Beth-hogla

Beth-hogla — written Beth-hoglah in the UPDV — sits on the boundary between Judah and Benjamin, near the north end of the Dead Sea. The town shows up three times in Joshua: twice as a border-marker on the tribal frontier, and once as a Benjaminite city in the allotment.

On the Border of Judah

The Judahite boundary description traces the line northward past Beth-hoglah and the marker stone of Bohan. "And the border went up to Beth-hoglah, and passed along by the north of Beth-arabah; and the border went up to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben" (Josh 15:6). The town anchors a fixed point on Judah's northern edge.

On the Border of Benjamin

The Benjaminite boundary description, traveling the line in the other direction, names the same town as a southern landmark. "And the border passed along to the side of Beth-hoglah northward; and the goings out of the border were at the north bay of the Salt Sea, at the south end of the Jordan: this was the south border" (Josh 18:19). Beth-hoglah is the same point seen from Benjamin's side: where Judah's northern boundary touches Benjamin's southern one.

A City of Benjamin

In the allotment list of Benjaminite cities, the town is reckoned among Benjamin's holdings rather than Judah's. "Now the cities of the tribe of the sons of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho, and Beth-hoglah, and Emek-keziz" (Josh 18:21). The tribe's frontier town becomes one of its named possessions.