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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 Inheritance

11 Now the lot of the tribe of the sons of Benjamin came up according to their families, and the territory of their lot [a]lay between the sons of Judah and the sons of Joseph. 12 (A)And their border on the north side was from the Jordan; then the border went up to the side of Jericho on the north and went up through the hill country westward, and [b]it ended at the wilderness of Beth-aven. 13 From there the border passed on to (B)Luz, to the side of Luz (that is, Bethel) southward; and the border went down to Ataroth-addar, near the hill which lies on the south of (C)lower Beth-horon. 14 Then the border curved from there and turned round on the west side southward, from the hill which lies before Beth-horon southward; and [c]it ended at Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a city of the sons of Judah. This was the west side. 15 Then the (D)south side was from the edge of Kiriath-jearim, and the border went out westward and went out to the fountain of the waters of Nephtoah. 16 Then the border went down to the edge of the hill which is in the (E)valley of Ben-hinnom, which is in the valley of Rephaim northward; and it went down to the valley of Hinnom, to the slope of the Jebusite southward, and went down to En-rogel. 17 Then it curved northward and went out to En-shemesh and went out to Geliloth, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim, and it went down to the (F)stone of Bohan the son of Reuben. 18 Then it continued to the side in front of the Arabah northward and went down to the Arabah. 19 And the border passed on to the side of Beth-hoglah northward; and the [d]border ended at the north bay of the Salt Sea, at the south end of the Jordan. This was the south border. 20 Moreover, the Jordan was its border on the east side. This was the inheritance of the sons of Benjamin, according to their families and according to its borders all around.

21 Now the cities of the tribe of the sons of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho and Beth-hoglah and Emek-keziz, 22 and Beth-arabah and Zemaraim and Bethel, 23 and Avvim and Parah and Ophrah, 24 and Chephar-ammoni and Ophni and (G)Geba; twelve cities with their villages. 25 Gibeon and Ramah and Beeroth, 26 and Mizpeh and Chephirah and Mozah, 27 and Rekem and Irpeel and Taralah, 28 and (H)Zelah, Haeleph and the Jebusite (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, Kiriath; fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the (I)sons of Benjamin according to their families.

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Footnotes

  1. Joshua 18:11 Lit went out
  2. Joshua 18:12 Lit the goings out of it were
  3. Joshua 18:14 Lit the goings out of it were
  4. Joshua 18:19 Lit goings out of the border were