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
English Standard Version
Allotment of the Remaining Land
18 Then the whole congregation of the people of Israel assembled at (A)Shiloh and set up (B)the tent of meeting there. The land lay subdued before them.
2 There remained among the people of Israel seven tribes whose inheritance had not yet been apportioned. 3 So Joshua said to the people of Israel, (C)“How long will you put off going in to take possession of the land, which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you? 4 Provide three men from each tribe, and I will send them out that they may set out and go up and down the land. They shall write a description of it with a view to their inheritances, and then come to me. 5 They shall divide it into seven portions. (D)Judah shall continue in his territory on the south, (E)and the house of Joseph shall continue in their territory on the north. 6 And you shall describe the land in seven divisions and bring the description here to me. (F)And I will cast lots for you here before the Lord our God. 7 (G)The Levites have no portion among you, for the priesthood of the Lord is their heritage. (H)And Gad and Reuben and half the tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan eastward, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave them.”
8 So the men arose and went, and Joshua charged those who went to write the description of the land, saying, “Go up and down in the land and write a description and return to me. And I will cast lots for you here before the Lord in Shiloh.” 9 So the men went and passed up and down in the land and wrote in a book a description of it by towns in seven divisions. Then they came to Joshua to the camp at Shiloh, 10 and Joshua (I)cast lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord. And there Joshua apportioned the land to the people of Israel, (J)to each his portion.
The Inheritance for Benjamin
11 The lot of the tribe of the people of Benjamin according to its clans came up, and the territory allotted to it fell between the people of Judah and the people of Joseph. 12 (K)On the north side their boundary began at the Jordan. (L)Then the boundary goes up to the shoulder north of Jericho, then up through the hill country westward, and it ends at the wilderness of (M)Beth-aven. 13 From there the boundary passes along southward in the direction of Luz, to the shoulder of (N)Luz (that is, Bethel), then the boundary goes down to (O)Ataroth-addar, on the mountain that lies south of Lower (P)Beth-horon. 14 Then the boundary goes in another direction, turning on the (Q)western side southward from the mountain that lies to the south, opposite Beth-horon, and it ends at Kiriath-baal ((R)that is, Kiriath-jearim), a city belonging to the people of Judah. This forms the western side. 15 And the southern side begins at the outskirts of Kiriath-jearim. And the boundary goes from there to Ephron,[a] (S)to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah. 16 Then the boundary goes down to the border of the mountain that overlooks (T)the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, which is at the north end of the Valley of (U)Rephaim. And it then goes down the (V)Valley of Hinnom, south of the shoulder of the Jebusites, and downward to (W)En-rogel. 17 Then it bends in a northerly direction going on to En-shemesh, and from there goes to Geliloth, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim. Then it goes down to (X)the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben, 18 and passing on to the north of (Y)the shoulder of Beth-arabah[b] it goes down to (Z)the Arabah. 19 Then the boundary passes on to the north of the shoulder of (AA)Beth-hoglah. And the boundary ends at the northern bay of (AB)the Salt Sea, at the south end of the Jordan: this is the southern border. 20 The Jordan forms its boundary on the eastern side. This is the inheritance of the people of Benjamin, according to their clans, boundary by boundary all around.
21 Now the cities of the tribe of the people of Benjamin according to their clans were (AC)Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz, 22 Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, 23 Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, 24 Chephar-ammoni, Ophni, Geba—twelve cities with their villages: 25 Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, 26 Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah, 27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28 Zela, Haeleph, (AD)Jebus[c] (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah[d] and Kiriath-jearim[e]—fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the people of Benjamin according to its clans.
Footnotes
- Joshua 18:15 See 15:9; Hebrew westward
- Joshua 18:18 Septuagint; Hebrew to the shoulder over against the Arabah
- Joshua 18:28 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew the Jebusite
- Joshua 18:28 Hebrew Gibeath
- Joshua 18:28 Septuagint; Hebrew Kiriath
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
