Joshua 18
18
Joshua gives out the rest of the land
1After Israel had captured the land, they met at Shiloh and set up the sacred tent.#18.1 sacred tent: Or “meeting tent”. 2There were still seven tribes without any land, 3-7so Joshua told the people:
The Judah tribe has already settled in its land in the south, and the Joseph tribes#18.3-7 Joseph tribes: See the note at 17.14. have settled in their land in the north. The tribes of Gad, Reuben, and East Manasseh already have the land that the LORD's servant Moses gave them east of the River Jordan. And the people of Levi won't get a single large region of the land like the other tribes. Instead, they will serve the LORD as priests.
But the rest of you haven't done a thing to take over any land. The LORD God who was worshipped by your ancestors has given you the land, and now it's time to go ahead and settle there.
Seven tribes still don't have any land. Each of these tribes should choose three men, and I'll send them to explore the remaining land. They will divide it into seven regions, write a description of each region, and bring these descriptions back to me. I will find out#18.3-7 find out: Hebrew “cast lots to find out” (see the note at 14.1-5). from the LORD our God what region each tribe should get.
8Just before the men left camp, Joshua repeated their orders: “Explore the land and write a description of it. Then come back to Shiloh, and I will find out from the LORD how to divide the land.”
9The men left and went across the land, dividing it into seven regions. They wrote down a description of each region, town by town, and returned to Joshua at the camp at Shiloh. 10Joshua found out from the LORD how to divide the land, and he told the tribes what the LORD had decided.
Benjamin's land
11Benjamin was the first tribe chosen to receive land. The region for its clans lay between the Judah tribe on the south and the Joseph tribes#18.11 Joseph tribes: See the note at 17.14. on the north. 12Benjamin's northern border started at the River Jordan and went up the ridge north of Jericho, then on west into the hill country as far as the Beth-Aven Desert. 13-14From there it went to Luz, which is now called Bethel. The border ran along the ridge south of Luz, then went to Ataroth-Orech#18.13,14 Ataroth-Orech: One ancient translation; Hebrew “Ataroth-Addar”. and on as far as the mountain south of Lower Beth-Horon. At that point it turned south and became the western border. It went as far south as Kiriath-Baal, a town in Judah now called Kiriath-Jearim.
15Benjamin's southern border started at the edge of Kiriath-Jearim and went east to the ruins#18.15 the ruins: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. and on to Nephtoah Spring. 16From there it went to the bottom of the hill at the northern end of Rephaim Valley. The other side of this hill faces Hinnom Valley, which is on the land that slopes south from Jerusalem.#18.16 Jerusalem: Hebrew “the Jebusite town”. The border went down through Hinnom Valley until it reached Enrogel.
17At Enrogel the border curved north and went to Enshemesh and on east to Geliloth,#18.17 Geliloth: Probably another name for Gilgal. which is across the valley from Adummim Pass. Then it went down to the Monument of Bohan,#18.17 Monument of Bohan: See the note at 15.6. who belonged to the Reuben tribe. 18The border ran along the hillside north of Beth-Arabah,#18.18 hillside north of Beth-Arabah: One ancient translation (see also the border description in 15.6); Hebrew “the northern hillside overlooking the Jordan valley.” then down into the Jordan valley. 19Inside the valley it went south as far as the northern hillside of Beth-Hoglah. The last section of the border went from there to the northern end of the Dead Sea,#18.19 northern…Dead Sea: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. at the mouth of the River Jordan. 20The River Jordan itself was Benjamin's eastern border.
These were the borders of Benjamin's tribal land, where the clans of Benjamin lived.
21-24One region of Benjamin's tribal land had twelve towns with their surrounding villages. Those towns were Jericho, Beth-Hoglah, Emek-Keziz, Beth-Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, Chephar-Ammoni, Ophni, and Geba.
25-28In the other region there were the following fourteen towns with their surrounding villages: Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah, Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, Zelah, Haeleph, Gibeah, Kiriath-Jearim,#18.25-28 Kiriath-Jearim: One ancient translation; Hebrew “Kiriath”. and Jerusalem, which is also called Jebusite Town.
These regions are the tribal lands of Benjamin.
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Joshua 18: CEVUK
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012