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The Histories · Old Testament

Joshua 18

The survey at Shiloh and Benjamin's inheritance

General context

The congregation assembles at Shiloh and sets up the tabernacle there. Seven tribes still lack their inheritance, and Joshua challenges their delay. He calls for three men from each tribe to travel through the land and describe it for division into seven parts. Judah and Joseph retain their portions; Levi's priesthood and the eastern grants to Gad, Reuben and half Manasseh are recalled. The men return to Shiloh with a written description organized by cities, and Joshua casts lots before the Lord. Benjamin's lot lies between Judah and Joseph. Its boundaries run from the Jordan past Jericho and Bethel toward the Beth-horon area, then around its western and southern limits back toward the Salt Sea and Jordan. The chapter lists Benjamin's towns in groups of twelve and fourteen, with Jerusalem among the named places.

Cited passages: Joshua 18:1, Joshua 18:2, Joshua 18:3, Joshua 18:4, Joshua 18:5, Joshua 18:6, Joshua 18:7, Joshua 18:8, Joshua 18:9, Joshua 18:10, Joshua 18:11, Joshua 18:12, Joshua 18:13, Joshua 18:14, Joshua 18:15, Joshua 18:16, Joshua 18:17, Joshua 18:18, Joshua 18:19, Joshua 18:20, Joshua 18:21, Joshua 18:22, Joshua 18:23, Joshua 18:24, Joshua 18:25, Joshua 18:26, Joshua 18:27, Joshua 18:28

Joshua 18 (KJV)

1And 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.

2And there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes, which had not yet received their inheritance.

3And 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?

4Give 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.

5And 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.

6Ye 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.

7But 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.

8And 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.

9And 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.

10And 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.

11And 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.

12And 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 Beth-aven.

13And the border went over from thence toward Luz, to the side of Luz, which is Beth-el, southward; and the border descended to Ataroth-adar, near the hill that lieth on the south side of the nether Beth-horon.

14And the border was drawn thence, and compassed the corner of the sea southward, from the hill that lieth before Beth-horon southward; and the goings out thereof were at Kirjath-baal, which is Kirjath-jearim, a city of the children of Judah: this was the west quarter.

15And the south quarter was from the end of Kirjath-jearim, and the border went out on the west, and went out to the well of waters of Nephtoah:

16And 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 En-rogel,

17And was drawn from the north, and went forth to En-shemesh, 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,

18And passed along toward the side over against Arabah northward, and went down unto Arabah:

19And the border passed along to the side of Beth-hoglah 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.

20And 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.

21Now the cities of the tribe of the children of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho, and Beth-hoglah, and the valley of Keziz,

22And Beth-arabah, and Zemaraim, and Beth-el,

23And Avim, and Parah, and Ophrah,

24And Chephar-haammonai, and Ophni, and Gaba; twelve cities with their villages:

25Gibeon, and Ramah, and Beeroth,

26And Mizpeh, and Chephirah, and Mozah,

27And Rekem, and Irpeel, and Taralah,

28And 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.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

Shiloh is both the assembly's location and the setting for the tabernacle and allotment. The land record is described as a book arranged by cities in seven parts; no surveying instrument, scale or surviving map is supplied. Joshua requests three men from each tribe without giving a total number in this chapter. The western boundary wording in verse 14 is corner of the sea in KJV, but west quarter or west side in ASV and BBE; it should not become a claim that Benjamin has a Mediterranean coast. Jerusalem's inclusion in the city list describes allotment. Joshua 15:63 has already stated that its Jebusite inhabitants remain, so listing the city does not itself establish their removal.

Cited passages: Joshua 18:1, Joshua 18:2, Joshua 18:3, Joshua 18:4, Joshua 18:5, Joshua 18:6, Joshua 18:7, Joshua 18:8, Joshua 18:9, Joshua 18:10, Joshua 18:11, Joshua 18:12, Joshua 18:13, Joshua 18:14, Joshua 18:15, Joshua 18:16, Joshua 18:17, Joshua 18:18, Joshua 18:19, Joshua 18:20, Joshua 18:24, Joshua 18:25, Joshua 18:26, Joshua 18:27, Joshua 18:28, Joshua 15:63

Literary context

The opening places a subdued land beside seven tribes still waiting for inheritance. Joshua's question turns that delay into a task: walk, describe, return. The completed written account then becomes the basis for division by lot before the Lord. A general process narrows into Benjamin's boundary and city list, moving from the shared assembly to a particular tribe's families.

Cited passages: Joshua 18:1, Joshua 18:2, Joshua 18:3, Joshua 18:4, Joshua 18:5, Joshua 18:6, Joshua 18:7, Joshua 18:8, Joshua 18:9, Joshua 18:10, Joshua 18:11, Joshua 18:12, Joshua 18:13, Joshua 18:14, Joshua 18:15, Joshua 18:16, Joshua 18:17, Joshua 18:18, Joshua 18:19, Joshua 18:20, Joshua 18:21, Joshua 18:22, Joshua 18:23, Joshua 18:24, Joshua 18:25, Joshua 18:26, Joshua 18:27, Joshua 18:28

Key moments

  1. The tabernacle at Shiloh (Joshua 18:1). The whole congregation gathers and sets up the tabernacle.
  2. Three men from each tribe (Joshua 18:4). Joshua calls for people to travel through the land and describe it.
  3. A record organized by cities (Joshua 18:9). The men return with the land described in seven parts in a book.
  4. Benjamin between Judah and Joseph (Joshua 18:11). Benjamin's lot is located between the two previously described inheritances.

For reflection

The men must walk through the land and return with a description before its division proceeds. What needs to be observed and recorded before a shared decision can be made responsibly?

People in this chapter

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