Allotment for Benjamin

11 The first lot came up for the tribe of Benjamin according to its clans. Their allotted territory lay between the tribes of Judah and Joseph:

12 On the north side their boundary began at the Jordan, passed the northern slope of Jericho and headed west into the hill country, coming out at the wilderness(A) of Beth Aven.(B) 13 From there it crossed to the south slope of Luz(C) (that is, Bethel(D)) and went down to Ataroth Addar(E) on the hill south of Lower Beth Horon.

14 From the hill facing Beth Horon(F) on the south the boundary turned south along the western side and came out at Kiriath Baal (that is, Kiriath Jearim),(G) a town of the people of Judah. This was the western side.

15 The southern side began at the outskirts of Kiriath Jearim on the west, and the boundary came out at the spring of the waters of Nephtoah.(H) 16 The boundary went down to the foot of the hill facing the Valley of Ben Hinnom, north of the Valley of Rephaim.(I) It continued down the Hinnom Valley(J) along the southern slope of the Jebusite city and so to En Rogel.(K) 17 It then curved north, went to En Shemesh, continued to Geliloth,(L) which faces the Pass of Adummim,(M) and ran down to the Stone of Bohan(N) son of Reuben. 18 It continued to the northern slope of Beth Arabah[a](O) and on down into the Arabah.(P) 19 It then went to the northern slope of Beth Hoglah(Q) and came out at the northern bay of the Dead Sea,(R) at the mouth of the Jordan in the south. This was the southern boundary.

20 The Jordan formed the boundary on the eastern side.

These were the boundaries that marked out the inheritance of the clans of Benjamin on all sides.(S)

21 The tribe of Benjamin, according to its clans, had the following towns:

Jericho, Beth Hoglah,(T) Emek Keziz, 22 Beth Arabah,(U) Zemaraim,(V) Bethel,(W) 23 Avvim,(X) Parah, Ophrah,(Y) 24 Kephar Ammoni, Ophni and Geba(Z)—twelve towns and their villages.

25 Gibeon,(AA) Ramah,(AB) Beeroth,(AC) 26 Mizpah,(AD) Kephirah,(AE) Mozah, 27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28 Zelah,(AF) Haeleph, the Jebusite city(AG) (that is, Jerusalem(AH)), Gibeah(AI) and Kiriath—fourteen towns and their villages.(AJ)

This was the inheritance of Benjamin for its clans.(AK)

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Notas al pie

  1. Joshua 18:18 Septuagint; Hebrew slope facing the Arabah

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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Notas al pie

  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.”