1 And the whole assembly of the children of Israel gathered together at Shiloh, and set up the tent of meeting there; and the land was subdued before them.
2 And there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes whose inheritance had not been distributed to them.
3 And Joshua said to the children of Israel, How long will ye shew yourselves slack to go to take possession of the land which Jehovah the God of your fathers hath given you?
4 Provide you three men for a tribe; that I may send them, and they shall rise and go through the land, and describe it according to the proportion of their inheritance, and they shall come to me.
5 And they shall divide it into seven portions. Judah shall remain in their border on the south, and the house of Joseph shall remain in their border on the north;
6 and *ye* shall describe the land into seven portions, and bring [the description] hither to me, and I will cast lots for you here before Jehovah our God.
7 But the Levites have no portion among you, for the priesthood of Jehovah is their inheritance. And Gad, and Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan on the east, which Moses the servant of Jehovah 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, and I will cast lots for you here before Jehovah in Shiloh.
9 And the men went and passed through the land, and described it by cities into seven portions, in a book, and they came to Joshua, to the camp at Shiloh.
10 And Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before Jehovah. And there Joshua divided the land to the children of Israel according to their divisions.
11 And the lot of the tribe of the children of Benjamin came up according to their families. And the territory 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 the Jordan; and the border went up to the side of Jericho on the north, and went up to the mountain westward; and ended at the wilderness of Beth-Aven;
13 and the border passed on from thence toward Luz, to the south side of Luz, which is Bethel: and the border went down to Ataroth-Addar, near the hill that is on the south of the lower Beth-horon.
14 -- And the border reached along and turned on the west side, southward from the hill that is before Beth-horon southward; and ended at Kirjath-Baal, which is Kirjath-jearim, a city of the children of Judah: this is the west side.
15 -- And the south side was from the extreme end of Kirjath-jearim, and the border went out on the west, and went out to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah.
16 And the border went down to the end of the mountain that is before the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is in the valley of Rephaim on the north, and went down the valley of Hinnom, to the side of the Jebusite on the south, and went down to En-rogel;
17 and it reached along on the north, and went forth to En-shemesh, and went forth towards Geliloth, which is opposite to the ascent of Adummim, and went down to the stone of Bohan, the son of Reuben,
18 and passed along towards the side opposite to Arabah northwards, and went down to Arabah;
19 and the border passed on to the side of Beth-hoglah on the north, and the border ended at the tongue of the salt sea northward, at the south end of the Jordan: this is the southern border.
20 -- And the Jordan borders it on the east side. -- This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin, according to its borders round about, according to their families.
21 And the cities of the tribe of the children of Benjamin according to their families were: Jericho, and Beth-hoglah, and Emek-Keziz,
22 and Beth-Arabah, and Zemaraim, and Bethel,
23 and Avvim, and Parah, and Ophrah,
24 and Chephar-haammonai, and Ophni, and Geba: twelve cities and their hamlets;
25 Gibeon, and Ramah, and Beeroth,
26 and Mizpeh, and Chephirah, and Mozah,
27 and Rekem, and Jirpeel, and Tharalah,
28 and Zelah, Eleph, and Jebusi, that is, Jerusalem, Gibeah, Kirjath: fourteen cities and their hamlets. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their families.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Joshua 18
Commentary on Joshua 18 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 18
Jos 18:1. The Tabernacle Set Up at Shiloh.
1. the whole congregation … assembled together at Shiloh—The main body of the Israelites had been diminished by the separation of the three tribes, Judah, Ephraim, and Manasseh into their respective allotments; and the country having been in a great measure subdued, the camp was removed to Shiloh (now Seilun). It was twenty or twenty-five miles north of Jerusalem, twelve north of Beth-el, and ten south of Shechem, and embosomed in a rugged and romantic glen. This sequestered spot in the heart of the country might have been recommended by the dictates of convenience. There the allotment of the territory could be most conveniently made, north, south, east, and west, to the different tribes. But "the tabernacle of the congregation was also set up there," and its removal therefore must have been made or sanctioned by divine intimation (De 12:11). It remained in Shiloh for more than three hundred years (1Sa 4:1-11).
Jos 18:2-9. The Remainder of the Land Described.
2. there remained … seven tribes, which had not yet received their inheritance—The selection of Shiloh for the seat of worship, together with the consequent removal of the camp thither, had necessarily interrupted the casting of lots, which was commenced by fixing localities for the tribes of Judah and Joseph. Various causes led to a long delay in resuming it. The satisfaction of the people with their change to so pleasant and fertile a district, their preference of a nomad life, a love of ease, and reluctance to renew the war, seem to have made them indifferent to the possession of a settled inheritance. But Joshua was too much alive to the duty laid on him by the Lord to let matters continue in that state; and accordingly, since a general conquest of the land had been made, he resolved to proceed immediately with the lot, believing that when each tribe should receive its inheritance, a new motive would arise to lead them to exert themselves in securing the full possession.
3. How long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the Lord God of your fathers hath given you—This reproof conveys an impression that the seven tribes were dilatory to a criminal extent.
4-9. Give out from among you three men for each tribe—Though the lot determined the part of the country where each tribe was to be located, it could not determine the extent of territory which might be required; and the dissatisfaction of the children of Joseph with the alleged smallness of their possession gave reason to fear that complaints might arise from other quarters, unless precautions were taken to make a proper distribution of the land. For this purpose a commission was given to twenty-one persons—three chosen from each of the seven tribes which had not yet received their inheritance, to make an accurate survey of the country.
9. The men went and passed through the land, and described it by cities into seven parts in a book—dividing the land according to its value, and the worth of the cities which it contained, into seven equal portions. This was no light task to undertake. It required learning and intelligence which they or their instructors had, in all probability, brought with them out of Egypt. Accordingly, Josephus says that the survey was performed by men expert in geometry. And, in fact, the circumstantial account which is given of the boundaries of each tribe and its situation, well proves it to have been the work of no mean or incompetent hands.
Jos 18:10. Divided by Lot.
10. Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord—before the tabernacle, where the divine presence was manifested, and which associated with the lot the idea of divine sanction.
11. the lot of … Benjamin came up—It has been supposed that there were two urns or vessels, from which the lots were drawn: one containing the names of the tribes, the other containing those of the seven portions; and that the two were drawn out simultaneously.
the coast of their lot came forth between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph—Thus the prophecy of Moses respecting the inheritance of Benjamin was remarkably accomplished. (See on De 33:12).