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18 And the kol Adat Bnei Yisroel assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the Ohel Mo’ed there. And HaAretz was subdued before them.

And there remained among the Bnei Yisroel shivah shevatim (seven tribes), which had not yet received their nachalah.

And Yehoshua said unto the Bnei Yisroel, How long are ye mitrapim (slack ones, cowardly) going to take to go in and possess HaAretz, which Hashem Elohei Avoteichem hath given you?

Appoint from among you shloshah anashim for each tribe; and I will send them, and they shall rise, and go through and survey the land, and write down a description of it, according to the nachalah of each; and they shall come again to me.

And they shall divide it into shivah chalakim (seven portions); Yehudah shall abide in their territory on the south, and Bais Yosef shall abide in their territory on the north.

Ye shall therefore write a description of HaAretz in shivah chalakim, and bring the description here to me, that I may cast goral for you here before Hashem Eloheinu.

But the Levi’im have no chelek among you; for the Kehunah Hashem is their nachalah; and Gad, and Reuven, and the half tribe of Menasheh, have received their nachalah beyond the Yarden on the east, which Moshe Eved Hashem gave them.

And the men arose, and went away; and Yehoshua charged them that went to map HaAretz, saying, Go and survey the land, and write a description of it, and come again to me, that I may here cast goral for you before Hashem in Shiloh.

And the men went and passed through HaAretz, and described it by towns in shivah chalakim in a sefer, and came again to Yehoshua to the machaneh at Shiloh.

10 And Yehoshua cast goral for them in Shiloh before Hashem; and there Yehoshua divided HaAretz unto the Bnei Yisroel according to their portions.

11 And the goral of the tribe of the Bnei Binyamin came up according to their mishpekhot; and the territory of their goral (allotment) came forth between the Bnei Yehudah and the Bnei Yosef.

12 And their boundary on the north side was from the Yarden; and the boundary went up along the side of Yericho on the north, and went up through the har westward; and ended at the midbar of Beit Aven.

13 And the boundary went over from there toward Luz, to the side of Luz (that is, Beit-El) southward; and the boundary descended to Atarot Adar, near the har that lieth on the south side of the Lower Beit Choron.

14 And the boundary ran from there and extended around the west side southward, from the har that lieth before Beit Choron southward; and ends at Kiryat Ba’al, which is Kiryat Ye’arim, a town of the Bnei Yehudah; this was the west side.

15 And the southern side was from the end of Kiryat Ye’arim, and the boundary went out on the west, and went out to the ma’ayan (spring) of the waters of Nephtoach;

16 And the boundary came down to the foot of the har that lieth before the Ben Hinnom Valley, and which is in the Emek Repha’im on the north, and descended to the Hinnom Valley, to the south of the Yevusi, and descended to Ein Rogel,

17 And ran from the north, and went to Ein Shemesh, and went toward Gelilot, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim, and descended to the Even Bohan ben Reuven,

18 And passed along toward the slope opposite Aravah northward, and went down unto the Aravah;

19 And the boundary passed along to the slope of Beit Choglah northward; and the end of the boundary was at the north bay of the Yam HaMelach (the Salt Sea, the Dead Sea) at the south end of the Yarden; this was the southern boundary.

20 And the Yarden was the boundary of it on the east side. This was the nachalah of the Bnei Binyamin, to its boundaries all around, according to their mishpekhot.

21 Now the towns of the tribe of the Bnei Binyamin according to their mishpekhot were Yericho, and Beit Choglah, and the valley of Ketzitz,

22 And Beit HaAravah, and Tzemarayim, and Beit-El,

23 And Avim, and Parah, and Ophrah,

24 And Chephar Haammonai, and Ophni, and Gaba; 12 towns with their villages.

25 Giveon, and Ramah, and Be’erot,

26 And Mitzpeh, and Kephirah, and Motzah,

27 And Rekem, and Yirpe’el, and Taralah,

28 And Tzelah, Eleph, and Yevusi, which is Yerushalayim, Givat, and Kiryat; 14 towns with their villages. This is the nachalah of the Bnei Binyamin according to their mishpekhot.

Division of the Rest of the Land

18 The whole assembly of the Israelites gathered at Shiloh(A) and set up the tent of meeting(B) there. The country was brought under their control, but there were still seven Israelite tribes who had not yet received their inheritance.

So Joshua said to the Israelites: “How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you? Appoint three men from each tribe. I will send them out to make a survey of the land and to write a description of it,(C) according to the inheritance of each.(D) Then they will return to me. You are to divide the land into seven parts. Judah is to remain in its territory on the south(E) and the tribes of Joseph in their territory on the north.(F) After you have written descriptions of the seven parts of the land, bring them here to me and I will cast lots(G) for you in the presence of the Lord our God. The Levites, however, do not get a portion among you, because the priestly service of the Lord is their inheritance.(H) And Gad, Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh have already received their inheritance on the east side of the Jordan. Moses the servant of the Lord gave it to them.(I)

As the men started on their way to map out the land, Joshua instructed them, “Go and make a survey of the land and write a description of it.(J) Then return to me, and I will cast lots for you here at Shiloh(K) in the presence of the Lord.” So the men left and went through the land. They wrote its description on a scroll, town by town, in seven parts, and returned to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh. 10 Joshua then cast lots(L) for them in Shiloh in the presence(M) of the Lord, and there he distributed the land to the Israelites according to their tribal divisions.(N)

Allotment for Benjamin

11 The first lot came up for the tribe of Benjamin according to its clans. Their allotted territory lay between the tribes of Judah and Joseph:

12 On the north side their boundary began at the Jordan, passed the northern slope of Jericho and headed west into the hill country, coming out at the wilderness(O) of Beth Aven.(P) 13 From there it crossed to the south slope of Luz(Q) (that is, Bethel(R)) and went down to Ataroth Addar(S) on the hill south of Lower Beth Horon.

14 From the hill facing Beth Horon(T) on the south the boundary turned south along the western side and came out at Kiriath Baal (that is, Kiriath Jearim),(U) a town of the people of Judah. This was the western side.

15 The southern side began at the outskirts of Kiriath Jearim on the west, and the boundary came out at the spring of the waters of Nephtoah.(V) 16 The boundary went down to the foot of the hill facing the Valley of Ben Hinnom, north of the Valley of Rephaim.(W) It continued down the Hinnom Valley(X) along the southern slope of the Jebusite city and so to En Rogel.(Y) 17 It then curved north, went to En Shemesh, continued to Geliloth,(Z) which faces the Pass of Adummim,(AA) and ran down to the Stone of Bohan(AB) son of Reuben. 18 It continued to the northern slope of Beth Arabah[a](AC) and on down into the Arabah.(AD) 19 It then went to the northern slope of Beth Hoglah(AE) and came out at the northern bay of the Dead Sea,(AF) at the mouth of the Jordan in the south. This was the southern boundary.

20 The Jordan formed the boundary on the eastern side.

These were the boundaries that marked out the inheritance of the clans of Benjamin on all sides.(AG)

21 The tribe of Benjamin, according to its clans, had the following towns:

Jericho, Beth Hoglah,(AH) Emek Keziz, 22 Beth Arabah,(AI) Zemaraim,(AJ) Bethel,(AK) 23 Avvim,(AL) Parah, Ophrah,(AM) 24 Kephar Ammoni, Ophni and Geba(AN)—twelve towns and their villages.

25 Gibeon,(AO) Ramah,(AP) Beeroth,(AQ) 26 Mizpah,(AR) Kephirah,(AS) Mozah, 27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28 Zelah,(AT) Haeleph, the Jebusite city(AU) (that is, Jerusalem(AV)), Gibeah(AW) and Kiriath—fourteen towns and their villages.(AX)

This was the inheritance of Benjamin for its clans.(AY)

Footnotes

  1. Joshua 18:18 Septuagint; Hebrew slope facing the Arabah