Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Joshua divides Canaan by lots among the twelve tribes. Therefore in this chapter, first, the regions that fell by lot to the tribe of Judah are described. Then, in verse 13, how Caleb obtained Hebron and its neighboring places by arms. Third, in verse 21, the cities that fell to the tribe of Judah in this allotment are listed.
Moreover, the lot of the tribe of Judah was larger than the lots of other tribes, both because the tribe of Judah was larger and more numerous than all the others, as is evident from Numbers 2, 3 and following; and because Caleb, outside the lot, obtained the territory of Hebron by God's command within the tribe of Judah.
Vulgate Text: Joshua 15:1-63
1. Therefore the lot of the children of Judah by their families was this: From the border of Edom, the desert of Zin toward the south, and to the outermost part of the southern region. 2. Its beginning was from the top of the Salt Sea, and from its tongue which looks toward the south. 3. And it goes out toward the Ascent of the Scorpion, and passes through Zin: and ascends to Kadesh-barnea, and reaches Hezron, ascending to Addar, and going around Karka, 4. and from there passing through Azmon, and reaching the Brook of Egypt; and its boundaries shall be the Great Sea. This shall be the end of the southern region. 5. From the east, however, the beginning shall be the Salt Sea to the end of the Jordan: and those parts that look toward the north, from the tongue of the sea to the same river Jordan. 6. And the border ascends to Beth-hoglah, and passes from the north to Beth-arabah: ascending to the Stone of Bohan the son of Reuben, 7. and extending to the borders of Debir from the Valley of Achor, looking northward toward Gilgal, which is opposite the Ascent of Adummim, from the southern part of the torrent, and it crosses the waters called the Fountain of the Sun: and its exits shall be at the Fountain of Rogel. 8. And it ascends through the valley of the son of Hinnom from the side of the Jebusite to the south; this is Jerusalem: and from there rising to the top of the mountain which is opposite Gehenna to the west, at the summit of the Valley of the Rephaim to the north, 9. and it passes from the top of the mountain to the fountain of the water of Nephtoah, and reaches the villages of Mount Ephron; and it bends toward Baalah, which is Kiriath-jearim, that is, the city of forests. 10. And it circles from Baalah toward the west, to Mount Seir: and passes near the side of Mount Jearim to the north in Chesalon; and descends to Beth-shemesh, and passes through Timnah, 11. and reaches the northern part of Ekron from the side: and bends toward Shicron, and passes Mount Baalah; and reaches Jabneel, and is concluded by the boundary of the Great Sea toward the west. 12. These are the boundaries of the children of Judah all around by their families. 13. To Caleb the son of Jephunneh he gave a portion in the midst of the children of Judah, as the Lord had commanded him: Kiriath-Arba of the father of Anak, which is Hebron. 14. And Caleb drove out from it the three sons of Anak: Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai, of the stock of Anak. 15. And going up from there, he came to the inhabitants of Debir, which was formerly called Kiriath-Sepher, that is, the city of letters. 16. And Caleb said: Whoever strikes Kiriath-Sepher and takes it, I will give him Achsah my daughter as wife. 17. And Othniel the son of Kenaz, the younger brother of Caleb, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter as wife. 18. She, as they were going together, was persuaded by her husband to ask her father for a field, and she sighed as she sat on the donkey. And Caleb said to her: What is the matter? 19. And she answered: Give me a blessing. You have given me a southern and dry land; add also an irrigated one. And so Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs. 20. This is the possession of the tribe of the children of Judah by their families. 21. And the cities from the outermost parts of the children of Judah along the border of Edom to the south were: Kabzeel and Eder and Jagur, 22. and Kinah and Dimonah and Adadah, 23. and Kedesh and Hazor and Ithnan, 24. Ziph and Telem and Bealoth, 25. and Hazor-hadattah and Kerioth-hezron, which is Hazor, 26. Amam and Shema and Moladah, 27. and Hazar-gaddah and Heshmon and Beth-pelet, 28. and Hazar-shual and Beer-sheba and Bizjothjah, 29. Baalah and Iim and Azem, 30. and Eltolad and Chesil and Hormah, 31. and Ziklag and Madmannah and Sansannah, 32. and Lebaoth and Shilhim and Ain and Rimmon: all the cities are twenty-nine, and their villages. 33. In the lowlands: Eshtaol and Zorah and Ashnah, 34. and Zanoah and En-gannim, Tappuah and Enam, 35. Jarmuth and Adullam, Socoh and Azekah, 36. and Shaaraim and Adithaim and Gederah and Gederothaim: fourteen cities, and their villages. 37. Zenan and Hadashah and Migdal-gad, 38. and Dilean and Mizpeh and Joktheel, 39. Lachish and Bozkath and Eglon, 40. and Cabbon and Lahmam and Kithlish, 41. and Gederoth, Beth-dagon and Naamah and Makkedah: sixteen cities, and their villages. 42. Libnah and Ether and Ashan, 43. and Jiphtah and Ashnah and Nezib, 44. and Keilah and Achzib and Mareshah: nine cities, and their villages. 45. Ekron with its towns and villages. 46. From Ekron even to the sea: all things that lie near Ashdod, and their villages. 47. Ashdod with its towns and villages. Gaza with its towns and villages, even to the Brook of Egypt, and the Great Sea that is its boundary. 48. And in the mountain: Shamir and Jattir and Socoh, 49. and Dannah and Kiriath-sannah, which is Debir, 50. and Anab and Eshtemoh and Anim, 51. and Goshen and Holon and Giloh: eleven cities, and their villages. 52. Arab and Dumah and Eshan, 53. and Janum and Beth-tappuah and Aphekah, 54. and Humtah and Kiriath-arba, which is Hebron, and Zior: nine cities, and their villages. 55. Maon, Carmel and Ziph and Juttah, 56. and Jezreel and Jokdeam and Zanoah, 57. Kain, Gibeah and Timnah: ten cities, and their villages. 58. Halhul, Beth-zur and Gedor, 59. and Maarath and Beth-anoth and Eltekon: six cities, and their villages. 60. Kiriath-baal, which is Kiriath-jearim, and Rabbah: two cities, and their villages. 61. In the wilderness: Beth-arabah, Middin and Secacah, 62. and Nibshan and the City of Salt and En-gedi: six cities, and their villages. 63. But the children of Judah could not destroy the Jebusites who dwelt in Jerusalem: and the Jebusites dwelt with the children of Judah in Jerusalem unto this day.
Verse 1: The Method of the Lots
1. THEREFORE THE LOT OF THE CHILDREN OF JUDAH BY THEIR FAMILIES WAS THIS.
The question is asked: what was the method of these lots, and by what kind of allotment was Canaan divided among the twelve tribes and their families?
First, Arias Montanus considers that this allotment was made by the Urim and Thummim, which were in the Breastplate of the High Priest: for to the mind and eyes of the Priest who wore them and was consulting God, he says, an image was presented by God of the matter about which an answer was sought, Exodus chapter 28, verse 30. But this was an oracle, not a lot; therefore this division would have been made not by lot, as Scripture says, but by prophecy and God's response.
Second, Andreas Masius thinks that Canaan was described in twelve equal parts, and by tickets drawn from an urn by chance, or a similar method of casting lots, each tribe received its own portion of land, equal to that of any other tribe. But Abulensis rightly refutes this, Question 5 on chapter 18, who with Lyra thinks the portions of the region were unequal. And rightly so: for the tribes were very unequal — some were very numerous, as the tribe of Judah was double the size of the tribe of Manasseh and Benjamin, as is evident from Numbers chapter 2. Therefore it would have been unfair for the tribe of Dan to be made equal to the tribe of Judah in the portion of their possession.
Third, Abulensis considers that the surveyors and describers of Canaan divided it into twelve unequal parts and assigned to each tribe its part, larger or smaller according to its size or smallness: then they went to the lots, and the lots confirmed and approved the division already made by them. But this does not sufficiently agree with Scripture, which here and in Numbers chapter 26, verses 55 and 56, and Numbers chapter 33, verse 54, expressly commands that the land be divided by lot, so that whatever falls to each by the allotment, that should go to them, and each should take what has fallen to them by lot. Whence it is clear that the lot carried out this division first, not the surveyors' partition.
Fourth, Josephus, in Antiquities Book 5, chapter 2, reports that the names of the individual tribes were drawn from an urn by lot, and that the one which was drawn first chose by preference for itself that part of Canaan which it desired above others. In like manner the one drawn in second place also chose its part of Canaan by preference, and then the one drawn in third place, and so on for the rest. But this is an incomplete and defective allotment — namely, of the tribes only, not of the regions; nor is it so much an allotment as a preference and choice: but Scripture says that the land itself was to be divided by lot and was in fact divided, and each portion was to be assigned as the lot fell, not as each one's preference chose.
Fifth, more plausibly the Rabbis, in their book On Pacts or Contracts, Part 1, chapter 3, report that there were two urns for the lots, and that the names of the twelve tribes casting lots were thrown into one, while the names of the described regions were thrown into the other, and then Eleazar the High Priest shook the urn before everyone, moving it up and down; then from one he drew the name of whichever tribe came up by lot and chance, and from the other the name of whichever region first came to hand, and he assigned that region to that tribe by this allotment.
I say therefore that it seems more probable that all of Canaan was described in twelve parts, equal not so much in size as in valuation — namely in quality and fertility (for Josephus reports that the greatest consideration was given to fertility in the valuation of these lots) — and that these were in turn subdivided into other smaller parts, as can be sufficiently gathered from the description of the towns in each region in this chapter, verses 31, 41, 44, 57, 62. Then these surveyors assessed the size or smallness of each tribe and calculated their proportions among themselves: some were larger than others by a fourth part, some by half, some by a third, etc.; some were smaller, some equal. And accordingly the smaller tribes, from the twelve portions of Canaan already distributed, claimed for themselves only a fourth of one portion, or half, or a third, according to their smallness. But the larger ones, for their greater size, in addition to one complete twelfth of Canaan, demanded that they receive a further fourth of another portion, or half, or a third: for what was taken from a smaller tribe was added to a larger one, and vice versa.
This done, they threw the slips with the names of the twelve tribes into one urn, and the twelve portions of the region with their subdivisions, just described, into the other urn. Then first from one urn they drew the name of a tribe, and from the other the name of whichever portion of land came up first, and assigned it to the tribe that had been drawn; but in geometric proportion, according to the size or smallness of each tribe. So that, accordingly, they would draw from the urn slips for the region that contained a whole, or half, or one-and-a-half, or another proportion of the portion due to each tribe — for example, if we suppose that the tribe of Judah was double the size of the others, we must say that a double portion of land was given to it by lot, but neighboring and contiguous, so that the whole tribe might dwell together in the same region, and one part would not be separated from another by dwelling apart. Again, by a similar lot the portion of each tribe was subdivided among its individual families. That this was the method of the lot and allotment is indicated by Scripture in Numbers chapter 26 and 37, and here in chapters 18 and 19, where it is similarly clearly indicated that the tribe whose name was first drawn by lot from the urn, first drew from the other urn the lot of the region and portion that would fall to it, and then the one drawn second, third, fourth, etc., — that is, each in the order of its lot and its turn. Whence in chapter 19, verse 1, it says: "And the second lot came out for the children of Simeon." And verse 10: "And the third lot fell to the children of Zebulun." And verse 17: "The fourth lot came out for Issachar." And verse 24: "And the fifth lot fell to the tribe of the children of Asher," etc.
Moreover, the surveyors of the regions of Canaan seem to have made an error in their first description, in the designation of the portion that fell to Judah, or at least in estimating the size and proportion of the tribe of Judah relative to the other tribes: for it is clear that too large a part fell to the tribe of Judah, from the fact that this tribe later ceded some part of its region to the tribe of Simeon, as is evident from chapter 19, verse 1, and indeed to the tribe of Dan, as is evident regarding Zorah and Eshtaol, which in this chapter, verse 33, are assigned to Judah, yet in chapter 19, verse 41, are attributed to the tribe of Dan, from which Samson arose, who was a Danite. And for this reason — namely, because Joshua suspected an error had been committed — to correct it in chapter 18, he sent new surveyors, who for a second time and more precisely described seven lots for the seven tribes in the land that was still undivided, or, if that proved too small, also in the land already divided.
Finally, note: There were many cities in Canaan that had the same name, so it is not surprising that the same city name is attributed to different tribes. Thus there was one Bethlehem of Judah, in which Christ was born, and another Bethlehem given to the Zebulunites in chapter 19:15. Likewise one Samaria was attributed to the tribe of Ephraim, which was later called Sebaste and was the capital of the kings of Israel; another was given to the tribe of Zebulun in chapter 19:13. Similarly, one Beth-horon was in the tribe of Ephraim, called Upper in chapter 16:5; another was Lower, in the tribe of Benjamin, chapter 18:13.
Verse 2: The Tongue of the Salt Sea
2. ITS BEGINNING FROM THE TOP OF THE SALT SEA, — that is, from the extremity of the Dead Sea or Lake Asphaltites, into which Sodom and the Pentapolis were transformed.
AND FROM ITS TONGUE. — The tongue of the Dead Sea, says Masius, is a bay of the sea, by which its narrower part runs into the continent in the shape of a tongue, where namely this sea ends near Edom. Adrichomius graphically represents this in his Geographic Maps of the Holy Land. Thus in Isaiah 11, the tongue of the Egyptian Sea is the part of the Arabian Gulf that laps Egypt in the shape of a tongue.
Verse 4: The Great Sea
4. THE GREAT SEA, — that is, the Mediterranean, which is great in comparison with the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. Otherwise, the Great Sea absolutely speaking is the Ocean.
Verse 6: Beth-hoglah
6. AND THE BORDER ASCENDS TO BETH-HOGLAH. — Beth-hoglah is now, which was formerly called the threshing floor of Atad, a place beyond the Jordan, where Joseph and the children of Israel mourned their father Jacob when they were carrying him from Egypt.
Whence it was also called Beth-hoglah, that is, the place of the circle, because there, in the manner of mourners, they went around in a circle at the funeral of Jacob. So Saint Jerome in his Hebrew Places, Burchard, Adrichomius, and others. For Hoglah in Hebrew signifies a circle and a rotation. See the commentary on Genesis 50:10.
Verse 7: Gilgal and the Ascent of Adummim
7. LOOKING TOWARD GILGAL, WHICH IS OPPOSITE THE ASCENT OF ADUMMIM. — This is, as it appears, a different Gilgal from the Gilgal near the Jordan where Joshua had his camp. For those were far distant from Adummim. The Gilgal of this verse is called in the Hebrew in chapter 18, verse 18, גלילות Geliloth, where Saint Jerome translates it as "mounds." Masius thinks that the Gilgal of this verse is the same as the Gilgal where there were idols in the time of Ehud the Judge, Judges 3:19. Moreover, Adummim was a place on the road to Jericho infested with robbers. Whence it was called Adummim, that is, "red places," because of the frequent shedding of blood that occurred there; and Christ refers to this place in the parable of the Samaritan, when He says: "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among robbers," Luke 10:30.
FROM THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE TORRENT, — not the Cherith, as someone claims, but the Kedron, which flows through the Valley of Jehoshaphat near Jerusalem and finally falls into the Dead Sea. So Adrichomius.
AND ITS EXITS SHALL BE AT THE FOUNTAIN OF ROGEL, — that is, it goes out and terminates "at the Fountain of Rogel," that is, at the Fuller's Fountain: which in Hebrew is called Rogel from רגל regel, that is, "foot," because the fuller, treading with his feet, washes the cloths. This fountain was near Jerusalem and irrigated the royal gardens, near which Isaiah predicted to King Ahaz that Christ would be born of a Virgin, Isaiah 7:3.
Verse 8: The Valley of Hinnom; Gehenna and Jerusalem
8. AND IT ASCENDS THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE SON OF HINNOM, — that is, through Gehenna: for גי ge signifies a valley. Moreover, Gehenna, says Adrichomius, which is also Ben-Hinnom, that is, the valley of the sons of Hinnom, was a place in the suburbs of Jerusalem, facing east below the Mount of Offense, near the Fuller's Pool, a most pleasant place like Tempe, irrigated by the fountains of Siloam and the flow of the torrent Kedron, planted with gardens and orchards, and entirely wooded and full of delights.
In this valley parents used to sacrifice and burn their infants to the idol Moloch, and lest their wailing be heard, they beat טוף toph, that is, a drum. Whence the place was called Tophet. This was a prelude to and living image of hell, which is therefore called Gehenna. See the commentary on Leviticus 18:21.
THIS IS JERUSALEM. — You will say: How is Jerusalem counted here in the lot of the tribe of Judah, when elsewhere it is said to be in the tribe of Benjamin? Abulensis answers, at the end of chapter 18, that Jerusalem properly belonged to the lot of Benjamin, as is evident from chapter 18, last verse, and Judges 1:21, but that it was on the border of the tribe of Judah, as is signified in this passage. Whence it happened in later years that, with the Benjaminites acquiescing or even inviting them, the Jews originating from Judah expelled the very strong Jebusites who occupied Jerusalem, and claimed the city for themselves by right of war, and made it the capital of the kingdom. Just as David wrested the city of Ziklag, which is here counted among the Simeonites, from the Philistines and attached it to his own tribe of Judah, 1 Samuel 27:6. Similarly, Josephus attributes Jerusalem to the Benjaminites in Antiquities Book 5, chapters 1 and 2. Hence also Moses, in Deuteronomy chapter 33:12, predicts that in the lot of Benjamin, that is, in Jerusalem, the temple would be built in which God would dwell.
However, some part of Jerusalem belonged to the tribe of Judah, as will be evident from the words immediately following.
AND FROM THERE RISING TO THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN (Zion or Moriah, on which Solomon built the temple) WHICH IS OPPOSITE GEHENNA TO THE NORTH AT THE SUMMIT OF THE VALLEY OF THE REPHAIM (that is, of the giants, who were called Rephaim from Rapha), TO THE NORTH. — The meaning is, as if to say: The northern boundary of the tribe of Judah, after it reached from the Valley of Hinnom to the seats of the Jebusite at the base of Mount Moriah, rises up, and from there extends to the top of that same mountain, which is opposite the Valley of Hinnom and has it to the east; the same mountain then bends to the west of Jerusalem and there ends at the extremity of the Valley of Rephaim, which faces north. From this it is clear that some part of the city of Jerusalem belonged to the tribe of Judah, and another and larger part to the tribe of Benjamin. Whence in Nehemiah 11:4, both the children of Judah and Benjamin are said to have dwelt in Jerusalem; namely, as it says here, the measuring line of Judah was drawn along the top of Mount Moriah to the side of the Jebusite who occupied the citadel, so as to leave it to the south: therefore the more southern, modest part of Mount Moriah belonged to Judah, so that the remaining northern part of the mountain, on which the temple was built, and the rest of the lower city were left to the Benjaminites. For both Hebrews and Christians agree that the temple was in the lot of the tribe of Benjamin, not Judah.
Verse 11: Ekron and the Philistine Satrapies
11. AND IT REACHES THE NORTHERN PART OF EKRON. — From this, and even more from verses 45, 46, and 47, it is clear that Ekron and the other four satrapies of the Philistines — namely Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Gaza — originally belonged to the tribe of Judah, but later part of them was ceded to the tribe of Dan, as is evident from chapter 19:43: for what is there called Ekron is the same as Accaron, as is clear in the Hebrew. For although the warriors of the tribe of Judah later conquered it (Judges 1), they did so not because Ekron belonged to them, but because its inhabitants were hostile to them as neighbors. Finally, the Philistines eventually occupied all five of these satrapies and waged perpetual war with the Jews.
Verse 13: Caleb Given Hebron; Kiriath-Arba
13. TO CALEB THE SON OF JEPHUNNEH HE (JOSHUA) GAVE, etc. KIRIATH-ARBA OF THE FATHER OF ANAK, — that is, the city of Arba, who was the father of Anak the giant, from whom the Anakim giants descended. "It is Hebron."
Verse 15: Debir, Kiriath-Sepher: the Ancient Academy
15. AND GOING UP FROM THERE HE CAME TO THE INHABITANTS OF DEBIR, WHICH WAS FORMERLY CALLED KIRIATH-SEPHER, that is, the city of letters. — It seems therefore that this was an academy of the Canaanites, in which learned men taught letters and all kinds of books. Moreover, this city had three names; for first, it was called דביר Debir, as if an oracle of wisdom; or from דבר dabar, that is, to speak, because in it the art of eloquence and correct speaking was taught; second, it was called Kiriath-Sepher, that is, the city of letters; third, the same city, as is evident from verse 49, was called Kiriath-Sennah, that is, the city of keenness, in which namely every subject was acutely discussed: שנן Shanan (the letter Samech being changed to the neighboring Shin) means to sharpen. Whence Shenina among the Chaldeans signifies sharpness of intellect, and Shinan means to discuss acutely. Hence the Septuagint likewise translate, the City of Letters.
This therefore was the most ancient and first academy of the world that we read of in Scripture. Note here the antiquity of academies. For this academy was famous and old in the time of Joshua, who preceded Christ by 1,456 years. See Middendorp, Book on the Origin of Academies. So Lyra, Abulensis, Serarius, Arias, and others here, and Driedo, Book 4 On Various Dogmas, page 238.
Thus the capital of Spain, formerly called Mantua, when occupied by the Moors was called in Arabic Madrid, that is, "mother of knowledge," because the Moors established their schools and academy there, as Serarius reports from Spanish archives on Judges chapter 1, verse 12. Such also in a later age was Tekoa; whence that wise woman of Tekoa calls it a mother in Israel, and therefore asks David to spare it, 2 Samuel chapter 14, verse 2. Such also was the city of Teman among the Edomites, from which came Eliphaz the Temanite, Job's friend. Whence the Temanite sages and wise men are celebrated, Baruch 3:23. Such also were Athens in Greece, Memphis and Heliopolis in Egypt.
Masius, from the Chaldean, translates Kiriath-Sepher as the city of archives, or of records, because in it there was an archive — namely, because in it many monuments of antiquity were stored after the flood of the world. Arias calls it "a public library."
Verse 17: Othniel Takes the City; He Marries Achsah
AND OTHNIEL THE SON OF KENAZ, THE YOUNGER BROTHER OF CALEB, TOOK IT. — "Brother," that is, a relative — namely, a brother's son, or nephew of Caleb: for Caleb was not the son of Kenaz but of Jephunneh, and therefore could not have been the full brother of Othniel, who was the son of Kenaz. Therefore Kenaz was Caleb's brother and Othniel's father. Whence the Septuagint, in the Vatican and Roman editions, have ἀδελφοῦ (though the Royal edition has ἀδελφός), that is, "of the brother." The Chaldean and Vatablus also render it in the genitive: the son of Kenaz, Caleb's brother, or the son of Kenaz who was Caleb's younger brother. For the Hebrews often omit relative pronouns and the verb "to be." And so this seems to be the genuine meaning: the son of Kenaz, who (Kenaz) was the younger brother of Caleb.
Masius, however, and others think that Caleb was truly the full brother of Othniel, but only on the mother's side, because both had the same mother, from whom Jephunneh begot Caleb, and Kenaz begot Othniel. Now Othniel could lawfully, although he was an uncle, marry his niece through his brother — namely Achsah — because in Leviticus 18:9, only the marriage of an aunt with a nephew is forbidden, not that of a niece with an uncle. This opinion is probable and very conformable to the Vulgate translation.
Moreover, God directed this whole matter, because He was destining Othniel to be Joshua's successor in the leadership. Therefore He gave him the courage and strength to conquer Kiriath-Sepher, held by very strong men and giants, so that he might give a specimen of his outstanding virtue and fortitude, on account of which he would deserve to become prince and would acquire an authority worthy of a prince among the people; and therefore Caleb promised him his daughter Achsah as wife, being aware of his virtue and foreseeing that no one other than he would attempt so great a feat.
Verse 18: Achsah Persuaded by Her Husband
18. SHE, AS THEY WERE GOING TOGETHER, — that is, when Achsah, as a bride, was being escorted to the house of Othniel her bridegroom. For it was then the custom (as it still is in many places) that newly married brides were escorted from their parents' house to the husband's dwelling accompanied by a great crowd of relatives, and if the distance was far, they were carried on donkeys or mules, or horses, or camels (as Rebecca in Genesis 24:64), according to the custom of the region, as a mark of honor. And indeed, says Arias, among those mountain-dwelling men who cultivate the land near our cliff in the region of Aracena (in Spain), it is considered proper for the new bride to be carried on a donkey as far as the threshold of the church.
Moreover, the Rabbis give this etymology for Achsah. Achsah, they say, in Hebrew means the same as anger or angry, because Achsah was so beautiful that whoever looked at her would become angry at his own wife, because compared to Achsah she seemed ugly. These are carnal and crude interpretations. Far better is what Pagninus and others say: Achsah, they say, means the same as elegantly shod, adorned, and walking with a composed step, Isaiah 3:16, according to the Song of Songs 7:1: "How beautiful are your steps in sandals, O daughter of the prince!" See the commentary there. Such tropologically is the soul that is modest, peaceful, composed, and master of its passions.
SHE WAS PERSUADED BY HER HUSBAND. — The Hebrew has the contrary: She urged him, namely Achsah urged her husband; but I respond that Achsah urged her husband either that he himself should ask her father Caleb for irrigated land, or that he should allow her to ask for the same from him, and should advise what would be best in the matter; and that her husband, by assenting, responded and advised that she herself should ask. Therefore by the persuasion of her husband she asked for it, as our translator renders shrewdly and briefly; and the Septuagint implies this when they translate: and she consulted with him, "I will ask my father for a field."
AND SHE SIGHED. — The Hebrew צנח tisnach, which Masius, Vatablus, Pagninus, and generally the Hebraists translate as "she let herself down" or "she threw herself to the ground"; for our translator too, in Judges 4:21, renders it "she drove in"; the Septuagint and others, "she drove into."
But the Septuagint agrees with our translator, who here renders ἐβόησεν, that is, "she cried out," and in Judges 1:14, ἐγόγγυσεν, that is, "she murmured"; either because both our translator and the Septuagint read תאנח teenach, that is, "she groaned, she sighed," instead of צנח tisnach; for צ and ת are neighboring letters: or because they knew that צנח tsanach could sometimes be taken for the kindred אנח anach, which we can no longer know, because the verb tsanach is not found anywhere else. And indeed it is very likely that Achsah sighed and by her sighing moved her father to grant what she was asking. For this is the way of women; this is their art.
Verse 19: Give Me a Blessing; the Upper and Lower Springs
19. AND SHE ANSWERED: GIVE ME A BLESSING. — Shrewdly and aptly, says Arias, the prudent and sagacious girl used the Hebrew word ברכה berecha, which signifies both a blessing, and good fortune, and good wishes, and a singular benefit, a privilege, fertility, and also an abundance of water. For all these things Achsah was requesting with the single word berecha.
Allegorically, Rupert in his commentary on the book of Judges, chapter 2, says: "Othniel is Christ, our Savior and Judge, who struck Kiriath-Sepher, that is, the city of letters, which was formerly called Debir, that is, speaking or speech, when, having manifested the truth of the Gospel, He refuted the talkative synagogue of the Scribes and Pharisees glorying in the letter of the law," etc. And a little further on: "With the reward set before Him of receiving Achsah as His bride, that is, the new Church from the nations; whose father through faith became Caleb, which is interpreted as 'like a heart' — namely God, who has become to us like a heart, saying: Turn to Me and I will turn to you. Hence He who became her husband, the Savior of the world, persuaded her to ask her father for a field. For He taught His Church to pray and to ask God the Father for the kingdom of heaven. When she sighed while sitting on the donkey, Caleb said to her: What is the matter? Achsah, sitting on the donkey, sighs when the Church, having turned to Christ and having already received the first grace — that is, the forgiveness of sins — asks for the second grace, that is, by the illumination of the Holy Spirit, the desire for the heavenly kingdom."
YOU HAVE GIVEN ME A SOUTHERN AND DRY LAND; ADD ALSO AN IRRIGATED ONE. — For although the south wind in Europe is rainy and fertile, so that southern land is fertile: for the Jews, however, the south wind, blowing from the vast wilderness of Arabia, is hot, burning, and dry, and therefore, sucking out the moisture of the earth, makes it barren and sterile; but the west wind, coming from the sea, is for the Jews rainy and fertile, as is evident from 1 Kings 18:44; Amos 5:8; Luke 12:54.
AND SO CALEB GAVE HER THE UPPER AND LOWER SPRINGS. — In Hebrew גלת מים gulloth maim, that is, says Masius, whirlpools of water, or springs and fountains, from which waters seem to be pushed out as if from the veins of the earth by a rolling motion (for גלל galal means to roll, to turn), and these were twofold: namely upper ones, by which sloping ground could be irrigated; and lower ones, by which flatter places and fields could be irrigated and thus made fertile. Along with the springs, understand also the lands belonging to them, as I will say shortly. So Theodoret, Question 2 on the book of Judges, and Procopius, who adds that Symmachus translated it as "a possession in the upper parts and a possession in the lower parts." By which tropologically, says Procopius, is indicated the faculty of heavenly and sublime thought, as well as of humiliation; therefore the upper possession is prayer and meditation; the lower, humiliation and mortification.
More plainly and closely, Saint Gregory (whom Rupert follows), Book 3 of his Dialogues, chapter 34, and Book 6 of his Register, Epistle 23 to Theoctista, teaches that a twofold compunction is indicated here: "Achsah sits upon the donkey when the soul presides over the irrational movements of its flesh. She, sighing, asks her father for irrigated land, because the grace of tears must be sought from our Creator with great groaning. For there are some who have already received the gift of speaking freely for justice, of defending the oppressed, of giving their possessions to the needy, of having the ardor of faith, but do not yet have the grace of tears. These indeed have a southern and dry land; but they still need irrigation, because, engaged in good works in which they are great and fervent, it is most necessary that they deplore, through fear of punishment or love of the heavenly kingdom, the evils they have previously committed." Wherefore he shortly adds: "But because, as I said, there are two kinds of compunction, her father gave her the upper spring and the lower spring. The soul receives the upper spring when it afflicts itself with tears out of desire for the heavenly kingdom; it receives the lower spring when it trembles with weeping at the punishments of hell. And indeed the lower is given first, and the upper after. But because the compunction of love surpasses in dignity, it was necessary that the upper spring be mentioned first and the lower after." Whence shortly before he said: "And so it happens that the perfect compunction of fear hands over the soul to the compunction of love."
Hear Saint Augustine, Book of Meditations, chapter 36: "Give me," he says, "an evident sign of Your love: a spring of tears, continually flowing, so that those very tears may testify to Your love in me; let them reveal, let them declare how much my soul loves You, since from the overwhelming sweetness of Your love it cannot restrain itself from tears."
SPRINGS. — Incorrectly in the Septuagint one reads λύτρωσιν, that is, "redemption," as Theodoret, Saint Augustine, and Procopius read, instead of λοῦτρωσιν, that is, "washing, irrigation," as Theodotion translates. Cajetan understands by the upper springs fountains bursting forth in the mountains, and by the lower, wells. Others understand by the upper springs a field irrigated by rain, or that is usually watered by rain; by the lower, fountains. Others better understand mountainous fields and estates, and slopes irrigated by fountains and waters; for daughters could be heiresses of estates if they married a man of their own tribe and family; for then they were not transferred to another tribe and family, which is only what is forbidden in Numbers 36:6.
Verse 32: Twenty-nine Cities
32. ALL THE CITIES, TWENTY-NINE. — There are thirty-seven, if you count the individual names; but among them certain more notable villages were mentioned, so that properly speaking the cities were only twenty-nine. So Masius.
Verse 62: The City of Salt
62. And the city of salt. — So called because it was near the Dead Sea or Salt Sea; or because near it Lot's wife, looking back, was turned into a pillar of salt; or because in it there were salt works, in which the waters from the nearby Dead or Salt Sea were boiled down by the heat of the sun, and from these salt was produced. Some suspect this to be Zoar, to which Lot fled, Genesis 19:23. Adrichomius, however, and others distinguish it from Zoar and consider the city of salt as its own distinct city.
Verse 63: The Jebusites Could Not Be Destroyed
63. BUT THE CHILDREN OF JUDAH COULD NOT DESTROY THE JEBUSITE INHABITANT OF JERUSALEM, — because of their negligence and sins, by which God, provoked, withdrew His help from them, as is said in Judges chapter 2, verse 20. Indeed, even in David's time, the Jebusites dwelt among the Israelites, and although David took from them the citadel of Zion, he did not entirely eliminate them, but only subjugated them; and that the Jebusites passed under the jurisdiction and dominion, as well as into the sacred religion of the Israelites, is gathered from 2 Samuel 24:22, where David bought from Araunah the Jebusite the threshing floor on which to sacrifice to God. So Masius. This is a prolepsis. For these things happened after the prosperous times of Joshua under the Judges: therefore Joshua captured Jerusalem and killed its king Adonizedek along with four other kings, as we heard in chapter 10; however, he did not capture the citadel of Jerusalem, but the Jebusites held it. Hence it happened that after the death of Joshua they gradually occupied the whole city again, as they reoccupied Hebron and Debir, which had been previously conquered by Joshua; hence it was necessary for the children of Judah to conquer Jerusalem, which they did after the death of Joshua, as we will hear in Judges 1.
Therefore Rabbi David wrongly says that it was not lawful for the Jews to conquer Jerusalem because the Jebusites held it who were descended from Abimelech, with whom Abraham had made a covenant (Genesis 21); and that David did it when the covenant had expired through length of time. For these are mere fictions.
Tropologically, Jebusite in Hebrew means the same as "trampler" (for בוס bus means to trample); it signifies our concupiscence and its impulses, which daily harass, vex, and trample upon the Jew, that is, the reason and mind of the person who professes faith and piety toward God, and cannot be expelled by our own strength, but David is needed — that is, Christ, descended from David's blood; but not even He entirely exterminates them, but subdues them, so that by continually wrestling with them and suppressing them, we may have a perpetual exercise of fighting and conquering.