Bible Strands
Joshua 15:28
Hazar-shual, Beersheba, Biziothiah,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Joshua records the southern boundary markers and allotted towns for the tribe of Judah during the territorial division of the Promised Land. This verse sits within a sequential catalog of settlements flanked by Joshua 15:27 and Joshua 15:29.
The words — The Hebrew lists three place names: ḥāṣēr (Hazar) with šūʿāl (Shual), bēr (Beer) with šebaʿ (Sheba), and biṣyōṯyāh (Biziothiah). These are proper nouns identifying specific towns without added descriptive clauses in this passage.
The thread — The location appears in Genesis 21:31 as the site where Abraham and Abimelech swore an oath, and in Genesis 26:33 where Isaac calls it Shibah and the text notes the city’s established name is Beersheba.
Why it lands — The verse requires readers to recognize the concrete geography of Judah’s inheritance as part of a larger territorial record. It directs attention to the precise fulfillment of land allotment rather than symbolic interpretation.
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 Hazar–shual, and Beer–sheba, and Bizjothjah,
Cross-references
- Genesis 26:33 So he called it Shibah, and to this day the name of the city is Beersheba.
- Genesis 21:14 Early in the morning, Abraham got up, took bread and a skin of water, put them on Hagar’s shoulders, and sent her away with the boy. She left and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba.
- Genesis 21:31 So that place was called Beersheba, because it was there that the two of them swore an oath.
- Joshua 19:2 and included Beersheba (or Sheba), Moladah,
- 1 Chronicles 4:28 They lived in Beersheba, Moladah, Hazar-shual,