Joshua 18
New English Translation
The Tribes Meet at Shiloh
18 The entire Israelite community assembled at Shiloh and there they set up the tent of meeting.[a] Though they had subdued the land,[b] 2 seven Israelite tribes had not been assigned their allotted land.[c] 3 So Joshua said to the Israelites: “How long do you intend to put off occupying[d] the land the Lord God of your ancestors[e] has given you? 4 Pick three men from each tribe. I will send them out to walk through the land and make a map of it for me.[f] 5 Divide it into seven regions.[g] Judah will stay[h] in its territory in the south, and the family[i] of Joseph in its territory in the north. 6 But as for you, map out the land into seven regions and bring it to me. I will draw lots for you here before the Lord our God. 7 But the Levites will not have an allotted portion among you, for their inheritance is to serve the Lord.[j] Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have already received their allotted land[k] east of the Jordan, which Moses the Lord’s servant assigned them.”
8 When the men started out, Joshua told those going to map out the land, “Go, walk through the land, map it out, and return to me. Then I will draw lots for you before the Lord here in Shiloh.” 9 The men journeyed[l] through the land and mapped it and its cities out into seven regions on a scroll. Then they came to Joshua at the camp in Shiloh. 10 Joshua drew lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord and divided the land among the Israelites according to their allotted portions.
Benjamin’s Tribal Lands
11 The first lot belonged to the tribe of Benjamin[m] by its clans. Their allotted territory was between Judah and Joseph.[n] 12 Their northern border started at the Jordan, went up to the slope of Jericho on the north, ascended westward to the hill country, and extended to the wilderness of Beth Aven. 13 It then crossed from there to Luz, to the slope of Luz to the south (that is, Bethel), and descended to Ataroth Addar located on the hill that is south of lower Beth Horon. 14 It then turned on the west side southward from the hill near Beth Horon on the south and extended to Kiriath Baal (that is, Kiriath Jearim), a city belonging to the tribe[o] of Judah. This is the western border.[p] 15 The southern side started on the edge of Kiriath Jearim and extended westward to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah. 16 The border then descended to the edge of the hill country near the Valley of Ben Hinnom located in the Valley of the Rephaites to the north. It descended through the Valley of Hinnom to the slope of the Jebusites to the south and then down to En Rogel. 17 It went northward, extending to En Shemesh and Geliloth opposite the Pass[q] of Adummim, and descended to the Stone of Bohan son of Reuben. 18 It crossed to the slope in front of the rift valley to the north and descended into the rift valley.[r] 19 It then crossed to the slope of Beth Hoglah to the north and ended at the northern tip of the Salt Sea[s] at the mouth of the Jordan River.[t] This was the southern border. 20 The Jordan River bordered it on the east. These were the borders of the land assigned to the tribe of Benjamin by its clans.[u]
21 These cities belonged to the tribe[v] of Benjamin by its clans: Jericho, Beth Hoglah, Emek Keziz, 22 Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, 23 Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, 24 Kephar Ammoni, Ophni, and Geba—a total of twelve cities and their towns.
25 Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, 26 Mizpah, Kephirah, Mozah, 27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28 Zelah, Haeleph, the Jebusite city[w] (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath—a total of fourteen cities and their towns.[x] This was the land assigned to the tribe of Benjamin[y] by its clans.
Footnotes
- Joshua 18:1 tn Heb “the tent of assembly.”sn On the tent of meeting see Exod 33:7-11.
- Joshua 18:1 tn Heb “and the land was subdued before them.”
- Joshua 18:2 tn Heb “there were left among the sons of Israel who had not divided up their inheritance seven tribes.”
- Joshua 18:3 tn Heb “How long are you putting off entering and possessing.”
- Joshua 18:3 tn Or “fathers.”
- Joshua 18:4 tn Heb “I will send them so they may arise and walk about in the land and describe it in writing according to their inheritance and come to me.”
- Joshua 18:5 tn Heb “portions.”
- Joshua 18:5 tn Heb “stand.”
- Joshua 18:5 tn Heb “the house.”
- Joshua 18:7 tn Or “the priesthood of the Lord.”
- Joshua 18:7 tn Or “inheritance.”
- Joshua 18:9 tn Heb “went and passed through.”
- Joshua 18:11 tn Heb “and the lot came up for the tribe of the sons of Benjamin.”
- Joshua 18:11 tn Heb “and the territory of their allotment went out between the sons of Judah and the sons of Joseph.”
- Joshua 18:14 tn Heb “sons,” here referring to the tribe.
- Joshua 18:14 tn Or “side.”
- Joshua 18:17 tn Or “ascent.”
- Joshua 18:18 sn This section of the rift valley is to the north and west of the Dead Sea.
- Joshua 18:19 sn The Salt Sea is another name for the Dead Sea.
- Joshua 18:19 tn Heb “to the tongue of the Salt Sea to the north, to the end of the Jordan to the south.” The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity (also in the following verse).
- Joshua 18:20 tn Heb “This was the inheritance of the sons of Benjamin by its borders round about, by their clans.”
- Joshua 18:21 tn Heb “the sons,” here referring to the tribe.
- Joshua 18:28 tn The word “city” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
- Joshua 18:28 tn The structure of this list presents problems. In v. 28 no conjunction appears before “Haeleph” or “Kiriath” in the Hebrew text. This suggests they should be compounded with the preceding names, yielding “Zelah Haeleph” and “Gibeah Kiriath” respectively. This results in a list of only twelve cities, however, while the summary statement (v. 28) gives the number fourteen. One should note, however, that the city lists in chap. 15 do not consistently use the conjunction before the name of each city. See also Josh 19:7, where no conjunction appears before “Rimmon,” but the summary assumes that Ain and Rimmon are distinct.
- Joshua 18:28 tn Heb “This is the inheritance of the sons of Benjamin.”
Joshua 18
Complete Jewish Bible
18 The entire community of the people of Isra’el assembled themselves together at Shiloh and set up the tent of meeting there, after the land had been subdued before them. 2 There still remained among the people of Isra’el seven tribes that had not yet received their inheritance. 3 Y’hoshua said to the people of Isra’el, “How long will you delay going in to take possession of the land which Adonai the God of your ancestors has given you? 4 Appoint three men for each tribe; I will commission them; and they are to set out, go through the land and describe it according to their inheritance; then they are to come back to me. 5 They are to divide it into seven portions, with Y’hudah remaining in its territory to the south and the house of Yosef in their territory to the north. 6 You will describe seven portions of land and bring the descriptions here to me; then I will cast lots for you here before Adonai our God. 7 But the L’vi’im have no share with you, because the office of cohen to Adonai is their inheritance; and Gad and Re’uven and the half-tribe of M’nasheh have received their inheritance beyond the Yarden to the east, which Moshe the servant of Adonai gave them.”
8 So the men got up and went. Y’hoshua gave them this commission as they left to describe the land: “Go; walk through the land; and describe it; then come back to me, and I will cast lots for you here before Adonai in Shiloh.” 9 The men went and passed through the land, surveying it by cities, dividing it into seven regions and writing the results on a scroll. Then they came to Y’hoshua in the camp at Shiloh. 10 Y’hoshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before Adonai, and there Y’hoshua divided the land among the people of Isra’el according to their regions.
11 The lot for the tribe of the descendants of Binyamin came up according to their families. The border of their territory chosen by lot was between the descendants of Y’hudah and the descendants of Yosef.
12 On the north side, their border began at the Yarden, went up alongside Yericho on the north, continued up through the hills westward and arrived at the Beit-Aven Desert. 13 From there the border passed on to Luz, to the south side of Luz (that is, Beit-El); then the border went down to ‘Atrot-Adar, by the hill on the south side of Lower Beit-Horon.
14 The border was delineated as turning at the western corner and heading southward, from the hill located in front of Beit-Horon on the south; and it ended at Kiryat-Ba‘al (that is, Kiryat-Ye‘arim), a city belonging to the descendants of Y’hudah; this was the west side.
15 On the south the border extended westward from the most distant part of Kiryat-Ye‘arim, going out to the source of the Neftoach Spring. 16 Then the border went down to the farthest part of the hill located in front of the Ben-Hinnom Valley, north of the Refa’im Valley, south of the Y’vusi; and continued down to ‘Ein-Rogel, 17 where it was drawn to the north; then it went on to ‘Ein-Shemesh; continued to G’lilot, which is across from Ma‘alei-Adumim; went down to the Stone of Bohan the son of Re’uven; 18 passed alongside the ‘Aravah, heading north; and went down to the ‘Aravah. 19 Then the border passed alongside Beit-Hoglah, heading north; and the border ended at the north bay of the Dead Sea, at the south end of the Yarden; this was the south border.
20 The Yarden was to be its border on the east side.
This was the inheritance of the descendants of Binyamin, defined by its surrounding borders, according to their families.
21 The cities of the tribe of the descendants of Binyamin according to their families were: Yericho, Beit-Hoglah, ‘Emek-K’tzitz, 22 Beit-‘Aravah, Tz’marayim, Beit-El, 23 ‘Avim, Parah, ‘Ofrah, 24 K’far-Ha‘amonah, ‘Ofni and Geva — twelve cities, together with their villages. 25 Giv‘on, Ramah, Be’erot, 26 Mitzpeh, K’firah, Motzah, 27 Rekem, Yirpe’el, Tar’alah, 28 Tzela, Elef, Y’vusi (that is, Yerushalayim), Giv‘at and Kiryat — fourteen cities, together with their villages.
This is the inheritance of the descendants of Binyamin according to their families.
約書亞記 18
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Traditional)
其餘土地的分配
18 征服了這些地方以後,以色列全體會眾都聚集在示羅,把會幕設立在那裡。 2 這時,以色列還有七個支派沒有分到產業。 3 約書亞對他們說:「你們等到什麼時候才去佔領你們祖先的上帝耶和華賜給你們的土地呢? 4 你們每支派要派出三個人,我要差他們去偵察,按各支派應得的土地繪製地圖,然後回來稟告我。 5 他們要把土地劃分作七份。猶大要留在南部自己的領土上,約瑟家族要留在北部自己的領土上。 6 你們把這七份土地繪成地圖交給我,我要在我們的上帝耶和華面前為你們抽籤。 7 你們當中的利未人沒有份,因為做耶和華的祭司這職任就是他們的產業。至於迦得支派、呂便支派和瑪拿西半個支派,摩西已把約旦河東的土地分給他們了。」
8 那些畫地圖的人啟程出發的時候,約書亞囑咐他們說:「你們要走遍那裡,繪製地圖,然後回來稟告我,我要在示羅,在耶和華面前為你們抽籤。」 9 於是,他們走遍那裡,把所有城邑分作七份,繪在冊上,然後回到示羅見約書亞。 10 約書亞便在示羅按照以色列的支派,在耶和華面前為他們抽籤分地。
便雅憫支派分到的土地
11 便雅憫支派按宗族抽籤分到的領土,座落在猶大和約瑟支派的領土之間。 12 他們北部的邊界從約旦河起,沿耶利哥北面的山坡直上,往西穿過山區,直到伯·亞文的曠野; 13 從那裡經路斯,即伯特利南面山坡到下伯·和崙南面山區的亞他綠·亞達。 14 西面的邊界自伯·和崙對面山的西側向南直到猶大人的基列·巴力,即基列·耶琳。 15 南部邊界從基列·耶琳的邊界開始向西直到尼弗多亞的水泉, 16 又往下到欣嫩子谷對面的山麓,也就是利乏音谷北邊,然後往南,經欣嫩谷到耶布斯山南部,直到隱·羅結; 17 然後,向北先後到隱·示麥,亞都冥山坡對面的基利綠,呂便的兒子波罕所立的大石, 18 以及亞拉巴的對面,再往北下到亞拉巴; 19 又沿著伯·曷拉的北面直到鹽海的北岸,也就是約旦河的南部河口。這是南部的邊界。 20 東面以約旦河為界。這是便雅憫人按宗族分到的土地和四周的邊界。
21 以下是便雅憫支派按宗族分到的城邑:耶利哥、伯·曷拉、伊麥·基悉、 22 伯·亞拉巴、西瑪蓮、伯特利、 23 亞文、巴拉、俄弗拉、 24 基法·阿摩尼、俄弗尼、迦巴,共十二座城及其附近的鄉村。 25 還有基遍、拉瑪、比錄、 26 米斯巴、基非拉、摩撒、 27 利堅、伊利毗勒、他拉拉、 28 洗拉、以利弗、耶布斯——即耶路撒冷、基比亞、基列,共十四座城及其附近的鄉村。
這就是便雅憫各宗族所分到的土地。
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