Joshua 18:11-28
New English Translation
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.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Joshua 18:11 tn Heb “and the lot came up for the tribe of the sons of Benjamin.”
- Joshua 18:11 tn Heb “and the territory of their allotment went out between the sons of Judah and the sons of Joseph.”
- Joshua 18:14 tn Heb “sons,” here referring to the tribe.
- Joshua 18:14 tn Or “side.”
- Joshua 18:17 tn Or “ascent.”
- Joshua 18:18 sn This section of the rift valley is to the north and west of the Dead Sea.
- Joshua 18:19 sn The Salt Sea is another name for the Dead Sea.
- 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).
- Joshua 18:20 tn Heb “This was the inheritance of the sons of Benjamin by its borders round about, by their clans.”
- Joshua 18:21 tn Heb “the sons,” here referring to the tribe.
- Joshua 18:28 tn The word “city” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
- 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.
- Joshua 18:28 tn Heb “This is the inheritance of the sons of Benjamin.”
Joshua 18:11-28
Amplified Bible
The Territory of Benjamin
11 Now the lot (allotment) of the tribe of the sons of Benjamin came up according to their families, and the territory of their lot fell between [the tribes of] the sons of Judah and the sons of Joseph. 12 On the north side their border began at the Jordan, then it went up the slope of Jericho on the north, and up through the hill country westward, and it ended at the Beth-aven wilderness. 13 Then the border continued southward toward Luz, to the slope of Luz (that is, Bethel); then the border went down to Ataroth-addar, by the hill that lies south of lower Beth-horon. 14 The border changed course [from there] and turned around on the western side southward, from the hill that lies to the south opposite Beth-horon; it ended at Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a city of [the tribe of] the sons of Judah. This formed the western side [of Benjamin’s territory]. 15 The southern side was from the edge of Kiriath-jearim, and the border went on westward and went to the source of the waters of Nephtoah. 16 Then the border went down to the edge of the hill overlooking the Valley of Ben-hinnom (son of Hinnom), which is at the north end of the Valley of Rephaim; and it descended to the Valley of Hinnom, south to the slope of the Jebusite, and went on down to En-rogel. 17 Then it turned toward the north and went on to En-shemesh and on to Geliloth, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim, and it went down to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben. 18 It continued to the north to the side opposite [Beth-] Arabah and went down to the Arabah. 19 The border continued along to the north of the slope of Beth-hoglah; and the border ended at the northern bay of the Salt (Dead) Sea, at the south end of the Jordan. This was the southern border. 20 And the Jordan River 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 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 Zelah, Haeleph and the Jebusite (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, Kiriath; fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of [the tribe of] the sons of Benjamin according to their families (clans).
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