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1 The land had been subdued*Though subdued, it had not been fully conquered, as events of the time and later demonstrate. and lay before them. The Israelites gathered together at Shiloh†“Shiloh” means “place of rest.” and set up the Tent of Meeting.‡The Tabernacle. 2 However, seven of the Israelite tribes had not received their land allocations.§From what follows it's clear that the problem was not one of land allocation but a lack of desire to go and take possession of the land. 3 So Joshua asked the Israelites, “How long will you go on being reluctant to go and take possession of the land that the Lord gave your forefathers? 4 Choose three men from each tribe and I will send them out to explore the land. Then they can write a description regarding the land allocations and bring it to me. 5 They are to divide the land into seven parts, up to the boundary of Judah's land in the south and Joseph's*Referring to Ephraim and Manasseh. land in the north. 6 Once you have written the description about the land, divided into seven parts, you will bring it to me here and I will cast lots for you in the presence of the Lord our God.
7 But the Levites do not receive a share, for their role as priests of the Lord is their allocation. Also, Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have already received their allocation that Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave them on the east side of the Jordan.”
8 As the men started out on their way to explore the land. Joshua told them, “Go throughout the land and write a description of what you find. Then return to me and I will cast lots for you in the presence of the Lord here in Shiloh.” 9 So the men went and explored the land and wrote down on a scroll a description of the seven parts, recording the towns in each part. Then they returned to Joshua at the camp in Shiloh 10 where Joshua cast lots for them in the presence of the Lord. There Joshua divided the land up and allotted the different parts to the remaining†“Remaining”: implied. Israelite tribes.
11 The first lot cast went to the tribe of Benjamin, by families. The land allotted lay between that of the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Joseph. 12 Their boundary began at the Jordan, and went north of the slope of Jericho, west through the hill country, coming out at the wilderness of Beth-aven. 13 Then the boundary went south to Luz (or Bethel) and on down to Ataroth-addar on the mountain south of Lower Beth-horon. 14 Here the boundary turned south along the western side of the mountain facing Beth-horon, finishing at Kiriath-baal (or Kiriath-jearim), a town of the tribe of Judah. This was the western boundary.
15 The southern boundary began at the edge of Kiriath-jearim. It ran‡The text says “west” but this is the wrong direction. to the spring at Nephtoah, 16 and then down to the foot of the mountain that faces the valley of Ben-hinnom, at the north end of the valley of Rephaim. Then it went down the valley of Hinnom, along the slope near the Jebusite town,§Jerusalem. south towards En-rogel. 17 From there it headed north to En-shemesh and on to Geliloth, opposite the heights of Adummim, and then on down to the Stone of Bohan (Reuben's son). 18 Then it went along the ridge opposite the Jordan Valley to the north, and then down into the Jordan Valley itself. 19 From there it ran along the north slope of Beth-hoglah, ending at the north bay of the Salt Sea, the southern end of the Jordan. This was the southern boundary.
20 The eastern boundary was the Jordan.
These were the boundaries around the land of the tribe of Benjamin, by families.
21 These were the towns of the tribe of Benjamin, according to families: Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz, 22 Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, 23 Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, 24 Kephar-ammoni, Ophni, and Geba—twelve towns with their associated villages. 25 In addition: Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, 26 Mizpah, Kephirah, Mozah, 27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28 Zela, Haeleph, Jebus (or Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath-jearim—fourteen towns with their associated villages. This was the land allotted to the tribe of Benjamin, by families.

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*18:1 Though subdued, it had not been fully conquered, as events of the time and later demonstrate.

†18:1 “Shiloh” means “place of rest.”

‡18:1 The Tabernacle.

§18:2 From what follows it's clear that the problem was not one of land allocation but a lack of desire to go and take possession of the land.

*18:5 Referring to Ephraim and Manasseh.

†18:10 “Remaining”: implied.

‡18:15 The text says “west” but this is the wrong direction.

§18:16 Jerusalem.

© 2018 Dr. Jonathan Gallagher