Joshua 15 Study Notes

15:1-12 The account of Caleb in 14:6-15 is a general one in which only one town is mentioned and the occupation of Caleb’s inheritance is summarized. The same is true of the first account of Judah’s allotment. It describes the contours of the land in terms of its borders, identified mostly by natural formations. The descriptions move counterclockwise beginning with the southern border.

15:8 The border arches to the south to go around Jerusalem, which at the time was populated by the Jebusites and was not part of Israel.

15:13-19 These verses continue the account of 14:6-15. Here the details appear with the names of specific places within Caleb’s inheritance and the bequeathing of these to his children. Thus the general part is followed by the specific part. This anticipates the allotment of Judah. Joshua 15:1-12 constituted the general places, describing only the borders of the land. While vv. 20-63 will deal with the specific places within those borders. Caleb’s allotment represents the premier example of all the allotments of Judah. It is so important because it is the allotment of the most faithful Judahite of his generation. It also describes the acquisition of Hebron, David’s first capital (2Sm 2:1-11).

15:14 The three sons of Anak: Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, whom Caleb drove out, have personal names that are distinctive to the second millennium BC and are not found after the tenth century BC. This suggests that the account in Joshua accurately reflects a second millennium context. The mention of these three names elsewhere (Nm 13:22; Jdg 1:10) suggests that the incident recounted here was well known.

15:17 The capture of the city of Debir by Othniel led to his marriage to Caleb’s daughter. He and the first judge may be one and the same (Jdg 3:9-11). This anticipates David’s capture of Jerusalem, where he also started out from Hebron and also offered a reward to the person who succeeded in defeating the enemy (2Sm 5:6-15).

15:18-19 The request of Achsah was to increase her dowry and receive a full inheritance that included the necessary water sources for land to be usable in the Judean desert.

15:20-62 This section contains the most detailed town list of any of the allotments. It reflects the large tract of land given to Judah in comparison with the other tribes. The Hebrew text preserves eleven districts: the Negev (vv. 21-32); the western foothills with towns in the north (vv. 33-36), the south (vv. 37-41), and the center (vv. 42-44); the coastal plain (vv. 45-47); four regions in the hill country (vv. 48-51,52-54,55-57,58-59); a fifth hill country region west of Jerusalem (v. 60); and the Judean wilderness (vv. 61-62).

15:63 This note makes explicit what the note at v. 8 suggests—that Jerusalem remained unconquered.