Joshua 18:15

THE MESSAGE

The southern border began at the edge of Kiriath Jearim on the west, then ran west until it reached the spring, the Waters of Nephtoah. It then descended to the foot of the mountain opposite the Valley of Ben Hinnom (which flanks the Valley of Rephaim to the north), descended to the Hinnom Valley, just south of the Jebusite ridge, and went on to En Rogel. From there it curved north to En Shemesh and Geliloth, opposite the Red Pass (Adummim), down to the Stone of Bohan the son of Reuben, continued toward the north flank of Beth Arabah, then plunged to the Arabah. It then followed the slope of Beth Hoglah north and came out at the northern bay of the Salt Sea—the south end of the Jordan. This was the southern border.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The south side began at the edge of Kiriath-jearim, and the border extended westward; it went to the spring at the Waters of Nephtoah.

Hebrew Names Version
The south quarter was from the uttermost part of Kiryat-Ye`arim; and the border went out westward, and went out to the spring of the waters of Nefto'ach;

King James Version
And the south quarter was from the end of Kirjathjearim, and the border went out on the west, and went out to the well of waters of Nephtoah:

Lexham English Bible
The southern side begins on the outskirts of Kiriath Jearim, and the border continues to the west to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah;

English Standard Version
And the southern side begins at the outskirts of Kiriath-jearim. And the boundary goes from there to Ephron, to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah.

New Century Version
The southern border started near Kiriath Jearim and went west to the waters of Nephtoah.

New English Translation
The southern side started on the edge of Kiriath Jearim and extended westward to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah.

Amplified Bible
The southern side was from the edge of Kiriath-jearim, and the border went on westward and went to the source of the waters of Nephtoah.

New American Standard Bible
Then the south side was from the edge of Kiriath-jearim, and the border went westward and went to the fountain of the waters of Nephtoah.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And the Southquarter is from the ende of Kiriath-iearim, and this border goeth out Westward, and commeth to the fountaine of waters of Nephtoah.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then the south side was from the edge of Kiriath-jearim, and the border went out westward and went out to the fountain of the waters of Nephtoah.

Contemporary English Version
Benjamin's southern border started at the edge of Kiriath-Jearim and went east to the ruins and on to Nephtoah Spring.

Complete Jewish Bible
On the south the border extended westward from the most distant part of Kiryat-Ye‘arim, going out to the source of the Neftoach Spring.

Darby Translation
—And the south side was from the extreme end of Kirjath-jearim, and the border went out on the west, and went out to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah.

Easy-to-Read Version
The southern border started near Kiriath Jearim and went to the River of Nephtoah.

George Lamsa Translation
And the southern boundary was from the end of Koriath-narin, and the border went out to the sea, and went out to the fountain of waters of Naphtali:

Good News Translation
The southern border started on the edge of Kiriath Jearim and went to the Springs of Nephtoah.

Literal Translation
And the south side was from the end of Kirjath-jearim; and the border went out westward, and went out to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But the south border is from Kiriath Iearim forth, and goeth out towarde the west, and commeth forth vnto ye water well of Nepthoah:

American Standard Version
And the south quarter was from the uttermost part of Kiriath-jearim; and the border went out westward, and went out to the fountain of the waters of Nephtoah;

Bible in Basic English
And the south part is from the farthest point of Kiriath-jearim, and the line goes out to the west to the fountain of the waters of Nephtoah:

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the south coast goeth from the ende of Kiriathiarim, and goeth out westwarde, and thence it turneth to the well of waters of Nephthoah,

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the south side was from the uttermost part of Kiriath-jearim, and the border went out westward, and went out to the fountain of the waters of Nephtoah.

King James Version (1611)
And the South quarter was from the end of Kiriath-iearim, & the border went out on the West, and went out to the well of waters of Nephtoah.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the south side on the part of Cariath-Baal; and the borders shall go across to Gasin, to the fountain of the water of Naphtho.

English Revised Version
And the south quarter was from the uttermost part of Kirjath-jearim, and the border went out westward, and went out to the fountain of the waters of Nephtoah:

Berean Standard Bible
On the south side the border began at the outskirts of Kiriath-jearim and extended westward to the spring at the Waters of Nephtoah.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Sotheli fro the south, bi the part of Cariathiarym, the terme goith out ayens the see, and cometh til to the wel of watris of Nepthoa;

Young's Literal Translation
And the south quarter [is] from the end of Kirjath-Jearim, and the border hath gone out westward, and gone out unto the fountain of the waters of Nephtoah;

Update Bible Version
And the south quarter was from the uttermost part of Kiriath-jearim; and the border went out toward Iyyim, and went out to the fountain of the waters of Nephtoah;

Webster's Bible Translation
And the south quarter [was] from the end of Kirjah-jearim, and the border went out on the west, and went out to the well of waters of Nephtoah:

World English Bible
The south quarter was from the uttermost part of Kiriath-jearim; and the border went out westward, and went out to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah;

New King James Version
The south side began at the end of Kirjath Jearim, and the border extended on the west and went out to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah.

New Living Translation
The southern boundary began at the outskirts of Kiriath-jearim. From that western point it ran to the spring at the waters of Nephtoah,

New Life Bible
The south side was from the side of Kiriath-jearim west to the well of the waters of Nephtoah.

New Revised Standard
The southern side begins at the outskirts of Kiriath-jearim; and the boundary goes from there to Ephron, to the spring of the Waters of Nephtoah;

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, the border southward, is from the uttermost part of Kiriath-jearim, - and the boundary goeth out westward, yea it goeth out unto the fountain of the waters of Nephtoah;

Douay-Rheims Bible
But on the south side the border goeth out from part of Cariathiarim towards the sea, and cometh to the fountain of the waters of Nephtoa.

Revised Standard Version
And the southern side begins at the outskirts of Kir'iath-je'arim; and the boundary goes from there to Ephron, to the spring of the Waters of Nephto'ah;

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then the south side was from the edge of Kiriath-jearim, and the border went westward and went to the fountain of the waters of Nephtoah.

Contextual Overview

¹¹ The first lot turned up for the tribe of Benjamin with its clans. The border of the allotment went between the peoples of Judah and Joseph. ¹²The northern border began at the Jordan, then went up to the ridge north of Jericho, ascending west into the hill country into the wilderness of Beth Aven. From there the border went around to Luz, to its southern ridge (that is, Bethel), and then down from Ataroth Addar to the mountain to the south of Lower Beth Horon. ¹⁴ There the border took a turn on the west side and swung south from the mountain to the south of Beth Horon and ended at Kiriath Baal (that is, Kiriath Jearim), a town of the people of Judah. This was the west side. ¹⁵The southern border began at the edge of Kiriath Jearim on the west, then ran west until it reached the spring, the Waters of Nephtoah. It then descended to the foot of the mountain opposite the Valley of Ben Hinnom (which flanks the Valley of Rephaim to the north), descended to the Hinnom Valley, just south of the Jebusite ridge, and went on to En Rogel. From there it curved north to En Shemesh and Geliloth, opposite the Red Pass (Adummim), down to the Stone of Bohan the son of Reuben, continued toward the north flank of Beth Arabah, then plunged to the Arabah. It then followed the slope of Beth Hoglah north and came out at the northern bay of the Salt Sea—the south end of the Jordan. This was the southern border. ²⁰ The east border was formed by the Jordan. This was the inheritance of the people of Benjamin for their clans, marked by these borders on all sides. ²¹The cities of the tribe of Benjamin, clan by clan, were: Jericho, Beth Hoglah, Emek Keziz, Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, Kephar Ammoni, Ophni, and Geba— twelve towns with their villages. Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, Mizpah, Kephirah, Mozah, Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, Zelah, Haeleph, the Jebusite city (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath Jearim— fourteen cities with their villages. This was the inheritance for Benjamin, according to its clans.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Nephtoah: Joshua 15:9

Cross-References

Genesis 4:9
God said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" He said, "How should I know? Am I his babysitter?"

Genesis 18:27
Abraham came back, "Do I, a mere mortal made from a handful of dirt, dare open my mouth again to my Master? What if the fifty fall short by five—would you destroy the city because of those missing five?" He said, "I won't destroy it if there are forty-five."

Job 2:10
He told her, "You're talking like an empty-headed fool. We take the good days from God—why not also the bad days?" Not once through all this did Job sin. He said nothing against God.

Proverbs 12:19
Truth lasts; lies are here today, gone tomorrow.

Proverbs 28:13
You can't whitewash your sins and get by with it; you find mercy by admitting and leaving them.

Mark 2:8
Jesus knew right away what they were thinking, and said, "Why are you so skeptical? Which is simpler: to say to the paraplegic, ‘I forgive your sins,' or say, ‘Get up, take your stretcher, and start walking'? Well, just so it's clear that I'm the Son of Man and authorized to do either, or both..." (he looked now at the paraplegic), "Get up. Pick up your stretcher and go home." And the man did it—got up, grabbed his stretcher, and walked out, with everyone there watching him. They rubbed their eyes, incredulous—and then praised God, saying, "We've never seen anything like this!"

John 18:17
The young woman who was the doorkeeper said to Peter, "Aren't you one of this man's disciples?" He said, "No, I'm not."

Colossians 3:9
Don't lie to one another. You're done with that old life. It's like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you've stripped off and put in the fire. Now you're dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ.

1 John 1:8
If we claim that we're free of sin, we're only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—make a clean breast of them—he won't let us down; he'll be true to himself. He'll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we've never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God—make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the south quarter [was] from the end of Kirjathjearim,.... Where the western quarter ended:

and the border went out on the west; not directly south, but somewhat westerly. It is, in the original, "the sea", and should be rendered, "from the sea", or "from the west" m; and Jarchi confesses his ignorance, and says, I know not what sea it is; and well he might, for there was no sea here; but the Mediterranean sea, being to the west of the land of Israel, it is often used for the west in the Hebrew language, and so here:

and went out to the well of waters of Nephtoah;

:-;

m ימה "a mari", Masius; "ab occidente", Noldius, No. 1083. p. 239.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See the marginal references. There are many indications found in this and the next chapter that the text is in great disorder, and many of the places are still unknown.

Joshua 18:14

And compassed the corner ... - Render “and turned on the west side southward.” The meaning is, that at lower Beth-horon the northern boundary-line of Benjamin curved round and ran southward - Beth-horon being its extreme westerly point.

Joshua 18:21

The “Valley of Keziz,” or “Emek-Keziz,” is perhaps the “Wady el Kaziz,” at no great distance east of Jerusalem.

Joshua 18:22

Zemaraim, i. e. “two wooded hills,” is supposed to be the ruins called “Es-Sumrah,” on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho.

Joshua 18:23

Ophrah (Joshua 15:9 note), to be distinguished here and in 1 Samuel 13:17 from the Ophrah of Judges 6:11, is probably the Ephrain of 2 Chronicles 13:19, and the Ephraim of John 11:54. It is conjecturally identified with “Et-Taiyibeh,” on the road from Jerusalem to Bethel.

Joshua 18:24

Gaba - This name, like Gibeah, Gibeon, etc. Joshua 9:3, indicates a town placed on a hill, and occurs repeatedly in various forms in the topography of Palestine. Gaba is the Gibeah (if 1 Samuel 13:15-16; 1 Samuel 14:5, where the Hebrew has גבע Geba‛, which is undoubtedly the correct reading throughout. The city was one of those assigned to the Levites Joshua 21:17, and lay on the northern border of Judah. It is identified with the modern “Jeba,” lying on the side of a deep ravine opposite to Michmash (“Mukhmas”). The famous “Gibeah of Saul,” or “Giheah of Benjamin” (the Gibeath of Joshua 18:28) lay at no great distance southwest of Geba, on the high road from Jerusalem to Bethel, and is probably to be looked for in the lofty and isolated “Tulcil-el-Ful.”

Joshua 18:25

Ramah - i. e. “lofty;” probably the native town and abode of Samuel 1Sa 1:19; 1 Samuel 25:1. Its exact site is uncertain.

Joshua 18:26

Mizpeh - See Joshua 11:3. Not the Mizpeh of Joshua 15:38, but the place where Samuel judged the people and called them together for the election of a king 1 Samuel 7:5-16; 1 Samuel 10:17. In the Chaldaean times it was the residence of Gedaliah 2 Kings 25:22; Jeremiah 40:14. Its site is identified with “Neby Samwil,” about five miles northwest of Jerusalem.