Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joshua 15:42
Libnah, and Ether, and Ashan,
42. Libnah ] Group III. consists of the places in the southern part of the hill region, and includes nine cities:
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 42. Libnah] See Clarke on Jos 10:29.
Ether] From Jos 19:7 we learn that this city was afterwards given to the tribe of Simeon.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Libnah, Heb. Libnah. See Jos 10:29
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Libnah,…. Here begins another division or list of the cities of Judah, in the valley or plain. Libnah is the same with Libnah, a royal city; see Jos 10:29;
and Ether was given to the tribe of Simeon, Jos 19:7; and under Ether of the lot of Simeon, Jerom writes y, there is now a very large village called Jethira, in interior Daroma, near Malatha, twenty miles from Eleutheropolis;
and Ashan also was given to the tribe of Simeon, Jos 19:7; and the above writer relates z, that there was in his times a village called Bethasan, belonging to Aelia, or Jerusalem, fifteen miles from it.
y De loc. Heb. fol. 91. C. & 92. I. z De loc. Heb. fol. 88. G.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
42. The third group lay southeast of the second. On Libnah, see Jos 10:29.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘ Libnah, and Ether, and Ashan. And Iphtah, and Ashnah, and Nezib, and Keilah, and Achzib, and Mareshah. Nine cities with their villages.’
These are not all specifically identifiable to a particular area but are related to the Shephelah. The site of Libnah, a royal city, has not been satisfactorily identified. Its position is generally indicated by the order of events in Jos 10:28-37. Ether and Ashan also appear in Jos 19:7 as Simeonite cities ‘with their villages’, shared with Judah, which demonstrates that they are more to the south. See also 1Ch 4:32; 1Ch 6:59. Iphtah, Ashnah, and Nezib are unidentifiable at present.
Keilah is mentioned in Neh 3:17-18, and in 1Sa 23:1-5 as subject to Philistine invasion resulting in a great victory for David. It is probably the Kelti of the Amarna letters, and may be Khirbet Qila on a hill ten kilometres east of Beit Guvrin which commands the ascent to Hebron south from Socoh, in the valley between the Shephelah and the hills. Achzib is possibly the Chezib of Gen 38:5 and later conquered by Sennacherib (see also Mic 1:14). Mareshah is a town in the Shephelah covering the road up the Wadi Zeita to Hebron. It is now Tell Sandahanna. The inhabitants claimed descent from Shelah (1Ch 4:21). See also Mic 1:15.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Libnah: Jos 10:29, Jos 12:15, 2Ki 8:22
Ether: Jos 19:7
Reciprocal: Jos 21:13 – Libnah Jos 21:16 – Ain 1Sa 30:30 – Chorashan 2Ki 19:8 – Libnah 1Ch 6:57 – Libnah 1Ch 6:59 – Ashan Jer 52:1 – Libnah