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Tuesday, September 16th, 2025
the Week of Proper 19 / Ordinary 24
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New Living Translation

Joshua 13:18

Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath,

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Amorites;   Jahaz;   Kedemoth;   Mephaath;   Reubenites;   Topography;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Amorites, the;   Reuben, the Tribe of;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Kedemoth;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Gad;   Heshbon;   Manasseh, tribe of;   Reuben;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Land (of Israel);   Easton Bible Dictionary - Jahaz;   Kedemoth;   Reuben, Tribe of;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Ashtaroth;   Jahaz;   Kedemoth;   Mephaath;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Jahaz;   Joshua, the Book of;   Kedemoth;   Mephaath;   Moab and the Moabite Stone;   Tribes of Israel, the;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Jahaz;   Joshua;   Kedemoth;   Mephaath;   Moab, Moabites;   Numbers, Book of;   Priests and Levites;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Heshbon ;   Jahaz, Jahaza, Jahazah, Jahzah ;   Kedemoth ;   Mephaath ;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Heshbon;   Jahaz;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Ja'haz,;   Jaha'za;   Ked'emoth;   Meph'a-Ath;   Shu'nem;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Jahaz;   Joshua, Book of;   Kedemoth;   Mephaath;   Siddim, Vale of;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Kirjathaim;   Moab;   War;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath,
Hebrew Names Version
and Yahatz, and Kedemot, and Mefa`at,
King James Version
And Jahaza, and Kedemoth, and Mephaath,
Lexham English Bible
Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath,
English Standard Version
and Jahaz, and Kedemoth, and Mephaath,
New Century Version
Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath,
New English Translation
Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath,
Amplified Bible
and Jahaz and Kedemoth and Mephaath,
New American Standard Bible
Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath,
Geneva Bible (1587)
And Iahazah, and Kedemoth & Mephaath:
Legacy Standard Bible
and Jahaz and Kedemoth and Mephaath,
Complete Jewish Bible
Yahatz, K'demot, Mefa‘at,
Darby Translation
And Jahzah, and Kedemoth, and Mephaath,
Easy-to-Read Version
Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath,
George Lamsa Translation
And Jahaz and Kermoth and Aenath
Good News Translation
Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath,
Literal Translation
and Jahazah, and Kedemoth, and Mephaath;
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Iahza, Kedemoth, Mephaath,
American Standard Version
and Jahaz, and Kedemoth, and Mephaath,
Bible in Basic English
And Jahaz, and Kedemoth, and Mephaath;
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Iahazah, and Redemoth, and Mephaath.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
and Jahaz, and Kedemoth, and Mephaath;
King James Version (1611)
And Iahazah, and Kedemoth, and Mephaath,
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
and Basan, and Bakedmoth, and Maephaad,
English Revised Version
and Jahaz, and Kedemoth, and Mephaath;
Berean Standard Bible
Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath,
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and Gesa, and Sedymoth, and Mephe,
Young's Literal Translation
and Jahazah, and Kedemoth, and Mephaath,
Update Bible Version
and Jahaz, and Kedemoth, and Mephaath,
Webster's Bible Translation
And Jahaza, and Kedemoth, and Mephaath,
World English Bible
and Jahaz, and Kedemoth, and Mephaath,
New King James Version
Jahaza, Kedemoth, Mephaath,
New Life Bible
Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath,
New Revised Standard
and Jahaz, and Kedemoth, and Mephaath,
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
and Jahaz and Kedemoth and Maphaath;
Douay-Rheims Bible
And Jassa, and Cidimoth, and Mephaath,
Revised Standard Version
and Jahaz, and Ked'emoth, and Meph'aath,
New American Standard Bible (1995)
and Jahaz and Kedemoth and Mephaath,

Contextual Overview

15 Moses had assigned the following area to the clans of the tribe of Reuben. 16 Their territory extended from Aroer on the edge of the Arnon Gorge (including the town in the middle of the gorge) to the plain beyond Medeba. 17 It included Heshbon and the other towns on the plain—Dibon, Bamoth-baal, Beth-baal-meon, 18 Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath, 19 Kiriathaim, Sibmah, Zereth-shahar on the hill above the valley, 20 Beth-peor, the slopes of Pisgah, and Beth-jeshimoth. 21 The land of Reuben also included all the towns of the plain and the entire kingdom of Sihon. Sihon was the Amorite king who had reigned in Heshbon and was killed by Moses along with the leaders of Midian—Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba—princes living in the region who were allied with Sihon. 22 The Israelites had also killed Balaam son of Beor, who used magic to tell the future. 23 The Jordan River marked the western boundary for the tribe of Reuben. The towns and their surrounding villages in this area were given as a homeland to the clans of the tribe of Reuben.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Jahaza: A city near Medeba and Dibon, afterwards given to the Levites. Joshua 21:36, Joshua 21:37, Numbers 21:23, Jahaz, 1 Chronicles 6:78, 1 Chronicles 6:79, Jahzah

Kedemoth: Supposed to have been situated east of the Arnon.

Mephaath: Situated near the desert, east of Moab. In the time of Eusebius, he says the Romans kept a garrison there.

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 2:26 - Kedemoth Isaiah 15:4 - Jahaz Jeremiah 48:21 - Jahazah

Cross-References

Genesis 8:20
Then Noah built an altar to the Lord , and there he sacrificed as burnt offerings the animals and birds that had been approved for that purpose.
Genesis 13:4
This was the same place where Abram had built the altar, and there he worshiped the Lord again.
Genesis 13:7
So disputes broke out between the herdsmen of Abram and Lot. (At that time Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land.)
Genesis 13:8
Finally Abram said to Lot, "Let's not allow this conflict to come between us or our herdsmen. After all, we are close relatives!
Genesis 14:13
But one of Lot's men escaped and reported everything to Abram the Hebrew, who was living near the oak grove belonging to Mamre the Amorite. Mamre and his relatives, Eshcol and Aner, were Abram's allies.
Genesis 18:1
The Lord appeared again to Abraham near the oak grove belonging to Mamre. One day Abraham was sitting at the entrance to his tent during the hottest part of the day.
Genesis 23:2
she died at Kiriath-arba (now called Hebron) in the land of Canaan. There Abraham mourned and wept for her.
Genesis 35:27
So Jacob returned to his father, Isaac, in Mamre, which is near Kiriath-arba (now called Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had both lived as foreigners.
Genesis 37:14
"Go and see how your brothers and the flocks are getting along," Jacob said. "Then come back and bring me a report." So Jacob sent him on his way, and Joseph traveled to Shechem from their home in the valley of Hebron.
Numbers 13:22
Going north, they passed through the Negev and arrived at Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai—all descendants of Anak—lived. (The ancient town of Hebron was founded seven years before the Egyptian city of Zoan.)

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Jahazah,.... Called Jahaz, Numbers 21:23, where the battle was fought between Sihon and Israel:

and Kedemoth; near to which was a wilderness, which took its name from it, from whence Moses sent messengers with words of peace to Sihon, Deuteronomy 2:26;

and Mephaath; thought to be the Maipha of Ptolemy f; here Jerom says g, in his time was a garrison of Roman soldiers, because of the desert that was near. It was a city, with its suburbs, given to the Levites, as were the two preceding, Joshua 21:36; Adrichomius h takes it to be the same with Malle, which, Josephus says, i was called the city of the strangers.

f Geograph. l. 6. c. 7. g De loc Heb. fol. 93. D. h Theatrum Ter. Sanct. p. 179. i Antiqu. l. 12. c. 8. sect. 3.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The writer appends to the command of God Joshua 13:1-7 a statement that the other two tribes and a half had already had their inheritance marked out for them by Moses in the land east of Jordan. The boundaries of this territory as a whole are first set forth Joshua 13:8-14, and afterward the portions assigned within it to the two tribes and a half are severally described Joshua 13:15-33.

Joshua 13:14

See Deuteronomy 18:1-5 and notes.

Joshua 13:15-24

Inheritance of the tribe of Reuben. This territory was the most southerly of the trans-Jordanic possessions of Israel, and adjoined Moab, which lay only on the other side of the Arnon. Hence, the Reubenites became in after times much intermixed with the Moabites, who in fact eventually acquired much of the land, and several, if not all, of the cities here named as belonging to Reuben. This acquisition was probably assisted by the fact that the territory north of Arnon had formerly belonged to the Moabites, from whom it was wrested by the Amorites (see Numbers 21:27, etc. notes). It is not likely that the Amorite conquerors had completely extirpated the Moabite inhabitants. Hence, in the days when the Reubenites became engrossed in their pastoral pursuits, and probably not very long after the days of Joshua, the Moabites easily encroached on their inheritance, and in the end probably reoccupied nearly the whole of the ancient kingdom of Sihon (Compare Deuteronomy 33:6 note).

Joshua 13:17-21

See the marginal references for some of these names. Heshbon, Kedemoth, and Mephaath became eventually Levitical cities.

Joshua 13:21

Dukes of Sihon - Rather “vassals of Sihon,” probably those “dedicated” or “appointed” with a libation.

Joshua 13:23

Jordan ... - i. e. the Jordan and its territory (compare similar expressions in Numbers 34:6; Deuteronomy 3:16). The portion of the tribe of Reuben at its northern extremity touched the Jordan; the main part of his inheritance lay on the east of the Dead Sea.

Joshua 13:25

All the cities of Gilead - i. e. of Gilead in the narrower sense, included in the territory of Sihon, and distinct from Bashan Deuteronomy 3:10.

Half the land of the children of Ammon - i. e. that half of the Ammonite territory which had been conquered by the Amorites. This, after the overthrow of Sihon, the Israelites took for their own. The land which the Ammonites still held in the days of Moses, the Israelites were not permitted to attack.

Rabbah was a border fortress, the principal stronghold of the Ammonites Numbers 21:24, and the residence of their king. It was attacked and taken by Joab 2 Samuel 11:0; 2 Samuel 12:0; 1 Chronicles 20:1, but appears in later times again as an Ammonitish city Jeremiah 49:3; Ezekiel 25:5; Amos 1:13-15. In the third century B.C. it received from Ptolemy Philadelplus the name of Philadelphia, and was in later times the seat of a Christian bishop; but has now for many centuries been in ruins, remarkable for their grandeur and extent.

Joshua 13:26

The border of Debir - Rather perhaps “the border of Lidbir,” which is regarded as identical with the Lo-debar of 2 Samuel 9:4; 2 Samuel 17:27, one of the towns from which provisions were brought to David at Mahanaim Genesis 32:2.

Joshua 13:29-33

On the conquest of Bashan, see especially Numbers 32:33, etc. and notes.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Joshua 13:18. Jahaza — A city near Medeba and Dibon. It was given to the Levites, 1 Chronicles 6:78.

Kedemoth — Mentioned Deuteronomy 2:26; supposed to have been situated beyond the river Arnon.

Mephaath — Situated on the frontiers of Moab, on the eastern part of the desert. It was given to the Levites, Joshua 21:37.


 
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