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The Land Given to Benjamin

11 The first allotment of land went to the clans of the tribe of Benjamin. It lay between the territory assigned to the tribes of Judah and Joseph.

12 The northern boundary of Benjamin’s land began at the Jordan River, went north of the slope of Jericho, then west through the hill country and the wilderness of Beth-aven. 13 From there the boundary went south to Luz (that is, Bethel) and proceeded down to Ataroth-addar on the hill that lies south of Lower Beth-horon.

14 The boundary then made a turn and swung south along the western edge of the hill facing Beth-horon, ending at the village of Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a town belonging to the tribe of Judah. This was the western boundary.

15 The southern boundary began at the outskirts of Kiriath-jearim. From that western point it ran[a] to the spring at the waters of Nephtoah,[b] 16 and down to the base of the mountain beside the valley of Ben-Hinnom, at the northern end of the valley of Rephaim. From there it went down the valley of Hinnom, crossing south of the slope where the Jebusites lived, and continued down to En-rogel. 17 From En-rogel the boundary proceeded in a northerly direction and came to En-shemesh and on to Geliloth (which is across from the slopes of Adummim). Then it went down to the Stone of Bohan. (Bohan was Reuben’s son.) 18 From there it passed along the north side of the slope overlooking the Jordan Valley.[c] The border then went down into the valley, 19 ran past the north slope of Beth-hoglah, and ended at the north bay of the Dead Sea,[d] which is the southern end of the Jordan River. This was the southern boundary.

20 The eastern boundary was the Jordan River.

These were the boundaries of the homeland allocated to the clans of the tribe of Benjamin.

The Towns Given to Benjamin

21 These were the towns given to the clans of the tribe of Benjamin.

Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz, 22 Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, 23 Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, 24 Kephar-ammoni, Ophni, and Geba—twelve towns with their surrounding villages. 25 Also Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, 26 Mizpah, Kephirah, Mozah, 27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28 Zela, Haeleph, the Jebusite town (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath-jearim[e]—fourteen towns with their surrounding villages.

This was the homeland allocated to the clans of the tribe of Benjamin.

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Footnotes

  1. 18:15a Or From there it went to Mozah. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
  2. 18:15b Or the spring at Me-nephtoah.
  3. 18:18 Hebrew overlooking the Arabah, or overlooking Beth-arabah.
  4. 18:19 Hebrew Salt Sea.
  5. 18:28 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads Kiriath.

Benjamin’s Allocation

11 The allotment of the tribe of the descendants of Benjamin came up according to their families, and their territorial allotment fell between the descendants of Judah and the descendants of Joseph. 12 Their border started on the north side at the Jordan River, proceeded to the slope of Jericho on the north, then westward through the hill country, and terminated at the wilderness of Beth-aven. 13 From there the boundary proceeded south in the direction of Luz to the slope of Luz (also known as Bethel), then proceeded to Ataroth-addar, on the mountain that lies south of Lower Beth-horon. 14 From there the boundary changed direction, turning southward on the western side opposite Beth-horon, terminating at Kiriath-baal (also known as Kiriath-jearim), which belongs to Judah. This formed the western boundary.

15 The southern boundary began at the edge of Kiriath-jearim, proceeding from there to Ephron and then to the spring at the Nephtoah Waters. 16 From there the boundary proceeded to the border of the mountain that overlooks the Ben-hinnom Valley at the northern end of the Rephaim Valley, where it proceeded down the Hinnom Valley south of the slope of the Jebusites toward En-rogel. 17 Then it turned north toward En-shemesh and proceeded from there to Geliloth opposite the ascent of Adummim, where it turned toward the Stone of Bohan, Reuben’s son, 18 and proceeded north of the slope of Beth-arabah down to the Arabah. 19 From there the boundary proceeded to north of the slope of Beth-hoglah and terminated at the northern bay of the Salt[a] Sea where the Jordan River ends in the south. This was the southern border. 20 The Jordan River formed its boundary on the east. This is the inheritance for the tribe of Benjamin according to its families, boundary by boundary around the entire territory.[b]

21 The towns belonging to 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, for a total of twelve towns and villages. 25 Also included were[c] Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, 26 Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah, 27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28 Zela, Haeleph, Jebus (also known as Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath-jearim, for a total of fourteen towns and villages. This is the inheritance of the tribe of Benjamin according to their families.

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Footnotes

  1. Joshua 18:19 Lit. Dead
  2. Joshua 18:20 Lit. boundary all around
  3. Joshua 18:25 The Heb. lacks Also included were