The border of the Amorites was from the ascent of Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward.
Parallel Translations
-
The border of the Amorites was from the ascent of Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward.
-
And the coast of the Amorites was from the going up to Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward.
-
And the border of the Amorites was from the ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela, and upward.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (2)
Passages linked to Judges 1:36 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Numbers 34:4 Your border shall turn about southward of the ascent of Akrabbim, and pass along to Zin; and it shall pass southward of Kadesh Barnea; and it shall go from there to Hazar Addar, and pass along to Azmon.
- Joshua 15:2-3 Their south border was from the uttermost part of the Salt Sea, from the bay that looks southward; and it went out southward of the ascent of Akrabbim, and passed along to Zin, and went up by the south of Kadesh Barnea, and passed along by Hezron, went up to Addar, and turned toward Karka;
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Which was a city in Arabia, or as some…
Which was a city in Arabia, or as some read, from the rock.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Akrabbim was in the southern part of Canaan, Jos…
Akrabbim was in the southern part of Canaan, Jos 15:2,3, from whence it went up towards the north. This is added to show the great power and large extent of this people.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And the coast of the Amorites was from the…
And the coast of the Amorites was from the going up to Akrabbim,.... Of which See Gill on Num 34:4 and See Gill on Jos 15:3,
from the rock, and upwards; even from the city Petra in Idumea, and beyond that; and there was a country near Idumea, called Acrabatane, from this mountain Akrabbim,"Then Judas fought against the children of Esau in Idumea at Arabattine, because they besieged Gael: and he gave them a great overthrow, and abated their courage, and took their spoils.'' (1 Maccabees 5:3)such was the extent of these people, that their coast reached from the places, mentioned to the mountains where the above cities of Dan were; they were the most powerful people among the Canaanites, and lay on both sides of Jordan, and were very troublesome to Israel, yet were at length destroyed, Amo 2:9.
Read full note →
Next: Judges Chapter 2
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Akrabbim - Which was in the southern part of…
Akrabbim - Which was in the southern part of Canaan, Josh. xv, 2, 3 , from whence it went up towards the north. This is added to shew the great power and large extent of this people.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 36. Akrabbim] Of scorpions; probably so called from…
Verse 36. Akrabbim] Of scorpions; probably so called from the number of those animals in that place.
From the rock, and upward.] The Vulgate understand by סלע sela, a rock, the city Petra, which was the capital of Arabia Petraea.
Read full note →
THE whole of this chapter appears to be designed as a sort of supplement to those places in the book of Joshua which are referred to in the notes and in the margin; nor is there any thing in it worthy of especial remark. We everywhere see the same fickle character in the Israelites, and the goodness and long-suffering of God towards them. An especial Providence guides their steps, and a fatherly hand chastises them for their transgressions. They are obliged to live in the midst of their enemies, often straitened, but never overcome so as to lose the land which God gave them as their portion. We should learn wisdom from what they have suffered, and confidence in the protection and providence of God from their support, because these things were written for our learning.
Few can be persuaded that adversity is a blessing, but without it how little should we learn! He, who in the school of affliction has his mind turned towards God,
"Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in every thing."
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Jdg 1:36. From the going up to Akrabbim —…
Jdg 1:36. From the going up to Akrabbim — Which was in the southern part of Canaan, Jos 15:2-3, from whence it went up toward the north. This is added to show the great power and large extent of this people.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The going up to Akrabbim - See the margin…
The going up to Akrabbim - See the margin and references; properly “the ascent of scorpions,” with which the whole region abounds.
The rock - Petra, the capital of Idumea, so called from the mass of precipitous rock which encloses the town, and out of which many of its buildings are excavated. The original word “Selah” is always used of the rock at Kadesh-Barnea Num 20:8-11, near Petra (compare Oba 1:3). This leads us to look for “the ascent of scorpions,” here coupled with סלע הס has-sela‛, in the same neighborhood.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Rock, Petra, the capital of Arabia, which Josephus ([Antiquities?]…
Rock, Petra, the capital of Arabia, which Josephus ([Antiquities?] iii. 2,) assigns to Amalec. The Amorrhites dwelt in many parts of the land of promise, (Calmet) particularly in the higher places about the Dead Sea. (Haydock)
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).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 36. Akrabbim — Probably the range of cliffs which…
36. Akrabbim — Probably the range of cliffs which form the southern boundary of the Valley of Salt, or the lower end of the Ghor, south of the Dead Sea. See on Jos_15:3, where it is called Maaleh-acrabbim.
From the rock, and upward — By the rock many understand Petra, the Edomite capital, which is called Sela (הסלע, the rock) in 2Ki_14:7; but this would make palpable confusion in the context, and involve the impossible conclusion that the Amorites had possession of the metropolis of Edom and the regions beyond. Better, therefore, to understand some well-known rock or prominent cliff in the southern border of Palestine.
Read full note →
Keil supposes that it was the rock at Kadesh, from which the Israelites were miraculously supplied with water. Num_20:11. Upward would then naturally mean northward from this well-known rock. The wide dominion of the Amorites is mentioned to account for their ability to resist the forces of Israel.
A panoramic view is given in this chapter of the political condition of the Hebrews at the beginning of this book. A general spirit of discouragement had come upon them, disposing them to acquiesce in the present situation, and to compromise with the unsubdued foes with whom they were intermingled. The natural result of this state of the facts would have been the turning of the Hebrews to paganism, and the loss of their nationality. For, unlike Christianity, Judaism possessed no aggressiveness. It was not designed as a missionary agency to go forth and make Jews of the pagan nations. It was eminently conservative in its spirit, and could flourish only by segregation, and separation from the assimilating power of heathen society. Hence the wisdom of the command, seemingly so radical and severe, to exterminate the Canaanite root and branch. The state of the nation calls for a renewed proclamation of this command. This will be found in the next chapter.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 36. the border of the Amorites] The text describes…
36. the border of the Amorites] The text describes a boundary line; but there was no boundary between the Israelites and the Amorites, i.e. the old Canaanite population, for they occupied the same territory. Some recensions of LXX (cod. A, Lucian), Ethiop., Syro-Hex., read ‘the border of the Amorite was the Edomite’; this suggests that the Hebr. text should be corrected to the border of the Edomite. The verse indicates the S. frontier of Judah which extended ‘unto the border of Edom,’ Jos_15:1.
the ascent of Akrabbim] i.e. ‘the Scorpions’ Pass’ Num_34:4, Jos_15:3, must be one of the chief passes which lead up from the ‘Arâbah S. of the Dead Sea, probably the Naḳb eṣ-Ṣafâ, on the N. side of the Wadi el-Fiḳra.
Read full note →
from the rock] Not ‘from Sela’ mg., for it is doubtful whether any city is called Sela in the O.T. The reference is to some conspicuous rock which served as a land-mark; Moore thinks of the cliff of eṣ-Ṣufçj, at the S.W. of the Dead Sea, and, omitting the prep. ‘from,’ renders ‘to Sela.’ But it is doubtful whether this cliff is sufficiently striking (Lagrange, Livre des Juges, p. 21), and we want a direction not eastwards but westwards. Accordingly the Rock at Kadesh (‘Ain Ḳades, 50 m. S. of Beer-sheba) has been suggested; see Num_20:8. It is a “large single mass, or a small hill of solid rock” standing out conspicuously from the earth covered hills (Clay Trumbull, Kadesh-Barnea, pp. 272–4); moreover Kadesh-barnea is mentioned as one of the chief points on the S. frontier of Judah, Num_34:4, Jos_15:3. But then why should the nameless Rock and not Kadesh itself be spoken of here? It is, in fact, impossible to be sure where ‘the Rock’ was. It cannot be Petra (LXX etc.), the famous capital of the Nabataeans, for this is too far south.
The verse is obviously out of connexion with its context. As a description of the southern limit of Judah it would be in place after Jdg_1:16 (the Kenites) or Jdg_1:17 (Simeon); but we cannot feel certain as to its original position in the document. It is a mutilated fragment, and, since the southern limit of Judah was also the limit of Israelite territory, it was probably placed where it stands to round off the country occupied by the various tribes.
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.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (36) The coast of the Amorites.—This notice is added…
(36) The coast of the Amorites.—This notice is added to account for the obstinate resistance of the Amorites, by showing the extent of their domain, which reached far to the south of Petra. Hazezon Tamar, “the sanctuary of the palm,” afterwards called Engedi, “the goat’s fountain,” belonged to them (Gen_14:7; 2Ch_20:2; Tristram, Land of Israel, p. 784). Another opinion given is, that the verse is added to sum up the chapter, by showing that neither the northern, eastern, nor western boundaries were thoroughly secured, but only that of the southern tribes.
From the going up to Akrabbim.—The same as Maaleh Akrabbim (Jos_15:3), and “the ascent of scorpions” (Num_34:4), probably the Wady-es-Zuweirah (De Saulcy, La Terre Sainte, i. 528), where scorpions abound to this day under every stone; or the Wady-es-Sufah. Robinson supposes it to be the line of rocks which crosses the Jordan valley at right angles, eleven miles south of the Dead Sea (Bibl. Res. Ii. 120). It is the Akrabattine of 1Ma_5:3. It formed the southern boundary of the Holy Land, being a wall of cliffs which separates the Jordan valley from the wilderness.
Read full note →
From the rock.—From “Ras-Selah,” i.e., from Petra, the famous capital of Idumea (2Ki_14:7; Isa_16:1; Oba_1:3). Keil and Delitzsch refer it to the well-known rock at Kadesh-Meribah (Num_20:8-10).
And upward.—It is uncertain whether this means “and beyond,” i.e., their border extended even farther south; or, “and northwards,” i.e., this was their extreme southern limit.
The history of the Twelve Tribes is nowhere separately drawn out in Scripture. The reader will find the character and career of each tribe graphically sketched in Dean Stanley’s Sinai and Palestine, Judges 3-11; and more briefly in the Lectures on the Jewish Church, 1:261-281.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The going up to Akrabbim. See Jos_15:3, Maalehacrabbim. In…
The going up to Akrabbim. See Jos_15:3, Maalehacrabbim. In Num_34:4 "the ascent of Akrabbim." The whole name, put into English, is "the ascent, or going up, of Scorpions," a mountain pass so called from the abundance of scorpions found in the whole region. The exact locality is uncertain, but it is thought to be the pass El-Safeh, immediately to the south of the Dead Sea. The neighbourhood to Mount Hor and Petra is indicated by its connection here with "the rock," in Hebrew has-selah, which is the distinctive name of the rocks or cliffs on which Petra is built, and the name of Petra (the rock) itself. Speaking roughly, a line drawn westward from El-Safeh to the Mediterranean Sea, near the "river of Egypt," formed the southern boundary, of Judah, and of the Amorites whom they displaced. The battle with the Amorites, (Deu_1:44) in which the Israelites were discomfited and pursued, is thought to have been at El-Safeh.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.