Joshua 15 is the fifteenth chapter of the Book of Joshua in the Hebrew Bible or in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. According to Jewish tradition the book was attributed to the Joshua, with additions by the high priests Eleazar and Phinehas,[1] [2] but modern scholars view it as part of the Deuteronomistic History, which spans the books of Deuteronomy to 2 Kings, attributed to nationalistic and devotedly Yahwistic writers during the time of the reformer Judean king Josiah in 7th century BCE.[2] This chapter records the allotment of land for the tribe of Judah, a part of a section comprising Joshua 13:1–21:45 about the Israelites allotting the land of Canaan.
This chapter was originally written in the Hebrew language. It is divided into 63 verses.
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), Aleppo Codex (10th century), and Codex Leningradensis (1008).
Extant ancient manuscripts of a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint (originally was made in the last few centuries BCE) include Codex Vaticanus (B;
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The narrative of Israelites allotting the land of Canaan comprising verses 13:1 to 21:45 of the Book of Joshua and has the following outline:
A. Preparations for Distributing the Land (13:1-14:15)
B. The Allotment for Judah (15:1-63)
1. Judah's Boundaries (Joshua 15:1-12)
2. Achsah's Blessing (Joshua 15:13-19)
3. The Cities of Judah's Inheritance (15:20-63)
C. The Allotment for Joseph (16:1-17:18)
D. Land Distribution at Shiloh (18:1-19:51)
E. Levitical Distribution and Conclusion (20:1-21:45)
There are three key elements in the report of the allotments for the nine and a haf tribes in the land of Canaan as follows:
| Tribe | Boundary List | City List | Indigenous Population Comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Judah | X | X | X | |
| Ephraim | X | X | ||
| Manasseh | X | X | ||
| Benjamin | X | X | ||
| Simeon | X | |||
| Zebulun | X | |||
| Issachar | X | |||
| Asher | X | |||
| Naphtali | X | X | ||
| Dan | X | X |
The allotment for the tribe of Judah is recorded first and the longest among other Cisjordan tribes, consistings of a definition of its boundaries (verses 1–12), and a list of its cities (verses 20–63), with an additional insertion about the inheritance of Caleb (verses 13–19). The boundary description (15:1-12) proceeds in the order south, east, north, west. The southern boundary runs from the southern tip of the Dead Sea to the Mediterranean, including Kadesh-barnea and extending to the 'Wadi [or brook] of Egypt' (now "Wadi el-Arish"). The eastern boundary is the Dead Sea. The northern boundary is drawn carefully round the southern extremities of the city of Jerusalem (verse 8), which is still in the possession of the Jebusites. The western boundary is the Mediterranean Sea.
Then the boundary goes up by the Valley of the Son of Hinnom at the southern shoulder of the Jebusite (that is, Jerusalem). And the boundary goes up to the top of the mountain that lies over against the Valley of Hinnom, on the west, at the northern end of the Valley of Rephaim.[3]
Having been granted the city of Hebron by Joshua, Caleb has to fight to conquer it along with surrounding areas (could be a part of Joshua's conquest in Joshua 10:36–37). In turn, Caleb becomes a 'distributor' to grant a land to his son-in-law Othniel, because of his role in the conquest (Othniel later becomes the first 'Judge' of Israel; Judges 3:8–11), and his daughter Achsah, Othniel's wife, whose request for water reflects the condition in the drier areas of Negeb, Judah's southern desert.
The long list of cities shows the extensive land of Judah, incorporating both the rich plain and the dry wilderness, especially the viticulture in the terraced slopes of the hill country and lowlands according to the blessing of Jacob to Judah (Genesis 49: 11–12). There are four distinct geographical areas of the land:
The lands close to the drier area were more suitable for sheep-rearing than agriculture, such as Carmel and Maon (verse 55) which are mentioned in the story of Nabal, a sheep-farmer who insulted David (1 Samuel 25:2).
Prominent cities mentioned in the list include such places as Adullam, Socoh, Jarmuth, Zanoah and Zorah. Keilah, Maresha, Maon, Halhul, and Timnah are also named there. The list of cities can be divided into twelve groups or districts (by the repeated phrase 'with their villages'), which was apparently still used in administering and collecting ancient taxes during the reign of King Manasseh, based on the archaeological discoveries of the city names in the fiscal bullae for tax collection in that period [5]
The final verse (verse 63), along with other similar ones, note Israel's partial failure to take the land, despite the initial sweeping victory in Joshua 1–12, especially chapters 11–12.
. Joseph Fitzmyer . A Guide to the Dead Sea Scrolls and Related Literature. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. 2008. 9780802862419. Grand Rapids, MI .