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The Territories of the Remaining Tribes

18 Then the whole congregation of the Israelites assembled at Shiloh and set up the tent of meeting there. The land lay subdued before them.(A)

There remained among the Israelites seven tribes whose inheritance had not yet been apportioned. So Joshua said to the Israelites, “How long will you be slack about going in and taking possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you?(B) Provide three men from each tribe, and I will send them out that they may begin to go throughout the land, writing a description of it with a view to their inheritances. Then come back to me. They shall divide it into seven portions, Judah continuing in its territory on the south and the house of Joseph in their territory on the north.(C) You shall write a description of the land in seven divisions and bring the description here to me, and I will cast lots for you here before the Lord our God. The Levites have no portion among you, for the priesthood of the Lord is their heritage, and Gad and Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan eastward, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave them.”(D)

So the men started on their way, and Joshua charged those who went to write the description of the land, saying, “Go throughout the land and write a description of it and come back to me, and I will cast lots for you here before the Lord in Shiloh.”(E) So the men went and traversed the land and set down in a book a description of it by towns in seven divisions; then they came back to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh, 10 and Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord, and there Joshua apportioned the land to the Israelites, to each a portion.(F)

The Territory of Benjamin

11 The lot of the tribe of Benjamin according to its families came up, and the territory allotted to it fell between the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Joseph. 12 On the north side their boundary began at the Jordan; then the boundary goes up to the slope of Jericho on the north, then up through the hill country westward; and it ends at the wilderness of Beth-aven. 13 From there the boundary passes along southward in the direction of Luz, to the slope of Luz (that is, Bethel), then the boundary goes down to Ataroth-addar, on the mountain that lies south of Lower Beth-horon.(G) 14 Then the boundary goes in another direction, turning on the western side southward from the mountain that lies to the south, opposite Beth-horon, and it ends at Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a town belonging to the tribe of Judah. This forms the western side.(H) 15 The southern side begins at the outskirts of Kiriath-jearim on the west,[a] and the boundary comes out at the spring of the Waters of Nephtoah;(I) 16 then the boundary goes down to the border of the mountain that overlooks the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is at the north end of the valley of Rephaim; and it then goes down the valley of Hinnom, south of the slope of the Jebusites, and downward to En-rogel;(J) 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 the Stone of Bohan, Reuben’s son; 18 and passing on to the north of the slope of Beth-arabah[b] it goes down to the Arabah; 19 then the boundary passes on to the north of the slope of Beth-hoglah; and the boundary ends at the northern bay of the Dead Sea,[c] 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 tribe of Benjamin, according to its families, boundary by boundary all around.(K)

21 Now the towns of the tribe of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz, 22 Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, 23 Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, 24 Chephar-ammoni, Ophni, and Geba—twelve towns with their villages; 25 Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, 26 Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah, 27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28 Zela, Haeleph, Jebus[d] (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah,[e] and Kiriath-jearim[f]—fourteen towns with their villages. This is the inheritance of the tribe of Benjamin according to its families.(L)

Footnotes

  1. 18.15 Meaning of Heb uncertain
  2. 18.18 Gk: Heb to the slope over against the Arabah
  3. 18.19 Heb Salt Sea
  4. 18.28 Gk Syr Vg: Heb the Jebusite
  5. 18.28 Heb Gibeath
  6. 18.28 Gk: Heb Kiriath

Remainder of the land

18 The whole community of the Israelites assembled at Shiloh and set up the meeting tent there. The conquered land lay before them. Among the Israelites, seven tribes were left that had not yet received their legacy. Joshua said to the Israelites, “How long will you avoid going to take over the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you? Pick out three men for each tribe. I will send them out, and they will go up and travel throughout the land. They will write a description of it as the basis for determining their legacy. Then they will come back to me. They will divide up the land among themselves into seven portions. Judah will stay on its territory to the south. The house of Joseph will stay on their territory to the north. But you will write a report in seven parts and bring the report back here to me. Then I will cast the lot for you here, before the Lord our God. However, there won’t be a portion among you for the Levites because their legacy is the priesthood of the Lord. Gad, Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh have already received their legacy on the east side of the Jordan. Moses the Lord’s servant gave it to them.”

When the men had prepared to go, Joshua gave orders to those going to write a description of the land. “Go and travel around the land, write about it, and return to me. I will cast the lot for you before the Lord here in Shiloh.” So the men went and passed through the land and wrote about it in a document, city by city, in seven sections. They came back to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh. 10 Then Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord. There Joshua divided up the shares of the land for the Israelites.

Border of Benjamin

11 The lot for the clans of the Benjaminite tribe appeared first. The border of their allotment went out between the people of Judah and the people of Joseph. 12 Their border on the north side ran from the Jordan. The border went up to the slope of Jericho on the north. It went up westward in the highlands and ended at the wasteland of Beth-aven. 13 The border passed on from there to Luz, to the slope of Luz on the south (that is, Bethel). The border went down to Ataroth-adar on the mountain that is south of Lower Beth-horon. 14 The border turned and came around southward on the west side, running from the mountain that is opposite Beth-horon on the south. It ended at Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a city of the people of Judah. This was its west side.

15 The south side ran from the limits of Kiriath-jearim. The border went out westward. It then proceeded to the waters of Nephtoah Spring. 16 The border went down to the foot of the mountain that is opposite the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is in the north part of the Rephaim Valley. It went down through the Hinnom Valley to the slope of the Jebusite city on the south. It then went down to En-rogel. 17 It turned northward. Then it went to En-shemesh and then to Geliloth, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim. It went down to the Stone of Bohan (Reuben’s son). 18 It passed on to the slope of Beth-arabah[a] on the north and went down into the desert plain. 19 The border passed on to the slope of Beth-hoglah on the north. The border ended at the north bay of the Dead Sea, at the southern mouth of the Jordan. This was the southern border. 20 The Jordan bordered it on the east side. This is the legacy of the Benjaminite clans according to its borders.

Cities of Benjamin

21 The cities of the clans of the Benjaminite tribe are Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz, 22 Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, 23 Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, 24 Chephar-ammoni, Ophni, and Geba. In total: twelve cities and their surrounding areas.

25 Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, 26 Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah, 27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28 Zela, Haeleph, the Jebusite city (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeath, and Kiriath. In total: fourteen cities and their surrounding areas. This is the legacy of the Benjaminite clans.

Footnotes

  1. Joshua 18:18 LXX and Josh 15:6; MT slope opposite the desert plain