The Remainder of the Land Divided

18 Now the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together (A)at Shiloh, and (B)set up the tabernacle of meeting there. And the land was subdued before them. But there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes which had not yet received their inheritance.

Then Joshua said to the children of Israel: (C)“How long will you neglect to go and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers has given you? Pick out from among you three men for each tribe, and I will send them; they shall rise and go through the land, survey it according to their inheritance, and come back to me. And they shall divide it into seven parts. (D)Judah shall remain in their territory on the south, and the (E)house of Joseph shall remain in their territory on the north. You shall therefore [a]survey the land in seven parts and bring the survey here to me, (F)that I may cast lots for you here before the Lord our God. (G)But the Levites have no part among you, for the priesthood of the Lord is their inheritance. (H)And Gad, Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan on the east, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave them.”

Then the men arose to go away; and Joshua charged those who went to [b]survey the land, saying, “Go, walk (I)through the land, survey it, and come back to me, that I may cast lots for you here before the Lord in Shiloh.” So the men went, passed through the land, and [c]wrote the survey in a book in seven parts by cities; and they came to Joshua at the camp in Shiloh. 10 Then Joshua cast (J)lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord, and there (K)Joshua divided the land to the children of Israel according to their [d]divisions.

The Land of Benjamin

11 (L)Now the lot of the tribe of the children of Benjamin came up according to their families, and the territory of their lot came out between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph. 12 (M)Their border on the north side began at the Jordan, and the border went up to the side of Jericho on the north, and went up through the mountains westward; it ended at the Wilderness of Beth Aven. 13 The border went over from there toward Luz, to the side of Luz (N)(which is Bethel) southward; and the border descended to Ataroth Addar, near the hill that lies on the south side (O)of Lower Beth Horon.

14 Then the border extended around the west side to the south, from the hill that lies before Beth Horon southward; and [e]it ended at (P)Kirjath Baal (which is Kirjath Jearim), a city of the children of Judah. This was the west side.

15 The south side began at the end of Kirjath Jearim, and the border extended on the west and went out to (Q)the spring of the waters of Nephtoah. 16 Then the border came down to the end of the mountain that lies before (R)the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, which is in the Valley of the [f]Rephaim on the north, descended to the Valley of Hinnom, to the side of the Jebusite city on the south, and descended to (S)En Rogel. 17 And it went around from the north, went out to En Shemesh, and extended toward Geliloth, which is before the Ascent of Adummim, and descended to (T)the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben. 18 Then it passed along toward the north side of [g]Arabah, and went down to Arabah. 19 And the border passed along to the north side of Beth Hoglah; then [h]the border ended at the north bay at the (U)Salt Sea, at the south end of the Jordan. This was the southern boundary.

20 The Jordan was its border on the east side. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin, according to its boundaries all around, 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 Avim, Parah, Ophrah, 24 Chephar Haammoni, Ophni, and Gaba: twelve cities with their villages; 25 (V)Gibeon, (W)Ramah, Beeroth, 26 Mizpah, Chephirah, Mozah, 27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28 Zelah, Eleph, (X)Jebus (which is Jerusalem), Gibeath, and Kirjath: fourteen cities with their villages. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their families.

Footnotes

  1. Joshua 18:6 describe in writing
  2. Joshua 18:8 describe in writing
  3. Joshua 18:9 described it in writing
  4. Joshua 18:10 portions
  5. Joshua 18:14 Lit. its goings out were
  6. Joshua 18:16 Lit. Giants
  7. Joshua 18:18 Beth Arabah, Josh. 15:6; 18:22
  8. Joshua 18:19 Lit. the goings out of the border were

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