Joshua 19:23

This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Issachar according to their families, the cities and their villages.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

19:17-51 Joshua waited till all the tribes were settled, before he asked any provision for himself. He was content to be unfixed, till he saw them all placed, and herein is an example to all in public places, to prefer the common welfare before private advantage. Those who labour most to do good to others, seek an inheritance in the Canaan above: but it will be soon enough to enter thereon, when they have done all the service to their brethren of which they are capable. Nor can any thing more effectually assure them of their title to it, than endeavouring to bring others to desire, to seek, and to obtain it. Our Lord Jesus came and dwelt on earth, not in pomp but poverty, providing rest for man, yet himself not having where to lay his head; for Christ pleased not himself. Nor would he enter upon his inheritance, till by his obedience to death he secured the eternal inheritance for all his people; nor will he account his own glory completed, till every ransomed sinner is put in possession of his heavenly rest.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

En-gannim - i. e. "fountain of gardens;" also a Levitical city Joshua 21:29, and called Ahem 1 Chronicles 6:73, the modern "Jenin," a place on the main road from Jerusalem to Nazareth, just where it enters the plain of Jezreel. Many of the places enumerated in these verses are not known. Tabor Joshua 19:22 is perhaps not the famous mountain, but the town on it of the same name 1 Chronicles 6:77, given up to the Levites. Beth-shemesh (perhaps "Bessum") is not the same as Beth-shemesh of Judah Joshua 15:10, nor of Naphtali Joshua 19:38.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

Jos 19:17-23. Of Issachar.

17-20. the fourth lot came out to Issachar—Instead of describing the boundaries of this tribe, the inspired historian gives a list of its principal cities. These cities are all in the eastern part of the plain of Esdraelon.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Issachar,.... Which fell to them by lot, as before described:

according to their families; was divided among them, according to the number of them:

the cities and their villages; the cities before enumerated, and the villages adjacent to them.

Geneva Study Bible

This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Issachar according to their families, the cities and their villages.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

23. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Issachar] Then, as it still is, among the richest land in Palestine. “Westward was the famous plain which derived its name from its fertility. On the north is Tabor, which even under the burning sun of the climate is said to retain the glades and dells of an English wood. On the east, behind Jezreel, is the opening which conducts to the plain of the Jordan—to the Bethshean, which was proverbially among the Rabbis the Gate of Paradise for its fruitfulness.” The soil yielded corn and figs, wine and oil (1 Chronicles 12:40); the stately palm waved over the villages; and the very weeds testify to the extraordinary fertility of the Esdraelon plain. Here Issachar rejoiced in his tents (Deuteronomy 33:18), couched down as the strong he-ass (Genesis 49:14-15), used for burden and field-work, and “seeing that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant, bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute,” which various marauders, Canaanites (Jdg 4:3; Jdg 4:7), Midianites, Amalekites (Jdg 6:3-4), Philistines (1 Samuel 29:1), exacted, bursting through his frontier, open both on the east and the west, and tempted by his luxuriant crops. See Porter’s Handbook, ii. 352; Stanley’s S. and P., p. 348. “Two things strike us forcibly in looking over the plain of Esdraelon, and in wandering through it:

(a)  First, its wonderful richness. After the grey hills of Judah, and the rocky mountains of Ephraim, the traveller looks with admiration over this unbroken extent of verdure. The luxuriant grass, and the exuberance of the crops on the few spots where it is cultivated, amply prove the fertility of the soil. It was the frontier of Zebulun. ‘Rejoice, O Zebulun, in thy goings out’ (Deuteronomy 33:18).

(b)  Second, its desolation. If we except its eastern branches there is not a single inhabited village on its whole surface, and not more than one-sixth of its soil is cultivated. It is the home of the wandering Bedawy, who can scour its smooth turf on his fleet mare in search of plunder, and when hard pressed can speedily remove his tents and his flocks beyond the Jordan, and beyond the reach of a weak government. In its condition, thus exposed to every hasty incursion, and to every shock of war, we read the fortunes of that tribe which for the sake of its richness consented to sink into a half nomadic state. ‘Rejoice, O Issachar, in thy tents’ (Genesis 49:14-15; Deuteronomy 33:18). Their exposed position and valuable possessions made them eager for the succession of David to the throne, as one under whose sceptre they would enjoy the peace and rest they loved.” See 1 Chronicles 12:32; 1 Chronicles 12:40. Porter’s Handbook, ii. pp. 352, 353.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 23. - This is the inheritance of the tribe of Issachar. Jacob, whose dying eye pierced far into the future, discerned beforehand the situation of the tribe of Issachar, and its results upon its conduct. Situated in the midst of this fertile plain, accessible alike to Egypt by the way of the Shephelah, and to the east by way of the fords of the Jordan, the tribe of Issachar became in the end the prey of the various nationalities, who made the plain of Esdraelon their battlefield, and it was the first to "bow his shoulder to bear" and to "become a servant unto tribute" (Genesis 49:15). It seems to have been to the east of Manasseh (see Joshua 17:10), and may have extended much further south than is usually supposed. Since but small mention of the Jordan is made in the boundary of Joseph, it may have extended as far or farther south than the Jabbok (see also note, Joshua 17:10). The general belief of explorers at present is that the inheritance of Issachar extended from Jezreel to the Jordan, and from the Sea of Tiberias southward as far as the border of Manasseh, above mentioned. Joshua 19:23

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

"And the boundary touched Tabor, Sahazim, and Beth-shemesh." Tabor is not the mountain of that name, but a town upon the mountain, which was given to the Levites, though not by Issachar but by Zebulun (1 Chronicles 6:62), and was fortified afresh in the Jewish wars (Josephus, Bell. Jud. iv. 1, 8). In this passage, however, it appears to be reckoned as belonging to Issachar, since otherwise there are not sixteen cities named. At the same time, as there are several discrepancies between the numbers given and the names actually mentioned, it is quite possible that in this instance also the number sixteen is incorrect. In any case, Tabor was upon the border of Zebulun (Joshua 19:12), so that it might have been allotted to this tribe. There are still the remains of old walls and ruins or arches, houses, and other buildings to be seen upon Mount Tabor; and round the summit there are the foundations of a thick wall built of large and to a great extent fluted stones (see Rob. iii. pp. 453ff.; Seetzen, ii. p. 148; Buckingham, Syr. i. pp. 83ff.). The places which follow are to be sought for on the east of Tabor towards the Jordan, as the boundary terminated at the Jordan. Sachazim (Shahazimah) Knobel connects with el Hazetheh, as the name, which signifies heights, points to a town situated upon hills; and el Hezetheh stands upon the range of hills, bounding the low-lying land of Ard el Hamma, which belonged to Naphtali. The reason is a weak one, though the situation would suit. There is more probability in the conjecture that Beth-shemesh, which remained in the hands of the Canaanites (Judges 1:33), has been preserved in the ruined village of Bessum (Rob. iii. p. 237), and that this new name is only a corruption of the old one, like Beth-shean and Beisan. It is probable that the eastern portion of the northern boundary of Issachar, towards Naphtali, ran in a north-easterly direction from Tabor through the plain to Kefr Sabt, and thence to the Jordan along the Wady Bessum. It is not stated how far the territory of Issachar ran down the valley of the Jordan (see the remarks on Joshua 17:11).