The big picture
Israel, the people taking the land, gathers at Shiloh, the new site of its sacred meeting tent. Joshua, their leader, speaks to them there. Seven tribes still have not received their land. The major fighting has ended. The tribes still need fixed shares. Joshua sends men to survey the land still unassigned and list its towns. Benjamin, one of those seven tribal groups, receives the first share described here, between lands already assigned to neighbouring tribes.
In this chapter
- Surveyors Record Seven Parts of the Land Joshua 18:1-10
The community sets up the meeting tent at Shiloh while seven tribes still lack their inheritance.
- Benjamin's Boundaries Fit Between Other Tribes Joshua 18:11-20
Benjamin's share lies between Judah's land and the lands of Joseph's descendants.
- Benjamin's Towns Are Named in Two Groups Joshua 18:21-28
The record names Benjamin's towns in two groups, each accompanied by a total and its villages.
Central truth
Joshua sends men to record the land, then assigns shares before God so the waiting tribes know their towns and borders.
Scripture beside the summary
Joshua · King James Version · 28Joshua 18:1-10
Surveyors Record Seven Parts of the Land
The community sets up the meeting tent at Shiloh while seven tribes still lack their inheritance. Joshua challenges their delay. Each tribe must appoint three men to survey the remaining land and describe it in seven parts. Older shares stay as they are. Levi, the tribe whose work is sacred service, receives no region of its own. The men travel through the country, record its towns in a book, and return. Joshua then casts lots before God to assign the portions. The men first see the land for themselves. The share is then chosen before God.
In everyday life
The freezer cooperative steward sends three members from each household group to measure the unused cold-store bays. They bring back a plan with seven spaces, leaving older bookings in place. She then draws lots for the spaces. Israel receives lasting family land before God, while these members rent room for one season.
Notice
Joshua 18:9 The men bring back a written description by cities before the lots are cast. The assignment uses an observed record rather than an unknown piece of ground.
Joshua 18:1-10
King James Version1And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle of the congregation there. And the land was subdued before them.
2And there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes, which had not yet received their inheritance.
3And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, How long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the LORD God of your fathers hath given you?
4Give out from among you three men for each tribe: and I will send them, and they shall rise, and go through the land, and describe it according to the inheritance of them; and they shall come again to me.
5And they shall divide it into seven parts: Judah shall abide in their coast on the south, and the house of Joseph shall abide in their coasts on the north.
6Ye shall therefore describe the land into seven parts, and bring the description hither to me, that I may cast lots for you here before the LORD our God.
7But the Levites have no part among you; for the priesthood of the LORD is their inheritance: and Gad, and Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh, have received their inheritance beyond Jordan on the east, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave them.
8And the men arose, and went away: and Joshua charged them that went to describe the land, saying, Go and walk through the land, and describe it, and come again to me, that I may here cast lots for you before the LORD in Shiloh.
9And the men went and passed through the land, and described it by cities into seven parts in a book, and came again to Joshua to the host at Shiloh.
10And Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the LORD: and there Joshua divided the land unto the children of Israel according to their divisions.
Joshua 18:11-20
Benjamin's Boundaries Fit Between Other Tribes
Benjamin's share lies between Judah's land and the lands of Joseph's descendants. Its edges follow hills, springs, stones and towns. Some have already marked the shares beside it. Jordan forms the eastern boundary. The route closes around a defined portion for Benjamin's families. The detail explains how this new share fits beside shares already named, rather than displacing them. Each turn helps identify the ground. The families can tell where their own share ends and the land of another tribe begins.
In everyday life
An apiary keeper measures a narrow space between two existing rows of hives for a new member. She checks each marker against the site plan before the first hive arrives. Even this small space needs clear limits. Benjamin receives land for households and future generations, while the beekeeper assigns space for rented hives.
Notice
Joshua 18:11 Benjamin's position is described in relation to Judah and Joseph's descendants. The new share fits within the land division already under way, rather than beginning it again.
Joshua 18:11-20
King James Version11And the lot of the tribe of the children of Benjamin came up according to their families: and the coast of their lot came forth between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph.
12And their border on the north side was from Jordan; and the border went up to the side of Jericho on the north side, and went up through the mountains westward; and the goings out thereof were at the wilderness of Beth-aven.
13And the border went over from thence toward Luz, to the side of Luz, which is Beth-el, southward; and the border descended to Ataroth-adar, near the hill that lieth on the south side of the nether Beth-horon.
14And the border was drawn thence, and compassed the corner of the sea southward, from the hill that lieth before Beth-horon southward; and the goings out thereof were at Kirjath-baal, which is Kirjath-jearim, a city of the children of Judah: this was the west quarter.
15And the south quarter was from the end of Kirjath-jearim, and the border went out on the west, and went out to the well of waters of Nephtoah:
16And the border came down to the end of the mountain that lieth before the valley of the son of Hinnom, and which is in the valley of the giants on the north, and descended to the valley of Hinnom, to the side of Jebusi on the south, and descended to En-rogel,
17And was drawn from the north, and went forth to En-shemesh, and went forth toward Geliloth, which is over against the going up of Adummim, and descended to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben,
18And passed along toward the side over against Arabah northward, and went down unto Arabah:
19And the border passed along to the side of Beth-hoglah northward: and the outgoings of the border were at the north bay of the salt sea at the south end of Jordan: this was the south coast.
20And Jordan was the border of it on the east side. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin, by the coasts thereof round about, according to their families.
Joshua 18:21-28
Benjamin's Towns Are Named in Two Groups
The record names Benjamin's towns in two groups, each accompanied by a total and its villages. Jericho and Beth-el appear in the first group; Gibeon and Jerusalem appear in the second. Several places are known from earlier events. Here they show where Benjamin's families will live. These towns are more than dots inside a border. Each named centre has nearby villages included in the grant. The closing line gathers both groups into Benjamin's share and completes this tribe's portion of the record.
In everyday life
The ambulance rota coordinator lays two district lists beside each other in the dispatch room. Large centres and nearby villages each fall under the same assigned crews. Familiar place names tell her where each crew must work. She checks them against the map. Benjamin receives towns as a family inheritance, not responsibility for emergency cover.
Notice
Joshua 18:28 Jerusalem is included with Benjamin's towns. Earlier, Judah could not drive its people out. A list of assigned places does not prove that all have been taken.
Joshua 18:21-28
King James Version21Now the cities of the tribe of the children of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho, and Beth-hoglah, and the valley of Keziz,
22And Beth-arabah, and Zemaraim, and Beth-el,
23And Avim, and Parah, and Ophrah,
24And Chephar-haammonai, and Ophni, and Gaba; twelve cities with their villages:
25Gibeon, and Ramah, and Beeroth,
26And Mizpeh, and Chephirah, and Mozah,
27And Rekem, and Irpeel, and Taralah,
28And Zelah, Eleph, and Jebusi, which is Jerusalem, Gibeath, and Kirjath; fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their families.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
Joshua 18:1 begins with “And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle of the congregation there. And the land was…”
Where the chapter turns
Joshua 18:7 forms a natural hinge: “But the Levites have no part among you; for the priesthood of the LORD is their inheritance: and Gad, and Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh, have…”
The final note
Joshua 18:28 leaves the reader with “And Zelah, Eleph, and Jebusi, which is Jerusalem, Gibeath, and Kirjath; fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the children of…”
A word trail through the chapter
The words children, border, side, Beth, land, inheritance help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- slack
- Slow or neglectful about acting, here in taking possession of the assigned land.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
