Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
By lot there is given, verse 1, to the tribe of Simeon its portion of Canaan, and to the tribe of Zebulun, verse 10, then Issachar, verse 17, then Asher, verse 24, and Naphtali, verse 31, and Dan, verse 40. Finally, verse 49, to Joshua himself is given Timnath Serah, which he had requested.
Vulgate Text: Joshua 19:1-51
1. And the second lot came forth for the children of Simeon according to their families, and their inheritance was 2. in the midst of the possession of the children of Judah: Beersheba and Sheba and Moladah, 3. and Hazar-shual, Balah and Azem, 4. and Eltolad, Bethul and Hormah, 5. and Ziklag and Beth-marcaboth and Hazar-susah, 6. and Beth-lebaoth and Sharuhen; thirteen cities and their villages. 7. Ain and Rimmon and Ether and Ashan: four cities and their villages; 8. and all the villages round about these cities as far as Baalath-beer, Ramath of the South. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their families. 9. In the possession and territory of the children of Judah: because it was too large; and therefore the children of Simeon possessed in the midst of their inheritance. 10. And the third lot came up for the children of Zebulun according to their families: and the border of their possession was as far as Sarid. 11. And it went up from the Sea and Maralah, and came to Dabbesheth, as far as the torrent that is opposite Jokneam. 12. And it turns from Sarid toward the East to the border of Chisloth-tabor; and goes out to Daberath, and goes up to Japhia, 13. and from there passes through to the eastern side of Gath-hepher and Eth-kazin: and goes out to Rimmon, Amthar and Neah. 14. And it turns about on the north to Hannathon: and its exits are in the Valley of Iphtahel, 15. and Kattath and Nahalal and Shimron and Idalah and Bethlehem: twelve cities and their villages. 16. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Zebulun according to their families, the cities and their villages. 17. For Issachar the fourth lot came out according to their families. 18. And their inheritance was Jezreel and Chesulloth and Shunem, 19. and Hapharaim and Shion, and Anaharath, 20. and Rabbith and Kishion, Ebez, 21. and Remeth, and En-gannim, and En-haddah, and Beth-pazzez. 22. And their border reached to Tabor and Shahazumah and Beth-shemesh; and their exits were at the Jordan: sixteen cities and their villages. 23. This is the possession of the children of Issachar according to their families, the cities and their villages. 24. And the fifth lot fell to the tribe of the children of Asher according to their families: 25. and their border was Helkath and Hali and Beten and Achshaph, 26. and Allammelech and Amad and Mishal; and it reached to Carmel of the Sea and Shihor and Libnath. 27. And it turns toward the East to Beth-dagon: and passes through to Zebulun and the Valley of Iphtahel toward the north in Beth-emek and Neiel. And it goes out to the left at Cabul, 28. and Ebron and Rehob and Hammon and Kanah, as far as Great Sidon. 29. And it turns to Ramah as far as the strongly fortified city of Tyre, and as far as Hosah; and its exits are at the sea from the territory of Achzib, 30. and Ummah and Aphek and Rehob: twenty-two cities and their villages. 31. This is the possession of the children of Asher according to their families, the cities and their villages. 32. For the children of Naphtali the sixth lot fell according to their families; 33. and their border began at Heleph and Elon in Zaanannim, and Adami, which is Nekeb, and Jabneel as far as Lakkum: and their exits were at the Jordan, 34. and the border turns toward the West at Aznoth-tabor, and from there goes out to Hukkok, and passes through to Zebulun on the south, and to Asher on the west, and to Judah at the Jordan toward the rising of the sun: 35. the fortified cities being Ziddim, Zer, and Hammath, and Rakkath, and Chinnereth, 36. and Adamah, and Ramah, Hazor, 37. and Kedesh and Edrei, En-hazor, 38. and Iron and Migdal-el, Horem and Beth-anath, and Beth-shemesh: nineteen cities and their villages. 39. This is the possession of the tribe of the children of Naphtali according to their families, the cities and their villages. 40. For the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families the seventh lot came out: 41. and the border of their possession was Zorah and Eshtaol, and Ir-shemesh, that is, the City of the Sun. 42. Shaalabbin and Aijalon and Ithlah, 43. Elon and Timnah and Ekron, 44. Eltekeh, Gibbethon and Baalath, 45. and Jehud, and Bene-berak, and Gath-rimmon: 46. and Me-jarkon and Rakkon, with the border opposite Joppa, 47. and by that boundary it is enclosed. And the children of Dan went up and fought against Leshem, and took it, and struck it with the edge of the sword, and possessed it, and dwelt in it, calling its name Leshem-Dan, after the name of Dan their father. 48. This is the possession of the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families, the cities and their villages. 49. And when they had finished dividing the land by lot according to their tribes, the children of Israel gave a possession to Joshua the son of Nun in their midst, 50. according to the commandment of the Lord, the city which he requested, Timnath Serah in the hill country of Ephraim: and he built the city and dwelt in it. 51. These are the possessions which Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the families and tribes of the children of Israel, divided by lot in Shiloh, before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of testimony, and they divided the land.
Verse 1: Simeon's Lot in the Midst of Judah
1. AND THEIR INHERITANCE (of the Simeonites) WAS IN THE MIDST OF THE POSSESSION OF THE CHILDREN OF JUDAH. — Rabbi Solomon asserts that the Simeonites were passed over in the allotment of the twelve tribes in the Holy Land, because Jacob cursing Simeon had said of him and Levi: "I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel," Gen. 49:7; and therefore the Simeonites had been without an inheritance, but the remaining tribes cast lots as to which would receive them; and the lot fell upon the tribe of Judah: and so Judah received them within itself, but reluctantly and under compulsion, and therefore expelled them under David, which he gathers from 1 Chronicles 4:31. But these are mere inventions, indeed errors contrary to Sacred Scripture, which here expressly asserts that the Simeonites equally with the other tribes obtained their portion in Canaan by lot. Therefore when it says here that they received their lot in the midst of the children of Judah, understand it thus: that their allotment was bordering on and inserted into the lot of the tribe of Judah; and that the tribe of Judah, since it had too extensive a stretch of land to be able to cultivate it all and protect it against wild beasts, yielded part of it to the tribe of Simeon. For this tribe was smaller and less numerous than the rest. Indeed in the last census only 22,200 were counted in it. Moreover, Jacob's oracle does not favor Rabbi Solomon, but intends something else, as I showed at Genesis 49:7. So Masius and others.
Verse 11: The Torrent Opposite Jokneam
11. AS FAR AS THE TORRENT THAT IS OPPOSITE JOKNEAM. — Masius plausibly thinks that this torrent is near the borders of the Sidonians, which historians call the Pagida or Belus, which carries sand from which the finest glass is made, as attested by Pliny, book 5, chapter 19, and book 36, chapter 26; Josephus, book 2 of the Jewish War, chapter 9; Tacitus, book 5; Strabo, book 16, and William of Tyre, book 13 of the Holy War, chapter 3.
Verse 13: Amthar — A Proper Name or Epithet?
13. AMTHAR. — Thus also the Septuagint take the Hebrew word hammetoar as a proper name of a city. But Symmachus takes it as a common noun and an epithet of Rimmon; whence he translates, Rimmon the renowned. The Chaldean, Masius, Vatablus, Pagninus, Arias, Rabbi David and Rabbi Solomon translate, which turns or bends toward Neah.
Verse 26: The Two Mount Carmels
26. AND IT REACHED AS FAR AS CARMEL OF THE SEA. — The word "of the sea" is added because there were two Mount Carmels in the Holy Land: one in the tribe of Asher, adjacent to the Mediterranean Sea, the other in the tribe of Judah, whose inhabitant was Nabal the husband of Abigail.
Verse 27: Beth Dagon — House of Dagon
27. BETH DAGON, — that is, house of Dagon, because in this city Dagon was worshipped in the form of a fish, or rather of a Siren. Whence Serarius, on Judges chapter 16, Question 23, thinks that Dagon was Venus, on which see more at 1 Kings 5:2.
Verse 35: Chinnereth and the Sea of Galilee
35. CHINNERETH. — From this city the Lake of Gennesaret, or the Sea of Galilee adjacent to it, received its name. Masius and Arias think Chinnereth is the city that was later called Tiberias in honor of Emperor Tiberius. Others want it to be Capernaum.
Verse 47: The Conquest of Leshem
47. AND THE CHILDREN OF DAN WENT UP AND FOUGHT AGAINST LESHEM. — This happened after the death of Joshua, as is narrated at length in Judges chapter 18:1 and following. Hence it is clear that this book was not written by Joshua; or rather that by him who compiled and published it, many things were inserted and added, such as those at chapter 15, verses 14 and last, and chapter 17, verses 12 and 13, etc.
Verse 49: Joshua's Modesty in Receiving His Portion
49. THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL GAVE A POSSESSION TO JOSHUA. — Note here and admire the modesty of the leader Joshua; for he who first divided the lots to all others, received his own last. Moreover, he did not wish to have a lot cast for himself as for the others, but accepted what was given him by the people. Indeed Joshua was a type of Jesus Christ, who though He was first of all, indeed the Alpha and Omega, for our sake became the last of men, Isaiah 53:3.
Verse 50: Timnath Serah — The City Joshua Requested
50. ACCORDING TO THE COMMANDMENT OF THE LORD. — This commandment is not expressed at Numbers 14:24, but is supplied here. Hence it is clear that God had commanded that Joshua be given that portion of land which he himself should choose. For if God there commanded that Hebron be given to Caleb, why not also to his companion Joshua, who surpassed Caleb and was the leader and prince of the people? And this Caleb sufficiently implies when, here at chapter 14, verse 6, he says to Joshua: "You know what the Lord spoke to Moses the man of God concerning me and you in Kadesh-barnea."
That he who was the distributor of all possessions had chosen for himself mountainous and rocky places. And in this matter Joshua was a type of Jesus Christ, who though He was rich and the King of glory, chose to become lesser and poorer for our sake, that He might enrich us by His poverty and exalt us by His lowliness. So Origen, Homily 24; Theodoret, Question 17; Masius, Arias and others.
Let Princes, and the counselors of Princes, Prefects and Governors, note and imitate this example of Joshua, as in our age did Thomas More, Chancellor of England, who from an early age held great offices in the state, and though he had a large family, nevertheless throughout his whole life did not increase his annual income beyond seventy gold pieces, as Stapleton narrates in his Life, chapters 3 and 8.
THE CITY WHICH HE REQUESTED: TIMNATH SERAH IN THE HILL COUNTRY OF EPHRAIM. — Joshua sought this city, both so that he might dwell among his own tribesmen in his tribe of Ephraim, and for the sake of modesty. For this city Timnath was surnamed "Serah" from the barrenness and uselessness of the place: for Timnath Serah in Hebrew means a flowing or useless figure; or, as others say, an image of superfluity or stench; or, as Pagninus says, you will count the remainder; as if Joshua occupied what was left over and useless to everyone else; just as St. Louis, St. Hedwig, and St. Elizabeth, out of devotion to humility and piety, often ate the leftovers from the table of the poor whom they fed. Joshua therefore, last of all, chose the worst and most uncultivated city, situated among mountainous and rough places, and left to leaders and magistrates a remarkable example of self-restraint and poverty, and fulfilled that admonition of Ecclesiasticus chapter 32, verse 1: "Have they made you ruler? Do not be exalted; be among them as one of them. Take care of them, and so be confident, and when all your care is finished (that is, completed), take your rest." Indeed St. Jerome in the Epitaph of St. Paula writes that she, when visiting the monument of Joshua, was amazed
AND HE BUILT THE CITY, — that is, he restored, enlarged, and adorned the already built city.
Verse 51: The Division of the Land Completed
51. AND THEY DIVIDED THE LAND, — that is, they gave to be divided, they finished the partition. For in Hebrew it is, and they finished from dividing the land. The Septuagint, instead of vaiecalu, that is, and they finished, reading with different vowel points and by metathesis vaielchu, translate, and they went away from dividing the land, to inhabit and cultivate it. So everything amounts to the same thing.