18:1,2With most of the conquest behind them, Israel moved its religious center from Gilga! (see the note on 5:8, 9) to Shiloh. This was probably the first permanent location for the Tabernacle. Its central location in the land made it easier for the people to attend the special worship services and yearly festivals. The family of Samuel, a great priest and prophet, later would Often travel to Shiloh, and Samuel would be taken there when a small boy (1 Samuel 1:3, 22), The Tabernacle would remain in Shiloh through the period of the judges (about 300 years). Apparently the city was destroyed by the Philistines when the Ark of the Covenant was captured (1 Samuel 4-5). Shiloh never lived up to its reputation as Israel's religious center, for later references in the Bible point to the wickedness and idolatry in the city (Psalm 78:56-60; Jeremiah 7:12-15).
Life Application Study BibleJoshuaChapter 18
Joshua 18
New Living Translation · Life Application Study Bible · Original pages: 339, 340, 341
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The Allotments of the Remaining Land
1Now that the land was under Israelite control, the entire community of Israel gathered at Shiloh and set up the Tabernacle.* 2But there remained seven tribes who had not yet been allotted their grants of land. 3Then Joshua asked them, “How long are you going to wait before taking possession of the remaining land the LORD, the God of your ancestors, has given to you? 4Select three men from each tribe, and I will send them out to explore the land and map it out. They will then return to me with a written report of their proposed divisions of their new homeland. 5Let them divide the land into seven sections, excluding Judah’s territory in the south and Joseph’s territory in the north. 6And when you record the seven divisions of the land and bring them to me, I will cast sacred lots in the presence of the LORD our God to assign land to each tribe. 7“The Levites, however, will not receive any allotment of land. Their role as priests of the Lorpis their allotment. And the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh won't receive any more land, for they have already received their grant of land, which Moses, the servant of the LORD, gave them on the east side of the Jordan River.” 8As the men started on their way to map out the land, joshua commanded them, “Go and explore the land and write a description of it. Then return to me, and I will assign the land to the tribes by casting sacred lots here in the presence of the LORD at Shiloh.” 9The men did as they were told and mapped the entire territory into seven sections, listing the towns in each section. They made a written record and then returned to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh. 10And there at Shiloh, Joshua cast sacred lots in the presence of the LORD to determine which tribe should have each section.
The Land Given to Benjamin
11“The first allotment of land went to the clans of the tribe of Benjamin. It lay between the territory assigned to the tribes of Judah and Joseph. 12The northern boundary of Benjamin’s land began at the Jordan River, went north of the slope of Jericho, then west through the hill country and the wilderness of Beth-aven. 13From there the boundary went south to Luz (that is, Bethel) and proceeded down to Ataroth-addar on the hill that lies south of Lower Beth-horon. 14The boundary then made a turn and swung south along the western edge of the hill facing Beth-horon, ending at the village of Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a town belonging to the tribe of Judah. This was the western boundary. ‘SThe southern boundary began at the outskirts of Kiriath-jearim. From that western point it ran* to the spring at the waters of Nephtoah,* 1Sand down to the base of the mountain beside the valley of Ben-Hinnom, at the northern end of the valley of Rephaim. From there it went down the valley of Hinnom, crossing south of the slope where the Jebusites lived, and continued down to En-rogel. 17From En-rogel the boundary proceeded in a northerly direction and came to En-shemesh and on to Geliloth (which is across from the slopes of Adummim). Then it went down to the Stone of Bohan. (Bohan was Reuben’s son.) 18From there it passed along the north side of the slope overlooking the Jordan Valley.* The border then went down into the valley, 19 ran past the north slope of Beth-hoglah, and ended at the north bay of the Dead Sea,* which is the southern end of the Jordan River. This was the southern boundary. 20The eastern boundary was the Jordan River. These were the boundaries of the homeland allocated to the clans of the tribe of Benjamin.
The Towns Given to Benjamin
2121These were the towns given to the clans of the tribe of Benjamin. Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz, 22Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, 2°Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, 24Kephar-ammoni, Ophni, and Geba—twelve towns with their surrounding villages. 25Also Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, 26Mizpeh, Kephirah, Mozah, 2?”7Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28Zela, Haeleph, Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath-jearim*— fourteen towns with their surrounding villages. This was the homeland allocated to the clans of the tribe of Benjamin.
Textual footnotes
- Me-nephtoah.
- 18:1 Hebrew Tent of Meeting.
- 18:15a Or From there it went to Mozah. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
- 18:15b Or the spring at
- 18:18 Hebrew overtooking the Arabah, or overlooking Beth-arabah.
- 18:19 Hebrew Salt Sea.
- 18:28 As in Greek
Life Application Notes 6 notes
18:2ffSeven of the tribes had not yet been assigned their land. They gathered at Shiloh, where Joshua cast lots to determine which areas would be given to them. Using the sacred lottery, God would make the choice, not Joshua or any other human leader. By this time, the Canaanites were, in most places, so weakened that they were no longer a threat. Instead of fulfilling God’s command to destroy the remaining Canaanites, however, these seven tribes would often take the path of least resistance. As nomadic people, they may have been reluctant to settle down, preferring to depend economically on the people they were supposed to
18:3-6Joshua asked why some of the tribes were putting off the job of possessing the land. Often we delay doing jobs that seem large, difficult, boring, or disagreeable. But to continue putting them off shows lack of discipline, poor stewardship of time, and. in some cases, disobedience to God. Jabs we don’t enjoy require concentration, teamwork, twice as much time, lots of encouragement, and accountability. Remember this when you are tempted to procrastinate.
18:8Making decisions by casting lots was a common practice among the Hebrews. Little is known about the actual method used in Joshua's day. A type of dice may have been used. Another possibility is that two urns were used: one containing tribal names; the other, the divisions of the land. Drawing one name from each urn matched a tribe to a region. The Urim and Thummim (explained in the note on Leviticus 8:8) may also have been used. No matter how it was done, the process removed human choice from the decision-making process and allowed God to match tribes and lands as he saw fit.
18:11The tribe of Benjamin was given a narrow strip of land that served as a buffer zone between Judah and Ephraim, the two tribes that would later dominate the land.
18:16The valley of Hinnom became associated with the worship of Molech (the Ammonite god) in Jeremiah’s time. These terrible rites involved the sacrifice of children. Later the valley was used for burning garbage and the corpses of criminals and animals. Thus, the name became a synonym for hell.
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eliminate. Others may have feared the high cost of continued warfare. Trading for goods was easier and more profitable than destroying the suppliers and having to provide for themselves. TUE ToOIMce GV—C_—_——— nT
THE TRIBES WEST OF THE JORDAN Judah, Ephraim, and the other half-tribe of Manasseh were the first tribes to receive land west of the Jordan because of their past acts of faith. The remaining seven tribes—Benjamin, Zebulun, issachar, Asher, Naphtali, Simeon, and Dan—-were slow to conquer and Possess the land allotted to them.
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19:11 10:15
dosh 21:34 Mic 5:2
19:18 1 Sam 28:4
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