CHAPTER 18
1The whole community of the Israelites assembled at Shiloh, where they set up the tent of meeting; and the land was subdued before them.a
The Seven Remaining Portions. 2There remained seven tribes among the Israelites that had not yet received their heritage. 3Joshua therefore said to the Israelites, “How much longer will you put off taking steps to possess the land which the LORD, the God of your ancestors, has given you? 4Choose three representatives from each of your tribes; I will send them to go throughout the land and describe it for purposes of acquiring their heritage. When they return to me 5you shall divide it into seven parts. Judah is to retain its territory in the south,b and the house of Joseph its territory in the north. 6You shall bring to me here the description of the land in seven sections. I will then cast lots for you here before the LORD, our God. 7For the Levites have no share among you,c because the priesthood of the LORD is their heritage; while Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have already received the heritage east of the Jordan which Moses, the servant of the LORD, gave them.”
8When those who were to describe the land were ready for their journey, Joshua commanded them, “Go throughout the land and describe it; return to me and I will cast lots for you here before the LORD in Shiloh.” 9So they went through the land, described its cities in writing in seven sections, and returned to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh. 10Joshua then cast lots for them before the LORD in Shiloh, and divided up the land for the Israelites into their separate shares.
Benjamin. 11One lot fell to the tribe of Benjaminites by their clans. The territory allotted them lay between the descendants of Judah and those of Joseph. 12d Their northern boundary* began at the Jordan and went over the northern flank of Jericho, up westward into the mountains, until it reached the wilderness of Beth-aven. 13From there it crossed over to the southern flank of Luz (that is, Bethel). Then it ran down to Ataroth-addar, on the mountaintop south of Lower Beth-horon.e 14For the western border, the boundary line swung south from the mountaintop opposite Beth-horon until it reached Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim; this city belonged to the Judahites). This was the western boundary. 15The southern boundary began at the limits of Kiriath-jearim and projected to the spring at Nephtoah. 16f It went down to the edge of the mountain on the north of the Valley of Rephaim, where it faces the Valley of Ben-hinnom; and continuing down the Valley of Hinnom along the southern flank of the Jebusites, reached En-rogel. 17Inclining to the north, it extended to En-shemesh, and thence to Geliloth, opposite the pass of Adummim. Then it dropped to Eben-Bohan-ben-Reuben, 18across the northern flank of the Arabah overlook, down into the Arabah. 19From there the boundary continued across the northern flank of Beth-hoglah and extended northward to the tongue of the Salt Sea, toward the southern end of the Jordan. This was the southern boundary. 20The Jordan bounded it on the east. This was how the heritage of the Benjaminites by their clans was bounded on all sides.
21Now the cities belonging to the tribe of the Benjaminites by their clans were: Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz, 22Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, 23Avvim, Parah, Ophra, 24Chephar-ammoni, Ophni, and Geba; twelve cities and their villages. 25Also Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, 26Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah, 27Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28Zela, Haeleph, the Jebusite city (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath; fourteen cities and their villages. This was the heritage of the clans of Benjaminites.
* [18:12–20] Benjamin’s northern boundary (vv. 12–13) corresponded to part of the southern boundary of Ephraim (16:1–2). Their western border (v. 14) was the eastern border of Dan (cf. 19:40–47). Their southern boundary (vv. 15–19) corresponded to part of the northern boundary of Judah (15:5–9).
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