Joshua 13:23

Jos 13:23 And the border of the children of Reuben was Jordan, and the border [thereof]. This [was] the inheritance of the children of Reuben after their families, the cities and the villages thereof.

Ver. 23. {See Trapp on "Jos 13:18"}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 23. The cities and the villages] By villages, חצרים chatserim, it is likely that moveable villages or tents are meant, such as are in use among the Bedouin Arabs; places where they were accustomed to feed and pen their cattle.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

23. was Jordan] i.e. “the boundary of the children of Reuben was the Jordan and adjoining land.” Comp. Num_34:6; Deu_3:16-17.

the villages thereof] = “farm premises,” not enclosed, like a city, with walls. Thus the boundaries of the tribe of Reuben were, (a) On the West, the Dead Sea; (b) on the South, the country of Moab; (c) on the East, the kingdom of Ammon; (d) on the North, the Arnon, or the Wady Mojeb. Here the tribe settled, “preferring pasturage to agriculture.” His subsequent history fulfils the prophecy of Jacob. “Unstable (or swelling) as water” (Gen_49:4), he vanishes away into a mere Arabian tribe; “his men are few” (Deu_33:6); it is all he can do “to live and not die.” The only events of the subsequent history of the tribe are (a) the multiplication of “their cattle in the land of Gilead;” (b) their wars with the Bedouin “sons of Hagar” (1Ch_5:10); (c) their spoils “of camels fifty thousand, and of sheep two hundred and fifty thousand, and of asses two thousand” (1Ch_5:21). In the chief struggle of the nation Reuben never took part. No judge, no prophet, no hero of the tribe is handed down to us. See Stanley’s Lectures, 1. 218.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Moses gave inheritance unto the tribe of Gad,.... On the other side Jordan, as he did to Reuben:

even unto the children of Gad, according to their families: according to the number and largeness of them, dividing to each their part and portion.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

And the border thereof, i.e. those cities or places which bordered upon Jordan. Compare Num 34:6.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

23. This was the inheritance of… Reuben — The tribe of Reuben never did excel. Compare Gen_49:4. They were never noted for mighty deeds, and their indifference in the war with Sisera, when the mighty ones went up to battle and they “abode among the sheepfolds to hear the bleatings of the flocks,” is properly satirized in the song of Deborah.

Jdg_5:16, note. Their territory was overrun by the army of Tiglath-pileser, and they were carried away captive into upper Mesopotamia. 1Ch_5:26. Then their depopulated cities and country were repossessed by their ancient owners, the Moabites, and hence it is that we find so many cities of Reuben afterwards in possession of the Moabites.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the border thereof. These words have been omitted in the Vulgate, which does not understand them. The LXX translates, "And the borders of Reuben were the Jordan-border." This seems to be the meaning of the original. The phrase often occurs, as in Jos_15:12 Num_34:6. Knobel"s explanation is probably the correct one, that the phrase means to refer to the natural boundary marked out by the river or sea and its banks. "The boundary of the children of Reuben was Jordan and the natural boundary thus formed." As Dean Stanley reminds us in his "Lectures on the Jewish Church," Reuben, as predicted by Jacob and, (Gen_49:4) sank at once into insignificance. No ruler, no judge arose from this tribe and its territory. Villages. Hebrew yrexj, LXX epauleiv , Vulgate viculi. The original meaning is a piece of ground enclosed by a hedge or wall. Here it would mean, either with Gesenins and Keil, farm hamlets , or perhaps clearings of cultivated ground, which in Palestine would naturally be enclosed in some way, to prevent the ravages of wild beasts. In the primitive villages of Servia, where wild beasts are not entirely extirpated, not only are all the homesteads enclosed, but a fence is placed across the road, and removed when a vehicle has to pass through.

Or perhaps the primitive Jewish community was similar to the primitive Teutonic community as described by Marshall in his "Elementary and Practical Treatise on Landed Property," published in 1804, who described the early distribution of land in this country as follows: "Round the village lay a few small enclosures for rearing young stock. Further a field the best land for arable purposes was chosen, and divided into three parts, for the necessary, rotation of fallow, wheat or rye, and spring crops. The meadows near the water courses were set aside for the growth of fodder for the cattle or for pasturage for milch cows, etc. The irreclaimable lands were left for what we now call "common" uses for fuel, and the inferior pasturage." These arrangements are found to exist in India. (see Sir H. Maine, "Village Communities," sec. 4). But there, as in Palestine, the necessity for water was the cause of important modifications. Since the word is used to denote the court

(1) of a prison, Jer_32:2;

(2) of a palace, 1Ki_7:8;

(3) of a private house, 2Sa_17:18;

(4) of the temple in numberless places,

and as it is used of the enclosure of a nomadic camp, (Gen_25:16, where our version has towns; perhaps Deu_2:23, where our version has Hazerim, following the LXX which, however, alters the word to the more usual Hazeroth and the Vulgate; Isa_42:11, with which compare the expression tents of Kedar, Psa_120:5) the translation villages can hardly be the correct one here or elsewhere (see also ver. 28).

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The border thereof - That is, those cities or places which bordered upon Jordan.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

"And (this) was the boundary of the sons of Reuben, the Jordan and its territory," i.e., the Jordan, or rather land adjoining it. The meaning is, that the territory of Reuben, viz., with the places mentioned last (Jos 13:20), reached to the territory of the Jordan; for so far as the principal part was concerned, it was on the east of the Dead Sea, as it only reached from the Arnon to Heshbon, i.e., up to the latitude of the northern extremity of the Dead Sea. "The towns and their villages." חצר, farm premises, used, as in Lev 25:31, to denote places not enclosed by a wall.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)