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Benjamin’s Tribal Lands

11 The first lot belonged to the tribe of Benjamin[a] by its clans. Their allotted territory was between Judah and Joseph.[b] 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[c] of Judah. This is the western border.[d] 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[e] 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.[f] 19 It then crossed to the slope of Beth Hoglah to the north and ended at the northern tip of the Salt Sea[g] at the mouth of the Jordan River.[h] 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.[i]

21 These cities belonged to the tribe[j] 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[k] (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath—a total of fourteen cities and their towns.[l] This was the land assigned to the tribe of Benjamin[m] by its clans.

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Footnotes

  1. Joshua 18:11 tn Heb “and the lot came up for the tribe of the sons of Benjamin.”
  2. Joshua 18:11 tn Heb “and the territory of their allotment went out between the sons of Judah and the sons of Joseph.”
  3. Joshua 18:14 tn Heb “sons,” here referring to the tribe.
  4. Joshua 18:14 tn Or “side.”
  5. Joshua 18:17 tn Or “ascent.”
  6. Joshua 18:18 sn This section of the rift valley is to the north and west of the Dead Sea.
  7. Joshua 18:19 sn The Salt Sea is another name for the Dead Sea.
  8. 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).
  9. Joshua 18:20 tn Heb “This was the inheritance of the sons of Benjamin by its borders round about, by their clans.”
  10. Joshua 18:21 tn Heb “the sons,” here referring to the tribe.
  11. Joshua 18:28 tn The word “city” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
  12. 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.
  13. Joshua 18:28 tn Heb “This is the inheritance of the sons of Benjamin.”

The Allotment of Benjamin

11 And the allotment of the tribe of Benjamin came up according to their families, and the border of their allotment fell[a] between the descendants[b] of Judah and the descendants[c] of Joseph. 12 Their northern border began at the Jordan and went up to the slope of Jericho on the north and continued into the hill country to the west; it ends[d] at the wilderness of Beth Aven. 13 The border passes on from there to Luz, to the slope of Luz to the south (that is, Bethel); then the border goes down to Ataroth Addar to the mountain that is south of Lower Beth-Horon. 14 Then the border changes direction and turns to the western side southward, from the mountain that is opposite[e] Beth-Horon to the south. It ends[f] at Kiriath Baal (that is, Kiriath Jearim), a town belonging to the descendants[g] of Judah. This is the western side. 15 The southern side begins on the outskirts of Kiriath Jearim, and the border continues to the west to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah; 16 the border goes down to the foot[h] of the mountain, which is opposite the Valley of Ben Hinnom,[i] which is in the valley of Rephaim to the north; then it does down the valley of Hinnom to the slope of the Jebusites[j] to the south, and then it goes down to En Rogel. 17 It changes direction from the north, and it continues to En Shemesh; it goes out to Geliloth, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim, and it goes down to the stone of Bohan, son of Reuben. 18 It passes on to the slope opposite the Arabah[k] to the north, and it goes down to the Arabah.[l] 19 The border passes on to the slope of Beth-hoglah to the north and ends[m] at the north bay of the Salt Sea[n] at the south end of the Jordan. This is the southern border. 20 The Jordan forms its border on the eastern side. This is the inheritance of the tribe of Benjamin, its borders that surrounds them, according to their families.

21 Now the towns of the tribes of the descendants[o] of Benjamin, according to their families, were Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek Keziz, 22 Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, 23 Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, 24 Kephar Ammoni, Ophni, and Geba; twelve cities and their villages.

25 Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, 26 Mizpeh, Kephirah, Mozah, 27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28 Zela, Haeleph, Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath; fourteen cities and their villages. This is the inheritance of the descendants[p] of Benjamin according to their families.

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Footnotes

  1. Joshua 18:11 Literally “went out”
  2. Joshua 18:11 Or “sons”
  3. Joshua 18:11 Or “sons”
  4. Joshua 18:12 Literally “the goings out of it were”
  5. Joshua 18:14 Literally “against the face of”
  6. Joshua 18:14 Literally “the goings out of it were”
  7. Joshua 18:14 Or “sons”
  8. Joshua 18:16 Or “to the edge”
  9. Joshua 18:16 Or “valley of the son of-Hinnom”
  10. Joshua 18:16 Hebrew “Jebusite”
  11. Joshua 18:18 A dry region that runs south of the Sea of Galilee along the Jordan Valley
  12. Joshua 18:18 A dry region that runs south of the Sea of Galilee along the Jordan Valley
  13. Joshua 18:19 Literally “the goings out of it were”
  14. Joshua 18:19 That is, the Dead Sea
  15. Joshua 18:21 Or “sons”
  16. Joshua 18:28 Or “sons”