Joshua 18:24

And Chepharhaammonai, and Ophni, and Gaba; twelve cities with their villages:

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

18:11-28 The boundaries of each portion were distinctly drawn, and the inheritance of each tribe settled. All contests and selfish claims were prevented by the wise appointment of God, who allotted the hill and the valley, the corn and pasture, the brooks and rivers, the towns and cities. Is the lot of any servant of Christ cast in affliction and sorrow? It is the Lord; let him do what seemeth him good. Are we in prosperity and peace? It is from above. Be humbled when you compare the gift with your own unworthiness. Forget not Him that gave the good, and always be ready to resign it at his command.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

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."

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

11. the lot of … Benjamin came up—It has been supposed that there were two urns or vessels, from which the lots were drawn: one containing the names of the tribes, the other containing those of the seven portions; and that the two were drawn out simultaneously.

the coast of their lot came forth between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph—Thus the prophecy of Moses respecting the inheritance of Benjamin was remarkably accomplished. (See on [199]De 33:12).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And Chepharhaammonai, and Ophni,.... Of the two first of these no mention is made elsewhere:

and Gaba is the same with Gibeah, a well known place, because of the foul fact committed there, which had like to have been the ruin of this tribe, Judges 19:14; and for being the native place of King Saul, hence called "Gibeah of Saul", 1 Samuel 11:4; it was about six or seven miles from Jerusalem; see Gill on Hosea 5:8; twelve cities with their villages; which agrees with the account of them.

Geneva Study Bible

And Chepharhaammonai, and Ophni, and Gaba; twelve cities with their villages:

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

24. 10. Chephar-haammonai] is quite unknown, so also is ii. Ophni; 12. Gaba, or Geba = “height,” “hill,” not the Geba or Gibeah of Saul, is mentioned in 2 Kings 23:8; Zechariah 14:10.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 24. - Ophrah. Not the Ophrah of Gideon, who (Judges 6:11; Judges 8:2, 32) was a Manassite. Gaba. Some (as Knobel) think this the same as Gibeah of Saul. But see below, ver. 28. Also Isaiah 10:29. Gibeah and Gaba, however, must have been near together, for Ramah is near both of them (see Ezra 2:26). Joshua 18:24

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Chephar-haammonai and Ophni are only mentioned here, and are still unknown. Gaba, or Geba of Benjamin (1 Samuel 13:16; 1 Kings 15:22) which was given up to the Levites (Joshua 21:17; 1 Chronicles 6:45), was in the neighbourhood of Ramah (1 Kings 15:22; 2 Chronicles 16:6). It is mentioned in 2 Kings 23:8; Zechariah 14:10, as the northern boundary of the kingdom of Judah, and was still inhabited after the captivity (Nehemiah 7:30). It is a different place from Gibea, and is not to be found, as I formerly supposed, in the Moslem village of Jibia, by the Wady el Jib, between Beitin and Sinjil (Rob. iii. p. 80), but in the small village of Jeba, which is lying half in ruins, and where there are relics of antiquity, three-quarters of an hour to the north-east of er-Rm (Ramah), and about three hours to the north of Jerusalem, upon a height from which there is an extensive prospect (vid., Rob. ii. pp. 113ff.). This eastern group also included the two other towns Anathoth and Almon (Joshua 21:18), which were given up by Benjamin to the Levites. Anathoth, the home of the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:1; Jeremiah 11:21.), which was still inhabited by Benjaminites after the captivity (Nehemiah 11:32), is the present village of Anta, where there are ruins of great antiquity, an hour and a quarter to the north of Jerusalem (Rob. ii. pp. 109ff.). Almon, called Allemeth in 1 Chronicles 6:45, has been preserved in the ruins of Almt (Rob. Bibl. Res. pp. 287ff.), or el-Mid (Tobler, Denkbl. p. 631), on the south-east of Anta.