Joshua 19:34

And then the coast turneth westward to Aznothtabor, and goeth out from thence to Hukkok, and reacheth to Zebulun on the south side, and reacheth to Asher on the west side, and to Judah upon Jordan toward the sunrising.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(34) Hukkok (Yakûk, sheet 6), in the same region as the above, but a little further north, near the northeast boundary of Zebulun. Of Judah upon Jordan we can say nothing with certainty.

Benson Commentary

Joshua 19:34-35. And to Judah upon Jordan — It was not near Judah, there being several tribes between them. Therefore the meaning is, this tribe had a communication with that of Judah, by means of the river Jordan. So the word upon, in our translation, ought to be interpreted. This river afforded them the convenience of carrying merchandises to Judah, or bringing them from thence. And thus, some think, the prophecy of Moses was accomplished, (Deuteronomy 33:23.) Possess thou the west and the south; which doth not signify that they had any land in the south; but that they trafficked with that country by the means of Jordan. Chinnereth — Whence the lake of Cinnereth, or Genesareth, received its name. Geneser signifies the gardens of princes; and here were fine gardens, and a kind of paradise. The Jews say the name Cinnereth was taken from its fruits, which were as sweet to the taste as the cinnor, or harp, to the ear.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

19:17-51 Joshua waited till all the tribes were settled, before he asked any provision for himself. He was content to be unfixed, till he saw them all placed, and herein is an example to all in public places, to prefer the common welfare before private advantage. Those who labour most to do good to others, seek an inheritance in the Canaan above: but it will be soon enough to enter thereon, when they have done all the service to their brethren of which they are capable. Nor can any thing more effectually assure them of their title to it, than endeavouring to bring others to desire, to seek, and to obtain it. Our Lord Jesus came and dwelt on earth, not in pomp but poverty, providing rest for man, yet himself not having where to lay his head; for Christ pleased not himself. Nor would he enter upon his inheritance, till by his obedience to death he secured the eternal inheritance for all his people; nor will he account his own glory completed, till every ransomed sinner is put in possession of his heavenly rest.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Aznoth-tabor - This place ("ears of Tabor") was no doubt in the neighborhood of Mount Tabor - probably on the eastern slope; and Hukkok on the western slope.

To Judah upon Jordan - i. e. to the "Havoth-jair" Numbers 32:41, which were on the opposite side of Jordan. Jair, from whom these towns or villages were named, traced his ancestry in the male line through Hezron to Judah Numbers 27:1; and it is likely that he was assisted by large numbers of his kinsmen of that tribe in his rapid conquest of Bashan. Hence, the Havoth-jair were, in all likelihood, largely colonised by Judahites, especially perhaps that portion of them nearest the Jordan. Thus, that part of the river and its valley adjacent to these settlements was spoken of as "Judah upon Jordan," or more literally "Judah of the Jordan" (compare Numbers 22:1).

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

34. Aznoth-tabor—on the east of Tabor towards the Jordan, for the border ran thence to Hukkok, touching upon that of Zebulun; and as the territory of Zebulun did not extend as far as the Jordan, Aznoth-tabor and Hukkok must have been border towns on the line which separated Naphtali from Issachar.

to Judah upon Jordan toward the sunrising—The sixty cities, Havoth-jair, which were on the eastern side of the Jordan, opposite Naphtali, were reckoned as belonging to Judah, because Jair, their possessor, was a descendant of Judah (1Ch 2:4-22) [Keil].

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Westward: this is unquestionably the southern border described from east to west.

To Judah, upon Jordan.

Quest. How can this be, when there were divers tribes between this and Judah, all which reached to Jordan?

Answ. He doth not say of Judah, as he doth of Zebulun and Asher, that it reacheth to it; but, as it seems, purposely leaves out that word which he had used in both the former branches, lest it should be understood of a local reaching to it, or being contiguous with it, which was not true; and that he might signify that he meant this clause in another sense, to wit, that it did in some sort go or reach to, or converse with Judah by Jordan. And so this may be here added, to show the accomplishment of that famous and obscure prophecy, That Naphtali, though he should be planted in the utmost border of the land, on the north-east, yet he should possess the riches of the west and south, Deu 33:23, i.e. of those tribes which were at a great distance from him westward and southward; and this he should do by way of commerce with them by their famous river Jordan, which he did not only touch in a small part, as some of the other tribes did, but lay all along it for a good space together, even from the very fountain unto the sea of Gennesaret. Some think that this is verified by that royalty of this river, which they suppose God gave to the tribe of Judah, which extended as far as Naphtali.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And then the coast turneth westward to Aznothtabor,.... This was the southern border, reaching from east to west; it began at Aznothtabor, which Jerom (g) says was a village in his time belonging to the country of Diocaesarea, in the plains; there is another place called Chislothtabor, on the borders of Zebulun, Joshua 19:12,

and goeth out from thence to Hukkok: there the southern border ended, which was in the border of Asher, and is the same with Helkath, Joshua 19:25; with which compare 1 Chronicles 6:75,

and reacheth to Zebulun on the south side, and reacheth to Asher on the west side and to Judah upon Jordan towards the sunrising; so that as it was bounded by Lebanon, on the north, near to which some of the cities were, mentioned in Joshua 19:33, it had Zebulun on the south, Asher on the west, and Jordan to the east; for by Judah is not meant the tribe of Judah, from which Naphtali was at a great distance, but a city so called, as Fuller (h) seems rightly to conjecture.

(g) De loc. Heb. fol. 88. I.((h) Pisgah-Sight, B. 2. c. 4. p. 104.

Geneva Study Bible

And then the coast turneth westward to Aznothtabor, and goeth out from thence to Hukkok, and reacheth to Zebulun on the south side, and reacheth to Asher on the west side, and to Judah upon Jordan toward the sunrising.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

34. and then the coast turneth] From the Jordan on the east, the southern border of Naphtali turned westward to Aznoth-tabor, not identified, but probably a border town on the line which separated this tribe from Issachar, and “struck,” or coincided with, Zebulun on the south and Asher on the west. The site of Hukkok is unknown.

Judah upon Jordan] So our Version renders it, following the Vulgate, Et in Juda ad Jordanem. Others, following the Masoretic punctuation, would put a colon at Judah, so that it would run, “and Judah; the Jordan was toward the sunrising” i.e. the eastern boundary of the tribe. The word Judah here has been explained by the fact that the sixty cities, Havoth-jair (Numbers 32:41), which were on the eastern side of Jordan opposite to Naphtali, were reckoned as belonging to Judah, because Jair their founder was descended on the father’s side from Judah through Hezron. Comp. 1 Chronicles 2:21-24. Others would identify it with a village el-Jehidijeh, marked on Dr Smith’s map, north of Tibrin, but this is not satisfactory.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 34. - And then the coast turneth westward. Here the words are literally translated without any confusion between the west and the sea, nor any misapprehension of the meaning of the word נסב. Reacheth. This is the same word translated skirteth above, ver. 11, note. We have it here clearly stated that Naphtali was bordered on the south by Zebulun, on the west by Asher, and on the east by "Judah upon Jordan." To Judah. These words have caused great trouble to translators and expositors for 2,000 years. The LXX. omits them altogether, rendering, "and the Jordan to the eastward." The Masorites, by inserting a disjunctive accent between them and the words that follow, would have us render, "and to Judah: Jordan towards the sun rising," or, "is towards the sunrising," a rendering which gives no reasonable sense. They unquestionably form part of the text, since no version but the LXX. omits them. A suggestion of Von Raumer's has found favour that the cities called Havoth Jair, which were on the eastern side of Jordan, opposite the inheritance of Naphtali, are meant. Jair was a descendant of Judah by the father's side, through Hezron. So Ritter, 4:338 (see 1 Chronicles 2:21-23). It would seem that the principle of female inheritance, having once been admitted in the tribe of Manasseh, was found capable of further extension. But to the majority of the Israelites this settlement would no doubt be regarded as an offshoot of the tribe of Judah. Joshua 19:34

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

From the Jordan below the Lake of Tiberias, or speaking more exactly, from the point at which the Wady Bessum enters the Jordan, "the boundary (of Asher) turned westwards to Asnoth-tabor, and went thence out to Hukkok." This boundary, i.e., the southern boundary of Asher, probably followed the course of the Wady Bessum from the Jordan, which wady was the boundary of Issachar on the north-east, and then ran most likely from Kefr Sabt (see at Joshua 19:22) to Asnoth-tabor, i.e., according to the Onom. (s. v. Azanoth), a vicus ad regionem Diocaesareae pertinens in campestribus, probably on the south-east of Diocaesarea, i.e., Sepphoris, not far from Tabor, to which the boundary of Issachar extended (Joshua 19:22). Hukkok has not yet been traced. Robinson (Bibl. Res. p. 82) and Van de Velde (Mem. p. 322) are inclined to follow Rabbi Parchi of the fourteenth century, and identify this place with the village of Yakk, on the north-west of the Lake of Gennesareth; but this village is too far to the north-east to have formed the terminal point of the southern boundary of Naphtali, as it ran westwards from the Jordan. After this Naphtali touched "Zebulun on the south, Asher on the west, and Judah by the Jordan toward the sun-rising or east." "The Jordan" is in apposition to "Judah," in the sense of "Judah of the Jordan," like "Jordan of Jericho" in Numbers 22:1; Numbers 26:3, etc. The Masoretic pointing, which separates these two words, was founded upon some false notion respecting this definition of the boundary, and caused the commentators great perplexity, until C. v. Raumer succeeded in removing the difficulty, by showing that the district of the sixty towns of Jair, which was upon the eastern side of the Jordan, is called Judah here, or reckoned as belonging to Judah, because Jair, the possessor of these towns, was a descendant of Judah on the father's side through Hezron (1 Chronicles 2:5, 1 Chronicles 2:21-22); whereas in Joshua 13:30, and Numbers 32:41, he is reckoned contra morem, i.e., against the rule laid down in Numbers 36:7, as a descendant of Manasseh, on account of his descent from Machir the Manassite, on his mother's side.

(Note: See C. v. Raumer's article on "Judaea on the east of Jordan," in Tholuck's litt. Anz. 1834, Nos. 1 and 2, and his Palstina, pp. 233ff. ed. 4; and for the arbitrary attempts that had been made to explain the passage by alterations of the text and in other ways, see Rosenmller's Bibl. Alterthk. ii. 1, pp. 301-2; and Keil's Comm. on Joshua, pp. 438-9.)