Joshua 15:9

And the border was drawn from the top of the hill unto the fountain of the water of Nephtoah, and went out to the cities of mount Ephron; and the border was drawn to Baalah, which is Kirjathjearim:

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(9) Kirjath-jearim is by Conder identified as ’Arma (spelt ’Erma on the Ordnance map), four miles east of Beth-shemesh (’Ain Shemes, or Shems).

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

Nephtoab is probably the modern "Ain Lifta", two miles and a half northwestward of Jerusalem: and Mount Ephron is conjecturally connected with the city Ephrain 2 Chronicles 13:19 or Ophrah Joshua 18:23.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

7. Achor—(see on [194]Jos 7:26).

Adummim—a rising ground in the wilderness of Jericho, on the south of the little brook that flowed near Jericho (Jos 16:1).

En-shemesh—"the fountain of the sun"; "either the present well of the apostle, below Bethany, on the road to Jericho, or the fountain near to St. Saba" [Robinson].

En-rogel—"the fuller's fountain," on the southeast of Jerusalem, below the spot where the valleys of Jehoshaphat and Hinnom unite.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Of Mount Ephron, i.e. belonging to or bordering upon Mount Ephron.

Kirjath-jearim, called Kirjath-baal, Joshua 15:60 Joshua 18:14.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And the border was drawn from the top of the hill,.... Mount Moriah, and went round in a circuit, so Jarchi and Kimchi:

unto the fountain of the water of Nephtoah; which lay at the bottom of it; which, according to the Jewish writers, is the same with the fountain of Etam, from whence a stream flowed to the dipping room in the water gate of the temple, where the high priest for the first time dipped himself on the day of atonement (p):

and went out to the cities of Mount Ephron; Jerom (q) speaks of an Ephron in the tribe of Judah, which was a very large village in his time, and went by the name of Ephraea, and was twenty miles from Aelia or Jerusalem to the north; and which Eusebius better places eight miles from it; and Jarchi observes, that the line went to the north side, and the border enlarged to this place; near to this mountain were cities, and it is not improbable that one of them might have its name from it; but whether this, or what mountain is here meant, is uncertain: some have thought of Ephraim, with its towns, mentioned in 2 Chronicles 13:19; which seems to have been in the tribe of Ephraim; though Reland (r) places it in the tribe of Benjamin:

and the border was drawn to Baalah, which is Kirjathjearim; called Kirjathbaal, or the city of Baal, Joshua 15:60; where it is probable there was a temple of Baal; and when it came into the hands of the Israelites, they changed its name to Kirjathjearim, or the city of the woods, because of the great number of trees which grew about it; for which reason it might have been pitched upon by the Heathens for their idolatrous service; it was one of the cities of the Gibeonites, Joshua 9:17; and, according to Eusebius and Jerom (s), it was nine or ten miles from Jerusalem, as you go to Lydda; it is also called Baalah in 1 Chronicles 13:6; and Baale of Judah, 2 Samuel 6:2.

(p) T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 31. 1. & Gloss. in ib. & T. Bab. Zebachim, fol. 54. 2. Kimchi in loc. (q) De loc. Heb. fol. 91. A. (r) Palestin. Illustrat. tom. 2. p. 765. (s) Apud ib. tom. 1. p. 488.

Geneva Study Bible

And the border was drawn from the top of the hill unto the fountain of the water of Nephtoah, and went out to the cities of mount Ephron; and the border was drawn to Baalah, which is Kirjathjearim:

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

9. and the border was drawn] From the summit of the mountain just alluded to, the border was drawn to “the fountain of the water at Nephtoah.” Nephtoah has been identified with Ain Lifta, a spring situated a little distance above the village of the same name, N.W. of Jerusalem. It irrigates a strip of smiling gardens, and its excellent water is carried also to Jerusalem.

and went out to the cities of mount Ephron] Ephron is nowhere else mentioned. It is probably the range of hills on the west side of Wâdy-Beit-Hanina, opposite Lifta.

and … was drawn to Baalah] another name for Kirjath-jearim or Kirjath-Baal (Joshua 15:60; Joshua 18:14). Baalah was probably the earlier or Canaanite appellation. We have already met with Kirjath-jearim as one of the four cities of the Gibeonites (above, ch. Joshua 9:17). It is famous as the spot, (a) behind which the band of Danites pitched their camp before their expedition to Laish (Jdg 18:12); (b) where the Ark remained upwards of twenty years (1 Samuel 7:2), and (c) whence it was removed by David to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite (1 Chronicles 13:5-6). It is now known as Kureyet el-Enab.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 9. - Was drawn. Or, extended. The fountain of the waters of Nephtoah. If these be identified with En Etam, as is done by the Rabbis (whom Conder follows), and if we suppose it to have supplied Jerusalem with water by the aqueduct which ran from a point southwest of Betlehem to Jerusalem, we must place it south of Bethlehem, and imagine that the border ran directly south here. Far more probable is the notion of Vandevelde, which places it northwest of Jerusalem, at Ain Lifta. Conder's view is dominated by the situation he has assigned to Kirjath-jearim (see note on Joshua 9:17). If the view there given in these notes is sound, the border now ran in a northwesterly direction from Jerusalem to within five miles of Gibeon (see also note on Joshua 18:14). Kirjath-jearim. See Joshua 9:17. To the authorities mentioned there in favour of Kuriet el Enab we may add Knobel, Ritter, and Tristram, in his last book, 'Bible Lands.' The view taken above corresponds to the minuteness of detail with which the boundary is given. To place Nephtoah south of Bethlehem and Kirjath-jearim at 'Arma would make the boundary far less distinct. Joshua 15:9

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

From this mountain height the boundary turned to the fountain of the waters of Nephtoah, i.e., according to Van de Velde's Mem. p. 336, the present village of Liftah (nun and lamed being interchanged, according to a well-known law), an hour to the north-west of Jerusalem, where there is a copious spring, called by the name of Samuel, which not only supplies large basons, but waters a succession of blooming gardens (Tobler, Topogr. v. Jerus. ii. pp. 758ff.; Dieterici, Reisebilder, ii. pp. 221-2). It then "went out to the towns of Mount Ephraim," which is not mentioned again, but was probably the steep and lofty mountain ridge on the west side of the Wady Beit Hanina (Terebinth valley), upon which Kulonia, a place which the road to Joppa passes, Kastal on a lofty peak of the mountain, the fortress of Milane, Soba, and other places stand (Seetzen, R. ii. pp. 64, 65; Rob. Bibl. Res. p. 158). The boundary then ran to Baala, i.e., Kirjath-jearim, the modern Kureyet el Enab, three hours to the north-west of Jerusalem (see at Joshua 9:17).