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.
Joshua 18
Living Bible
18 1-2 After the conquest—although seven of the tribes of Israel had not yet entered and conquered the land God had given them—all Israel gathered at Shiloh to set up the Tabernacle.
3 Then Joshua asked them, “How long are you going to wait before clearing out the people living in the land that the Lord your God has given to you? 4 Select three men from each tribe, and I will send them to scout the unconquered territory and bring back a report of its size and natural divisions so that I can divide it for you. 5-6 The scouts will map it into seven sections, and then I will throw the sacred dice to decide which section will be assigned to each tribe. 7 However, remember that the Levites won’t receive any land; they are priests of the Lord. That is their wonderful heritage. And of course the tribes of Gad and Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh won’t receive any more, for they already have land on the east side of the Jordan where Moses promised them that they could settle.”
8 So the scouts went out to map the country and to bring back their report to Joshua. Then the Lord could assign the sections of land to the tribes by the throw of the sacred dice. 9 The men did as they were told and divided the entire territory into seven sections, listing the cities in each section. Then they returned to Joshua and the camp at Shiloh. 10 There at the Tabernacle at Shiloh the Lord showed Joshua by the sacred lottery which tribe should have each section:
11 The Land Given to the Tribe of Benjamin:
The section of land assigned to the families of the tribe of Benjamin lay between the territory previously assigned to the tribes of Judah and Joseph.
12 The northern boundary began at the Jordan River, went north of Jericho, then west through the hill country and the wilderness of Beth-aven. 13 From there the boundary went south to Luz (also called Bethel) and proceeded down to Ataroth-addar in the hill country south of Lower Beth-horon. 14 There the border turned south, passing the mountain near Beth-horon and ending at the village of Kiriath-baal (sometimes called Kiriath-jearim), one of the cities of the tribe of Judah. This was the western boundary.
15 The southern border ran from the edge of Kiriath-baal, over Mount Ephron to the spring of Naphtoah, 16 and down to the base of the mountain beside the valley of Hinnom, north of the valley of Rephaim. From there it continued across the valley of Hinnom, crossed south of the old city of Jerusalem[a] where the Jebusites lived, and continued down to En-rogel. 17 From En-rogel the boundary proceeded northeast to En-shemesh and on to Geliloth (which is opposite the slope of Adummim). Then it went down to the Stone of Bohan (who was a son of Reuben), 18 where it passed along the north edge of the Arabah. The border then went down into the Arabah, 19 ran south past Beth-hoglah, and ended at the north bay of the Dead Sea—which is the southern end of the Jordan River.
20 The eastern border was the Jordan River. This was the land assigned to the tribe of Benjamin. 21-28 These twenty-six cities were included in the land[b] given to the tribe of Benjamin: Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz, Beth-arabah, Zimaraim, Bethel, Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, Chephar-ammoni, Ophni, Geba, Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah, Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, Zela, Haeleph, Jebus (or Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath-jearim. All of these cities and their surrounding villages were given to the tribe of Benjamin.
Footnotes
- Joshua 18:16 the old city of Jerusalem, implied.
- Joshua 18:21 These twenty-six cities were included in the land, implied in vv. 24 and 28, where the original manuscript indicates subtotals.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.