Joshua 18

The Territories of the Remaining Tribes

1 # Josh 19.51; Judg 18.31; Jer 7.12 Then the whole congregation of the Israelites assembled at Shiloh and set up the tent of meeting there. The land lay subdued before them.

2There remained among the Israelites seven tribes whose inheritance had not yet been apportioned. 3#Judg 18.9So Joshua said to the Israelites, “How long will you be slack about going in and taking possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your ancestors, has given you? 4Provide three men from each tribe, and I will send them out that they may begin to go throughout the land, writing a description of it with a view to their inheritances. Then come back to me. 5#Josh 15.1; 16.1, 4They shall divide it into seven portions, Judah continuing in its territory on the south and the house of Joseph in their territory on the north. 6You shall write a description of the land in seven divisions and bring the description here to me, and I will cast lots for you here before the LORD our God. 7#Josh 13.8, 33The Levites have no portion among you, for the priesthood of the LORD is their heritage, and Gad and Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan eastward, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave them.”

8 # v 1 ; Judg 18.31So the men started on their way, and Joshua charged those who went to write the description of the land, saying, “Go throughout the land and write a description of it and come back to me, and I will cast lots for you here before the LORD in Shiloh.” 9So the men went and traversed the land and set down in a book a description of it by towns in seven divisions; then they came back to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh, 10#Josh 19.51and Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the LORD, and there Joshua apportioned the land to the Israelites, to each a portion.

The Territory of Benjamin

11The lot of the tribe of Benjamin according to its families came up, and the territory allotted to it fell between the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Joseph. 12On the north side their boundary began at the Jordan; then the boundary goes up to the slope of Jericho on the north, then up through the hill country westward; and it ends at the wilderness of Beth-aven. 13#Gn 28.19; Josh 16.3From there the boundary passes along southward in the direction of Luz, to the slope of Luz (that is, Bethel), then the boundary goes down to Ataroth-addar, on the mountain that lies south of Lower Beth-horon. 14#Josh 15.9Then the boundary goes in another direction, turning on the western side southward from the mountain that lies to the south, opposite Beth-horon, and it ends at Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a town belonging to the tribe of Judah. This forms the western side. 15#Josh 15.5–9The southern side begins at the outskirts of Kiriath-jearim on the west,#18.15 Meaning of Heb uncertain and the boundary comes out at the spring of the Waters of Nephtoah; 16#2 Kings 23.10then the boundary goes down to the border of the mountain that overlooks the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is at the north end of the valley of Rephaim; and it then goes down the valley of Hinnom, south of the slope of the Jebusites, and downward to En-rogel; 17then it bends in a northerly direction going on to En-shemesh, and from there goes to Geliloth, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim; then it goes down to the Stone of Bohan, Reuben’s son; 18and passing on to the north of the slope of Beth-arabah#18.18 Gk: Heb to the slope over against the Arabah it goes down to the Arabah; 19then the boundary passes on to the north of the slope of Beth-hoglah; and the boundary ends at the northern bay of the Dead Sea,#18.19 Heb Salt Sea at the south end of the Jordan: this is the southern border. 20#Josh 21.4, 17The Jordan forms its boundary on the eastern side. This is the inheritance of the tribe of Benjamin, according to its families, boundary by boundary all around.

21Now the towns of the tribe of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz, 22Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, 23Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, 24Chephar-ammoni, Ophni, and Geba—twelve towns with their villages; 25Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, 26Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah, 27Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28#Josh 15.8Zela, Haeleph, Jebus#18.28 Gk Syr Vg: Heb the Jebusite (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah,#18.28 Heb Gibeath and Kiriath-jearim#18.28 Gk: Heb Kiriath—fourteen towns with their villages. This is the inheritance of the tribe of Benjamin according to its families.