Глава 16

1–4. Southern border of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. 5–9. The border of the inheritance of the tribe of Ephraim. 10. Canaanites in Gezer. Joshua 16:1. Then the lot fell to the sons of Joseph: from the Jordan near Jericho, by the waters of Jericho to the east, a desert stretching from Jericho to Mount Bethel; The boundary of the inheritance given by lot to the sons of Joseph, i.e. Ephraim and half of the tribe of Manasseh, began from that place of the Jordan on its eastern side, which is located opposite Jericho, then went to the “waters of Jericho,” which of course, probably, was a source rich in water near ancient Jericho, later called the source of Elisha, and currently Ain-es-Sultan or El Kelt 155. A further border point was the “desert stretching from Jericho to Mount Bethel”, by which we mean a deserted area running west from Jericho with steep climbs to the mountain heights; in Joshua 18:12 it is called the wilderness of Bethaven. Joshua 16:2. from Bethel the border goes to Luz and goes to the border of Archa to Ataroth, From Mount Bethel, named after Bethel, which was located on it, the border went to Luz, which was, one must think, at some distance from Bethel, which can be seen in part from Genesis 28:19, where Jacob gives the name Bethel to the place where he slept and which was not in Luz itself (Joshua 16:2). The location of the next city or even a locality named Archi is positively unknown; Some indicate the place of Archi in a village that has retained this name to the west of Ramallah 156, others - in the village of Arik, between Bethel and Bethhoron 157. The place of Ataroth, further called in Joshua 16:5 and Joshua 18:13, Ataroth-Adar, is indicated in Khirbet el-Atira, which is the name of the village with ruins south of Beeroth 158 . Joshua 16:3. and it goes down to the sea, to the border of Japhlet, to the border of lower Beth-oron, and to Gezer, and ends at the sea. The limit of Japhlet is unknown in its position. For lower Beth Oron, see Joshua 10:10. Gazer, which was a strong fortress, was located on the high hill of Tell Jesar, covered with extensive ruins, which is located between Ekron (Joshua 13:3) and Nikopolis, currently called Amvas 159. The site of Gazer, which until recently remained unknown with certainty, was found in 1873 by the famous French archaeologist Clermont Ganneau, and this discovery was recognized by other researchers. Joshua 16:5. The border of the sons of Ephraim according to their tribes was this: from the east the border of their inheritance was Ataroth-Adar to Beth-oron upper [and Gazara]; The southern boundary of the inheritance of the tribe of Ephraim, the same as described in Joshua 16:1–3, is also marked, starting from the east; According to the Hebrew text, only two points are indicated on it: Ataroth-Adar, which means Ataroth, named in Joshua 16:2, and Bethoron Upper (see Joshua 10:11). In the lists of the LXX translation, and according to them in the Slavic-Russian translation, the name of the city of Gazer (“and Gazars”) is then read, probably transferred here from Nav. 16:3, where it is not read in the Greek translation. The final words of the description of the southern border are, as one might think, the initial words of Joshua 16:6: “then the border comes to the sea,” and the description of the border would end in the same way as in Joshua 16:3. Joshua 16:6. then the border goes to the sea on the northern side of Michmephath and turns to the eastern side of Taanath-Silom and passes it on the eastern side of Janoch; Joshua 16:7. from Janoch, descending to Ataroth and Naarath, it adjoins Jericho and reaches the Jordan; Joshua 16:6–7 contain a description of the northern border of the tribe of Ephraim, which, according to the Hebrew text, begins with the words “Michmephath in the north,” and this city is named like Sarid, when describing the border of the Zebulun tribe (Joshua 19:10–12), as the middle city on this border, from which further description of it comes. The place of Mikhmefafa, however, is not determined. From Joshua 17:7 it is only clear that this city was “before the face of Shechem” (according to the literal translation from Hebrew), i.e. not far from Shechem, north of which it is indicated on some maps of Palestine 160. From Mikhmephath the border went east to Taanath-Silom, which Eusebius (under the name Θηναθ) indicated 10 Roman miles from Neapolis (i.e. Shechem) to the east, on the way to the Jordan; according to which its place is recognized as Tana, as the ruins southeast of Nablus are currently called. From Taanath-Silom the border went to Janoch, located on the site of the ruins called Janun, 2 1/2 hours' journey southeast of Nablus. After Janoch, the border descended to Ataroth and Naarath. The first of them, different from Ataroth, indicated in verses 2 and 5, was probably located on the slope of the mountains of Ephraim in the direction of the Jordan Valley; but its very place remains unknown. Naarath in Eusebius is indicated as 5 Roman miles from Jericho; Its location has not yet been established with certainty. Joshua 16:8. from Tappuah the border goes to the sea, to the stream Cane, and ends in the sea. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Ephraim according to their families. This indicates the western side of the northern border of the tribe of Ephraim. Its initial designation is Tappuach, to which it was heading from Michmephath, as can be seen from Joshua 17:7, where it is said regarding the border of the Manasseh half-tribe neighboring Ephraim that the border went from Michmephath “to the inhabitants of En-Tappuach.” The location of this city is not determined. From Tappuah the border went west (“to the sea”, see Joshua 15:10), “to the stream of Cane,” which most likely refers to the stream that flowed into the Mediterranean Sea between Caesarea and Jaffa, currently called Nar-el-Kassab, or Falaik. Joshua 16:9. And the cities were set aside for the children of Ephraim as an inheritance for the children of Manasseh, all the cities with their villages. In addition to the cities indicated on the borders, others belonged to the tribe of Ephraim - with their villages in the inheritance of the tribe of Manasseh. The reason for this was, of course, that the lot that fell to this populous tribe turned out to be truly insufficient. Although his statement in this regard was rejected by Joshua (Joshua 17:14–18), it was subsequently, as one must think, satisfied. In return, the tribe of Manasseh was given cities in the inheritance of Issachar and Asher (Joshua 17:11). Joshua 16:10. But [the Ephraimites] did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer; therefore the Canaanites dwelt among the Ephraimites to this day, paying them tribute. [At last Pharaoh king of Egypt came and took the city and burned it with fire, and killed the Canaanites and Perizzites and the inhabitants of Gezer, and Pharaoh gave it as a dowry to his daughter.] For Gezer, see Joshua 16:3. The words enclosed by brackets “[Pharaoh finally came... as a dowry to his daughter]” are read in the oldest and latest copies of the LXX translation, but are absent in the Hebrew text and the translation of Blessed Jerome. In some Greek copies they are marked with ovel, which shows that they are not readable in the Hebrew text. According to the latter, like the LXX translation, these words are found in 1 Kings 9:16, from where, one must think, they were transferred to the book. Joshua to more accurately indicate the time until which the Canaanites continued to live in Gezer. The village of Ramallah is located west of Beeroth (Joshua 9.17), according to Baedeker, Palastina and Syrien. Tristram. Bible places, 182. In LXX, “Archi” and “Atarof” have one name: Χαταρωθει according to the Vatican list, Αρχιαταρωθ according to Alexandria, according to which the Slavic Bible reads: “to the limits of Ahiatarofa.” Since there were several cities bearing the name Ataroth in Canaan, the meaning of Ataroth here is designated more precisely by adding to its name the name of the Architean tribe that lived in it (2 Kings 15.32). Nicopolis Alevas is located 6 hours west of Jerusalem, 3 hours south of Ramle. Of course, the wall map of Palestine published by Kupert in 1366. You might be interested in: