Goshen
Goshen is a region mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Egypt in modern-day Egypt. Known today as Dahriya. It appears across 2 verses in Scripture.
Biblical History
Goshen in this context refers to a region within Judah, distinct from the more famous Egyptian Goshen. Joshua 10:41 mentions Goshen as one of the territories Joshua conquered during the southern campaign, and Joshua 11:16 summarizes his control over "all the land of Goshen." Joshua 15:51 lists Goshen among the cities in the hill country of Judah. This Judean Goshen appears to have been a district name covering part of the Negev or southern hill country rather than a single city. The name's appearance in the conquest narratives places it within the broader account of Israel's territorial acquisition under Joshua's leadership following the death of Moses. The region south of Hebron and east of the Negev highlands would have been part of the territory designated for the tribe of Judah, consistent with this Goshen's placement in Joshua's allotment lists. Unlike the Egyptian Goshen of the patriarchal and Exodus narratives, this Judean Goshen plays no further prominent role in the biblical record beyond its listing in the conquest and tribal allotment traditions.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
The Judean Goshen associated here with the Dahriya region lies in the southern Hebron hills. Dahriya, a modern Palestinian town south of Hebron, preserves ancient settlement remains consistent with Iron Age occupation of the Judean hill country. Archaeological surveys of the southern Judean hills have documented settlement patterns from the Bronze Age through the Ottoman period, with evidence of Iron Age II agricultural villages typical of Judah's rural landscape. The region's terrain of limestone hills with shallow soil and ancient terracing reflects the subsistence agriculture that characterized this part of biblical Judah. No excavation has specifically targeted the Judean Goshen identification at Dahriya, but the area's archaeological profile fits the general picture of settled Judean territory in the monarchic period.
Verse Appearances (2)
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- OpenBible.info (n.d.) Bible Geocoding. Available at: https://www.openbible.info/geo/. [CC BY 4.0]
- Bagnall, R. et al. (eds.) (n.d.) Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places. Available at: https://pleiades.stoa.org. [CC BY 3.0]
- Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
- Lawrence, D. et al. (2025) Villages to Empires: a settlement dataset for the Southern Levant. doi:10.5281/zenodo.15111732. [CC BY 4.0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]