Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joshua 19:15
And Kattath, and Nahallal, and Shimron, and Idalah, and Bethlehem: twelve cities with their villages.
15. and Kattath ] The account of the cities here appears to be imperfect. We have only the names of five cities given, though there are said to have been “twelve cities and their villages.” There is nothing to which the list of terms here given, introduced by and, can be attached.
Kattath ] This also has been supposed to be “Cana of Galilee.”
Nahallal, Shimron (ch. Jos 11:1), Idalah, are all as yet unknown.
Beth-lehem ] This Beth-lehem in Zebulun is not to be confounded with Beth-lehem Ephratah in Judah (Gen 35:19).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Twelve cities – Only five have been mentioned, and the names in the verses preceding are apparently not names of Zebulonite cities, but merely of points in or near the boundary line. It would therefore appear that seven names have disappeared from the text, and perhaps also the definition of the western frontier.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 15. Shimron] See Clarke on Jos 12:20.
Beth-lehem] The house of bread; a different place from that in which our Lord was born.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Bethlehem; not that where Christ was born, which was in Judah, thence called
Bethlehem Judah, Mat 2:1, but another.
Twelve cities: there are more numbered here, but the rest either were not cities properly so called, having villages under their jurisdiction; or were not within this tribe, but only bordering upon it, and belonging to other tribes, which is evident of some of them, and may well be presumed of others.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And Kattath, and Nahallal,…. Of the two first of these we read nowhere else, but in Jos 21:34;
and Shimron was a royal city, the king of which Joshua took and hanged, Jos 11:1;
and Idalah is a place Bochart conjectures t where the goddess Venus was worshipped, Idalia being one of her names;
and Bethlehem is a different place from that which was the birthplace of our Lord, called Bethlehem of Judah, to distinguish it from this:
twelve cities with their villages; more are named, but some of them belonged to other tribes, and only lay on the borders of this; and others might not be properly cities, but small towns.
t Canaan, l. 1. c. 3. col. 356.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(15) Nahallal.(Ain Mahil, sheet 6).
Shimron.(Simmieh, west of Nazareth, sheet 5).
Idalah.(El Huwrah, a ruin just south of Bethlehem, sheet 5).
Beth-lehem.(Beit-Lahm, sheet v.). It seems right to refer Ibzan of Bethlehem (Jdg. 12:8; Jdg. 12:10) to this town. The other Bethlehem is called in Judges and Ruth, Bethlehem-Judah; and in Micah, Bethlehem-Ephratah (Jdg. 17:7; Jdg. 19:1; Rth. 1:1; Mic. 5:2). Bethlehem-Judah is designated Bethlehem only when it is impossible to mistake it for Bethlehem of Zebulun (e.g., Rth. 1:19, and 1Sa. 16:4).
Twelve cities.Ittah-kazin, Neah, Dabbasheth, and Kattath have not been identified, and they may not all be names of towns.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
15. Beth – lehem is the only one of the five cities named in this verse which has been with any certainty identified. Dr. Robinson found it about six miles west of Nazareth, still bearing the name Beit-lahm, but only a miserable village, with no traces of antiquity except the name. This verse seems to be only a fragment of the list of cities belonging to Zebulun; a supposition confirmed by the mention of twelve cities when only five are named. Even if we suppose that all the border cities named are counted, we meet with as great a difficulty, for then we have at least sixteen cities named. We may appropriately say with Keil: “From all that has been hitherto ascertained, we can merely decide respecting the inheritance of Zebulun that it comprised the western half of the plain of Esdraelon, between Jokneam and Tabor, and extended to the mountains of Galilee.”]
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘ And Kattath, and Nahalal, and Shimron, and Idalah, and Bethlehem. Twelve cities with their villages.’
These five cities are in addition to those previously mentioned. The twelve presumably included those of the latter which were seen as in Zebulun’s borders. Kattath is unidentified. Nahalal (Jos 21:35; Jdg 1:30) was probably not far from modern Nahalal, nine kilometres (six miles) west of Nazareth. Some identify it with Tell el-Beida. Shimron was allied with Hazor (see Jos 11:1) and defeated by Joshua. Some have suggested Tell es-Semuniyeh about five kilometres south south east of the Bethlehem mentioned here. Idalah has been connected with Tell Hawwareth through its being identified in the Talmud as Hiriyeh, two kilometres (one mile) south of Bethlehem. Bethlehem ( a different one from Bethlehem-judah) is now Bet-lahm, eleven kilometres (seven miles) north west of Nazareth.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Kattath: etc. Jos 21:34, Jos 21:35, Jdg 1:30. Nahalol
Shimron: Jos 11:1, Jos 12:20
Bethlehem: Rth 1:19, 2Sa 23:15, 2Ch 11:6
Reciprocal: Gen 35:19 – Ephrath Jdg 17:7 – General Mat 2:5 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jos 19:15. Beth-lehem Not that where Christ was born, which was in Judah, but another. Twelve cities They are more numerous here, but the rest either were not cities, properly so called, or were not within this tribe, but only bordering upon it, and belonging to other tribes.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
19:15 And Kattath, and Nahallal, and Shimron, and Idalah, and {d} Bethlehem: twelve cities with their villages.
(d) There was another Bethlehem in the tribe of Judah.