Joshua 15:47

 Joshua 15:47

Ashdod with her towns and her villages, Gaza with her towns and her villages, unto the river of Egypt, and the great sea, and the border thereof:

a. NASB 1995: Ashdod, its towns and its villages; Gaza, its towns and its villages; as far as the brook of Egypt and the Great Sea, even its coastline. [New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.]

b. NKJV: Ashdod with its towns and villages, Gaza with its towns and villages—as far as the Brook of Egypt and the Great Sea with its coastline. [Scripture quotations marked "NKJV" are taken from the New King James Version®, Copyright© 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.]

c. Classic Amplified:  Ashdod, with its towns and its villages; Gaza, with its towns and its villages, as far as the Brook of Egypt, and the Great [Mediterranean] Sea with its coastline. [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. Rubin Edition: The Early Prophets: Joshua & Judges: Ashdod, its towns and villages; Gaza, its towns and villages to the brook of Egypt and the Great Mediterranean] Sea, and its border.    [THE ARTSCROLL SERIES ®️ /RUBIN EDITION THE PROPHETS: JOSHUA/ JUDGES ⓒ Copyright 2000 by MESORAH PUBLICATIONS, Ltd.]

e. ESV: Ashdod, its towns and its villages; Gaza, its towns and its villages; to the Brook of Egypt, and the Great Sea with its coastline. [Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

f. Unless otherwise stated, all Greek and Hebrew definitions are from Blue Letter Bible

1. “Ashdod with her towns and her villages, Gaza with her towns and her villages, unto the river of Egypt, and the great sea, and the border thereof:”

a. Ashdod [Strong: 795 ʼAshdôwd, ash-dode'; from H7703; ravager; Ashdod, a place in Palestine:—Ahdod.]

b. [with her] towns [Strong: 1323 bath, bath; from H1129 (as feminine of H1121); a daughter (used in the same wide sense as other terms of relationship, literally and figuratively):—apple (of the eye), branch, company, daughter, × first, × old, owl, town, village.]

c. [and her] villages [Strong: 2691 châtsêr, khaw-tsare'; (masculine and feminine); from H2690 in its original sense; a yard (as inclosed by a fence); also a hamlet (as similarly surrounded with walls):—court, tower, village.]

d. Gaza [Strong: 5804 ʻAzzâh, az-zaw'; feminine of H5794; strong; Azzah, a place in Palestine:—Azzah, Gaza.]

e. [and her] towns [Strong: 1323 bath, bath; from H1129 (as feminine of H1121); a daughter (used in the same wide sense as other terms of relationship, literally and figuratively):—apple (of the eye), branch, company, daughter, × first, × old, owl, town, village.]

f. [and her] villages [Strong: 2691 châtsêr, khaw-tsare'; (masculine and feminine); from H2690 in its original sense; a yard (as inclosed by a fence); also a hamlet (as similarly surrounded with walls):—court, tower, village.]

g. unto [Strong: 5704 ʻad, ad; properly, the same as H5703 (used as a preposition, adverb or conjunction; especially with a preposition); as far (or long, or much) as, whether of space (even unto) or time (during, while, until) or degree (equally with):—against, and, as, at, before, by (that), even (to), for(-asmuch as), (hither-) to, how long, into, as long (much) as, (so) that, till, toward, until, when, while, (+ as) yet.]

h. [the] river [Strong: 5158 nachal, nakh'-al; or (feminine) נַחְלָה nachlâh; (Psalm 124:4), or נַחֲלָה nachălâh; (Ezekiel 47:19; Ezekiel 48:28), from H5157 in its original sense; a stream, especially a winter torrent; (by implication) a (narrow) valley (in which a brook runs); also a shaft (of a mine):—brook, flood, river, stream, valley.]

i. [of] Egypt [Strong: 4714 Mitsrayim, mits-rah'-yim; dual of H4693; Mitsrajim, i.e. Upper and Lower Egypt:—Egypt, Egyptians, Mizraim.]

j. [and the] great [Strong: 1419 gâdôwl, gaw-dole'; or גָּדֹל gâdôl; (shortened) from H1431; great (in any sense); hence, older; also insolent:— aloud, elder(-est), exceeding(-ly), far, (man of) great (man, matter, thing,-er,-ness), high, long, loud, mighty, more, much, noble, proud thing, × sore, (×) very.

k. sea [Strong: 3220 yâm, yawm; from an unused root meaning to roar; a sea (as breaking in noisy surf) or large body of water; specifically (with the article), the Mediterranean Sea; sometimes a large river, or an artifical basin; locally, the west, or (rarely) the south:—sea (× -faring man, (-shore)), south, west (-ern, side, -ward).]

l. [and the] border [thereof] [Strong: 1366 gᵉbûwl, gheb-ool'; or גְּבֻל gᵉbul; (shortened) from H1379; properly, a cord (as twisted), i.e. (by implication) a boundary; by extension the territory inclosed:—border, bound, coast, × great, landmark, limit, quarter, space.]

1). This is part of the inheritance of Judah. Gaza was part of the original inheritance given to Israel by God (Genesis 15:18-21). 

a).  Genesis 15:20-47 This is the inheritance of the tribe of Judah according to their families.

15:21 The cities of the tribe of Judah in the extreme south toward the boundary of Edom were: Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur,

15:22 Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah,

15:23 Kedesh, Hazor, Ithnan,

15:24 Ziph, Telem, Bealoth,

15:25 Hazor-hadattah, Kerioth-hezron (Hazor),

15:26 Amam, Shema, Moladah,

15:27 Hazar-gaddah, Heshmon, Beth-pelet,

15:28 Hazar-shual, Beersheba, Biziothiah,

15:29 Baalah, Iim, Ezem,

15:30 Eltolad, Chesil, Hormah,

15:31 Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah,

15:32 Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain, and Rimmon. All the cities were twenty-nine [later thirty-six] with their villages.

15:33 In the lowland: Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah,

15:34 Zanoah, En-gannim, Tappuah, Enam,

15:35 Jarmuth, Adullam, Socoh, Azekah,

15:36 Shaaraim, Adithaim, and Gederah and Gederothaim; fourteen cities with their villages.

15:37 Zenan, Hadashah, Migdal-gad,

15:38 Dilean, Mizpah, Joktheel,

15:39 Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon,

15:40 Cabbon, Lahmas, Chitlish,

15:41 Gederoth, Beth-dagon, Naamah, and Makkedah; sixteen cities with their villages.

15:42 Libnah, Ether, Ashan,

15:43 Iphtah, Ashnah, Nezib,

15:44 Keilah, Achzib, and Mareshah; nine cities with their villages.

15:45 Ekron, with its towns and villages.

15:46 From Ekron to the sea, all that lay beside Ashdod, with their villages;

15:47 Ashdod, with its towns and its villages; Gaza, with its towns and its villages, as far as the Brook of Egypt, and the Great [Mediterranean] Sea with its coastline.

15:48 In the hill country: Shamir, Jattir, Socoh,

15:49 Dannah, Kiriath-sannah (that is, Debir),

15:50 Anab, Eshtemoh, Anim,

15:51 Goshen, Holon, and Giloh; eleven cities with their villages.

15:52 Arab, Dumah, Eshan,

15:53 Janim, Beth-tappuah, Aphekah,

15:54 Humtah, Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), and Zior; nine cities with their villages.

15:55 Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah,

15:56 Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah,

15:57 Kain, Gibeah, and Timnah; ten cities with their villages.

15:58 Halhul, Beth-zur, Gedor,

15:59 Maarath, Beth-anoth, and Eltekon; six cities with their villages.

15:60 Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim) and Rabbah; two cities with their villages.

15:61 In the wilderness: Beth-arabah, Middin, Secacah,

15:62 Nibshan, the City of Salt, and En-gedi; six cities with their villages.

15:63 But the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the people of Judah could not drive out; so the Jebusites dwell with the people of Judah at Jerusalem to this day.

1). A brief history of Gaza's centuries of war, Reuters 4/4/2024: Gaza is a coastal strip of land that lay on ancient trading and maritime routes along the Mediterranean shore.

It has been inhabited for thousands of years and fought over by many - including Egyptian Pharaohs, Babylonians, Philistines, and Alexander the Great who besieged and captured Gaza City, killing the men and enslaving women and children. Its location near where Asia meets Africa saw it become a thriving trade centre in antiquity, part of the Philistine confederacy of five cities along the coastal plain. It features prominently in Biblical accounts, including the battles of King David. In later centuries Romans, Mongols, Crusaders and later Napoleon conquered it. Christianity spread there - a small Christian community in Gaza still exists - and 1,400 years ago Muslim armies invaded.

It was part of the Ottoman Empire for most of the period from the 16th century until 1917, when was it taken by British troops during World War I. It then became part of the British Mandate of Palestine. Over the last century Gaza passed from British to Egyptian to Israeli military rule and is now a fenced-in enclave inhabited by around 2.3 million Palestinians, most of them refugees.

2). History Encyclopedia Britannica;  Occupation: After rule by the Ottoman Empire ended there in World War I (1914–18), the Gaza area became part of the League of Nations mandate of Palestine under British rule. Before this mandate ended, the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) in November 1947 accepted a plan for the Arab-Jewish partition of Palestine under which the town of Gaza and an area of surrounding territory were to be allotted to the Arabs. The British mandate ended on May 15, 1948, and on that same day the first Arab-Israeli war began. Egyptian forces soon entered the town of Gaza, which became the headquarters of the Egyptian expeditionary force in Palestine. As a result of heavy fighting in autumn 1948, the area around the town under Arab occupation was reduced to a strip of territory 25 miles (40 km) long and 4–5 miles (6–8 km) wide. This area became known as the Gaza Strip. Its boundaries were demarcated in the Egyptian-Israeli armistice agreement of February 24, 1949. The Gaza Strip was under Egyptian military rule from 1949 to 1956 and again from 1957 to 1967.