Bible Strands
Joshua 15:12
And the western border was the coastline of the Great Sea. These are the boundaries around the clans of the descendants of Judah.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Joshua records the western limit of the territory allotted to the clans of Judah during the initial land distribution in Canaan.
The words — גְּבֻל (geVul) denotes the defined boundary or territory, while יָם הַגָּדוֹל (yam ha-gadol) literally names the Great Sea, functioning here as the western marker.
The thread — This western maritime boundary reappears in Numbers 34:6 and Ezekiel 47:20 as the standard western limit for Israel’s territory, and Joshua 15:47 reiterates it for Judah’s southern coastal towns.
Why it lands — It requires the reader to recognize that the tribal inheritance was fixed to concrete geographic markers rather than abstract claims.
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 west border was to the great sea, and the coast thereof. This is the coast of the children of Judah round about according to their families.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 47:20 And on the west side, the Great Sea will be the boundary up to a point opposite Lebo-hamath. This will be the western boundary.
- Numbers 34:6 Your western border will be the coastline of the Great Sea; this will be your boundary on the west.
- Joshua 15:47 Ashdod, with its towns and villages; Gaza, with its towns and villages, as far as the Brook of Egypt and the coastline of the Great Sea.
- Deuteronomy 11:24 Every place where the sole of your foot treads will be yours. Your territory will extend from the wilderness to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River to the Western Sea.