Joshua 15:53

53 And Janum,^[a] and Bethtappuah, and Aphekah,

Joshua 15:53 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 15:53

And Janum
Under the word "Janum", Jerom writes ^F12, there is a village called Janua, three miles from Legion to the south, but seems not to be what is written;

and Bethtappuah
is by Jerom called Bethaphu ^F13, and said to be a village in the tribe of Judah, fourteen miles beyond Raphia, as you go to Egypt, which is the border of Palestine;

and Aphekah;
Jerom speaks ^F14 of a large castle in his time called Apheca, near the town of Palestine; there were several places of the name of Aphek; (See Gill on Joshua 12:18). As for Bethtappuah, it seems to be a place which was dedicated to a deity to which apples were sacred, in memory of the apple by which mankind was seduced; there was in later times a goddess called Pomona from hence.

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FOOTNOTES:

F12 De loc. Heb. fol. 92. I.
F13 Ibid. fol. 89. F.
F14 Ibid. fol. 88. D.

Joshua 15:53 In-Context

51 And Goshen, and Holon, and Giloh; eleven cities with their villages:

52 Arab, and Dumah, and Eshean,

53 And Janum, and Bethtappuah, and Aphekah,

54 And Humtah, and Kirjatharba, which is Hebron, and Zior; nine cities with their villages:

55 Maon, Carmel, and Ziph, and Juttah,

Footnotes

• [a]. Janum: or, Janus