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The valley of the son of Hinnom - Who Hinnom was is not known, nor why this was called his valley. It was situated on the east of Jerusalem; and is often mentioned in Scripture. The image of the idol Molech appears to have been set up there; and there the idolatrous Israelites caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire in honor of that demon, Kg2 23:10. It was also called Tophet, see Jer 7:32. When King Josiah removed the image of this idol from this valley, it appears to have been held in such universal execration, that it became the general receptacle of all the filth and impurities which were carried out of Jerusalem; and it is supposed that continual fires were there kept up, to consume those impurities and prevent infection. From the Hebrew words גי בן הנם gei ben Hinnom, the valley of the son of Hinnom, and by contraction, גי הנם gei Hinnom, the valley of Hinnom, came the Γεεννα, Gehenna of the New Testament, called also Γεεννα του πυρος, the Gehenna of fire, which is the emblem of hell, or the place of the damned. See Mat 5:22, Mat 5:29, Mat 5:30; Mat 10:28; Mat 18:9, etc. In the East it is common to add the name of the father to that of the son, e.g., "This land belongs to Goborka the son of Kake Prusada." But this addition is not made till after the father's death. This custom prevailed also in the west. It is common among the aborigines of both Ireland and Wales. The same is Jerusalem - This city was formerly called Jebus; a part of it was in the tribe of Benjamin; Zion, called its citadel, was in the tribe of Judah. The valley of the giants - Of the Rephaim. See the notes on Gen 6:4; Gen 14:5; Deu 2:7, Deu 2:11. On this subject, a very intelligent clergyman favors me with his opinion in the following terms: - "The boundary between Judah and Benj…

BORDERS OF THE LOT OF JUDAH. (Jos 15:1-12) This then was the lot of the tribe of the children of Judah--In what manner the lot was drawn on this occasion the sacred historian does not say; but it is probable that the method adopted was similar to that described in Jos 18:10. Though the general survey of the country had not been completed, some rough draft or delineation of the first conquered part must have been made, and satisfactory evidence obtained that it was large enough to furnish three cantons, before all the tribes cast lots for them; and they fell to Judah, Ephraim, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. The lot of Judah came first, in token of the pre-eminence of that tribe over all the others; and its destined superiority thus received the visible sanction of God. The territory, assigned to it as a possession, was large and extensive, being bounded on the south by the wilderness of Zin, and the southern extremity of the Salt Sea (Num 34:3-5); on the east, by that sea, extending to the point where it receives the waters of the Jordan; on the north, by a line drawn nearly parallel to Jerusalem, across the country, from the northern extremity of the Salt Sea to the southern limits of the Philistine territory, and to the Mediterranean; and on the west this sea was its boundary, as far as Sihor (Wady El-Arish).

And the border went up by the valley of the son of Hinnom,.... Which belonged to a man of that name formerly; and was near Jerusalem, placed by Jerom (l) to the east of it; but Reland (m) rather thinks it is to the south. It was infamous for the sacrifices of children to Moloch in it, by burning them, or causing them to pass through fire: hence, in allusion to it, hell fire is often in the New Testament called "Geenna", Mat 5:22 Luk 12:5; this border from the salt sea, and from Jordan, is all along said to "go up", because from hence to Jerusalem was an ascent, that lying on higher ground: unto the south side of the Jebusite; of the place the Jebusite inhabited: the same is Jerusalem; which was formerly called Jebus, from the inhabitants of it; yea, Jebusi, as here, and so may intend not the inhabitants, but the place, see Jos 18:28; and here the Jebusites lived, at least in some part of it, until the time of David, Sa2 5:6, and the border went up to the top of the mountain that lieth before the valley of Hinnom westward: which is generally supposed to be the mount Moriah: which is at the end of the valley of the giants, northward: the valley of Rephaim, as it is called Sa2 5:18, and here Mount Moriah, as it was to the west of the valley of Hinnom, it was to the north of the valley of Rephaim; which valley, as Josephus (n) says, was not far from Jerusalem, twenty furlongs from it. Some late travellers (o) tell us it lies in the way from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, and is not above two hours' ride from the former. From this account it appears, as Jarchi remarks, that Jerusalem was not within the line, and was not in the border of Judah, but of Benjamin, which tribe lay to the north of Judah: it seems indeed to have been one part of it in the tribe of Judah, and the other in…

Inheritance of the Tribe of Judah - Joshua 15 Under the superintending providence of God, the inheritance which fell to the tribe of Judah by lot was in the southern part of Canaan, where Caleb had already received his inheritance, so that he was not separated from his tribe. The inheritance of Judah is first of all described according to its boundaries (Jos 15:1-12); then for the sake of completeness it is stated once more with regard to Caleb, that he received Kirjath-arba for his inheritance, and took possession of it by expelling the Anakites and conquering Debir (Jos 15:13-20); and after this a list is given of the towns in the different parts (vv. 21-63).

Though the land was not completely conquered, yet being (as was said in the close of the foregoing chapter) as rest from war for the present, and their armies all drawn out of the field to a general rendezvous at Gilgal, there they began to divide the land, though the work was afterwards perfected at Shiloh, Jos 18:1, etc. In this chapter we have the lot of the tribe of Judah, which in this, as in other things, had the precedency. I. The borders or bounds of the inheritance of Judah (Jos 15:1-12). II. The particular assignment of Hebron and the country thereabout to Caleb and his family (Jos 15:13-19). III. The names of the several cities that fell within Judah's lot (v. 20-63).

15:8 The valley of Ben-Hinnom marked Judah’s northern border. Jerusalem occupied a ridge rising northward from the lower end of this valley within the tribe of Benjamin’s territory. Neither tribe occupied Jerusalem, so when David captured it, it became the royal city of his dynasty rather than just another tribal city.