11 And the first heritage came out for the tribe of Benjamin by their families: and the limit of their heritage went between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph.
At that time the Lord said to me, Make two other stones, cut like the first two, and come up to me on the mountain, and make an ark of wood. And I will put on the stones the words which were on the first stones which were broken by you, and you are to put them into the ark. So I made an ark of hard wood, and had two stones cut like the others, and went up the mountain with the stones in my hands. And he put on the stones, as in the first writing, the ten rules which the Lord gave you on the mountain out of the fire on the day of the great meeting: and the Lord gave the stones to me. And turning round I came down from the mountain and put the stones in the ark which I had made; and there they are as the Lord gave me orders. (And the children of Israel went on from Beeroth Bene-jaakan to Moserah: there death came to Aaron and he was put to rest in the earth; and Eleazar, his son, took his place as priest. From there they went on to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land of streams of water. At that time the Lord had the tribe of Levi marked out to take up the ark of the Lord's agreement, to be before the Lord and to do his work and to give blessings in his name, to this day. For this reason Levi has no part or heritage for himself among his brothers: the Lord is his heritage, as the Lord your God said to him.) And I was in the mountain, as at the first time, for forty days and forty nights; and again the ears of the Lord were open to my prayer, and he did not send destruction on you. Then the Lord said to me, Get up and go on your journey before the people, so that they may go in and take the land which I said in my oath to their fathers that I would give them. And now, Israel, what would the Lord your God have you do, but to go in the fear of the Lord your God, walking in all his ways and loving him and doing his pleasure with all your heart and all your soul, Doing the orders of the Lord and keeping his laws which I give you this day for your good? The Lord your God is ruler of heaven, of the heaven of heavens, and of the earth with everything in it. But the Lord had delight in your fathers and love for them, marking out for himself their seed after them, even you, from all peoples, as at this day. Let your circumcision be of the heart, and put away your pride. For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, strong in power and greatly to be feared, who has no respect for any man's position and takes no rewards: Judging uprightly in the cause of the widow and of the child who has no father, and giving food and clothing in his mercy to the man from a strange country. So be kind to the man from a strange country who is living among you, for you yourselves were living in a strange country in the land of Egypt. Let the fear of the Lord your God be before you, give him worship and be true to him at all times, taking your oaths in his name. He is your God, the God of your praise, your God who has done for you all these works of power which your eyes have seen. Your fathers went down into Egypt with seventy persons; and now the Lord your God has made you like the stars of heaven in number.
And if word comes to you, in one of the towns which the Lord your God is giving you for your resting-place,
Now the part of the land marked out for the children of Judah by families, went up to the edge of Edom, as far as the waste land of Zin to the south, to the farthest point of it on the south. Their south limit was from the farthest part of the Salt Sea, from the inlet looking to the south: From there it goes south of the slope up to Akrabbim, and on to Zin, then south past Kadesh-barnea, and on by Hezron and up to Addar, turning in the direction of Karka: Then on to Azmon, ending at the stream of Egypt: and the end of the limit is at the sea; this will be your limit on the south. And the east limit is the Salt Sea as far as the end of Jordan. And the limit of the north part of the land is from the inlet of the sea at the end of Jordan: Then the line goes up to Beth-hoglah, past the north of Beth-arabah, and up to the stone of Bohan, the son of Reuben; Then the line goes up to Debir from the valley of Achor, and so to the north, in the direction of Gilgal, which is opposite the slope up to Adummim, on the south side of the river: and the line goes on to the waters of En-shemesh, ending at En-rogel: Then the line goes up by the valley of the son of Hinnom to the south side of the Jebusite (which is Jerusalem): then up to the top of the mountain in front of the valley of Hinnom to the west, which is at the farthest point of the valley of Rephaim on the north:
And the limit of the land marked out for the children of Joseph went out from Jordan at Jericho, at the waters of Jericho on the east, in the waste land, going up from Jericho through the hill-country to Beth-el; And it goes out from Beth-el to Luz, and on as far as the limit of the Archites to Ataroth; And it goes down to the west to the limit of the Japhletites, to the limit of Beth-horon the lower, as far as Gezer; ending at the sea. And the children of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their heritage. And the limit of the land of the children of Ephraim by their families was marked out in this way: the limit of their heritage to the east was Ataroth-addar, to Beth-horon the higher; The line goes out to the west at Michmethath on the north; then turning to the east to Taanath-shiloh, going past it on the east of Janoah; And from Janoah down to Ataroth, and to Naarah, and touching Jericho, it goes on to Jordan. From Tappuah the line goes on to the west to the river of Kanah; ending at the sea. This is the heritage of the children of Ephraim by their families; Together with the towns marked out for the children of Ephraim in the heritage of Manasseh, all the towns with their unwalled places. And the Canaanites who were living in Gezer were not forced out; but the Canaanites have been living among Ephraim, to this day, as servants, doing forced work.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Joshua 18
Commentary on Joshua 18 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 18
Jos 18:1. The Tabernacle Set Up at Shiloh.
1. the whole congregation … assembled together at Shiloh—The main body of the Israelites had been diminished by the separation of the three tribes, Judah, Ephraim, and Manasseh into their respective allotments; and the country having been in a great measure subdued, the camp was removed to Shiloh (now Seilun). It was twenty or twenty-five miles north of Jerusalem, twelve north of Beth-el, and ten south of Shechem, and embosomed in a rugged and romantic glen. This sequestered spot in the heart of the country might have been recommended by the dictates of convenience. There the allotment of the territory could be most conveniently made, north, south, east, and west, to the different tribes. But "the tabernacle of the congregation was also set up there," and its removal therefore must have been made or sanctioned by divine intimation (De 12:11). It remained in Shiloh for more than three hundred years (1Sa 4:1-11).
Jos 18:2-9. The Remainder of the Land Described.
2. there remained … seven tribes, which had not yet received their inheritance—The selection of Shiloh for the seat of worship, together with the consequent removal of the camp thither, had necessarily interrupted the casting of lots, which was commenced by fixing localities for the tribes of Judah and Joseph. Various causes led to a long delay in resuming it. The satisfaction of the people with their change to so pleasant and fertile a district, their preference of a nomad life, a love of ease, and reluctance to renew the war, seem to have made them indifferent to the possession of a settled inheritance. But Joshua was too much alive to the duty laid on him by the Lord to let matters continue in that state; and accordingly, since a general conquest of the land had been made, he resolved to proceed immediately with the lot, believing that when each tribe should receive its inheritance, a new motive would arise to lead them to exert themselves in securing the full possession.
3. How long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the Lord God of your fathers hath given you—This reproof conveys an impression that the seven tribes were dilatory to a criminal extent.
4-9. Give out from among you three men for each tribe—Though the lot determined the part of the country where each tribe was to be located, it could not determine the extent of territory which might be required; and the dissatisfaction of the children of Joseph with the alleged smallness of their possession gave reason to fear that complaints might arise from other quarters, unless precautions were taken to make a proper distribution of the land. For this purpose a commission was given to twenty-one persons—three chosen from each of the seven tribes which had not yet received their inheritance, to make an accurate survey of the country.
9. The men went and passed through the land, and described it by cities into seven parts in a book—dividing the land according to its value, and the worth of the cities which it contained, into seven equal portions. This was no light task to undertake. It required learning and intelligence which they or their instructors had, in all probability, brought with them out of Egypt. Accordingly, Josephus says that the survey was performed by men expert in geometry. And, in fact, the circumstantial account which is given of the boundaries of each tribe and its situation, well proves it to have been the work of no mean or incompetent hands.
Jos 18:10. Divided by Lot.
10. Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord—before the tabernacle, where the divine presence was manifested, and which associated with the lot the idea of divine sanction.
11. the lot of … Benjamin came up—It has been supposed that there were two urns or vessels, from which the lots were drawn: one containing the names of the tribes, the other containing those of the seven portions; and that the two were drawn out simultaneously.
the coast of their lot came forth between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph—Thus the prophecy of Moses respecting the inheritance of Benjamin was remarkably accomplished. (See on De 33:12).