What Does Joshua 10:41 Mean?

(41) **From Kadesh-barnea** (on the south-east) **even unto Gaza** (on the west, now Ghazzeh in Philistia), **and all the country of Goshen** (from the south to Gibeon in a northerly direction). **And all the country of Goshen.**—This expression creates some difficulty. Goshen has been thought to be the town of that name mentioned in Joshua 15:51; but it is inconceivable that a single place of no importance in the mountains of Judah should give the name to an extensive district, which is manifestly intended here. If we knew the exact northern boundary of the land of Goshen assigned for a distinct residence to Joseph’s brethren in Egypt, it might help to clear up the meaning of this passage. That Goshen, at its Egyptian end, bordered upon the Delta is clear. But how far did Goshen extend towards the north? In 1Chronicles 7:21-22, we find that Ephraim’s children *in his lifetime *made an incursion into Canaan as far as Gath. But this was during the time that Israel dwelt in the land of Goshen. Did they suppose that they were in the land of Goshen when they plundered the men of Gath? If Goshen (frontier) could be the general name for the *border-land *between Egypt and Palestine, we can understand that the borders might vary with the power of the Egyptian monarchy for the time being. The country of Goshen, *unto Gibeon, *seems to be described from south to north; Gibeon being intended as the northern boundary.