Joshua 18

Chapter context

What is happening in Joshua 18?

inheritancerestcovenant fidelityholy war

Joshua 18 belongs to the middle movement of the book, especially the section often described as southern and northern victories with unresolved tensions. Joshua tells of the crossing into Canaan, the fall of Jericho, complex campaigns in the land, tribal allotments, and a final renewal of covenant loyalty. Read this chapter with the wider themes of inheritance, rest, and covenant fidelity in view so the individual verses keep their proper weight.

¹ And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle of the congregation there. And the land was subdued before them. 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, How 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 describe it according to the inheritance of them; and they shall come again to me. ⁵ And they shall divide it into seven parts: Judah shall abide in their coast on the south, and the house of Joseph shall abide in their coasts on the north. ⁶ Ye 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. ⁷ But the Levites have no part among you; for the priesthood of the LORD is their inheritance: and Gad, 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. 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, and come again to me, that I may here cast lots for you before the LORD in Shiloh. 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 cast 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 up according to their families: and the coast of their lot came forth between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph. ¹² And their border on the north side was from Jordan; and the border went up to the side of Jericho on the north side, and went up through the mountains westward; and the goings out thereof were at the wilderness of Bethaven. ¹³ And the border went over from thence toward Luz, to the side of Luz, which is Bethel, southward; and the border descended to Atarothadar, near the hill that lieth on the south side of the nether Bethhoron. ¹⁴ And the border was drawn thence, and compassed the corner of the sea southward, from the hill that lieth before Bethhoron southward; and the goings out thereof were at Kirjathbaal, which is Kirjathjearim, a city of the children of Judah: this was the west quarter. ¹⁵ And the south quarter was from the end of Kirjathjearim, and the border went out on the west, and went out to the well of waters of Nephtoah: ¹⁶ And the border came down to the end of the mountain that lieth before the valley of the son of Hinnom, and which is in the valley of the giants on the north, and descended to the valley of Hinnom, to the side of Jebusi on the south, and descended to Enrogel, ¹⁷ And was drawn from the north, and went forth to Enshemesh, and went forth toward Geliloth, which is over against the going up of Adummim, and descended to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben, ¹⁸ And passed along toward the side over against Arabah northward, and went down unto Arabah: ¹⁹ And the border passed along to the side of Bethhoglah northward: and the outgoings of the border were at the north bay of the salt sea at the south end of Jordan: 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 Jericho, and Bethhoglah, and the valley of Keziz, ²² And Betharabah, and Zemaraim, and Bethel, ²³ And Avim, and Parah, and Ophrah, ²⁴ And Chepharhaammonai, and Ophni, and Gaba; twelve cities with their villages: ²⁵ Gibeon, and Ramah, and Beeroth, ²⁶ And Mizpeh, and Chephirah, and Mozah, ²⁷ And Rekem, and Irpeel, and Taralah, ²⁸ And Zelah, Eleph, and Jebusi, which is Jerusalem, Gibeath, and Kirjath; fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their families.

Study helps

Glossary

Shiloh Place v. 1, 8-10: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Khirbet Seilun.
Tabernacle Object v. 1: (1. ) A house or dwelling-place ( Job 5:24 ; 18:6 , etc. ). (2. ) A portable shrine (comp. Acts 19:24 ) containing the image of Moloch ( Amos 5:26 ; marg. and R. V., “Siccuth”). (3. ) The human body.
Joshua Tribe v. 3, 8-10: Jehovah is his help, or Jehovah the Saviour. The son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim, the successor of Moses as the leader of Israel. He is called Jehoshua in Num. 13:16 (A. V. ), and Jesus in Acts 7:45 and Heb. 4:8 .
Gad Person v. 7: Fortune; luck. (1. ) Jacob’s seventh son, by Zilpah, Leah’s handmaid, and the brother of Asher ( Gen. 30:11-13 ; 46:16 , 18). In the Authorized Version of 30:11 the words, “A troop cometh: and she called,” etc.
Jordan Place v. 7, 12, 19-20: Biblical river. Modern identification: Jordan River.
Reuben Person v. 7, 17: Behold a son!, the eldest son of Jacob and Leah ( Gen. 29:32 ). His sinful conduct, referred to in Gen. 35:22 , brought down upon him his dying father’s malediction (48:4).
Benjamin Person v. 11, 20-21, 28: Son of my right hand. (1. ) The younger son of Jacob by Rachel ( Gen. 35:18 ). His birth took place at Ephrath, on the road between Bethel and Bethlehem, at a short distance from the latter place.
Beth-aven Place v. 12: House of nothingness; i. e., “of idols”, a place in the mountains of Benjamin, east of Bethel ( Josh. 7:2 ; 18:12 ; 1 Sam. 13:5 ). In Hos. 4:15 ; 5:8 ; 10:5 it stands for “Bethel”. Modern identification: Tell Maryam.
Jericho Place v. 12, 21: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Tell es Sultan.
Ataroth-addar Place v. 13: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Khirbet Atara.
Bethel Place v. 13, 22: House of God. (1. ) A place in Central Palestine, about 10 miles north of Jerusalem, at the head of the pass of Michmash and Ai. It was originally the royal Canaanite city of Luz ( Gen. 28:19 ). Modern identification: Beitin.
Lower Beth-horon Place v. 13: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Beit Ur al Tahta.
Luz Place v. 13: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Beitin.
Beth-horon Place v. 14: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Beit Ur al Tahta.
City People v. 14: The earliest mention of city-building is that of Enoch, which was built by Cain ( Gen. 4:17 ). After the confusion of tongues, the descendants of Nimrod founded several cities (10:10-12).
Kiriath-jearim Place v. 14-15, 28: City, a city belonging to Benjamin ( Josh. 18:28 ), the modern Kuriet el-‘Enab, i. e., “city of grapes”, about 7 1/2 miles west-north-west of Jerusalem. Modern identification: Deir el Azar.
Ephron Place v. 15: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Al Qastal.
Nephtoah Place v. 15: Opened, a fountain and a stream issuing from it on the border between Judah and Benjamin ( Josh. 15:8 , 9; 18:15). It has been identified with ‘Ain Lifta, a spring about 2 1/2 miles north-west of Jerusalem.
En-rogel Place v. 16-17: Biblical spring. Modern identification: Bir Ayub.
Hinnom Person v. 16: A deep, narrow ravine separating Mount Zion from the so-called “Hill of Evil Counsel. ” It took its name from “some ancient hero, the son of Hinnom. ” It is first mentioned in Josh. 15:8 .
Jebus Place v. 16, 28: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Jerusalem.
Valley of Hinnom Place v. 16: Biblical valley. Modern identification: Hinnom Valley.
Valley of Rephaim Place v. 16: Biblical valley. Modern identification: Valley of Rephaim.
Adummim Place v. 17: The red ones, a place apparently on the road between Jericho and Jerusalem, “on the south side of the torrent” Wady Kelt, looking toward Gilgal, mentioned Josh. 15:7 ; 18:17 . Modern identification: Adummim.
En-shemesh Place v. 17: Fountain of the sun a spring which formed one of the landmarks on the boundary between Judah and Benjamin ( Josh. 15:7 ; 18:17 ). Modern identification: Ein Haud.
Geliloth Place v. 17: Circles; regions, a place in the border of Benjamin ( Josh. 18:17 ); called Gilgal in 15:7. Modern identification: Araq ed Deir.
Arabah Place v. 18: A name given to Abi-albon, or, as elsewhere called, Abiel, one of David’s warriors ( 2 Sam. 23:31 ; 1 Chr. 11:32 ), probably as being an inhabitant of Arabah ( Josh. 15:61 ), a town in the wilderness of Judah.
Beth-arabah Place v. 18, 22: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Ain el Gharabeh.
Beth-hoglah Place v. 19, 21: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Deir Hajla.
Salt Sea Place v. 19: (Heb. yam), signifies (1) “the gathering together of the waters,” the ocean ( Gen. 1:10 ); (2) a river, as the Nile ( Isa. 19:5 ), the Euphrates ( Isa. 21:1 ; Jer. 51:36 ); (3) the Red Sea. Modern identification: Dead Sea.
Emek-keziz Place v. 21: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Tell es Sultan.
Zemaraim Place v. 22: (1. ) A town of Benjamin ( Josh. 18:22 ); now the ruin, rather two ruins, es-Sumrah, 4 miles north of Jericho. (2. ) A mount in the highlands of Ephraim, to the north of Jerusalem ( 2 Chr. 13:4-20 ). Modern identification: Ras et Tahuneh.
Avvim Place v. 23: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Et Tell.
Ophrah Place v. 23: A fawn. 1 Chr. 4:14 . (1. ) A city of Benjamin ( Josh. 18:23 ); probably identical with Ephron ( 2 Chr. 13:19 ) and Ephraim ( John 11:54 ). (2. ). Modern identification: Taybeh.
Parah Place v. 23: The heifer, a town in Benjamin ( Josh. 18:23 ), supposed to be identical with the ruins called Far’ah, about 6 miles north-east of Jerusalem, in the Wady Far’ah, which is a branch of the Wady Kelt. Modern identification: Khirbet Ein Fara.
Chephar-ammoni Place v. 24: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Khirbet Kafr Ana.
Geba Place v. 24: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Jaba.
Ophni Place v. 24: Mouldy, a city of Benjamin ( Josh. 18:24 ). Modern identification: Jifna.
Beeroth Place v. 25: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Khirbet el Burj.
Gibeon Place v. 25: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: El Jib.
Ramah Place v. 25: ( Matt. 2:18 ), the Greek form of Ramah. (1. ) A city first mentioned in Josh. 18:25 , near Gibeah of Benjamin. It was fortified by Baasha, king of Israel ( 1 Kings 15:17-22 ; 2 Chr. 16:1-6 ). Modern identification: Al Ram.
Chephirah Place v. 26: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Khirbet el Kefireh.
Mizpeh Place v. 26: Or Miz’peh, watch-tower; the look-out. (1. ) A place in Gilead, so named by Laban, who overtook Jacob at this spot ( Gen. 31:49 ) on his return to Palestine from Padan-aram. Modern identification: Tell en Nasbeh.
Mozah Place v. 26: An issuing of water, a city of Benjamin ( Josh. 18:26 ). Modern identification: Qalunya.
Irpeel Place v. 27: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Rafat.
Rekem Place v. 27: Embroidered; variegated. (1. ) One of the five Midianite kings whom the Israelites destroyed ( Num. 31:8 ). (2. ) One of the sons of Hebron ( 1 Chr. 2:43 , 44). (3. ) A town of Benjamin ( Josh. 18:27 ). Modern identification: Feldstein et al Site 43.
Taralah Place v. 27: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Khirbet Erha.
Gibeah Place v. 28: Biblical hill. Modern identification: Tel el Ful.
Haeleph Place v. 28: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Khirbet Salah.
Jerusalem Place v. 28: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Jerusalem.
Zela Place v. 28: Slope; side, a town in Benjamin, where Saul and his son Jonathan were buried ( 2 Sam. 21:14 ). It was probably Saul’s birthplace. Modern identification: Khirbet Salah.