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.
But to the tribe of Levi Moses gave no inheritance: Jehovah the God of Israel is their inheritance, as he said to them.
And Jehovah said to Aaron, In their land thou shalt have no inheritance, neither shalt thou have any portion among them: I am thy portion and thine inheritance among the children of Israel.
And Moses said unto them, If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben pass with you over the Jordan, every one armed for battle, before Jehovah, and the land be subdued before you, then ye shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession; but if they do not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan. And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying, As Jehovah has said to thy servants, so will we do. We will pass over armed before Jehovah into the land of Canaan, and the possession of our inheritance on this side the Jordan shall be ours. And Moses gave to them, to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and to half the tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og the king of Bashan, the land, according to its cities and territories, the cities of the land round about. And the children of Gad built Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer, and Atroth-Shophan, and Jaazer, and Jogbebah, and Beth-Nimrah, and Beth-haran, strong cities, and sheepfolds. -- And the children of Reuben built Heshbon, and Elaleh, and Kirjathaim, and Nebo, and Baal-meon (of which the names were changed), and Sibmah; and they gave other names to the cities that they built. -- And the children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead, and took it, and they dispossessed the Amorites that were therein. And Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh; and he dwelt therein. And Jair the son of Manasseh went and took their hamlets, and called them Havoth-Jair.
And this land we took in possession at that time. From Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, and the half of mount Gilead, and its cities, I gave to the Reubenites and to the Gadites; and the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to half the tribe of Manasseh. (The whole region of Argob, even all Bashan, is called a land of giants. Jair the son of Manasseh took the whole region of Argob as far as the border of the Geshurites and Maachathites, and called Bashan after his own name, Havoth-Jair, to this day.) And I gave Gilead to Machir. And to the Reubenites and to the Gadites I gave from Gilead even to the river Arnon, the middle of the ravine and its border, as far as the river Jabbok, the border of the children of Ammon; the plain also, and the Jordan, and [its] border from Chinnereth as far as the sea of the plain, the salt sea, under the slopes of Pisgah eastward.
and they took possession of his land, and the land of Og the king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, who were on this side the Jordan, toward the sun-rising; from Aroer, which is on the bank of the river Arnon, as far as mount Sion, which is Hermon,
Therefore Levi has no portion nor inheritance with his brethren; Jehovah is his inheritance, according as Jehovah thy God told him.
The priests, the Levites, [and] the whole tribe of Levi, shall have no portion nor inheritance with Israel: Jehovah's offerings by fire, and his inheritance shall they eat, but they shall have no inheritance among their brethren: Jehovah, he is their inheritance, as he hath said unto them.
with him the Reubenites and the Gadites have received their inheritance, which Moses gave them, beyond the Jordan eastward, as Moses the servant of Jehovah gave them: from Aroer, which is on the bank of the river Arnon, and the city that is in the midst of the ravine, and all the plateau of Medeba to Dibon, and all the cities of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who reigned at Heshbon, to the border of the children of Ammon; and Gilead, and the border of the Geshurites and Maachathites, and all mount Hermon, and the whole of Bashan to Salcah; all the kingdom of Og in Bashan, who reigned at Ashtaroth and at Edrei, who remained of the residue of the giants; and Moses smote them and dispossessed them. But the children of Israel did not dispossess the Geshurites nor the Maachathites; but the Geshurites and the Maachathites dwell among the Israelites to this day. Only to the tribe of Levi he gave no inheritance: the offerings by fire of Jehovah the God of Israel are their inheritance, as he said to them. And Moses gave [a portion] to the tribe of the children of Reuben according to their families. And their territory was from Aroer, which is on the bank of the river Arnon, and the city that is in the midst of the ravine, and all the plateau by Medeba; Heshbon, and all her cities that are in the plateau, Dibon, and Bamoth-Baal, and Beth-Baal-meon, And Jahzah, and Kedemoth, and Mephaath, and Kirjathaim, and Sibmah, and Zereth-shahar in the mountain of the vale, and Beth-Peor, and the slopes of Pisgah, and Beth-jeshimoth; all the cities of the plateau, and the whole kingdom of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who reigned at Heshbon, whom Moses smote, him and the princes of Midian, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, the chiefs of Sihon dwelling in the land. And Balaam the son of Beor, the diviner, did the children of Israel kill with the sword among them that were slain by them. And the border of the children of Reuben was the Jordan, and [its] border. This is the inheritance of the children of Reuben according to their families, the cities and their hamlets. And Moses gave [a portion] to the tribe of Gad, to the children of Gad according to their families. And their territory was Jaazer, and all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the children of Ammon, to Aroer which is before Rabbah; and from Heshbon to Ramath-Mizpeh, and Betonim; and from Mahanaim to the border of Debir; and in the valley, Beth-haram, and Beth-Nimrah, and Succoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of Sihon the king of Heshbon, the Jordan and [its] border, as far as the edge of the sea of Chinnereth beyond the Jordan eastward. This is the inheritance of the children of Gad according to their families, the cities and their hamlets. And Moses gave [a portion] to half the tribe of Manasseh; and for half the tribe of the children of Manasseh according to their families: their territory was from Mahanaim, all Bashan, the whole kingdom of Og the king of Bashan, and all the villages of Jair, which are in Bashan, sixty cities. And half Gilead, and Ashtaroth, and Edrei, the cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan, [belonged] to the children of Machir the son of Manasseh, to the one half of the children of Machir according to their families.
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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).