Joshua 15:3

Jos 15:3 And it went out to the south side to Maalehacrabbim, and passed along to Zin, and ascended up on the south side unto Kadeshbarnea, and passed along to Hezron, and went up to Adar, and fetched a compass to Karkaa:

Ver. 3. To Maalehacrabbim,] i.e., To the ascent of scorpions, or of the mountains that were crooked as scorpions, or that abounded with scorpions. {Jdg 1:36}

Passed along to Zin.] A city whence that wilderness, not the same with that of Sin or Sinai, had its name.

To Hezron, and went up to Adar.] These two places are {Num 34:4} called Hazaraddar.

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.

Maaleh-akrabbim--Hebrew, "the ascent of scorpions"; a pass in the "bald mountain" (see on Jos 11:17), probably much infested by these venomous reptiles.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 3. Maaleh-acrabbim] The ascent of the Mount of Scorpions, probably so called from the multitude of those animals found in that place.

Kadesh-barnea] This place was called Enmishpat, Ge 14:7. It was on the edge of the wilderness of Paran, and about twenty-four miles from Hebron. Here Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron, died; and here Moses and Aaron rebelled against the Lord; hence the place was called Meribah-Kadesh, or the contention of Kadesh.

Karkaa] Supposed to be the Coracea of Ptolemy, in Arabia Petraea. - Calmet.

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

3. and it went out to the south] From this point the border ran in a tolerably direct course towards the south side of Maaleh-acrabbim, “the ascent of scorpions,” “the stiyinge vp of Scorpion,” Wyclif; “the going up to Akrabbim,” as it is given in Num_34:4; Jdg_1:36, a pass in “the bald mountain” (Jos_11:17; Jos_12:7), which “goeth up to Seir.” De Saulcy suggests it was the Wâdy Zouara, and testifies to “the scorpions” there found under every pebble. S. and P. 113, n.

and passed along to Zin] Thence it passed along to Zin, i.e. a certain spot in the desert of Zin not far from Kadesh-barnea, and passed over to Hezron, and went up to Adar, and fetched a compass or turned to Karkaa, and thence towards Azmon, and went out at the water-course of Egypt, i.e. the “torrent of Egypt, the Wady-el-Arish, already spoken of in ch. Jos_13:3. The border went directly southwards to Kadesh-barnea; south of Kadesh it turned westward, and came out finally at the “torrent of Egypt” and at the Mediterranean Sea. Hezron, Adar, Karkaa, Azmon, are unknown sites.

fetched a compass] Compare Fr. compas, It. compasso, a compass, circle; compasser, to compass, encircle; from Latin cum, passus. The word is used both as (1) a noun and (2) a verb. (a) In the sense of “circumference” it occurs in Exo_27:5; Exo_38:4, of “circuit” in 2Sa_5:23; 2Ki_3:9; Act_28:13. Here, to fetch a compass = simply to “turn,” to “go round.” Thus Fuller (Pisgah View, IV.II. 2:43) says: “Wicked men may for a time retard, not finally obstruct our access to happiness. It is but fetching a compass, making two steps for one; a little more pains and patience will do the deed;” and he says of the Jordan, “he fetcheth many turnings and windings, but all will not excuse him from falling into the Dead Sea” (Holy War, 1. 18).

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 it went out to the south side of Maalehacrabbim,.... Or the ascent of Akrabbim, as it is called; see Gill on Num 34:4,

and passed along to Zin, and ascended upon the south side unto Kadeshbarnea; which perfectly agrees with the southern border of the land, as described in Num 34:4,

and passed along to Hezron, and went up to Adar; which two places being near to one another, as is very likely, are put together, as if one place, and called Hazaraddar, Num 34:4; and mention is made of Hezron, which is Hazor, Jos 15:25; but not of Adar:

and fetched a compass to Karkaa; which Jerom (w) calls Acchara, a village in the wilderness; and if the same with Carcaria, it was according to him a day's journey from Petra in Idumea; but that is not likely; see Jdg 8:10.

(w) De loc. Heb. fol. 88. E. 90. C.

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

Scorpion. A mountain infested with those creatures, by which people travelled from Idumea into Chanaan, leaving Sina on the left.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Concerning this description of the southern coast of Judah, see Num 34:3-5.

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

3. It went out to the south side — Or, on the south side. That is, it started out on its southward course.

Maaleh-acrabbim — The word means ascent of scorpions, and was probably the name of a pass in the bald mountain (Halak) eight miles south of the Dead Sea, described in note, Jos_11:17. It doubtless derived its name from its scorpions, which abound in all this region.

Passed along to Zin — That is, went along till it joined the edge of the wilderness of Zin, which stretches off to the west and southwest of Mount Hor.

Kadesh-barnea — The modern Ain Gadis. See Jos_10:41, note. Hezron, Adar, and Karkaa are now unknown. Compare Num_34:1-5.

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

And it went out to the south side to Maaleh-acrabbim. Or, perhaps, and it went to the southward of Maaleh-acrabbim, translated in Num_34:4, "the ascent of Acrabbim." The literal meaning of Maaleh-acrabbim is Scorpion Rise. (see Jud 1:36) Keil thinks that it was a pass in the Mount Halak, or the Smooth Mountain, mentioned in Jos_11:17, Jos_12:7. "De Saulcy suggests the Wady Zouara, and testifies to the scorpions found under every pebble" (Stanley, "Sinai and Palestine," p. 113). And Ainsworth, "Travels in Asia Minor," 2:354, says that some spots are almost uninhabitable in consequence. Knobel supposes it to be the pass es-Sufah on the road between Petra and Hebron. But the border of Judah seems to have gone in a southwesterly direction. To Zin. Rather, in the direction of Zin. On the south side unto Kadesh-barnea. Or, as above, southward of Kadesh-barnea. The exact position of Kadesh-Burnea has not been ascertained. It was between the wilderness of Zin and that of Paran. (Num_13:26 Num_20:1) Dean Stanley identifies it with Petra, which was about 30 miles in a northeasterly direction from the Gulf of Akaba on the Red Sea, and close to Mount Her. A more recent traveller (see Bartlett, "Egypt and Palestine," pp. 366-376) identifies it with Ain Gadis, about 60 miles to the westward of Petra, and he claims Winer, Kurz, Kalisch, and Knobel as supporters of his view. The latter founds his view on the discovery of Ain Gadis by Rowlands, and supports it by the authority of Ritter. Ritter, however, as his translator informs us, embodied the results of the investigations of Mr. Rowlands" while his work was preparing for the press, and did not give the matter that full consideration which he was accustomed to do. The chief objection to it is that (see ver. 1) Ain Gadis can hardly be described as on "the border of Edom." The general view is that it lay somewhat to the northeast of Hezron and to the northwest of Petra, at the foot of the range of mountains which form the southern boundary of Judesa. Here the spies brought their report to Moses. (Jos_14:6, 7 Num_13:26) Here Miriam was buried, and where Moses incurred the wrath of God from his mode of working the miracle which supplied the Israelites with water. (Nu 20) It was "a city in the uttermost border" of Edom, (Num_20:16) and it was some distance from Mount Hor, for we find it described as a journey; (Num_20:22) and by passing from Kadesh to Mount Hor and thence by the way of the Red Sea, the Israelites "compassed the land of Edom", (Num_21:4) a fact which seems to prove that Petra and Kadesh-barnea were not the same place. Kadesh is supposed by M. Chabas to be the "Qodesh of the country of the Amaor," or Amorites, in the monuments of Seti I and Rameses II It is depicted as "on a hillside with a stream on one side," and is thus distinguished from Qodesh of the Kheta or Hittites, which is in a flat country beside a lake (Tomkins, "Studies of the Time of Abraham," p. 84). Fetched a compass to Karkaa. Rather, was deflected in the direction of Karkaa. Nothing is known of the places here mentioned. Cf. Num_34:4, where Karkaa is not mentioned, but the deflection in the neighbourhood of Asmon is.

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

Their boundary

"The border of the land belonging to the tribe of Judah"

Akrabbim ... Zin ... Hezron ... Addar ... Karka ... Azmon

These are the names of places. (See: How to Translate Names)

brook of Egypt

a small river of water at the southwestern edge of the land, near Egypt (See: How to Translate Names)

translationWords

Kadesh

Egypt

the sea

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

And it extended southward to Maalei-Akrabim. The words: וְיָצָא, and it extended, וְנַסֵּב, and it encircled, and וְתָּאַר, and it encompassed, are used only in the place where the boundary line bulges outward, or is indented inward, and does not follow a straight line, and here it bulges outward and reaches to the south of Maalei-Akrabim, in the south of Maalei Akrabim. Thus Maalei-Akrabim is within the line, and [the line] passed it and continued westward,

To Tzin. (צִנָה) is the same as לְצִין, to Tzin. Every word that requires a lamed as, a prefix will have a hei as a suffix.

And went up. Whatever rises eastward towards Yerushalayim goes up higher; and from Yerushalayim and further it descends. From this we learn that Yerushalayim is higher than any place in Eretz Yisroel. Yerushalayim is actually not mentioned in the boundary since it was in the northern boundary of Yehudah as is stated later in this chapter.

And went up from the south to Kodeish-barneia. The line went from the south of Kodeish-barneiah; thus, Kodeish is within the [boundary] line.

And it passed Chetzron. He continues counting (the cities) westward until “and its boundary extended to the sea.”

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.