The In-Dept Study of the Bible
Joshua 18
1 The whole congregation ofthe children
of Israel assembled themselves together
at Shiloh, and set up the Tent of Meeting
there. The land was subdued before them.
2 Seven tribes remained among the children of Israel, which had not yet divided
their inheritance.
3 Joshua said to the children of Israel,
“How long will you neglect to go in to possess the land, which Yahweh, the God of
your fathers, has given you?
4 Appoint for yourselves three men from
each tribe. I will send them, and they shall
arise, walk through the land, and describe
it according to their inheritance; then they
shall come to me.
5 They shall divide it into seven portions.
Judah shall live in his borders on the south,
and the house of Joseph shall live in their
borders on the north.
6 You shall survey the land into seven
parts, and bring the description here to
me; and I will cast lots for you here before
Yahweh our God.
7 However, the Levites have no portion
among you; for the priesthood of Yahweh
is their inheritance. Gad, Reuben, and
the half-tribe of Manasseh have received
their inheritance east of the Jordan, which
Moses the servant of Yahweh gave them.”
8 The men arose and went. Joshua commanded those who went to survey the
land, saying, “Go walk through the land,
survey it, and come again to me. I will cast
lots for you here before Yahweh in Shiloh.”
9 The men went and passed through the
land, and surveyed it by cities into seven
portions in a book. They came to Joshua to
the camp at Shiloh.
10 Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh
before Yahweh. There Joshua divided the
land to the children of Israel according to
their divisions.
11 The lot of the tribe of the children
of Benjamin came up according to their
families. The border of their lot went out
betweenthe childrenofJudahand the children of Joseph.
12 Their border on the north quarter was
from the Jordan. The border went up to
the side of Jericho on the north, and went
up through the hill country westward. It
ended at the wilderness of Beth Aven.
13 The border passed along from there to
Luz, to the side of Luz (also called Bethel),
southward. The border went down to
Ataroth Addar, by the mountain that lies
on the south of Beth Horon the lower.
14 The border extended, and turned
around on the west quarter southward,
from the mountain that lies before Beth
Horon southward; and ended at Kiriath
Baal (also called Kiriath Jearim), a city of
the children of Judah. This was the west
quarter.
15 The south quarter was from the farthest part of Kiriath Jearim. The border
went out westward, and went out to the
spring of the waters of Nephtoah.
16 The border went down to the farthest
part of the mountain that lies before the
valley of the son of Hinnom, which is in
the valley of Rephaim northward. It went
down to the valley of Hinnom, to the side
of the Jebusite southward, and went down
to En Rogel.
17 It extended northward, went out at En
Shemesh, and went out to Geliloth, which
is opposite the ascent of Adummim. It
went down to the stone of Bohan the son
of Reuben.
18 It passed along to the side opposite the
Arabah northward, and went down to the
Arabah.
19 The border passed along to the side
of Beth Hoglah northward; and the border
endedatthenorthbay ofthe Salt Sea, atthe
south end ofthe Jordan. This was the south
border.
20 The Jordan was its border on the
east quarter. This was the inheritance of
the children of Benjamin, by the borders
around it, according to their families.
21 Now the cities of the tribe of the
children of Benjamin according to their
families were Jericho, Beth Hoglah, Emek
Keziz,
22 Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel,
23 Avvim, Parah, Ophrah,
24 Chephar Ammoni, Ophni, and Geba;
twelve cities with their villages.
25 Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth,
26 Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah,
27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah,
28 Zelah, Eleph, the Jebusite (also called
Jerusalem), Gibeath, and Kiriath; fourteen
cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the children of Benjamin accord- ing to their families.