Joshua 19:43
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Elon, Timnah, Ekron,
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
In the description of the lots of Judah and Benjamin we have an account both of the borders that surrounded them and of the cities contained in them. In that of Ephraim and Manasseh we have the borders, but not the cities; in this chapter Simeon and Dan are described by their cities only, and not their borders, because they lay very much within Judah, especially the former; the rest have both their borders described and their cities names, especially frontiers. Here is, I. The lot of Simeon (Jos 19:1-9). II. Of Zebulun (Jos 19:10-16). III. Of Issachar (Jos 19:17-23). IV. Of Asher (Jos 19:24-31). V. Of Naphtali (Jos 19:32-39). VI. Of Dan (Jos 19:40-48). Lastly, The inheritance assigned to Joshua himself and his own family (Jos 19:49-51).
Open source ↗19:43 About fifty years after Israel came into Canaan under Joshua, the Philistines moved into the southern coastal plain and occupied the cities of Timnah and Ekron (Judg 14:1-2; 1 Sam 5:1-10). The Philistines were among the Sea Peoples who had perhaps been driven out of the Greek mainland and the Greek islands by an invasion from the north. The Sea Peoples also invaded and destroyed the Hittite Empire to the north of Israel. (Some scholars think that Homer’s Iliad reflects this movement.)
Open source ↗Original language
The Hebrew and Greek words behind this passage, with Strong's numbers — from openscriptures (CC BY-SA).
Cross-references
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After a long time Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had finished mourning, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah.
Ekron, with its towns and villages;
I will cut off the ruler of Ashdod and the one who wields the scepter in Ashkelon. I will turn My hand against Ekron, and the remnant of the Philistines will perish,” says the Lord GOD.
So they sent the ark of God to Ekron, but as it arrived, the Ekronites cried out, “They have brought us the ark of the God of Israel in order to kill us and our people!”