יהושע ט״ו

אל גבול אדום. סמוך למצר אדום:

To the border of Edom. Close to the boundary of Edom.

נגבה. בתחום מצר דרומי של ארץ ישראל:

Southward. Referring to the southern boundary of Eretz Yisroel.¹The wilderness of Tzin borders the territory of Yehudah on the south.

מקצה תימן. בסוף כל המצר:

The extreme southern end. Referring to the very end of the boundary.

ויהי להם גבול. מצר דרומי של יהודה:

And their southern border was. Referring to the southern border of Yehudah.

מקצה ים המלח. הוא מקצוע דרומית מזרחית של ארץ ישראל באלה מסעי (במדבר לד ג):

From the end of the Salt (Dead) Sea. Referring to the southeastern corner of Eretz Yisroel as stated in Parshas אֵלֶה מַסְעֵי²See Bamidbar 34:12.

מן הלשון. של ים:

From the bay—of the sea.

ויצא אל מנגב למעלה עקרבים. ואינו אומר ויצא ונסב ותאר, אלא במקום שחוט של גבול בולט אל החוץ או כונס לצד פנים שאינו הולך מכוון, וכאן הוא בולט אל החוץ ובא מנגב למעלה עקרבים בדרום של מעלה עקרבים, נמצא שמעלה עקרבים לפנים מן החוט, ועבר ובא לו אל המערב:

And it extended southward to Maalei-Akrabim. The words: וְיָצָא, and it extended, וְנַסֵּב, and it encircled, and וְתָּאַר, and it encompassed, are used only in the place where the boundary line bulges outward, or is indented inward, and does not follow a straight line, and here it bulges outward and reaches to the south of Maalei-Akrabim, in the south of Maalei Akrabim. Thus Maalei-Akrabim is within the line, and [the line] passed it and continued westward,

צנה. לצן, וכל תיבה שצריכה למ"ד בתחלתה הטיל לה ה"א בסופה:

To Tzin. (צִנָה) is the same as לְצִין , to Tzin. Every word that requires a lamed as, a prefix will have a hei as a suffix.

ועלה. כל מה שהוא עולה מן המזרח, לצד ירושלים הוא עולה, ומירושלים והלאה הוא יורד כאן למדנו שירושלים גבוהה מכל ארץ ישראל. וירושלים אינה נזכרת במצר זה, שבמצר צפונית של יהודה היתה, כמו שאמור בענין:

And went up. Whatever rises eastward towards Yerushalayim goes up higher; and from Yerushalayim and further it descends. From this we learn that Yerushalayim is higher than any place in Eretz Yisroel. Yerushalayim is actually not mentioned in the boundary since it was in the northern boundary of Yehudah³These verses discuss the southern boundary. as is stated later in this chapter.⁴See below verse 8.

ועלה מנגב לקדש ברנע. החוט הולך לדרומה של קדש ברנע, נמצאת קדש לפנים מן החוט:

And went up from the south to Kodeish-barneia. The line went from the south of Kodeish-barneiah; thus, Kodeish is within the [boundary] line.

ועבר חצרון. לצד המערב הוא מונה והולך, עד והיו תצאתיו הימה:

And it passed Chetzron. He continues counting (the cities) westward until “and its boundary extended to the sea.”⁵See next verse.

תצאות. סופו של מצר אל הים הגדול, שהוא מצר מערבי לכל ארץ ישראל נמצא גבול יהודה מחזיק כל ארכה של ארץ ישראל מן המזרח למערב, ועומד בדרומה של ארץ ישראל:

Extended. The end of the border was at the Great Sea,⁶The Mediterranean Sea. which is the western border of all of Eretz Yisroel. Thus the boundary of Yehudah occupies the entire length of Eretz Yisroel from east to west and is located in the south of Eretz Yisroel.

וגבול קדמה. חוט המתוח למצר מזרחי של יהודה:

The eastern boundary. Referring to the boundary line that stretches along the eastern border of Yehudah.

ים המלח. שהוא מקצוע דרומית מזרחית לארץ, באלה מסעי (שם):

The Salt (Dead) Sea. It is located at the south eastern corner of the land, as stated in Parshas אֵלֶה מַסְעֵי⁷Bamidbar 34:12.

עד קצה הירדן. רחבו של גבול יהודה אינו אלא כנגד ים המלח, עד מקום שהירדן נופל בים המלח, שהירדן אף הוא במצר מזרח של ארץ כנען, כמו שנאמר באלה מסעי במצר מזרחי (שם לד יב): וירד הגבול הירדנה, והיו תוצאותיו ים המלח, שהוא במקצוע:

To the end of the Jordan. The width of the boundary of Yehudah is only that which is opposite the Dead Sea to the place where the Jordan empties into the Dead Sea, for the Jordan itself is also on the eastern border of the land of Canaan, as stated in Parshas אֵלֶה מַסְעֵי⁸Ibid. regarding the eastern border. The boundary descended to the Jordan and it extended to the Dead Sea, which is at the corner.

וגבול לפאת צפונה. חוט מצר המתוח למצר צפון מן המזרח למערב, מלשון ים המלח, ממקום שהירדן נופל בו שאמרנו ששם כלה רוחב גבול מצר המזרחי ועלה לצד המערב בית חגלה, ועבר החוט מצפון לבית הערבה, נמצא בית הערבה בתוך גבול יהודה לפנים מן החוט:

And the boundary of the north side. The border line stretching along the northern border from east to west goes from the bay of the Dead Sea, from the place where the Jordan empties into it, as we have said that the width of the eastern boundary ends there; and it goes up westward to Beis Chogloh, and then the boundary line passes to the north of Beis HaArovoh which is the south of Eretz Yisroel. Beis HaArovo therefore is included in the boundary of Yehudah within the boundary line.

ועלה הגבול וגו' אבן בהן. כל מה שהולך עד ירושלים הוא עולה:

The boundary went up to Even bohan. As the border line goes toward Yerushalayim, it becomes elevated⁹See Rashi to Verse 3. There is a difference of opinion regarding the name of the the place. According to Radak, the city was called Even, and the ruler of the city was a man by the name of Bohan, son of Reuvein. According to Metzudos Tzion, the city itself was called Even Bohan, and its ruler was a man called ben Reuvein.

ועלה הגבול דבירה מעמק עכור. שהיה עמק עכור בין אבן בהן לדביר:

The boundary went up to Devir from the Valley of Ochor. The Valley of Ochor was between Even Bohan and Devir.

וצפונה פונה אל הגלגל. וכשמגיע כנגד הגלגל, מרחיב הגבול ויוצא חוט המצר לצד הצפון אל הגלגל, אשר הוא נוכח מעלה אדומים אשר המעלה בדרום הנחל, נמצא הנחל חוץ מן החוט שלא בגבול יהודה:

And it turned northward to Gilgol. When it reached Gilgol, the boundary widens, and the borderline extends northward to Gilgol which is opposite Maalei-adumim, whose elevation [Maalei] is south of the Valley. The valley therefore is outside the borderline and is not within the boundary of Yehudah.

מנגב לנחל. עמק ומדרון היה בלא מים:

South of the Valley. It was a steep incline without water.¹⁰נַחַל is usually translated as a river, but since as Rashi comments, there was no water, he translates it as a valley.

אל עין רוגל. מעין הכובסים, תרגם יונתן: עין קצרא, וקורא את הכובס רוגל, על שם שבועט את בגדי הצמר ברגליו, פולוש בלע"ז:

To Ein-rogel A spring where laundry was washed, which is translated by Targum Yonason, עֵין קַצְרָה. In Scripture a launderer is called רגֵל because he treads woolen clothes with his feet, (רֶגֶל). folos in old French.

ועלה וגו' גי בן הנם. עודנו עולה מעט עד עין עיטם, ומשם והלאה הוא יורד, וזהו שאמרו רבותינו ז"ל בשחיטת קדשים (זבחים נד ב) סבור למבנייהו בעין עיטם שהוא גבוה מירושלים מעט:

The boundary went up to the valley of Ben-hinom. It continued going up somewhat until it reached Ein-itim and from there on it descends. This is what our Rabbis, of blessed memory, said in the chapter of שְׁחִיטַת קָדְשִׁים:¹¹See Maseches Zevachem 54b. They considered building [the Beis Ha Mikdosh] in Ein-itim which is a bit higher than Yerushalayim.¹²Since the verse states, “וּבֵין כְּתֵפָיו שָׁכֵן, and He resides between his shoulders,” (Devorim 33:12), they remarked, “Let us descend a little, because the shoulders are below the head.” The verse states that the Almighty will reside between the shoulders of the boundary of Binyomin, i.e., that the Beis Ha Mikdosh which is the resting place of the Shechina, will be built in the area of the Tribe of Binyomin. King David thought it should be built at Ein-itim which is twenty-three amohs higher than Yerushalayim, but they said, “There is nothing more pleasing about the ox than his shoulders.

אל כתף היבוסי מנגב. נמצאת ירושלים חוץ מן החוט ואינה בגבול יהודה אלא בגבול בנימין שהוא בצפונו של יהודה:

To the southern side of the Yevusi. Yerushalayim is outside the boundary line, and is not in the boundary of Yehudah, but within the boundary of Binyomin which is to the north of Yehudah.

ותאר. לשון ונסב בעוגל, כמו (ישעיהו מד יג): ובמחוגה יתארהו, ויונתן תרגם את כלם 'ויסחר':

And it encompassed. This is an expression of circling, similar to, “and with a compass, he circles it.”¹³Yeshayahu 44:13. Targum Yonasan translates them all, and he encircled.

ויצא אל ערי הר עפרון. החוט יוצא לצד הצפון, והגבול הרחיב עד ערי הר עפרון:

And extended to the cities of Mount Efron. The boundary line extended northward, and the boundary widens to encompass the cities of Mount Efron.

ותאר הגבול בעלה. אין זה לצד המערב, אלא הבליטה לצד צפון:

And the boundary circled to Baaloh. This is not in a westerly direction, but its projection was to the north.

ונסב הגבול מבעלה ימה. עכשיו חוזר למנינו הראשון, מן המזרח למערב:

The boundary turned from Baaloh westward. Now he reverts to his previous description [of the cities] from the east to the west.

אל כתף הר יערים מצפונה. שהיה החוט בצפונה של הר יערים, נמצא הר יערים בתוך גבול יהודה לפנים מן החוט:

To the side of Mount Yearim to the north. The borderline was to the north of Mount Yearim. Thus Mount Yearim was within the boundary of Yehudah, within the borderline.

והיו תצאות הגבול. סוף המצר:

The boundary went out— Referring to the end of the boundary.

ימה. אל ים הגדול שהוא מצד מערבי:

Toward the sea. Referring to the Great Sea [the Mediteranean] which is the western boundary [of Eretz Yisroel].

אל פי ה' ליהושע. כמה שאמר הקדוש ברוך הוא ליהושע:

According to the word of Adonoy to Yehoshua. As the Holy one, blessed is He, said to Yehoshua.¹⁴See above 14:9,10. Even though the city of Chevron had been promised to Caleiv (see Rashi to Bamidbor 14:24), it was not clear within the territory of which tribe it would be located. It was Divinely ordained that Chevron would fall within the territory of the tribe of Yehudah, so that Caleiv would not be separated from his fellow tribesmen.

וירש משם כלב. לאחר מיתת יהושע, כי עדיין בימי יהושע לא נלכדה חברון, כמה שנאמר בספר שופטים (א כ), ולא נכתבה כאן אלא מפני החלוקה:

And Caleiv drove out from there. This happened after the death of Yehoshua, for during the days of Yehoshua Chevron had not yet been captured, as it is said in the book of Shoftim.¹⁵See Shoftim 1:20. It was recorded here only because of its relationship to the division of the land [among the tribes.]

קרית ספר. רבותינו אמרו (תמורה טז א) אלו הלכות שנשתכחו בימי אבלו של משה שהחזיר עתניאל בן קנז מפלפולו:

Kiryas Seifer. Our Rabbis said, “These are the laws that were forgotten during the days of mourning for Moshe, which Osniel, son of Kenaz, rediscovered through his brilliant dialectic scholarship.¹⁶The Hebrew name for Devir was Kiryas Seifer, which means the city of the Book. The Talmud, Maseches, Temurah 16A, relates the following: Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav, “When Moshe was about to leave this world, he said to Yehoshua, ‘Do you have any questions regarding the laws of the Torah? Ask me about them and I will teach them to you now.’ Yehoshua replied, ‘Rebbe! Did I leave your presence even for an hour? Did I ever travel to another place? Did you yourself not write about me in the Torah, “But his servant Yehoshua, son of Nun, a young man never departed from the Tabernacle.’” (Shemos 33:11) Thus Yehoshua implied that since he served Moshe faithfully for forty years and had studied Torah diligently, there was nothing that he did not know. This was considered a sin for Yehoshua and as a result, he immediately forgot three hundred laws, and seven hundred additional laws became unclear to him. During the month of mourning for Moshe, the Bnei Yisroel forgot many more laws. A total of three thousand laws were forgotten during this period. Rav Avahu said, “Nevertheless they were brought back by Osniel, son of Kenaz through his dialectic scholarship, as it is said, “And Osniel, son of Kenaz, conquered it (Kiryas Seifer).” After Caleiv conquered Chevron he approached the scholars in the Beis Midrash who were called יוֹשְׁבֵי דְבִיר, those who sit in Devir, because they sat all day studying דִבְרֵי תוֹרָה, the words of Torah, and challenged them to rediscover the forgotten laws. He announced that the one who would overcome, וּלְכָדָה (conquer) these problems would be worthy to become his son-in-law.

אחי כלב. מאמו:

He [Osniel] was the brother of Caleiv. He was his brother from his mother.¹⁷After Caleiv’s father, Yefuneh, died, his mother married Kenaz and she gave birth to Osniel.

ותצנח. ואתרכינת, הטתה עצמה ליפול ברגליו:

She leaned [off the donkey]. According to Targum, וְאִתְרְכִינַת, she leaned. She bent herself to fall at his feet.¹⁸According to the Talmud, Maseches Temurah, 16A, Achsoh, rode to her wedding on a donkey to hint to her father that just as a donkey begins to bray when there is no food in his stall, so a woman complains when there is no food in the house. When she saw that her father did not take the hint, she fell off the donkey at his feet. Caleiv then realized that something was wrong.

תנה לי ברכה. פרנסה:

Give me a blessing. Give me sustenance.¹⁹In asking her father for a blessing, she asked for a portion of land from which she and her husband could support themselves.

ארץ הנגב. חרבה, כמו (בראשית ח יג): חרבו פני האדמה, ומתרגם: נגיבו, שייקא בלע"ז, בית מנוגב מכל טוב, אדם שאין בו אלא תורה:

Dry land. חַרֵבָה —dry,²⁰The verse states אֶרֶץ הַנֶגֶב, which would usually be translated as a southern land. Rashi therefore explains why it can be translated also as a dry land. which is similar to “The surface of the ground had dried,”²¹See Bereishis 8:13. and there Onkelos translates חָרְבוּ as נְגִיבוּ. ²²Thus the word נֶגֶב also implies חֲרֵבָה which means dry. The southern portion of Eretz Yisroel is referred to as the נֶגֶב, because it is the driest part of the land. In French it is rendered sec. [Achsoh said to Caleiv, “You gave me dry land”] I.e., a house that is “dry” of all good, a man who desires only Torah.²³Achsoh actually complimented her husband, Osniel, who was totally dedicated to God and Torah, and had no desire to enjoy the pleasures of this world. See Maseches Temurah, 16A.

נתתני. נתת לי, כמו (שם לז ד): דברו לשלום, דבר אליו ; (ירמיהו י כ): בני יצאוני, יצאו ממני ; (מלכים א יט כא): ובשלם, בשל להם:

You have given me. The word נְתַתָּנִי is the same as נָתַתָּ לִי, as in: (the preposition לִי is missing and seems to be like a direct object. Rashi will offer similar examples of this structure.) They could not speak speak to him peacefully.²⁴See Bereishis 37:4. There too the word דַבְּרוֹ is the same as דַבֵּר אֵלָיו, speak to him. ‘My children have gone away from me.’²⁵See Yismiyahu 10:20. There too the word יְצָאְנִי is the same as יָצְאוּ מִמֶנִי. ‘He cooked for them.’²⁶See I Melachim 19:21. There too the word בִשְׁלָם is the same as בִשֵׁל לָהֶם.

גלות. מעינות:

גֻלת—springs.

ויהיו הערים מקצה למטה בני יהודה. בגבול מטה יהודה, הוא שאמרו רבותינו (גיטין ז א): לא מנה יהושע אלא עיירות העומדות על הגבולים:

The most remote cities of the tribe of the descendants of Yehudah. Referring to the border of the tribe of Yehudah. This is what our Sages stated, “Yehoshua only counted the towns that were on the borders.²⁷ Obviously there were many more cities within the borders. These cities are mentioned to show the courage and bravery of the tribe of Yehudah. They were not afraid to live near the border of Edom, even though there was always the danger that the Edomites would attack them.

כל ערים עשרים ותשע. ובפרטן אתה מוצא שלשים ושמונה, אלא אלה היתרות נטלו בני שמעון מחבל בני יהודה, ונזכרות הם בנחלת שמעון באר שבע ומולדה חצר שועל ועצם ואלתולד וחרמה וצקלג ועין ורמון, הרי תשע היתרות המנויות כאן:

Altogether there were twenty nine cities. If you count them however you will find that there were thirty eight. The extra nine cities were taken by the tribe of Shimon, from the portion of the descendants of Yehudah, and they are mentioned in the inheritance of Shimon:²⁸See chapter 19. Beer-sheva, Molodoh, Chatzar-shual, Etzem, Eltodad, Chormoh, Tziklag Ayin and Rimon. These are the extra nine cities counted here.

ערים ארבע עשרה. ובפרטן חמש עשרה, אומר אני, תפוח והעינם אחד הוא, וזה פירושו תפוח והעין שלו, הוא עין תפוח האמור בנחלת מנשה: אל יושבי עין תפוח:

Fourteen cities. If you count them however you will find fifteen. I say [therefore] that Tapuach and Einom are one, and this its explanation: Tapuach and its spring (עַיִן). This is Ein-Tapuach that is mentioned in the inheritance of Menashe ‘To the inhabitants of Ein-Tapuach.’²⁹See chapter 17:7.

והים הגדול וגבול. נסין שבים שקורין אלשי"ש בלע"ז:

The Great Sea was the border. The islands in the sea.³⁰Rashi teaches that the islands near the coast line were also part of the inheritance of Yehudah. Isles in old French.

לא יכלו בני יהודה להורישם. שנינו בספרי: רבי יהושע בן קרחה אומר יכולין היו, אלא שלא היו רשאין מחמת השבועה שנשבע אברהם לאבימלך, ויבוסי זה לא על שם האומה היה, אלא מגדל דוד שהיה בירושלים ושמו יבוס, ובני אותו מחוז מפלשתים היו, וכשכבשו בני יהודה את ירושלים לא הורישו את בני אותו מחוז:

The descendants of Yehudah were unable to expel them. We learned in Sifri: “Rabbi Yehoshua be Korcho says, ‘They were really able [to expel them] but they were not permitted to do so because of the oath that Avrohom had sworn to Avimelech.³¹See Bereishis 21:23. These Yevusim were descendants of Avimelech, whom Avrohom had sworn not to harm. Avimelech witnessed all the miracles that God performed on Avrohom’s behalf, and he asked him to swear that he would not harm him or his descendants for three generations and Avrohom agreed. These Yevusim Were not part of the Yevusi nation,³²Why then were they called Yevusim? Rashi goes on to explain that they were actually of the Philishtim and thus protected by Avrohom’s oath. but the Tower of David which was in Yerushalayim was named Yevus, and those who lived in that vicinity were of the Philishtim. Thus when the descendants of Yehudah conquered Yerushalayim, they did not expel the inhabitants of that vicinity.