Joshua 15:6

And the border went up to Bethhogla, and passed along by the north of Betharabah; and the border went up to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben:

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

15:1-12 Joshua allotted to Judah, Ephraim, and the half of Manasseh, their inheritances before they left Gilgal. Afterwards removing to Shiloh, another survey was made, and the other tribes had their portion assigned. In due time all God's people are settled.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The stone of Bohan - This stone perhaps commemorated some deed of valor belonging to the wars of Joshua (compare 1 Samuel 7:12). The stone was erected on the slope of a hill (see the marginal reference), no doubt one of the range which hounds the Jordan valley on the west. But its exact site is wholly uncertain.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

6. Beth-hogla—now Ain Hajla, a fine spring of clear and sweet water, at the northern extremity of the Dead Sea, about two miles from the Jordan [Robinson].

Beth-arabah—"the house," or "place of solitude," in the desert of Judah (Jos 15:61).

stone of Bohan the son of Reuben—the sepulchral monument of a Reubenite leader, who had been distinguished for his bravery, and had fallen in the Canaanite war.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

By the north of Beth-arabah, or, on the north, or northward to Beth-arabah; which place is attributed to Judah here, Joshua 15:61; and to Benjamin, Joshua 18:22; because it was a frontier town in the borders of Judah and Benjamin, and therefore promiscuously belonging to both; which also was the case of some other places: and this cohabitation was convenient to maintain brotherly love and union between the several tribes, especially in the borders, where differences oft arise.

The stone of Bohan; a place so called, not from Bohan’s dwelling there, (for the Reubenites had no portion on this side Jordan,) but from some notable exploit which he did there, though it be not recorded in Scripture.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And the border went up to Bethhoglah,.... A place in the tribe of Benjamin, mentioned along with Jericho, and probably near it, Joshua 18:21; Jerom (a) speaks of a place called Betagla, in his time, which was three miles from Jericho, and two from Jordan, and perhaps is this same place:

and passed along by the north of Betharabah; another city belonged to Benjamin, Joshua 18:22; and lay in a as its name shows; or in a plain, as the Targum:

and the border went up to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben; by whom, or on whose account, it was placed, either as a sepulchral stone, he being buried there, or in memory of some famous exploit done by him there, he being one of those of the tribe of Reuben, that came with Joshua to assist in the war against the Canaanites; or it was set for a sign of the border, as Kimchi thinks, it being the boundary between Judah and Benjamin, Joshua 18:17. Bunting says (b) it is near Bahurim, in the valley just in the king's way, and is of an extraordinary greatness, shining like marble.

(a) De loc. Heb. fol. 87. G. (b) Travels, &c. p. 144.

Geneva Study Bible

And the border went up to Bethhogla, and passed along by the north of Betharabah; and the border went up to the {c} stone of Bohan the son of Reuben:

(c) Which was a mark to part their countries.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

6. and the border went up to Beth-hogla] A point between Judah and Benjamin (Joshua 18:19). A magnificent spring and a ruin between Jericho and the Jordan still bear the names of Ain-hajla and Kŭsr Hajla, and are doubtless at or near the old site.

and passed along by the north of Beth-arabah] between Beth-hogla and the highland on the west of the Jordan valley. It is mentioned below (Joshua 15:61) as one of the six cities of Judah in the sunken valley of the Jordan and the Dead Sea.

the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben] This “Stone” is only mentioned once more, in ch. Joshua 18:17, and must have lain somewhere to the west or south-west of Beth-arabah.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 6. - Beth-hogla (see Joshua 18:19). It is still known as Ain Hadjla or Hajla, where, says Keil, a beautiful spring of fresh and clear water is to be found. The place lies about two miles from Jordan. Beth-hogla means "the house of the partridge." "Leaving the probable site of the ancient Gilgal and advancing southward along the pilgrims' route to the Jordan, an hour and a quarter brings us to the spring Kin Hajla, in a small and well-watered grove" (Ritter). He adds, "Robinson and Wilson both recognised in the name Hails the ancient Canaanitish city Beth-hogla." Beth-arabah. Or "the house of the Arabah" or desert. Its site is not known (see ver. 61 and Joshua 18:18, 22). The Beth-arabah in ver. 61, however, must have been another place, since it was in the wilderness of Judaea, not far from the Dead Sea. The stone of Bohan the son of Reuben. All we know of this stone is that it was westward of Beth-arabah. The boundary of Benjamin in ch. 18, is mentioned in precisely reverse order, and since here the stone was on the ascent from Beth-araba, and there (ver. 17) it is described as on the descent from Geliloth, it must have been on the side of the declivity. Of Bohan nothing further is known. We must understand here, as in many other places of Scripture, descendant by "son" (cf. Joshua 7:24). Joshua 15:6

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

"The eastern boundary was the salt sea to the end of the Jordan," i.e., the Dead Sea, in all its length up to the point where the Jordan entered it.

Joshua 15:5-11

In Joshua 15:5-11 we have a description of the northern boundary, which is repeated in Joshua 18:15-19 as the southern boundary of Benjamin, though in the opposite direction, namely, from west to east. It started "from the tongue of the (salt) sea, the end (i.e., the mouth) of the Jordan, and went up to Beth-hagla," - a border town between Judah and Benjamin, which was afterwards allotted to the latter (Joshua 18:19, Joshua 18:12), the present Ain Hajla, an hour and a quarter to the south-east of Riha (Jericho), and three-quarters of an hour from the Jordan (see at Genesis 50:11, note), - "and went over to the north side of Beth-arabah," a town in the desert of Judah (Joshua 15:61), afterwards assigned to Benjamin (Joshua 18:22), and called Ha-arabah in Joshua 18:18, about twenty or thirty minutes to the south-west of Ain Hajla, in a "level and barren steppe" (Seetzen, R. ii. p. 302), with which the name very well agrees (see also Rob. Pal. ii. pp. 268ff.). "And the border went up to the stone of Bohan, the son of Reuben." The expression "went up" shows that the stone of Bohan must have been on higher ground, i.e., near the western mountains, though the opposite expression "went down" in Joshua 18:17 shows that it must have been by the side of the mountain, and not upon the top. According to Joshua 18:18-19, the border went over from the stone of Bohan in an easterly direction "to the shoulder over against (Beth) Arabah northwards, and went down to (Beth) Arabah, and then went over to the shoulder of Beth-hagla northwards," i.e., on the north side of the mountain ridge of Beth-arabah and Beth-hagla. This ridge is "the chain of hills or downs which runs from Kasr Hajla towards the south to the north side of the Dead Sea, and is called Katar Hhadije, i.e., a row of camels harnessed together."