1 And all the meeting of the children of Israel came together at Shiloh and put up the Tent of meeting there: and the land was crushed before them.
These are the heritages which Eleazar the priest and Joshua, the son of Nun, and the heads of families of the tribes of the children of Israel gave out at Shiloh, by the decision of the Lord, at the door of the Tent of meeting. So the distribution of the land was complete.
And said to them in Shiloh in the land of Canaan, The Lord gave orders by Moses that we were to have towns for living in, with their grass-lands for our cattle.
Then I will make this house like Shiloh, and will make this town a curse to all the nations of the earth.
So Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh went back, parting from the children of Israel at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead, to the land of their heritage which had been given to them by the Lord's order to Moses.
Then when she had done so, she took him with her, with a three-year old ox and an ephah of meal and a skin full of wine, and took him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh: now the child was still very young.
But go now to my place which was in Shiloh, where I put my name at first, and see what I did to it because of the evil-doing of my people Israel. And now, because you have done all these works, says the Lord, and I sent my word to you, getting up early and sending, but you did not give ear; and my voice came to you, but you gave no answer: For this reason I will do to the house which is named by my name, and in which you have put your faith, and to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh.
And when the people came back to their tents, the responsible men of Israel said, Why has the Lord let the Philistines overcome us today? Let us get the ark of the Lord's agreement here from Shiloh, so that it may be with us and give us salvation from the hands of those who are against us. So the people sent to Shiloh and got the ark of the agreement of the Lord of armies whose resting-place is between the winged ones; and Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were there with the ark of God's agreement.
So Solomon let Abiathar be priest no longer, so that he might make the word of the Lord come true which he said about the sons of Eli in Shiloh.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Joshua 18
Commentary on Joshua 18 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 18
In this chapter we have,
Jos 18:1
In the midst of the story of the dividing of the land comes in this account of the setting up of the tabernacle, which had hitherto continued in its old place in the centre of their camp; but now that three of the four squadrons that used to surround it in the wilderness were broken and diminished, those of Judah, Ephraim, and Reuben, by the removal of those tribes to their respective possessions, and that of Dan only remained entire, it was time to think of removing the tabernacle itself into a city. Many a time the priests and Levites had taken it down, carried it, and set it up again in the wilderness, according to the directions given them (Num. 4:5, etc.); but now they must do it for good and all, not one of the stakes thereof must any more be removed, nor any of the cords thereof broken, Isa. 33:20. Observe,
Jos 18:2-10
Here,
Jos 18:11-28
We have here the lot of the tribe of Benjamin, which Providence cast next to Joseph on the one hand, because Benjamin was own and only brother to Joseph, and was little Benjamin (Ps. 68:27), that needed the protection of great Joseph, and yet had a better protector, for the Lord shall cover him all the day long, Deu. 33:12. And it was next to Judah on the other hand, that this tribe might hereafter unite with Judah in an adherence to the throne of David and the temple at Jerusalem. Here we have,