth-dagon, Naamah, and Makkedah (vv 37-41).
The third group of cities lists Libnah, Ether, Ashan, Iphtah, Ashnah, Nezib, Keilah, Achzib, and Mareshah (vv 42-44). In total, nine cities with their villages (v 44). The lowland (Shephelah) lies roughly fifteen to thirty miles west-southwest of Jerusalem, where these cities were located. They formed the fertile western frontier of Judah.
The narrative moves from the cities in the lowland to three Philistine cities: Ekron, Ashdod, and Gaza. These cities were part of the Pentapolis of the Philistines, with the other two being Ashkelon and Gath. This coastal region was agriculturally fertile. The tribe of Judah inherited Ekron, with its towns and villages. From Ekron even to the sea, all that were by the side of Ashdod, with their villages (vv 45-46). In Joshua 13, Ekron was one of the remaining cities that the Israelites were to conquer (Joshua 13:2-3). Earlier in Joshua 15, it defined the northern border of the territory of Judah. Now, it is one of its cities. Then, Judah possessed Ashdod, its towns, and its villages. It was about 2.5 miles inland from the Mediterranean Sea. Also, Judah was assigned Gaza, its towns, and its villages.
The city of Gaza was approximately 50 miles southwest of Jerusalem. It was a rich agricultural region, where wheat and other grains flourished. Judah's allotted territory in the lowland extends as far as the brook of Egypt and the Great Sea, even its coastline (v 47). The Great Sea, another name for the Mediterranean Sea, links the continents of Asia, Africa, and Europe. The brook of Egypt was about 50 miles southwest of Gaza. It marks the natural border between the Negev desert area and the Sinai Peninsula.
These cities were designated to Judah, but that did not mean they had taken possession of all of them. A couple chapters earlier, God listed all of the unconquered territories promised to the Israelites, which included the regions of "the five lords of the Philistines" (Ashdod, Ekron, et cetera) (Joshua 13:1-6). God commanded Joshua allot and apportion these regions before they had been conquered (Joshua 13:7).
Throughout the rest of Israel's history as recorded in the Old Testament, the lands of Philistia would be the source of ongoing contest. The Judeans would conquer regions for a time, and the Philistines would wrest them back; even later prophecies promised a future where the full extent of the allotted Philistine lands would belong to Israel (Joshua 13:1-7, 15:4-47, Judges 1:18-19, 3:1-3, 2 Samuel 8:1, 1 Chronicles 18:1, 2 Chronicles 26:6-7, 28:18, 2 Kings 18:7-8, Obadiah 19, Zephaniah 2:4-7).
After describing the Philistine coastal plain, which includes three of its five major cities, the text delineates the cities in the hill country and divides them into five groups.
The first one contains Shamir, Jattir, Socoh, Dannah, Kiriath-sannah (that is, Debir), Anab, Eshtemoh, Anim, Goshen, Holon, and Giloh (vv 48-51). This group, which has eleven cities with their villages, is the southernmost.
The second group lists Arab, Dumah, Eshan, Janum, Beth-tappuah, Aphekah, Humtah, Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), and Zior (vv 52-54). In total, nine cities with their villages (v 54).
Kiriath-arba is the most prominent city in the list. It was 25 miles southwest of Jerusalem and less than two miles from Mamre, where Abraham dwelt for some time (Genesis 23:2). It became Caleb's inheritance and became known as Hebron.
The third group of cities in the hill country is listed as follows: Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah, Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah, Kain, Gibeah, and Timnah (vv 55-57). These ten cities with their villages were in the central hill country south of Hebron.
The fourth group within the hill country comprises Halhul, Beth-zur, Gedor, Maarath, Beth-anoth, and Eltekon (vv 58-59). These six cities with their villages were north of Hebron.
The fifth group within the hill country contains Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), and Rabbah (v 60). Kiriath-jearim was about ten miles northwest of Jerusalem, while Rabbah’s location is not known. Only two cities with their villages. They make up the final two cities of that region.
The final district, the wilderness, lies along the arid eastern frontier bordering the Dead Sea. It includes six cities with their villages: Beth-arabah, Middin, Secacah, Nibshan, the City of Salt, and Engedi (vv 61-62). Characterized by barren hills and rugged terrains, this region receives considerably less rainfall than the others. This list brings the catalog of Judah's cities to its conclusion.
Joshua 15:20-63 lists more than a hundred towns, and every name is a deed of ownership. Before the conquest, Abraham's family had owned a burial cave at Hebron and a field at Shechem (Genesis 23:17-20, 33:19); now Judah's families could point to Beersheba, Lachish, Hebron, and Engedi and call them their own. The list is Israel's land registry, the written record that God "gave Israel all the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they possessed it and lived in it" (Joshua 21:43).
The numbers also leave room for the next chapters. The southern district names thirty-six towns and totals twenty-nine (vv 21-32); Simeon's lot later came "in the midst of the inheritance of the sons of Judah," because "the share of the sons of Judah was too large for them" (Joshua 19:1, 9), and several of these towns, including Beersheba, Hormah, and Ziklag, appear in Simeon's list (Joshua 19:2-5). Judah's portion was large enough to share. Many of these towns are locations for later events: David rescued Keilah and hid in the wildernesses of Ziph, Maon, and Engedi while Saul hunted him (1 Samuel 23:1-5, 14, 24-25, 24:1).
Nevertheless, the chapter ends on a note of incompleteness: Now, as for the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the sons of Judah could not drive them out (v 63). The Jebusites continued to occupy the city until its eventual conquest in the days of King David (2 Samuel 5:6-9). Therefore, the narrator stated, They live with the sons of Judah at Jerusalem until this day (v 63). That means that the Jebusites dwelt until the time of the writing of the book.
In the near future, Judah would strike and burn the city once (Judges 1:8), but the tribe of Benjamin would fail to hold it (Judges 1:21), where it remained a foreign town in Israel's center (Judges 19:10-12) until David took it over (2 Samuel 5:6-9).
God's promise and Israel's performance ran at different speeds. The gift was available, but would not be possessed until David conquered the city God chose, "Mount Zion which He loved" (Psalm 78:68).