The Book of Joshua
Joshua 18
Chapter XVIII · Vol. I, pp. 566–567
1 The tabernacle is set up at Shiloh. 2 The remainder of the land is described, and divided into seven parts. 10 Joshua divideth it by lot. 11 The lot and border of Benjamin. 21 Their cities.
1 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at aShiloh,1 and set up the btabernacle of the congregation there: and the land was subdued before them.
a ch.19.51; 22.9. Ju.18.31; 21.19. Ps.78.60. Je.7.12,14; 26.6.
1 A celebrated city, built on a hill, about 24 miles north of Jerusalem. Here the ark remained till carried to the army in the time of Eli, and being taken by the Philistines, never returned. It seems from that period to have declined, till its ruins became a proverb, Ps. 78. 60. Je. 7. 12.—Note, Religious privileges neglected, abused, or turned to superstition, are sure, sooner or later, to call down visible judgments, 1 Co. 11. 30.—C.
b Ex.xl. It continued there about 349 years, 1 Sa.iv. Je.7.12,14; 26.6.
2 And there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes, which had not yet received their inheritance.
3 And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, cHow long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the LORD God of your fathers hath given you?
4 Give out from among you three men for each tribe: and I will send them, and they shall rise and go through the land, and ddescribe it according to the inheritance of them; and they shall come again to me.
5 And they shall divide it into seven parts: Judahe shall abide in their coast on the south, and the house of Joseph shall abide in their coasts on the north.
6 Yef 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.
f ver.8. Pr.16.33. Nu.26.54,55; 34.13-29. ch.14.2.
7 But the gLevites have no part among you; for the priesthood of the LORD is their inheritance:2 and hGad, 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.
g Le.22.14. ch.13.14. De.10.9; 18.1,2.
2 The frequency with which the disinheritance of the Levites is repeated, see Nu. 18. 21, 24. Jos. 13. 14; 14. 3, 4, &c., cannot be fully explained by any principle but their typical character. And truth it is, that of nothing does a believer require to be so often reminded, as, that here he is a 'pilgrim,' has 'no certain dwelling-place,' but that the 'testimonies of the Lord are his inheritance.'—C.
h Nu.32.29-41. De.3.1-17; 4.47,48. ch.13.8-31.
8 And 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,3 and come again to me, that I may here icast lots for you before the LORD in Shiloh.
3 As Nu. 13. 17-20 is the most ancient statistical so this is the most ancient geographical commission. It is interesting as indicating a degree of scientific knowledge, and exhibiting science as the handmaid of a wise policy and true religion.—C.
i ver.10; ch.15.1; 13.7; 14.1,2; 7.16-18. Phi.2.4. Nu.26.54-56. Ro.14.19. 1 Co.10.31. Pr.16.33. 1 Sa.10.20,21; 14.41. Ac.1.24,26.
9 And 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.
10 And Joshua kcast lots for them in Shiloh before the LORD : and there Joshua divided the land unto the children of Israel according to their divisions.
11 And the lot of the tribe of the children of Benjamin came up4 according to their families: and the coast of their lot came forth lbetween the children of Judah and the children of Joseph.
4 The lot came up; with the exact mode of the lot we are unacquainted, the expression 'came up,' compared with Pr. 16. 33, and with the declaration of Joshua, that he would cast the lots before the Lord, suggests the idea that the names of the tribes were written and cast into the loose robe of the high-priest, and thence drawn up in succession.—C.
12 And their border on the north side was from Jordan; and the border went up to the side of mJericho on the north side, and went up through the mountains westward; and the goings out thereof were at the nwilderness of Beth-aven.o
m ch.2.1,16,22; 3.15,16; 6.1,24.
n ch.7.2; 8.20.
o Beth-el, so called from the idols worshipped there, ch. 7. 2. Ho.4.15.
13 And the border went over from thence toward pLuz, to the side of Luz, (which is Beth-el,q) southward; and the border descended to rAtaroth-adar, near the hill that lieth on the south side of the nether Beth-horon.
14 And the border was drawn thence, and compassed the corner of sthe sea southward,5 from the hill that lieth before Beth-horon southward;6 and the goings out thereof were at tKirjath-baal, (which is Kirjath-jearim,) a city of the children of Judah. This was the west quarter.
s The pool of Gibeon, Je.41.12. 2 Sa.2.13.
5 Neither the Dead Sea nor Mediterranean, but a lake or pool at Gibeon, 2 Sa. 2. 13, and which though narrow at the part where Abner and Joab met, must have been of considerable extent, being called 'the great waters' by Jeremiah, 41. 12. Some learned authors, however, instead of 'sea,' render it 'from the west;' but they seem to have been driven to this translation, from the difficulty of any reference to the sea in an inland province. But such lakes as that of Gibeon are called seas, both in the Old and New Testaments.—C.
t ch.9.17; 15.9,60. 1 Sa.7.1,2. 2 Sa.6.2.
6 The proper rendering of the first clause of ver. 14 would seem to me to be as follows:—'And the border was drawn and passed round the western side southward—from the hill which is in front of Beth-horon southward.' The Hebrew word translated in the English version 'sea' is very frequently used to signify 'west,' because the Mediterranean was the western boundary of all Palestine. In ver. 15 it has this meaning, 'the border went out on the west.'—P.
15 And 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;u
u ch.15.9.
16 And the border came down to the end of the xmountain that lieth before the valley of the son of Hinnom, and which is in the yvalley of the giants on the north, and descended to the zvalley of Hinnom, to the side of aJebusi on the south, and descended to En-rogel,
17 And was drawn from the north, and went forth to En-shemesh, and went forth toward bGeliloth, which is over against the going up of Adummim, and descended to cthe stone of Bohan the son of Reuben,
b Gilgal, ch.15.7.
c ch.15.6. It was erected to his honour, or by him.
18 And passed along toward the side over against Arabah7 northward, and went down unto Arabah;
7 Or, the plain.
19 And the border passed along to the side of dBeth-hoglah northward: and the outgoings of the border were at the north bay8 of ethe salt sea, at the south end of fJordan. This was the south coast.
20 And 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.
21 Now the cities of the tribe of the children of Benjamin, according to their families, were gJericho,9 and hBeth-hoglah, and the valley of Keziz,
g ch.2.1; 6.1,24.
9 Jericho had been destroyed, and was doomed not to be rebuilt. The site, however, belonged to Benjamin, and consequently the ruins are still called a city.—C.
h Ge.50.10. ch.15.6.
23 And Avim, and Parah, and lOphrah,
l 1 Sa.13.17. not that Ju.6.11.
26 And qMizpeh, and Chephirah, and Mozah,
q Not that ch.15.38, nor that ch.11.3. Ju.10.17, but 1 Ki.15.22. Je.xl.xli.
27 And Rekem, and Irpeel, and Taralah,
28 And rZelah, Eleph, and sJebusi, (which is Jerusalem,1) Gibeath, and Kirjath: fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the children of Benjamin, taccording to their families.
r 2 Sa.21.14.
s ch.15.63. 2 Sa.5.8. ver.16. Jerusalem belonged partly to Judah and partly to Benjamin.
1 Jerusalem is also assigned to Judah; and, in point of fact, it was a city common to Judah and Benjamin.—C.
Notes
Reflections.—It is highly becoming when a serious regard to the worship of Christ and the church of God is intermingled with our most engaging earthly concerns; and it is dangerous to form families or kingdoms without the true worship of God. But what a blessing is it for a church or nation, when the Lord is a wall of fire round about them, and the glory in the midst of them! What mercies then are ours! We have his ordinances, not merely in the midst of our land, but near at hand, in every corner of it: and safely may we, in the midst of enemies, go about the Lord's work. Let us beware then how we are unconcerned about promised enjoyments or commanded duties; lest the sweets of present comforts, or the difficulties in our way to the Canaan above, should weaken our desire, or hinder our attempts, to obtain it. Blessed be God that, though the enjoyment of it be not equally soon obtained, yet it is equally sure to all believers; and that there, as well as here, each is placed in a station answerable to his abilities and powers of enjoyment.