Read & Study the Bible Online - Bible Portal
John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 19:10

Verse 10 10.And the third lot came up, etc In the lot of Zebulun there is a clear fulfillment of the prophecy of Jacob, which had foretold that they would dwell on the sea-coast. An old man, an exile who could not set a foot on his own land, (168) assigned a maritime district to the posterity of his son Zebulun. What could be more extravagant? But now, when the lot assigns them a maritime region, no clearer confirmation of his decision could be desired. It was just as if God were twice... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 19:1-51

The completion of the work. The reflections suggested by this chapter are identical with those which have already occurred to us. They are, perhaps, emphasised by Joshua 19:51 , in which the solemn public division of the land is once more, and yet more plainly, declared to have taken place with the assent of the heads of Church and State, and to have been attended with a religious ceremony. Without pretending to say whose fault it is, or how such a desirable state of things may be once... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 19:10

Sarid . This seems to have been a middle point, from which the border is traced eastward and westward, as in Joshua 16:6 , and perhaps in verse 32. But the LXX . and other versions have a variety of readings here. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 19:11

Toward the sea. Rather, westward. The original is touched or skirted ( פגע ). River that is before Jokneam. This, with the assistance of Joshua 12:22 , which mentions Jokneam as near to Mount Carmel, enables us to identify this river (or rather, winter torrent ) , as "that ancient river, the river Kishon." Knobel, however, says that if the Kishon had been meant it would have been called by its name, and that we must therefore understand the Wady-el-Mil'h. But this is by no... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 19:12

Chisloth-Tabor. The loins or flanks of Tabor. Tabor (the name signifies either quarry—see note on Shebarim, probably a kindred word, Joshua 7:5 —or navel), is one of the most conspicuous mountains of Palestine. Like Soracte, above the Campagna of Rome, "the cone-shaped figure of Tabor can be seen on all sides," though it rises only 1,750 feet (French) above the level of the sea, 800 above the plain at its northeastern base, and 600 above Nazareth on the north-west (Ritter, 2:311).... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 19:13

Gittah-hepher. Or, Gathhepher ( 1 Kings 14:25 ) was the birth place of the prophet Jonah. Now el-Mesh-hed, where the tomb of Jonah is still shown. The Rabbinical writers and the Onomasticon mention this tradition. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 19:14

Compasseth it . The verb נסב is here used transitively. The meaning is that the border makes a curve round the city of Neah. Neah seems to have been the extreme eastern border. Methoar is supposed to be the Pual participle, and has been freely translated, "which is marked out," or, "which belongs to," Neah. But the passage is obscure. Knobel could alter the reading, in view of the grammatical difficulty. Yet this, perhaps, is not insuperable in view of Joshua 3:14 . Valley . גֵי ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 19:15

Beth-lehem . This name, signifying the "house of bread," would naturally enough be given to a place in a fertile situation. We are not to suppose that it was "Bethlehem-Ephratah, among the thousands of Jadah" ( Micah 5:2 ). It is now Beit-lahm, about eight miles in a westerly direction from Nazareth. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 19:16

The inheritance of the children of Zebulun. It is strange that the beautiful and fertile land occupied by the tribe of Zebulun does not appear to have brought prosperity with it. Possibly the fact that the "lines" of this tribe had "fallen in pleasant places," had tended to induce sloth. Certain it is that we hear but little of this tribe in the after history of Israel. They were not, like Reuben, absent from the great battle of Tabor, for there we read that, like Issachar, they "jeoparded... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Joshua 19:10

Sarid, not yet identified, was evidently a leading topographical point on the south frontier of Zebulun. The boundary passed westward until it touched the Kishon, near “Tell Kaimon” (Joshua 12:22 note), and thence, turned northward, leaving Carmel, which belonged to Asher, on its west. The territory of Zebulun accordingly would not anywhere reach to the Mediterranean, though its eastern side abutted on the sea of Galilee, and gave the tribe those “outgoings” attributed to it in the Blessing of... read more

Group of Brands