Ziph, Telem, Bealoth,
Joshua 15:24 gives three place names from a long list of towns handed to the tribe of Judah in the far south of the land. So why did God record villages that most readers cannot even find, and what is a believer meant to do with them?
Where These Towns Stood
Telem gets a single line in a Bible dictionary.
Morrish Bible DictionaryCity in the extreme south of Judah. Joshua 15:24.
Ziph appears again later in the chapter. That second Ziph, not this one, is the town linked with events in David's life.
Morrish Bible DictionaryCity in the highlands of Judah. It and its "wilderness" saw some of the stirring events in David's life. Joshua 15:55; 1 Sam. 23:14-15, 24; 1 Sam. 26:2; 2 Chr. 11:8. It is identified with the ruins now called Tel ez Zif.
Why Such A List Is In The Bible
One writer admits that study of these verses usually stops at the map. That, he says, leaves room for another approach.
Numerical Bible NotesIt is only a list of names. They seem to have little for us, except in the meanings of the names themselves. The best commentators find nothing here but geography. They can only comment on the language and the historical references. There is surely room, then, for another treatment of these names. If it gives them a consistent spiritual meaning in any reasonable way, it will prove itself to be true interpretation. If it speaks to us in coherent language — if it brings us lessons of holy wisdom — why should we doubt that there is a mind behind it? And then whose mind can it be but His whom all His works confess?
The clue is in how the second half of the book slows down.
Samuel RidoutBut there is another part of Joshua: the actual inheritance, after the conflict is over. How wonderful that the last half of the book dwells on every city, every valley, every spring, in such fine detail. Without doubt this is to tell us of the varied spiritual blessings that are ours.
Ziph: The Place Of Refining
Ziph opens a short series of five names, and its meaning sets the tone. What it points to is not comfortable.
Numerical Bible NotesThe second series has only five names, and is a simple one. Young gives the first name, Ziph, as "place of refining." This fits the general thought of the series and gives the series its character. Humbling and its results seem to be spoken of here. Our need for it runs deeper, and our praise for it should be fuller, than we find easy to believe. Yet if pride is what turned an angel into a devil, no wonder that even as saints we need guarding against it in every possible way.
Telem: Pressure From An Enemy's Hand
The second name is harsh next to the others. The writer keeps it harsh, yet he does not stop at the enemy behind it.
Numerical Bible NotesTelem, "oppression," is a strange word among the rest. Read this way, though, it makes sense. From God's hand it may come sweetened, even though the oppressor is an enemy who acts out of pure hatred.
Bealoth: The Way Out Is Upward
Bealoth comes third in that series, and its place in the order matters.
Numerical Bible NotesBealoth, "on the ascent," fits the third place well. With God there is always a way out, and a way out is always a way up.
Your Portion, Assigned by God
The whole chapter, name by name, records a distribution that came from God's own hand rather than from human preference.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinThis chapter contains many names; it records nearly one hundred and fifty… The lesson is that the Lord distributed the inheritance to His people and placed them as it pleased Him. He knew their faithfulness and their ability, and so they received their portion. We too, as members of His body, receive our portion and inheritance from Him, who "apportions to each one individually as He wills" (1 Corinthians 12:11).
Summary
- Given — Judah did not choose these towns. God handed them out, and "placed them as it pleased Him." He still divides each believer's portion the same way.
- Refined — Ziph, "place of refining," makes humbling part of that portion. We need it more than we admit, since pride is what turned an angel into a devil.
- Pressed — Telem, "oppression," puts real hostility inside the inheritance. Even that reaches us from God's hand, and can come sweetened.
- Raised — Bealoth, "on the ascent," comes third in the series. With God there is always a way out, and the way out always leads up.
- Searched — a bare list looks like plain geography. But Scripture dwells on every city, valley and spring on purpose, and the reader who digs finds "the varied spiritual blessings that are ours."