Joshua 18 

Joshua 18:1 The whole Israelite congregation assembled at Shiloh and set up the tent of meeting there. The land had been subdued before them,

Joshua 18:2 but seven tribes among the Israelites were left who had not divided up their inheritance.

Joshua 18:3 So Joshua asked the Israelites, “How long will you be lax about taking possession of the land that Yahveh, the God of your fathers, gave you?

Joshua 18:4 Appoint for yourselves three men from each tribe, and I will send them out. They are to go and survey the land, write a description of it for their inheritance, and return it to me.

Joshua 18:5 Then they are to divide it into seven portions. Judah is to remain in its territory in the south and Joseph’s family in their territory in the north.

Joshua 18:6 When you have written a description of the seven portions of land and brought it to me, I will cast lots for you here in front of Yahveh our God.

Joshua 18:7 But the Levites among you do not get a portion because their inheritance is the priesthood of Yahveh. Gad, Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh have taken their inheritance beyond the Jordan to the east, which Moses Yahveh’s slave gave them.”

Joshua 18:8 As the men prepared to go, Joshua commanded them to write down a description of the land, saying, “Go and survey the land, write a description of it, and return to me. I will then cast lots for you here in Shiloh in front of Yahveh.”

Joshua 18:9 So the men left, went through the land and described it by towns in a document of seven sections. They returned to Joshua at the camp in Shiloh.

Joshua 18:10 Joshua cast lots for them at Shiloh in front of Yahveh where he distributed the land to the Israelites according to their divisions.

Joshua 18:11 The lot came up for the tribe of Benjamin’s descendants by their clans, and their allotted territory lay between Judah’s descendants and Joseph’s descendants.

Joshua 18:12 Their border on the north side began at the Jordan, went up to the slope of Jericho on the north, through the hill country westward, and ended at the wilderness around Beth-aven.

Joshua 18:13 From there, the border went toward Luz, to the southern slope of Luz (that is, Bethel); it then went down by Ataroth-addar, over the hill south of Lower Beth-horon.

Joshua 18:14 On the west side, from the hill facing Beth-horon on the south, the border curved, turning southward, and ended at Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a city of the descendants of Judah. This was the west side of their border.

Joshua 18:15 The south side began at the edge of Kiriath-jearim, and the border extended westward; it went to the spring at the Waters of Nephtoah.

Joshua 18:16 The border descended to the foot of the hill that faces Ben Hinnom Valley at the northern end of Rephaim Valley. It ran down Hinnom Valley toward the south Jebusite slope and went down to En-rogel.

Joshua 18:17 It curved northward and went to En-shemesh and on to Geliloth, which is opposite the Ascent of Adummim, and continued down to the Stone of Bohan son of Reuben.

Joshua 18:18 Then it went north to the slope opposite the Arabah and proceeded into the plains.

Joshua 18:19 The border continued to the north slope of Beth-hoglah and ended at the northern bay of the Dead Sea, at the southern end of the Jordan. This was the southern border.

Joshua 18:20 The Jordan formed the border on the east side. According to its surrounding borders, this was the inheritance of Benjamin’s descendants by their clans.

Joshua 18:21 These were the cities of the tribe of Benjamin’s descendants by their clans: Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz,

Joshua 18:22 Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel,

Joshua 18:23 Avvites, Parah, Ophrah,

Joshua 18:24 Chephar-ammoni, Ophni, and Geba– twelve cities, with their settlements;

Joshua 18:25 Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth,

Joshua 18:26 Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah,

Joshua 18:27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah,

Joshua 18:28 Zela, Haeleph, Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath—fourteen cities with their settlements—were the inheritances of Benjamin’s descendants by their clans.

Joshua 18 quotes:

“A narrative summary shifts the scene from Gilgal (Josh. 14:6) to a tribal assembly at Shiloh (Josh. 18:1), ten miles northeast of Bethel. The narrative mentions that the assembly set up the Tent of Meeting at that place. The Tent of Meeting at this time is more important than a permanent structure, for it is the symbol of the presence of God. Only later did the tribes house the ark of the covenant in a more permanent structure at Shiloh (1 Sam. 1-4). The Bible reports that Eli and his sons later ministered in a permanent shrine until the Philistines conquered Shiloh and captured the ark (1 Sam. 4:1-22).”

Harris J. Gordon et al. Joshua Judges Ruth. Hendrickson Publishers ; Paternoster Press 2000. p. 97.

“Chapters 18 and 19 describe the territories west of the Jordan assigned to the remaining seven tribes: Benjamin, Simeon, Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Dan.”

Bratcher Robert G and Barclay Moon Newman. A Handbook on the Book of Joshua. United Bible Societies 1992. p. 231.

Joshua 18 links:

jump start
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Wednesday, June 26, 2019
missions and procrastination
partnering to protect

The JOSHUA shelf in Jeff’s library