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Joshua 18

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The Tabernacle at Shiloh and the Survey of the Land 1–10

1
And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle of the congregation there. And the land was subdued before them. ​
2
And there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes, which had not yet received their inheritance. ​
3
And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, How long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the LORD God of your fathers hath given you? ​
4
Give out from among you three men for each tribe: and I will send them, and they shall rise, and go through the land, and describe it according to the inheritance of them; and they shall come again to me. ​
5
And they shall divide it into seven parts: Judah shall abide in their coast on the south, and the house of Joseph shall abide in their coasts on the north. ​
6
Ye shall therefore describe the land into seven parts, and bring the description hither to me, that I may cast lots for you here before the LORD our God. ​
7
But the Levites have no part among you; for the priesthood of the LORD is their inheritance: and Gad, and Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh, have received their inheritance beyond Jordan on the east, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave them. ​
8
And the men arose, and went away: and Joshua charged them that went to describe the land, saying, Go and walk through the land, and describe it, and come again to me, that I may here cast lots for you before the LORD in Shiloh.
9
And the men went and passed through the land, and described it by cities into seven parts in a book, and came again to Joshua to the host at Shiloh. ​
10
And Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the LORD: and there Joshua divided the land unto the children of Israel according to their divisions. ​

The Inheritance of Benjamin 11–20

11
And the lot of the tribe of the children of Benjamin came up according to their families: and the coast of their lot came forth between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph. ​
12
And their border on the north side was from Jordan; and the border went up to the side of Jericho on the north side, and went up through the mountains westward; and the goings out thereof were at the wilderness of Bethaven.
13
And the border went over from thence toward Luz, to the side of Luz, which is Bethel, southward; and the border descended to Atarothadar, near the hill that lieth on the south side of the nether Bethhoron.
14
And the border was drawn thence, and compassed the corner of the sea southward, from the hill that lieth before Bethhoron southward; and the goings out thereof were at Kirjathbaal, which is Kirjathjearim, a city of the children of Judah: this was the west quarter.
15
And the south quarter was from the end of Kirjathjearim, and the border went out on the west, and went out to the well of waters of Nephtoah:
16
And the border came down to the end of the mountain that lieth before the valley of the son of Hinnom, and which is in the valley of the giants on the north, and descended to the valley of Hinnom, to the side of Jebusi on the south, and descended to Enrogel, ​
17
And was drawn from the north, and went forth to Enshemesh, and went forth toward Geliloth, which is over against the going up of Adummim, and descended to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben,
18
And passed along toward the side over against Arabah northward, and went down unto Arabah:
19
And the border passed along to the side of Bethhoglah northward: and the outgoings of the border were at the north bay of the salt sea at the south end of Jordan: this was the south coast.
20
And Jordan was the border of it on the east side. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin, by the coasts thereof round about, according to their families.

Cities of Benjamin 21–28

21
Now the cities of the tribe of the children of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho, and Bethhoglah, and the valley of Keziz,
22
And Betharabah, and Zemaraim, and Bethel, ​
23
And Avim, and Parah, and Ophrah,
24
And Chepharhaammonai, and Ophni, and Gaba; twelve cities with their villages:
25
Gibeon, and Ramah, and Beeroth,
26
And Mizpeh, and Chephirah, and Mozah,
27
And Rekem, and Irpeel, and Taralah,
28
And Zelah, Eleph, and Jebusi, which is Jerusalem, Gibeath, and Kirjath; fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their families. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Joshua 18

Verse 1

set up the tabernacle — Shakan, to settle and stay. The tabernacle remained at Shiloh into Eli’s time (1 Sam 1:3), and the LORD later speaks of ‘my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first’ (Jer 7:12). ‘Subdued’ is kabash, the verb of Gen 1:28 and of the eastern tribes’ pledge, ‘the land be subdued before the LORD’ (Num 32:22).

Verse 2

seven tribes, which had not yet received their inheritance — Judah (ch. 15) and Joseph’s two tribes (chs. 16–17) already held their lots. The seven left are Benjamin (v.11), Simeon, Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali and Dan (ch. 19). ‘Received’ is chalaq, to share out, the root of the ‘parts’ in vv.5–6.

Verse 3

How long are ye slack — Raphah, to let go or grow limp. It is the verb of the LORD’s promise at Joshua’s commissioning, ‘I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee’ (1:5), and of ‘Let not thine hands be slack’ (Zeph 3:16). The land was already ‘subdued’ (v.1); what remained was to go in and ‘possess’ it, which is the verb yarash again.

Verse 4

describe it — Kathab, to write; v.9 shows the result, a record ‘in a book’. These men go through a land already subdued (v.1), unlike the men sent in Num 13:2 to ‘search the land of Canaan’. Their task is to record each part ‘according to the inheritance of them’ and to return to Joshua.

Verse 5

into seven parts — Cheleq, a share or allotment. Judah keeps its lot ‘on the south’ (15:1) and ‘the house of Joseph’ keeps its lots ‘on the north’ (16:1), so the seven parts lie between them. ‘Abide’ is amad, to stand: the two lots already given are not reopened.

Verse 6

cast lots for you here before the LORD our God — Joshua casts the lot only after the survey, so each lot falls on a described part. The law had said ‘the land shall be divided by lot’ (Num 26:55), and the proverb gives the principle: ‘The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD’ (Prov 16:33).

Verse 7

the priesthood of the LORD is their inheritance — ‘Part’ is cheleq, the word for the seven parts of the land. For Levi the LORD had said, ‘I am thy part and thine inheritance’ (Num 18:20), so the tribe’s share is of a different kind (see 13:14, 33). Gad, Reuben and half Manasseh were already settled ‘beyond Jordan on the east’ (13:8).

Verse 9

in a book — Sepher, the word used of ‘the book of the law of Moses’ (8:31). The men described the land ‘by cities’ as well as by parts, which is why the lists that follow in this and the next chapter are of cities with their villages. They came back ‘to the host at Shiloh’ (machaneh, the camp).

Verse 10

cast lots for them in Shiloh before the LORD — The place is the one named in 19:51: the lots were cast ‘in Shiloh before the LORD, at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation’, by Eleazar and Joshua. Paul sums the whole conquest in Acts 13:19: ‘he divided their land to them by lot’.

Verse 11

between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph — Benjamin’s lot is the first of the seven and falls between the two tribes fixed in v.5. Its northern border (vv.12–13) meets Joseph’s southern border (16:1–2) and its southern border (vv.15–19) meets Judah’s (15:5–8), so the tribe lies where the two larger lots join.

Verse 16

the valley of the son of Hinnom — The border runs south of the Jebusite city (15:8), through the ‘valley of the giants’ (rapha, Rephaim). Hinnom was later where children were made to ‘pass through the fire to Molech’ (2 Kgs 23:10). Its Hebrew name, Ge-Hinnom, is the origin of the Greek geenna, the ‘hell’ of Matt 5:22.

Verse 22

Bethel — Beth-el, ‘house of God’, the name Jacob gave the place (Gen 28:19). Benjamin’s northern border ran ‘to the side of Luz, which is Bethel’ (v.13), where Joseph’s southern line passes ‘throughout mount Bethel’ (16:1). Zemaraim is ‘in mount Ephraim’ (2 Chr 13:4). Jeroboam later set one of his two golden calves in Bethel (1 Kgs 12:28–29).

Verse 28

Jebusi, which is Jerusalem — Benjamin’s second group of cities (vv.25–28) comes to fourteen, the first (vv.21–24) to twelve. Jerusalem is listed here though the Benjamites ‘did not drive out the Jebusites’ (Judg 1:21), as Judah had not either (15:63). David took the stronghold (2 Sam 5:7). Zelah held Kish’s tomb (2 Sam 21:14).