Bible Strands
Joshua 13:5
the land of the Gebalites; and all Lebanon to the east, from Baal-gad below Mount Hermon to Lebo-hamath.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God addresses Joshua, commanding him to drive out the hill country inhabitants and divide the northern territory by lot as an inheritance for Israel. This directive follows the description of the southern Canaanite border in the preceding verse.
The words — מִזְרַ֣ח הַ/שֶּׁ֔מֶשׁ (miz.Rach ha./She.mesh) literally translates to "the rising of the sun," serving as a directional marker for east. הַ/לְּבָנוֹן (ha./le.va.nOn) names the mountain range, while הַ/גִּבְלִ֗י (ha./giv.Li) identifies the specific portion assigned to the Gebalites.
The thread — The Gebalites reappear in 1 Kings 5:18 as quarriers for Solomon’s temple and in Psalms 83:7 among the coalition opposing Israel. Baal-gad is recorded in Joshua 12:7 as a geographic starting point for the conquered territory west of the Jordan.
Why it lands — The verse establishes a precise territorial boundary, demonstrating that inheritance is allocated by divine command rather than human conquest. It requires the reader to submit to God’s measured distribution of land and to trust the lot rather than personal ambition.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And the land of the Giblites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrising, from Baal–gad under mount Hermon unto the entering into Hamath.
Cross-references
- Joshua 12:7 And these are the kings of the land that Joshua and the Israelites conquered beyond the Jordan to the west, from Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon to Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir (according to the allotments to the tribes of Israel, Joshua gave them as an inheritance
- 1 Kings 5:18 So Solomon’s and Hiram’s builders, along with the Gebalites, quarried the stone and prepared the timber and stone for the construction of the temple.
- Psalms 83:7 of Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek, of Philistia with the people of Tyre.
- Ezekiel 27:9 The elders of Gebal were aboard as shipwrights, repairing your leaks. All the ships of the sea and their sailors came alongside to barter for your merchandise.
- Numbers 34:8 and from Mount Hor to Lebo-hamath, then extend to Zedad,
- Joshua 11:17 from Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir, as far as Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon at the foot of Mount Hermon. He captured all their kings and struck them down, putting them to death.
- Deuteronomy 1:7 Resume your journey and go to the hill country of the Amorites; go to all the neighboring peoples in the Arabah, in the hill country, in the foothills, in the Negev, and along the seacoast to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great River Euphrates.
- Deuteronomy 3:25 Please let me cross over and see the good land beyond the Jordan—that pleasant hill country as well as Lebanon!”
- Isaiah 10:9 “Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus?
- Amos 6:2 Cross over to Calneh and see; go from there to the great Hamath; then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are you better than these kingdoms? Is their territory larger than yours?