The whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled themselves together at Shiloh, and set up the Tent of Meeting there. The land was subdued before them. Seven tribes remained among the children of Israel, which had not yet divided their inheritance. Joshua said to the children of Israel, “How long will you neglect to go in to possess the land, which Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has given you? Appoint for yourselves three men from each tribe. I will send them, and they shall arise, walk through the land, and describe it according to their inheritance; then they shall come to me. They shall divide it into seven portions. Judah shall live in his borders on the south, and the house of Joseph shall live in their borders on the north. You shall survey the land into seven parts, and bring the description here to me; and I will cast lots for you here before Yahweh our God. However, the Levites have no portion among you; for the priesthood of Yahweh is their inheritance. Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance east of the Jordan, which Moses the servant of Yahweh gave them.”
The men arose and went. Joshua commanded those who went to survey the land, saying, “Go walk through the land, survey it, and come again to me. I will cast lots for you here before Yahweh in Shiloh.”
The men went and passed through the land, and surveyed it by cities into seven portions in a book. They came to Joshua to the camp at Shiloh. Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before Yahweh. There Joshua divided the land to the children of Israel according to their divisions.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv1, 4, 9 1. And the whole congregation of the children of…
1. And the whole congregation of the children of Israel, etc Here we have a narrative of the celebrated convention held in Shiloh, where it was deliberated, as to the casting of the remaining lots. For although with pious zeal they had attempted the casting of lots, yet the proceeding had been interrupted, as if victory behooved to precede the distribution which depended solely on the mouth of God. They assemble, therefore, in Shiloh to determine what was necessary to be done in future. And there is no doubt that Joshua summoned this meeting in order to raise them from their lethargy. For they do not come forward spontaneously with any proposal, but he begins with upbraiding them with having been sluggish and remiss in entering on the inheritance which God had bestowed upon them. It is easy to infer from his speech that they had shown great alacrity at the outset, but that there had been no perseverance.
And yet that obedience, which shortly after grew languid, was honored with the approbation of the Holy Spirit. It is to be observed that the people are blamed, not for neglecting to proceed to the lot, but for not occupying the inheritance divinely offered to them. And, certainly, as the distribution by lot was a sign of confidence, so each district which fell out to each was a sure and faithful pledge of future possession; for the Lord was by no means deluding them in assigning to each his portion.
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The word דפה, which I have translated “to cease,” signifies also to be remiss or feeble. He charges them, therefore, with base heartlessness, in that while the full time for routing the enemy had arrived, they by their delays retard and suspend the effect of the divine goodness. For had they been contented with the bare lot, and faithfully embraced the results which it gave, they would doubtless have been prompt and expeditious in carrying on the war, nay, would have hastened like conquerors to a triumph.
The ark is said to have been stationed at Shiloh, not only that the consultation might be graver and more sacred, as held in the presence of God, but because it was a completely subjugated place, and safe from all external violence and injury. For it behooved to be their special care to prevent its exposure to sudden assault. No doubt the hand of God would have been stretched to ward off attacks of the enemy from any quarter; still, however, though God dwelt among them, they were to be regarded as its guardians and attendants.
But although a station for the ark was then chosen, it was not a perpetual abode, but only a temporary lodging. For it was not left to the will or suffrages of the people to fix the seat where God should dwell, but they behooved to wait for the period so often referred to in the Law, when he was to establish the memorial of his name elsewhere. This was at length accomplished when Mount Zion was set apart for the Temple. For this reason it is said in the Psalm,
“Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem.” (Psalm 122:2)
These words intimate that up to that time the ark was pilgrimating. At last the ruin and devastation of Shiloh showed that no rank or dignity can screen those who corrupt the blessings of God from his vengeance. Up to the death of Eli, God allowed his sacred name to be worshipped there; but when all religion was polluted by the impiety of the priests, and almost abolished by the ingratitude of the people, that spot became to posterity a signal monument of punishment. Accordingly, Jeremiah tells the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who were proudly boasting of their Temple, to turn their eyes to that example. Speaking in the name of the Lord, he says,
“Go you now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.” (Jeremiah 7:12)
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 For they had now removed it from Gilgal, and…
For they had now removed it from Gilgal, and set it up in Shiloh.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–10 Jos 18:1 And the whole congregation of the children…
Jos 18:1 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.
Ver. 1. Assembled together at Shiloh.] {a} Which, both by the signification of the name, and by the situation of the place, seemeth to some to be the same with Salem, Melchizedek’s city, whose palace, Jerome saith, was in his time to be seen in the city Salem, near whereunto John baptized, {Joh 3:23} which also, {Gen 33:18} according to his translation and the Seventy’s, is called the city of the Sichemites, because it stood in the country of the Shechemites, as did also Shiloh. {Jos 24:25-26; Jos 18:1 Gen 35:4 Jdg 9:6; Jdg 21:9}
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And set up the tabernacle.] According to Deu 12:5 Jer 7:12; and here the tabernacle abode for above three hundred years, till for sin it was removed thence. {Jer 7:8} All that I fear, saith a reverend divine {b} yet living, is, lest according to Mr Herbert’s prophecy it prove true, viz., that the gospel be, in its solar motion, travelling for the west and American parts, and quitting its present places of residence and unworthy professors and possessors: and then, farewell, England.
{a} Ut enim שׁלם pacificam denotat et tranquillam, {Gen 34:21 Nah 1:12} ita et שׁלה. {Dan 6:1} Unde et Messias "Shiloh" appellatur.
{b} Mr Baxter.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 Set up the tabernacle of the congregation there, by…
Set up the tabernacle of the congregation there, by God’s appointment, as is manifest from Deu 12:5, &c.; Jer 7:12. Hither it was removed from Gilgal, partly for the honour and conveniency of Joshua, that he being of the tribe of Ephraim, and seating himself there, might have the opportunity of consulting with God as oft as he desired and needed; and partly for the conveniency of all the tribes, that, being in the heart and centre of them, they might more easily resort to it from all places. Here the tabernacle continued for above three hundred years, even till Samuel’s days, 1Sa 1:3.
And the land, or, for the land, because these words contain a reason of the former action: the particle and is oft used for for, as hath been showed.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv1–2 In the midst of the story of the dividing…
In the midst of the story of the dividing of the land comes in this account of the setting up of the tabernacle, which had hitherto continued in its old place in the centre of their camp; but now that three of the four squadrons that used to surround it in the wilderness were broken and diminished, those of Judah, Ephraim, and Reuben, by the removal of those tribes to their respective possessions, and that of Dan only remained entire, it was time to think of removing the tabernacle itself into a city. Many a time the priests and Levites had taken it down, carried it, and set it up again in the wilderness, according to the directions given them (Num 4:5, etc.); but now they must do it for good and all, not one of the stakes thereof must any more be removed, nor any of the cords thereof broken, Isa 33:20. Observe,
I. The place to which the tabernacle was removed, and in which it was set up. It was Shiloh, a city in the lot of Ephraim, but lying close upon the lot of Benjamin. Doubtless God himself did some way or other direct them to this place, for he had promised to choose the place where he would make his name to dwell, Deu 12:11. It is most probable God made known his mind in this matter by the judgment of Urim. This place was pitched upon, 1. Because it was in the heart of the country, nearer the centre than Jerusalem was, and therefore the more convenient for the meeting of all Israel there from the several parts of the country; it had been in the midst of their camp in the wilderness, and therefore must now be in the midst of their nation, as that which sanctified the whole, and was the glory in the midst of them. See Psa 46:5. 2. Because it was in the lot of that tribe of which Joshua was, who was now their chief magistrate, and it would be both for his honour and convenience and for the advantage of the country to have it near him. The testimony of Israel and the thrones of judgment do well together, Psa 122:4, Psa 122:5. 3. Some think there was an eye to the name of the place, Shiloh being the name by which the Messiah was known in dying Jacob's prophecy (Gen 49:10), which prophecy, no doubt, was well known among the Jews; the setting up of the tabernacle in Shiloh gave them a hint that in that Shiloh whom Jacob spoke of all the ordinances of this worldly sanctuary should have their accomplishment in a greater and more perfect tabernacle, Heb 9:1, Heb 9:11. And Dr. Lightfoot thinks that the place where the tabernacle was set up was therefore called Shiloh, because of the peaceableness of the land at this time; as afterwards in Salem was his temple, which also signifies peaceable.
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II. The solemn manner of doing it: The whole congregation assembled together to attend the solemnity, to do honour to the ark of God, as the token of his presence, and to bid it welcome to its settlement. Every Israelite was interested in it, and therefore all testified their joy and satisfaction upon this occasion. See Sa2 6:15. It is probable those tribes that were yet encamped when the tabernacle was removed to Shiloh decamped from Gilgal and pitched about Shiloh, for every true Israelite will desire to fix where God's tabernacle fixed. Mention is made, on this occasion, of the land being subdued before them, to intimate that the country, hereabouts at least, being thoroughly reduced, they met with no opposition, nor were they apprehensive of any danger, but thought it time to make this grateful acknowledgment of God's goodness to them in the constant series of successes with which he had blessed them. It was a good presage of a comfortable settlement to themselves in Canaan, when their first care was to see the ark well settled as soon as they had a safe place ready to settle it in. Here the ark continued about 300 years, till the sins of Eli's house forfeited the ark, lost it and ruined Shiloh, and its ruins were long after made use of as warnings to Jerusalem. Go, see what I did to Shiloh, Jer 7:12; Psa 78:60.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–10 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel…
And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh,.... The whole body of the people, men, women, and children, as well as the camp, Jos 18:9; at least all that had not received their inheritances in the land. Hither they came from Gilgal, where the camp and tabernacle had been ever since their passage over Jordan; but now the land being in the main subdued, that was too far off both for the camp and tabernacle, and therefore they moved further into the land, and nearer Jerusalem, where in time the tabernacle was to be placed. The place they assembled at, Shiloh, was in the tribe of Ephraim, of which tribe Joshua was, and whose lot and inheritance was now fixed, and it was not far from Jerusalem, about two leagues. Jerom says (u) it was ten miles from, Neapolis or Shechem, in the country of Acrabatena; and that there were scarce any ruins of it to be seen in his day, only an altar demolished was shown (w). It seems to have its name from the peaceable condition the land was now in, and very likely was now given it on that account:
and set up the tabernacle of the congregation there; no doubt by the appointment and direction of God, signified to Eleazar the high priest, either by a voice, or by Urim and Thummim; and the removal of it seemed necessary, partly that because several camps which surrounded it were now broken up and settled in their cities, as Reuben, Judah, and Ephraim; and partly that it might be near where Joshua, the governor of Israel, resided, Ephraim being his tribe; and also since Gilgal, on the borders of the land, was too far off for the people to resort to the tabernacle, and therefore it was, proper it should be more in the heart of the country: when this was done, cannot certainly be determined; Kimchi says it was fourteen years after the Israelites came into the land of Canaan; and so says (x) their chronology; but it is highly probable it was before that time, and not longer than seven or eight years at most; here the tabernacle continued, according to the Jewish writers (y), three hundred sixty nine years, even unto the times of Samuel, when for the sins of the sons of Eli it was removed. Eupolemus (z), an Heathen writer, speaks of the holy temple being fixed at Shiloh by Joshua:
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and the land was subdued before them: the far greater part of it, and all so as to have no disturbance from, or war with, the inhabitants.
(u) De loc. Heb. fol. 94. I. (w) Comment. in Soph. c. 1. fol. 94. I. Epitaph. Paul. fol. 59. L. (x) Seder Olam Rabba, c. 11. p. 32. (y) Maimon. in Misn. Zebachim, c. 14. sect. 6. Bartenora in ib. sect. 7. Seder Olam Rabba, ut supra. (x)) (z) Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 30. p. 447.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9 The setting up of the tabernacle at Shiloh, ver.…
The setting up of the tabernacle at Shiloh, ver. 1. Joshua's stirring up the seven remaining tribes to look after their lot, ver. 2- 7. The division of the land into several lots assigned to those several tribes, ver. 8-10. The lot of Benjamin, ver. 11-28.
Set up the tabernacle - By God's appointment. It was removed from Gilgal, partly for the honour and conveniency of Joshua, that he being of the tribe of Ephraim, and seating himself there, might have the opportunity of consulting with God as often as he needed; and partly for the conveniency of all the tribes, that being in the center of them, they might more easily resort to it from all places. Here the tabernacle continued for above three hundred years, even 'till Samuel's days, 1 Sam. i, 3. Shiloh was the name given to the Messiah in dying Jacob's prophecy. So the pitching the tabernacle in Shiloh intimated to the Jews, that in that Shiloh whom Jacob spoke of, all the ordinances of this worldly sanctuary should have their accomplishment, in a greater and more perfect tabernacle.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9 The tabernacle is set up at Shiloh, 1.
CHAPTER XVIII
The tabernacle is set up at Shiloh, 1.
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Seven of the tribes having not yet received their inheritance, 2.
Joshua orders three men from each tribe to be chosen, and sent
to examine the land and divide it into seven parts, which
should be distributed among them by lot, 3-7.
The men go and do as commanded, and return to Joshua, 8, 9.
Joshua casts lots for them, 10.
The lot of Benjamin, how situated, 11.
Its northern boundaries, 12-14.
Its southern boundaries, 15-19.
Its eastern boundary, 20.
Its cities, 21-28.
NOTES ON CHAP. XVIII
Verse 1. Israel assembled together at Shiloh] This appears to have been a considerable town about fifteen miles from Jerusalem, in the tribe of Ephraim, and nearly in the centre of the whole land. To this place both the camp of Israel, and the ark of the Lord, were removed from Gilgal, after a residence there of seven years. Here the tabernacle remained one hundred and thirty years, as is generally supposed, being the most conveniently situated for access to the different tribes, and for safety, the Israelites having possession of the land on all sides; for it is here added, the land was subdued before them - the Canaanites were so completely subdued, that there was no longer any general resistance to the Israelitish arms.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9 Jos 18:1. The whole congregation of the children of…
Jos 18:1. The whole congregation of the children of Israel — Not only their elders, and heads of their tribes, who represented the people of Israel, and are sometimes meant by the whole congregation; but, as the expression may here very well signify, the whole body of the people, who, it is probable, accompanied the ark, in order to fix it in a new situation. Assembled together at Shiloh — A place in the tribe of Ephraim, about fifteen miles from Jerusalem, situate upon a hill in the heart of the country. And set up the tabernacle there — Which had now remained seven years with the camp at Gilgal. No doubt if was by God’s order that it was removed hither, for he was to choose the place of its residence, Deu 12:5; Deu 12:11; Deu 12:14. And, it is probable, he made known his will in this respect by the oracle of Urim and Thummim, and by giving some extraordinary token of his accepting their sacrifices there. For when he made choice of mount Zion, an angel ordered the Prophet Gad to direct David to set up an altar in the threshing-floor of Ornan, and there God answered by fire, 1Ch 21:18; 1Ch 21:26. It would have been too far, after the division of the land, for all the tribes to go up to Gilgal to transact all that the law required to be done at the tabernacle, and now indispensably necessary to be performed there, although, while they sojourned in the wilderness, they did not observe these rules. This place was very convenient for all the tribes to resort to, being in the centre of them, and likewise very safe, being guarded by the two powerful tribes of Judah and Ephraim. And being in the lot of the latter tribe, to which Joshua belonged, and in which he probably fixed his stated abode, it was both for his honour and convenience that it was placed here; that he might have the opportunity of consulting God by Urim as often as he needed, and might more easily finish what remained to be done in the division of the land. Here, it is thought, the tabernacle remained for the space of three hundred and fifty years, even till the days of Samuel, 1Sa 1:3. Archbishop Usher, however, only reckons the time to be three hundred and twenty- eight years. Shiloh was the name given to the Messiah in dying Jacob’s prophecy. So the pitching the tabernacle in Shiloh, says Henry, intimated to the Jews, that “in that Shiloh whom Jacob spoke of all the ordinances of this worldly sanctuary should have their accomplishment in a greater and more perfect tabernacle.”
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 10 After all overt resistance was overcome, the tabernacle with…
After all overt resistance was overcome, the tabernacle with its sacred contents was removed from its place of safety at Gilgal, in a corner of the land near the Jordan, to a central place, Shiloh, the modern Scilun, which is two or three miles east of the main road, and rather more than half way between Jerusalem and Nablous. Its choice as the national sanctuary may indeed have been determined by Joshua, no doubt under divine direction Deu 12:11, because of its insignificance, in order to avoid local jealousies, as well as because of its position in the very center of the whole land, and perhaps also because of its seclusion. Its very name (“rest”) was probably bestowed at this juncture when God had given the people rest from their enemies. The tabernacle with its contents continued at Shiloh during the whole period of the Judges, until its capture by the Philistines. Shiloh 1Sa 4:3-4 seems to have fallen into desolation at an early date Jer 7:12; Jer 26:6.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9 Silo was delightfully situated, about the midst of the…
Silo was delightfully situated, about the midst of the country, 12 miles south of Sichem. Hither the Israelites removed the ark from Galgal after having had their camp in the latter place seven years at least; the Jews say 14. But Josue might reproach the Israelites for their indolence, (ver. 3,) without waiting seven years after the country was divided. --- Tabernacle. The Jews pretend that this was not the same as that set up by Moses; and others say that a house was built for the Lord at Silo, 1 Kings i. 23. But there seems to be no reason for these assertions. David informs us that the ark of the Lord was covered with skins, 2 Kings vii. 2. If any repairs were found necessary for the tabernacle erected by Moses, they might be made. The ark was certainly in it till the Israelites unfortunately sent it into the camp, where it was taken by the Philistines. When they sent back the ark, it was deposited at Gabaa, and not in the tabernacle, which was at Silo. Then it was sent to Nobe. We find the tabernacle was at Gabaon some time after the ark was translated to Jerusalem. (Calmet) --- Them. They might, therefore, removed the ark into the interior, and measure the country without danger. (Menochius) --- The greatest part of the country had submitted to Josue. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1 3. The Territories of the Seven remaining Tribes: Benjamin,…
3. The Territories of the Seven remaining Tribes: Benjamin, Simeon, Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, Dan; and the Possession of Joshua
Joshua 18, 19
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a. Setting up of the Tabernacle at Shiloh. Description of the Land yet to be divided
Jos_18:1-10
1And the whole congregation of the children [sons] of Israel assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle of the congregation there: and the land was subdued before them. 2And there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes, which had not yet [omit: yet] received their inheritance. 3And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, How long are ye slack to go to possess the land which the Lord [Jehovah] God of your fathers hath given you? 4Give out from among [for] you three men for each tribe: and I will send them, and they shall rise, and go [about] through the land, and describe it according to the inheritance of them [their possession]: 5and they shall come again [omit: again] to me. And they shall divide it into seven parts: Judah shall abide in their coast [stand on his border] on the south, and the house of Joseph shall abide in their coasts [stand on their border] in the north. 6Ye shall therefore [And ye shall] describe the land into seven parts, and bring the description [so Bunsen, but properly: them or it] hither to me, that I 7may cast lots for you here before the Lord [Jehovah] our God. But [For] the Levites have no part among you; for the priesthood of the Lord [Jehovah] is their inheritance [possession]: and Gad, and Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh, have received their inheritance [possession] beyond [the] Jordan on the east, which Moses the servant of the Lord [Jehovah] gave them. 8And 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 [Jehovah] in Shiloh. 9And the men went and passed through the land, and described it by [the] cities into seven parts in a book, and came again [omit: again] to Joshua to the host [camp] at Shiloh. 10And Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord [Jehovah]: and there Joshua divided the land unto the children of Israel according to their divisions.
b. The Territory of the Tribe of Benjamin
Jos_18:11-28
α. Its boundaries
Jos_18:11-20
11And the lot of the tribe of the children [sons] of Benjamin came up according to their families: and the coast [border] of their lot came forth between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph. 12And their border on the north side was [De Wette: began; but properly: There was for them the border, etc.] from [the] Jordan, [Fay: at the Jordan]; and the border went up to the side of Jericho on the north side [omit: side], and went up through [on] the mountains westward; and the goings out thereof were at the wilderness of Beth-aven. 13And the border went over from thence toward Luz, to the side of Luz (which is Beth-el) southward; and the border descended to Ataroth-adar, near [on] the hill [mountain] that lieth on the south side of the nether Beth-horon. 14And the border was drawn thence, and compassed the corner of the sea [and bent around toward the west side] southward, from the hill [mountain] that lieth before Beth-horon southward; and the goings out thereof were at Kirjath-baal (which is Kirjath-jearim), a city of the children [sons] of Judah. This was the west quarter [side].
15And the south quarter [side] was from the end of Kirjath-jearim, and the border went out on [toward] the west, and went out to the well [fountain] of the waters of Nephtoah. 16And the border came [went] down to the end of the mountain that lieth before the valley [ravine] of the son of Hinnom, and [omit: and] which is in the valley of the giants [Rephaim] on the north, and descended to the valley [ravine] of Hinnom, to the side [prop.: shoulder] of Jebusi on the south [De Wette: on the south side of the Jebusite; Fay: on the side of the Jebusite toward the south], and descended to En-rogel, 17and was drawn from [on] the north, and went forth to En-shemesh, 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, 18And passed along toward the side [shoulder] over against [מוּל] [the] Arabah [Jordan-valley] northward and went down unto [the] Arabah: 19And the border passed along to the side [shoulder] of Beth-hoglah northward: and the outgoings of the border [it, the border] were at the north bay [tongue] of the salt sea, at the south end of [the] Jordan. This was the south coast [border].
20And [the] Jordan was the border of it [bordered it], on the east side. This was the inheritance of the children [sons] of Benjamin, by the coasts [borders] thereof round about, according to their families.
β. Cities of the Tribe of Benjamin
Jos_18:21-28
21Now [And] the cities of the tribe of the children [sons] of Benjamin, according to their families, were Jericho, and Beth-hoglah, and the valley of [Emek] 22Keziz, And Beth-arabah, and Zemaraim, and Beth-el, 23And Avim, and Parah, and 24Ophrah, And Chephar-haammonai, and Ophni, and Gaba; twelve cities with 25[and] their villages: Gibeon, and Ramah, and Beeroth, 26And Mizpeh, and Chephirah, 27and Mozah, And Rekem, and Irpeel, and Taralah, 28And Zelah, Eleph, and Jebusi (which is Jerusalem), Gibeath, and Kirjath; fourteen cities with [and] their villages. This is the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their families.
c. The Territory of the Tribe of Simeon
Jos_19:1-9
1And the second lot came forth to [for] Simeon, even [omit: even] for the tribe of the children [sons] of Simeon according to their families: and their inheritance [possession] was within the inheritance [possession] of the children of Judah. 2And they had in their inheritance [possession], Beer-sheba, and Sheba, and 3Moladah, And Hazar-shual, and Balah, and Azem, 4and Eltolad, And Bethul, and 5 6Hormah, And Ziklag, and Beth-marcaboth, and Hazar-susah, And Beth-lebaoth, and Sharuhen; thirteen cities and their villages: 7Ain, Remmon, and Ether, and Ashan; four cities and their villages: 8And all the villages that were round about these cities to Baalath-beer, Ramath of the south. This is the inheritance [possession] of the tribe of the children [sons] of Simeon, according to their families. 9Out of the portion of the children of Judah was the inheritance [possession] of the children [sons] of Simeon: for the part of the children [sons] of Judah was too large for them; therefore [and] the children [sons] of Simeon had their inheritance [possession] within the inheritance [possession] of them.
d. The Territory of the Tribe of Zebulun
Jos_19:10-16
10And the third lot came up for the children [sons] of Zebulun according to their families: and the border of their inheritance was unto Sarid: 11And their border went up toward the sea [westward], and Maralah, and reached to Dabbasheth, and reached to the river [water-course] that is before Jokneam: 12And turned from Sarid eastward, toward the sun-rising, unto the border of Chisloth-tabor, and then goeth 13[and went] out to Daberath, and goeth [went] up to Japhia, And from thence passeth [it passed] on along on the east [toward the east, toward the rising of the sun] to Gittah-hepher, to Ittah-kazin, and goeth [went] out to Remmon-methoar 14[Remmon which stretches] to Neah; And the border compasseth [bent around] it on the north side [northward] to Hannathon: and the out-goings thereof are [were] in the valley of Jiphthah-el: 15And Kattath, and Nahallal, and Shimron, and Idalah, 16and Beth-lehem; twelve cities with [and] their villages. This is the inheritance [possession] of the children [sons] of Zebulun according to their families, these cities with [and] their villages.
e. The Territory of the Tribe of Issachar
Jos_19:17-23
17And [omit: and] the fourth lot came out to [for] Issachar, for the children 18[sons] of Issachar according to their families. And their border was toward Jezreel, 19 20and Chesulloth, and Shunem, And Hapharaim, and Shihon, and Anaharath, And Rabbith, and Kishion, and Abez, 21And Remeth, and En-gannim, and En-haddah, and Beth-pazzez; 22And the coast [border] reacheth to [struck] Tabor, and Shahazimah, and Beth-shemesh; and the out-goings of their border were at [the] 23Jordan; sixteen cities with [and] their villages. This is the inheritance [possession] of the tribe of the children [sons] of Issachar, according to their families, the cities and their villages.
f. The Territory of the Tribe of Asher
Jos_19:24-31
24And the fifth lot came out for the tribe of the children [sons] of Asher according to their families. 25And their border was Helkath, and Hali, and Beten, and Achshaph, 26And Alammelech, and Amad, and Misheal; and reacheth to [it struck] 27Carmel westward, and to [omit: to] Shihor-libnath; And turneth [turned] toward the sun-rising to Beth-dagon, and reacheth to [stuck] Zebulun, and to [omit: to] the valley [ravine] of Jiphthah-el, toward [on] the north side of Beth-emek, and Neiel, and goeth [went] out to Cabul on the left hand, 28And Hebron, and Rehob, 29and Hammon, and Kanah, even unto great Zidon; And then [omit: then] the coast [border] turneth [turned] to Ramah, and to the strong [fortified] city Tyre; and the coast [border] turneth [turned] to Hosah; and the out-goings thereof are 30at the sea from the coast to Achzib [in the district of Achzib]: Ummah also [and Ummah], and Aphek, and Rehob: twenty and two cities with [and] their villages. 31This is the inheritance [possession] of the tribe of the children [sons] of Asher according to their families, these cities with [and] their villages.
g. The Territory of the Tribe of Naphtali
Jos_19:32-39
32The sixth lot came out to [for] the children [sons] of Naphtali, even [omit even] for the children [sons] of Naphtali according to their families. 33And their coast [border] was from Heleph, from Allon to Zaanannim, [the oak of Zaanannim], and Adami, Nekeb [or Adami-nekeb], and Jabneel, unto Lakum; and the 34out-goings thereof were at [the] Jordan: And then [omit: then] the coast [border] turneth [turned] westward to Aznoth-tabor, and goeth [went] out from thence to Hukkok, and reacheth to [struck] Zebulun on the south side, and reacheth to [struck] Asher on the west side, and to [omit: to] Judah upon [the] Jordan toward the sun-rising. 35And the fenced [fortified] cities are Ziddim, Zer, and Hammath, 36 37Rakkath, and Cinneroth, And Adamah, and Ramah, and Hazor, And Kedesh, and Edrei, and En-hazor, 38And Iron, and Migdal-el, Horem, and Beth-anath, 39and Beth-shemesh; nineteen cities with [and] their villages. This is the inheritance [possession] of the tribe of the children [sons] of Naphtali, the cities and their villages.
h. The Territory of the Tribe of Dan
Jos_19:40-48
40And [omit: and] the seventh lot came out for the tribe of the children [sons]of Dan, according to their families. 41And the coast [border] of their inheritance 42[possession] was Zorah, and Eshtaol, and Ir-shemesh, And Shaalabbim, and Ajalon, 43 44and Jethlah, And Elon, and Thimnathah, and Ekron, And Eltekeh, and Gibbethon, and Baalath, 45And Jehud, and Bene-berak, and Gath-rimmon, 46And Me-jarkon, and Rakkon, with the border before [over against] Japho. 47And the coast [border] of the children [sons] of Dan went out too little for them [Fay: went out from them (i.e., the children of Dan extended their border further); De Wette: and the border of the sons of Dan went out (afterwards) further from them; Bunsen: and the border of the children of Dan went yet further than this; Zunz: went beyond these]; therefore [and] the children [sons] of Dan went up to fight against Leshem, and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and possessed it, and dwelt therein, and called Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their father. 48This is the inheritance [possession] of the tribe of the children [sons] of Dan according to their families, these cities with [and] their villages.
i. Joshua’s Possession
Jos_19:49-50
49[And] when they had made an end of dividing the land for inheritance by their coasts [according to its borders], the children [sons] of Israel gave an inheritance 50[possession] to Joshua the son of Nun among them: According to the command [mouth] of the Lord [Jehovah] they gave him the city which he asked, even Timnath-serah, in mount Ephraim; and he built the city, and dwelt therein.
j. Conclusion
Jos_19:51
51These are the inheritances [possessions], which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel, divided for an inheritance [possession] by lot in Shiloh before the Lord [Jehovah], at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. So [And] they made an end of dividing the country [land].
c. The Territory of the Tribe of Simeon
Jos_19:1-9
1And the second lot came forth to [for] Simeon, even [omit: even] for the tribe of the children [sons] of Simeon according to their families: and their inheritance [possession] was within the inheritance [possession] of the children of Judah. 2And they had in their inheritance [possession], Beer-sheba, and Sheba, and 3Moladah, And Hazar-shual, and Balah, and Azem, 4and Eltolad, And Bethul, and 5 6Hormah, And Ziklag, and Beth-marcaboth, and Hazar-susah, And Beth-lebaoth, and Sharuhen; thirteen cities and their villages: 7Ain, Remmon, and Ether, and Ashan; four cities and their villages: 8And all the villages that were round about these cities to Baalath-beer, Ramath of the south. This is the inheritance [possession] of the tribe of the children [sons] of Simeon, according to their families. 9Out of the portion of the children of Judah was the inheritance [possession] of the children [sons] of Simeon: for the part of the children [sons] of Judah was too large for them; therefore [and] the children [sons] of Simeon had their inheritance [possession] within the inheritance [possession] of them.
d. The Territory of the Tribe of Zebulun
Jos_19:10-16
10And the third lot came up for the children [sons] of Zebulun according to their families: and the border of their inheritance was unto Sarid: 11And their border went up toward the sea [westward], and Maralah, and reached to Dabbasheth, and reached to the river [water-course] that is before Jokneam: 12And turned from Sarid eastward, toward the sun-rising, unto the border of Chisloth-tabor, and then goeth 13[and went] out to Daberath, and goeth [went] up to Japhia, And from thence passeth [it passed] on along on the east [toward the east, toward the rising of the sun] to Gittah-hepher, to Ittah-kazin, and goeth [went] out to Remmon-methoar 14[Remmon which stretches] to Neah; And the border compasseth [bent around] it on the north side [northward] to Hannathon: and the out-goings thereof are [were] in the valley of Jiphthah-el: 15And Kattath, and Nahallal, and Shimron, and Idalah, 16and Beth-lehem; twelve cities with [and] their villages. This is the inheritance [possession] of the children [sons] of Zebulun according to their families, these cities with [and] their villages.
e. The Territory of the Tribe of Issachar
Jos_19:17-23
17And [omit: and] the fourth lot came out to [for] Issachar, for the children 18[sons] of Issachar according to their families. And their border was toward Jezreel, 19 20and Chesulloth, and Shunem, And Hapharaim, and Shihon, and Anaharath, And Rabbith, and Kishion, and Abez, 21And Remeth, and En-gannim, and En-haddah, and Beth-pazzez; 22And the coast [border] reacheth to [struck] Tabor, and Shahazimah, and Beth-shemesh; and the out-goings of their border were at [the] 23Jordan; sixteen cities with [and] their villages. This is the inheritance [possession] of the tribe of the children [sons] of Issachar, according to their families, the cities and their villages.
f. The Territory of the Tribe of Asher
Jos_19:24-31
24And the fifth lot came out for the tribe of the children [sons] of Asher according to their families. 25And their border was Helkath, and Hali, and Beten, and Achshaph, 26And Alammelech, and Amad, and Misheal; and reacheth to [it struck] 27Carmel westward, and to [omit: to] Shihor-libnath; And turneth [turned] toward the sun-rising to Beth-dagon, and reacheth to [stuck] Zebulun, and to [omit: to] the valley [ravine] of Jiphthah-el, toward [on] the north side of Beth-emek, and Neiel, and goeth [went] out to Cabul on the left hand, 28And Hebron, and Rehob, 29and Hammon, and Kanah, even unto great Zidon; And then [omit: then] the coast [border] turneth [turned] to Ramah, and to the strong [fortified] city Tyre; and the coast [border] turneth [turned] to Hosah; and the out-goings thereof are 30at the sea from the coast to Achzib [in the district of Achzib]: Ummah also [and Ummah], and Aphek, and Rehob: twenty and two cities with [and] their villages. 31This is the inheritance [possession] of the tribe of the children [sons] of Asher according to their families, these cities with [and] their villages.
g. The Territory of the Tribe of Naphtali
Jos_19:32-39
32The sixth lot came out to [for] the children [sons] of Naphtali, even [omit even] for the children [sons] of Naphtali according to their families. 33And their coast [border] was from Heleph, from Allon to Zaanannim, [the oak of Zaanannim], and Adami, Nekeb [or Adami-nekeb], and Jabneel, unto Lakum; and the 34out-goings thereof were at [the] Jordan: And then [omit: then] the coast [border] turneth [turned] westward to Aznoth-tabor, and goeth [went] out from thence to Hukkok, and reacheth to [struck] Zebulun on the south side, and reacheth to [struck] Asher on the west side, and to [omit: to] Judah upon [the] Jordan toward the sun-rising. 35And the fenced [fortified] cities are Ziddim, Zer, and Hammath, 36 37Rakkath, and Cinneroth, And Adamah, and Ramah, and Hazor, And Kedesh, and Edrei, and En-hazor, 38And Iron, and Migdal-el, Horem, and Beth-anath, 39and Beth-shemesh; nineteen cities with [and] their villages. This is the inheritance [possession] of the tribe of the children [sons] of Naphtali, the cities and their villages.
h. The Territory of the Tribe of Dan
Jos_19:40-48
40And [omit: and] the seventh lot came out for the tribe of the children [sons]of Dan, according to their families. 41And the coast [border] of their inheritance 42[possession] was Zorah, and Eshtaol, and Ir-shemesh, And Shaalabbim, and Ajalon, 43 44and Jethlah, And Elon, and Thimnathah, and Ekron, And Eltekeh, and Gibbethon, and Baalath, 45And Jehud, and Bene-berak, and Gath-rimmon, 46And Me-jarkon, and Rakkon, with the border before [over against] Japho. 47And the coast [border] of the children [sons] of Dan went out too little for them [Fay: went out from them (i.e., the children of Dan extended their border further); De Wette: and the border of the sons of Dan went out (afterwards) further from them; Bunsen: and the border of the children of Dan went yet further than this; Zunz: went beyond these]; therefore [and] the children [sons] of Dan went up to fight against Leshem, and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and possessed it, and dwelt therein, and called Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their father. 48This is the inheritance [possession] of the tribe of the children [sons] of Dan according to their families, these cities with [and] their villages.
i. Joshua’s Possession
Jos_19:49-50
49[And] when they had made an end of dividing the land for inheritance by their coasts [according to its borders], the children [sons] of Israel gave an inheritance 50[possession] to Joshua the son of Nun among them: According to the command [mouth] of the Lord [Jehovah] they gave him the city which he asked, even Timnath-serah, in mount Ephraim; and he built the city, and dwelt therein.
j. Conclusion
Jos_19:51
51These are the inheritances [possessions], which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel, divided for an inheritance [possession] by lot in Shiloh before the Lord [Jehovah], at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. So [And] they made an end of dividing the country [land].
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
As chapters 16. and 17. belonged together, so do these two chapters 18 and 19, which contain the account of the allotments of the remaining seven tribes, Benjamin, Simeon, Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Dan. At the end follows a notice of the possession given to Joshua (Jos_19:49-50), with the conclusion of the whole section (Jos_18:28). There are seven tribes only left to be noticed, because the tribe of Levi was to receive no inheritance, as had been already before said (Jos_13:14; Jos_13:33) and repeated (Jos_18:7). This distribution was effected at Shiloh (Jos_18:1), while Judah and the house of Joseph—Ephraim and Manasseh—had received their possessions, as may be confidently inferred from Jos_14:6, in the camp at Gilgal (see on 14:6). But before proceeding to divide the land, twenty-one men were sent out to survey and describe it (Jos_18:3; Jos_18:10).
a. Jos_18:1-10. Erection of the Tabernacle at Shiloh. Description of the Land yet to be divided. The whole congregation comes together at Shiloh, where they set up the tent of the congregation (tabernacle). The land is completely subdued, but seven tribes still remain, which have not yet received any possession, since the most powerful tribe of Judah, Ephraim, and the half tribe of Manasseh (to say nothing of the tribes east of the Jordan, previously spoken of), had first obtained their portion (Jos_18:1-2). Joshua reproaches them for their listlessness, and, in order to discharge the remaining duty as impartially as possible, perhaps also bearing in mind the complaint of the sons of Joseph (Jos_17:14-18), he provides that twenty-one men, three from each of the seven tribes, shall first “describe” the land (Jos_18:3-7). This is done (Jos_18:8-9), and now Joshua casts lots and distributes the still remaining territory (Jos_18:10). Eleazar is not mentioned here, while in Jos_14:1-2 [also 19:51] he and the patriarchs of the tribes are introduced with Joshua.
Jos_18:1. And the whole congregation of the sons of Israel assembled together at Shiloh. “The congregation of the sons of Israel,” here as Exo_16:1-2; Exo_16:9; more briefly, “congregation of Israel,” Exo_12:3, or merely “the congregation,” Lev_4:15. The same is the “congregation of Jehovah” (עדה from יָעַד, for יְעַדָה, by aphæresis, Gesen.). It is called also קְהַל יִשִׂרָאל (קָהָל, convocation, from קָהַל, to call together, in Kal not used while Hiphil is found Num_8:9; Num_10:7; Num_20:8; and Niphal, Num_16:3, and in this passage, Gesen.), Deu_31:30; קִהַל יְהוָֹה, Num_16:3; Num_20:4, or simply הַקָּהָל, Lev_4:13, precisely like הָעֵדָה. Shiloh (שִׂלהֹ or שִׁילֹה, 1Ki_2:27, or שִׁילוֹ, Jdg_21:21, שִׁלוֹ, Jdg_21:19, shortened from שִׁילוֹן, from שָׁלָח, to rest, “a place of rest”), in Joseph. Ant. v. 1, 20, 21. Σιλοῦν (hence pointing back to the form שִׁילוֹן, from which שִׁילוֹנִי, 1K. 11:29; 12:15; Neh_11:5, with which Gesen. very aptly compares גּלהֹ and גִּלבֹי, Jos_15:51; 2Sa_15:12), now Seilun, first correctly made out in modern times by Robinson (iii. 84 ff.) from its position, which is accurately given Jdg_21:19. Eusebius and Jerome already give the distances from Neapolis (Onom. art. “Selo”) incorrectly; “the knights of the cross, also, found Silo at Neby Samwil, where the monks and pilgrims continued, with little variation, to seek the place until the middle of the sixteenth century.” About this time there appears in Bonifacius (De Perenni Cultu) a more correct view concerning the sites of the holy places, but it was soon lost (Rob. iii. 89). Among the ruins, to which one ascends by a gentle slope, whose fertile soil, when Furrer visited Shiloh, was covered with wheat fields (p. 225), there are still found (Rob. l. c.) many large stones, and some fragments of columns which indicate the site of an ancient town. The tabernacle stood here from Joshua to Samuel (Jos_18:1; 1Sa_4:3). Afterward Shiloh was rejected by God (Psa_78:60-68; 1Sa_3:4; Jer_7:12; Jer_7:14; Jer_26:6), and at a very early period utterly destroyed; for Jerome says: “Silo tabernaculum et arca Domini fuit, vix altaris fundamenta monstrantur” (von Raumer, p. 221; Rob. l. c.). Josephus (Ant. v. 1, 19) assumes that Joshua brought the tabernacle (τὴν ἱερὰν σκηνήν) to Shiloh, because the place by its beauty seemed to him appropriate, until an opportunity should be offered them to build a temple (’Ιησοῦς ἱστᾶ τὴν ἱερὰν σκηνὴν κατὰ Σιλοῦν πόλιν, ἐπιτήδειον γὰρ ἐδόκει τὸ χωρίον διά τὸ κάλλος, ἕως ἂν οἰκοδομεῖν ναὸν αὐτοῖς τὰ πράγματα παρέσχη). The site in the midst of the land was very suitable and also very beautiful, so that Josephus may at bottom have very nearly hit the truth. How Gen_49:10 is to he explained does not concern us here. See Lange, Com. on Gen., in l., on the various interpretations of this difficult passage. Finally, let it be noticed that Shiloh lies eight and a half hours north of Jerusalem, and nearly five hours south of Shechem (Furrer, p. 413).
And set up the tabernacle of the congregation there; and the land was subdued before them. As regards the אֹהֶל־מוֹעֵד, Luther’s translation Stiftshütte, i.e. tent of the covenant, is, as Gesen. remarks, the Greek σκηνὴ τοῦ μαρτυρίου, Lat. tabernaculum testimonii, according to a derivation from עוּד, testari; cf. מִשְׁכַּן הָעֵדוִת, tent of the law, Num_9:15. It is more probable that, with Gesen. and after him most of the moderns, מיֹעֵד is to be derived not from עוּד but from יָעד (Niph. נוֹעד), and accordingly we translate tent of the congregation, place where the עֵדָה meets.1 If the national sanctuary is called also מִשּׁכַּן־הָעֵדוּת (Num_9:15), or אֹחֶלהָעֵדרּת (Num_9:15; Num_18:2), the two names agree well with each other, in so far as the tent where the congregation met was, at the same time, the tent in whose most holy recess the law was preserved within the אֲרוֹן הָעֵדוּת (Exo_25:22). Concerning the construction and interior arrangement of the tabernacle, comp. Winer (ii. 529 ff.) as well as Riggenbach. The land was subdued (נִכְבְּשָׁה from כָּבַשׁ, prop. to tread under the feet; in the same sense as here, Gen_1:28; Jer_34:16, and with the addition לַעֲבָדִים, 2Ch_28:10; Jer_34:11; Neh_5:6; the Niphal, Num_32:22-29, Gesen.) before them. Because the land was subdued it might be divided.
Jos_18:3-10. The mission of the twenty-one men for the description of the land is now related. Knobel refers this section to the Jehovist, and to the second of his documents; on which compare the Introduction. But when Knobel (p. 451) further supposes it improbable that such an occupation of the land would take place under Joshua, and maintains that the taking up the land and people must have been effected at a later period, say in the time of Jdg_1:19-34 f., or Jdg_4:2 ff, we may urge, against this totally unsupported suggestion, that the time of Joshua, when the Canaanites were filled with terror and distress through the strange conqueror (Jos_2:9-11), and had lost all confidence in themselves, was much better suited for the perilous accomplishment of such a result than the following age, in which the Israelites did indeed gain victories but were then immediately enslaved again (Jdg_2:14-23; Jdg_3:8; Jdg_3:13-14; Jdg_6:1, etc.). Besides, a man of the circumspection of Joshua would, surely if any leader of the people, conceive the idea of occupying the land before he went forward hap-hazard to the division of it. For, although he acted under the divine command, he assuredly did not act without human consideration which was not at all excluded thereby. That Joshua, as Josephus (Ant. v. 1, 21) of his own invention relates, sent with these men some skilled in the art of mensuration (’Ιησοῦς.…ἄνδρας τοὺς ἐκμετρησομένους τὴν χώραν αὐτῶν ἐξέπεμψε, παράδους αὐτοῖς τινας γεωμετρίας ἐπιστήμονας), our text is altogether ignorant. Josephus may, indeed, as Keil also (in loc.) observes, have rightly judged when he makes the men attentive to the quality of the soil of Palestine, and assumes that the several inheritances were rather estimated than measured (καὶ διὰ τοῦτο,—on account of the diverse quality of the soil—τιμητοὺς μᾶλλον ἣ μετρητοὺς τοῦς κλήρους δεῖν ὑπέλαβε, πολλον̀ς ἑνὸς πλέθρου κἄ̣ν χιλίων ἀνταξὶου γενομένου (Ant. v. 1, 21).
Jos_18:3. A reproof to the remaining seven tribes who doubtless could not yet effectually resolve to give up their previous nomadic life, and accustom themselves to settled abodes, especially when these would in great part have yet to be conquered.
Jos_18:4. Joshua will not longer tolerate this lethargy, and therefore demands of each tribe to choose three men whom he will send out, and these shall rise (וְיָקֻמוּ) and go through the land and describe it according to their possession. There were accordingly 7 X 3 = 21 men, and not merely ten as Josephus reports, reckoning one to each tribe (Ant. v. 1, 20), but in all ten (v. 1–21), because three surveyors were included in the total number. In the description was included particularly, according to Jos_18:9, an accurate designation of the cities, while at the same time situation and soil might be more particularly taken into account. לפִּי נַחֲלָתָם, i.e. “with reference to its being taken in possession by the seven tribes” (Knobel).
Jos_18:5. More minute statement of the errand of the men sent out, Jos_18:4. They should divide the remaining land into seven parts, yet Judah should remain on his border in the south, and the house of Joseph in the north on his border, that is to say, no change should be made in the possessions of these tribes. With them it should remain as it was.
Jos_18:6. When they had described the land thus into seven parts, they should bring the same, i.e. the list as Bunsen for distinctness translates, to Joshua at Shiloh (Jos_18:4), and then would he cast the lots before Jehovah their God. This last should be done at a consecrated place before God’s face, that it might stand fast inviolably.
Jos_18:7. Reason why there should be only seven parts. First,the Levites have no part among you; for the priesthood of Jehovah is their possession. Essentially the same reason for the lack of a possession as is given, Jos_13:14; Jos_13:33; yet here instead of “the sacrifices of Jehovah, 13:14, or simply ‘Jehovah God of Israel,’ 13:33, we have ‘the priesthood of Jehovah,’ “as Num_16:10; Exo_29:9; Exo_40:15; Num_3:10; Num_18:1-7; Num_25:13 “(Knobel). Second,Gad, and Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh, have received their possession beyond the Jordan on the east, etc.
Jos_18:8. At the departure of the men Joshua repeats his command.
Jos_18:9. They go and describe the land according to the cities into seven parts in a book,i.e. they describe it and divide it with special reference to the cities found therein, into seven parts. Rosenmüller, incorrectly: “לֶערִים, per urbes, i.e. additis etiam et adscriptis urbibus, quœ in quaque regione erant;” the cities rather give the proper ground of division. How long a time the messengers spent in this service we are not informed. Josephus makes up a story of seven months (Ant. v. 1, 1: Οἱ δὲ ἄνδρες οἱ πεμ́θέςτεςµ…πεδιοδσύσεντµτς τε καὶ τιμησάμενοι τὴν γῆν, ἐν ἑβδόμῳ μηνὶ παρῆσαν πρὸς αυτὸν εἰς Σιλοῦν πόλιν, ἔνθα τὴν σκηνὴν ἑστάκεισαν). The Jewish historian appears to have been led to the seven months by the seven parts into which the land was divided. The statement is “of no value” (Bunsen), and is “of no more consequence than the assertion of the Rabbins that the division at Shiloh was made seven years after that at Gilgal” (Keil).
Jos_18:10. After they have returned Joshua casts lots and effects the division. On כִּמַהלְקֹתָם, comp. Jos_11:23; Jos_12:7.
b. Jos_18:11-28. The Territory of the Tribe of Benjamin. First are given α. its boundaries, Jos_18:11-20, then β. its cities, Jos_18:21-28. It was in general mountainous, in part very desert, but in part also, as in the neighborhood of Jericho and Jerusalem (Joseph. Ant. v. 1, 21; Bell. Jud. iv. 8, 3), a well cultivated, fruitful land. The land of Benjamin now makes the impression of solitude and desolation, as if the breath of death rested upon it (Furrer, p. 218–327 [Stanley, S. & P. has an instructive chapter on the Heights and Passes of Benjamin]).
a. Jos_18:11-20. Its Boundaries, Jos_18:11. The territory of Benjamin lay, according to this verse, between the sons of Judah on the south, and the sons of Joseph on the north.
Jos_18:12. The border which is here drawn is the north border, on the north side. It went out from the Jordan, and ascended, north of Jericho, on to the mountains westward,i.e. ascended north of Jericho, on the mountain lying west (and northwest) of this city, and already familiar (Jos_16:1). Its goings out were at the wilderness of Beth-aven. In Jos_7:2, Beth-aven is clearly distinguished, as lying east of Beth-el, from this latter city which itself is often called by the prophets בֵּית־אָוֶן (Idol-house, Amo_4:5; Hos_4:15; Hos_5:8; Hos_10:5; Hos_10:8). Since Michmash again, according to 1Sa_13:5, lay east of Beth-aven, this place must have been situated between Beth-el and Michmash. Kiepert has introduced Beth-aven on his map somewhat to the northeast of Michmash, whose immediate surroundings, contrasted with the bare and rocky heights to the east and north, might be called green and fertile (Furrer, p. 217). “The bare and rocky heights” to the east and north of Michmash are no other than those of Beth-aven.
Jos_18:13. And the border went over from thence toward Luz, to the side of Luz (which is Beth-el) southward. Here the difficulty which we met in Jos_16:2 from the distinction between Beth-el and Luz falls away, since it is said that the border between Benjamin and Ephraim went over out of the wilderness of Beth-aven toward Luz, that is Beth-el, and more particularly on the south side of Luz, thus excluding Beth-el from the cities of Benjamin, while yet, in Jos_18:22, it belongs to them. In this way contradiction would arise which Knobel seeks to obviate, thus: “The author does not say that the border went merely to the south side of Beth-el; it went to the south side of the ridge (כֶּתֶף) of Beth-el, i.e. toward Bethel.” Beth-el (בֵּית־אֵל, Gen_28:11-19; Gen_31:13, earlier לוּז = almond-tree), familiar through all the history of Israel, from the patriarchs to the Maccabees (1Ma_9:50), and even later (Joseph. Bell. Jud. iv. 9, 9), now a seat of the worship of God, again a place of idolatry, lies on the right of the road from Jerusalem toward Shechem (von Raumer, p. 178), is now called Beitin (Robinson, p. 225 ff.), and was first recognized by the Missionary Nicolayson in 1836 (von Raumer, p. 174). Ruins cover three or four acres, and there are interesting remains of a great reservoir which Furrer saw (p. 221). Beitin lies 1,767 feet high, three and three-quarters or four hours from Jerusalem (von Raumer, p. 179; Furrer, p. 413). From this position of Beth-el we may understand how the border went down (יָרַד) from thence toward Ataroth-addar, which is identical with the place of the same name, Jos_16:2, but different from the Ataroth, Jos_16:7. “Robinson found an Atara about six miles south, and a second one about four miles north of Gophna. The southern one appears to be the same as Ataroth-addar, past which ran the north border of Benjamin from Beth-el toward lower Beth-horon, Jos_16:2-3; Jos_16:5; Jos_18:13-14.” So von Raumer, (p. 175), with whom Knobel agrees, while Robinson himself, according to the passage cited by Knobel (ii. 315), holds that this southern Atara cannot be Ataroth-addar, because it lies too far within the territory of Benjamin. He has been followed by Kiepert, Van de Velde, and Menke on their maps. Von Raumer, also has only marked this northern Ataroth, and entirely omitted the southern one which, according to his view and that of Knobel, should be = Ataroth-addar. We, like Keil (on Jos_16:2), adopt the view of Robinson.
From Beth-el the border went thus northwestwardly toward Ataroth-addar, and thence on toward the southwest, upon (De Wette: on; Bunsen: over) the mountain that lieth on the south side of the nether Beth-horon. This is the north border of Benjamin, which, as far as lower Beth-horon, coincides with the south border of Ephraim. Beth-horon (בֵּית־תֹרוֹן = house of the hollow) mentioned, Jos_10:11, in the history of the battle of Gibeon, and in Jos_16:3-5, as here, as a border city between Benjamin and Ephraim, a city of Levites, Jos_21:22, fortified by Solomon, 1Ki_9:17; 2Ch_8:5), spoken of in the Maccabæan wars (1Ma_3:15-24; 1Ma_7:39 ff; 1Ma_9:50), and in the history of the wars of the Jews (Joseph. Bell. Jud. ii. 19, 18). There was, as appears from Jos_16:3; Jos_16:5; 1Ki_9:17; 1Ch_7:24; 2Ch_8:5, as well as from the passage before us, an upper and a lower Beth-horon. Both places are still recognized. The upper is now called Beit ur el-Forka, the lower Beit ur et-Tahta. The latter place stands on the top of a low ridge (Robinson, iii. 58 f.) and is separated from the upper Beth-horon by a wady. Robinson and his companion passed through this, and then began to ascend the long and steep pass. “The ascent is very rocky and rough; but the rock has been cut away in many places and the path formed into steps; showing that this is an ancient road..… The pass between the two places was called both the ascent (מַעֲלָה) and descent (מוֹרָד) of Beth-horon, Jos_10:10-11 (Gr.: ἀνάβασις καὶ κατάβασις βαιθωρῶν, 1Ma_3:15-24).” (Robinson, 58–60). Remains of ancient walls are found in both places as well as in the pass between them (3:58). Furrer (p. 14) found the hill on which stands the village of lower Beth-horon, partly covered with olive trees. The barley fields in the low ground were mingled with patches full of dark green beans. He also describes the pass as “rocky, steep, and extremely laborious.” Seldom does a trader drive his camels through it (contrast Israel’s hope, Isa_60:5-6; Isa_60:9). The land on almost all sides is burnt up like a desert, through which no one passes (Furrer, p. 15).
Jos_18:14. At this point, namely, at the mountain south of Lower Beth-horon, the boundary line of Benjamin bends southwardly toward Kirjath-baal, or Kirjath-jearim, separating this territory from that of Dan on the west; while the border of Ephraim runs out in a northwest direction past Gezer to the sea. Of this west border of Benjamin, of which we now read for the first time, it is said: and the border was drawn (ותָאַר, as Jos_15:11, and often) and bent around toward the west side southward from the mountain that lieth before Beth-horon southward; and the goings out thereof were at Kirjath-baal (which is Kirjath-jearim), a city of the children of Judah. This was the west side.פְּאַת־ָם = sea-side [side toward the sea]. פֵּאָה is properly “mouth” = to פֶּה, from פָּאָה (cogn. with פָּעָה ,פָּתָה) to blow; then, like Lat. ora (from os), “side,” which is turned to any quarter of the heavens. As here פְּאַת־יָם, so Jos_18:15 we have פּ' נֶגְבָּה, and Exo_26:20, פ׳ צָפוֹן [comp. Jos_18:12 of this chap.]. Kirjath-baal: see Jos_15:60.
Jos_18:15-19. South Border. This coincides entirely with the north border of Judah, Jos_15:5-9. “יָמָה merely indicates that the south border started from the west and ran toward the east.’ That Kirjath-baal (Kirjath-jearim) belonged to the cities of Judah and not to those of Benjamin, is plainly apparent from Jos_15:60. The border, therefore, on Kiepert’s Map requires correction; Menke has drawn it right.
Jos_18:20. The east border consists of the Jordan.
β. Jos_18:21-28. Cities of the Tribe of Benjamin. They fall into two groups of twelve and fourteen cities, the former lying in the east, the latter in the west. Jericho, Jos_2:1, and often. Beth-hoglah, Jos_15:6. Emek (vale of) keziz. There is a Wady el-Kaziz east of Jerusalem (Van de Velde, Mem. p. 328, apud Knobel).
Jos_18:22. Beth-arabah, Jos_15:6, now Kaffr Hajla. Zemaraim, probably a place of ruins. Sumrah, northeast of the Wady el-Kaziz, near the road from Jerusalem to Jericho, opposite the Khan Hadschur. See Van de Velde’s Map. Bethel, Jos_18:13.
Jos_18:23. Avim. Since Avim (הָעַוִּים) here follows directly after Beth-el, while Ai (עי) which stood near Beth-el (Jos_7:2; Jos_12:9), and to the east of it, is not mentioned, it is natural with Knobel to regard Avim as identical with Ai, which is called also Aiah (Neh_13:11) and Aiath (Isa_10:23). The signification of all these names is essentially the same: ruins, heaps, stone-heaps, Mic_1:6 (see Gesen.). Where Ai lay is not accurately made out. Van de Velde, following Finn, supposes, as may be seen from his map, that it was the same as Tel el-Hadshar (Stone-hill), thirty-five minutes east of Beth-el (ii. 251–255, and Mem. p. 282, apud von Raumer, p. 169). Robinson (ii. 119, 312 f.) sought it twice, but after all his investigation only reached the conclusion that the most probable site of Ai is the place of ruins exactly south of Deir Dirvan, one hour distant from Beth-el. The direction would be south-east. Knobel on the passage before us has not kept the two views sufficiently distinct. Furrer also visited the region, but undertook no further researches. He too speaks of “many stones” existing there (p. 219). [Tristram, 168 f. confidently agrees with Robinson’s view.] The tent of Abraham once stood here between Beth-el and Ai (Gen_12:8; Gen_13:3). The history of the conquest of Ai has been treated above, ch. viii. Hitzig (ubi sup. pp. 99, 100) disputes the existence of a city of Ai altogether, and proposes the view that Ai signifies in Turkish “moon,” and can therefore have been the Scythian, perhaps Amoritish name for Jericho as Dibon was the Hebraized Dirvan Council (??). After the Exile, Benjamites dwelt there again (Neh_11:31; Neh_7:32; Ezr_2:28), so that the city had been rebuilt.
Parah, a place of ruins, Fara, west of Jericho on Van de Velde’s Map. Ophrah, in Saul’s time attacked by the Philistines (1Sa_13:17), perhaps, as Robinson (ii. 124) conjectures, the modern Taiyibeh. Von Raumer (p. 216, n., 235 c) suggests that Ophrah may be the same as Ephraim or Ephron (Joh_11:54).
Jos_18:24. Chephar-haamonai, Ophni, mentioned only here, and hitherto undiscovered. Gaba (גֵבַע = גִבְעָה) “height,” “hill.” This Gaba is according to Jos_18:28 distinct from Gibeath or Gibeah, with which further 1Sa_13:2-3; Isa_10:29 are to be compared. Now since between Anathoth and Michmash (see Kiepert’s Map) there is a place called Jeba, the question has arisen whether this Jeba was Gaba or Gibeah. Robinson (ii. 114, 316) was at first inclined to regard Jeba as = Gibeah, the Gibeah of Saul, but afterward became satisfied (comp. Bibl. Sac., Aug. 1844, p. 598) that Gibeah of Saul was rather, as Gross suspected, to be looked for on the hill Tuleil el-Fuleh (“hill of beans,” Rob. p. 317), where von Raumer also, and Van de Velde, and Kiepert place it, while our Gaba, as the similarity of the name renders probable, has been preserved in the Jeba just spoken of. Knobel on the contrary identifies Gaba and Gibeah of Saul in accordance with Robinson’s earlier view, and proposes a variety of conjectures in regard to Gibeath of Jos_18:28. For the distinctness of Gaba and Gibeah of Saul, Isa_10:29 is, we may remark in conclusion, decisive, a passage whose vividness of description Furrer (who likewise regards the two places as clearly different, pp. 212, 213, compared with 215, 216), was constrained on the spot to admire (pp. 216, 217). To this eastern division belong also the two cities of priests, Anathoth and Almon, Jos_21:18, of which more hereafter.
Jos_18:25-28. “The fourteen west Benjamite cities.”
Jos_18:25. Gibeon,גִּבעֹן, properly the same name again as גּבְעת, גִּבְעָה, גֶּבַע quite familiar to us from the narrative, in this book, of the wiles of its inhabitants (Joshua 9.) and from the battle at Gibeon (Jos_10:1-15); later (Jos_21:17) a Levite city as well as Geba. It is the modern el-Jib lying on an oblong hill or ridge of limestone rock, which rises above a very fertile and well cultivated plain (Robinson, ii. 135 ff.). Of the fertile plain Furrer also (p. 16) makes mention. He found the hill on which el-Jib is situated well cultivated in terraces. Vines, figs, and olives flourish on the eastern slope, while on the north the Tel falls off somewhat abruptly (Furrer, pp. 16, 17). Historical associations with days subsequent to Joshua attach to this place where stood the Tabernacle under David and Solomon (1Ki_3:5 ff.; 1Ch_16:39; 1Ch_21:29; 2Ch_1:3; 2Sa_20:9). To Gibeon belonged Chephirah (Jos_18:26), Beeroth (Jos_18:25), Kirjath-jearim (Jos_15:9-60; Jos_18:14).
Ramah (רָמָה = height, a frequently occurring name of places, on which compare Gesen.), not to be confounded with the Ramah of Samuel or Ramathaim (von Raumer, p. 217, No. 148); near Gibeah (Jdg_19:13; Hos_5:8), noted in the contests with Syria (1Ki_15:17; 2Ch_16:1) and Assyria (Isa_10:29); the place where Jeremiah was set free (Jer_40:1, compared with 31:15); inhabited again after the exile (Ezr_2:26; Neh_7:30; Neh_11:33); now er-Ram (Robinson, ii. 315); a wretched village north of Gibeah, on a hill (Furrer, p. 214). Furrer discovered here remains of Roman milestones, and supposes that a Roman road ran from Gibeah, Rama, Geba down toward the narrow pass of Michmash (p. 215).
Beeroth mentioned, Jos_9:17, as belonging to Gibeon, or allied with Gibeon; home of the murderers of Ish-bosheth (2Sa_4:2), and of Joab’s Armor-bearer (2Sa_23:37), likewise rebuilt after the exile (Neh_7:29). Robinson (ii. 132) regards the present Bireh as Beeroth, a village with old foundations, remains of a Gothic church, and about seven hundred Mohammedan inhabitants. With him agree Keil and Knobel, while von Raumer disputes the view of Robinson as contradicting the statements of Jerome (p. 197, n. 187). But compare, for a defense of Robinson, Keil on Jos_9:17.
Jos_18:26. Mizpeh, not the same as the Mizpeh in the lowland, Jos_15:38; already in the time of the Judges a place of assembling for Israel (Jdg_20:1; Jdg_21:1); but specially celebrated on account of Samuel (1Sa_7:5-15; 1Sa_10:17); after the fall of Judah, the seat of the Chaldæan governor Gedaliah (2Ki_25:23; 2Ki_25:25; Jer_40:6 ff; Jer_41:1 ff.); now the Nebi Samwil, i.e. prophet Samuel, five hundred feet above the level of the plain, 2,484 feet above the sea (von Raumer, after Symonds, p. 213), with a very rich and extensive prospect (Robinson, ii. 143, 144). Here they would have it that Samuel was buried under the half-decayed mosque on the mountain. Thus Nebi Samwil would be = the Rama of Samuel. Robinson has, however, among others, shown that this is not so, but that Mizpeh is probably to be sought here. He is followed by Keil, Knobel, Tobler, Van de Velde, Kiepert, Furrer (p. 212). The last named writer from the Scopus near Jerusalem perceived Nebi Samwil in the northwest, “the high watch-tower of the land of Benjamin.”
Chephirah, like Beeroth belonging to Gibeon (Jos_9:17; Ezr_2:25); the present place of ruins Kefir on the mountain east of Ajalon (Jalo). See Robinson (Later Bibl. Res. p. 146). The name is related to כֶּפָר, village, instead of which כּפִיר occurs, Neh_6:2. Mozah, mentioned only here and unrecognized.
Jos_18:27. Rekem, Irpeel, and Taralah, also unrecognized, and like Mozah mentioned only in this place,—a proof again of the integrity of the LXX. in Jos_15:59.
Zelah (צֵלַע, rib, side), burial-place of Saul and Jonathan (2Sa_21:14); unknown; and so with Eleph.—Jebusi, i.e. Jerusalem. See Jos_15:8.
Gibeath (גִּבְעַת). This is the Gibeah of Saul (גּבעַת שָׂאוּל, 1Sa_10:26; 1Sa_11:4; 1Sa_15:34, and often); as was already shown above on Jos_18:24, to be sought on the hill Tuleil el-Ful. Here occurred before Saul’s time the outrage reported in Judges 19 which resulted in the destruction of the city, and the extirpation of the Benjamites except six hundred (Judges 20). Comp. also Hos_9:9; Hos_10:9. After Saul’s death its inhabitants hung seven of his descendants, on the mountain of Gibeah (2Sa_21:6-9), but Mephibosheth was spared Furrer accomplished the way from Jerusalem to Tel el-Ful, on foot, in one hour and twenty-five minutes (p. 412). He found the summit completely strown with ruins. There the traveller was rewarded with a wide and glorious prospect scarcely inferior to that of Mizpeh. “The land of Benjamin with its many famous old cities lay spread out around me. Over the heights of Hizmeh, Anathoth, and Isawijeh, the eye swept downward to the Jordan valley, which here appeared more beautiful than on the mount of Olives. In the southeast the dark blue of the Dead Sea enlivened wonderfully the stiff yellow mountain rocks of its neighborhood. On the far distant horizon the mountain chains of Moab were traced in soft and hazy lines. Northward lay Ramah and the hill of Geba. Further west and around toward the south followed Gibeon, ‘the glorious height,’ Mizpeh, the queen among the mountains of Benjamin, and then in the south, the most beautiful of all, the Holy City” (pp. 212, 213). Excellently descriptive!
Kirjath, not to be confounded with Kirjath-jearim, Jos_18:14, Jos_15:60, which belonged to Judah. Perhaps, as Knobel conjectures, Kerteh, west of Jerusalem (Scholtz, Reise, p. 161).
c. Jos_19:1-9. The Territory of the Tribe of Simeon. The second lot came out for the tribe of Simeon, who, since the portion assigned to the tribe of Judah was too large for them (Jos_19:9), received their possession out of that of Judah; concerning which comp. Gen_49:7. Two groups of cities are enumerated, one of thirteen or fourteen (comp. on this difference, Jos_15:32), all lying in the land of the south, the other of four cities. Of these latter, Ashan and Ether lay, according to Jos_15:42, in the Shephelah. When now Ain and Rimmon, which in Jos_15:32 are ascribed to the Negeb, are here placed with Ashan and Ether, the author seems, as Knobel remarks, to refer them here to the Shephelah also. “The dividing line between the Negeb and Shephelah was not so accurately determined.” The province of Simeon, although only the cities and villages are mentioned, appears to have been a continuous one, namely the Negeb, with a small part of the Shephelah, while the Levites, as we learn from ch. xxi. acquired particular cities with their appurtenant pasture-ground throughout the whole land. The list of the abodes of Simeon is found again, 1Ch_4:28-32, with slight deviations (see Keil, p. 420). The explanations concerning the places see on Jos_15:24-32; Jos_15:42.
d. Jos_19:10-16. The Territory of the Tribe of Zebulun. The third lot fell to Zebulun (Gen_49:13; Deu_33:19), the bounds of which, from the data given, can be but imperfectly determined. Josephus (Ant. v. 1, 22) assigns the sea of Gennesaret as the eastern border, Carmel and the sea as the western. He says: Ζαβουλωνίται δὲ τὴν μέτρησιν μέχρι Γεννησαρίτιδος, καθήκουσαν δὲ περὶ Κάρμηλον καὶ θάλλασσαν ἔλαχον. In general this statement agrees with our book, only Zebulun appears not to have reached to the sea. His province was, especially in the interior where it embraced the beautiful valley el-Buttauf (Robinson, iii. 189), fertile, toward the sea of Gennesaret mountainous but pleasant and well cultivated, higher than the plain of Jezreel and lower than the mountains of Naphtali: “a land of mountain terraces” (Knobel [cf. Robinson, iii. 190]).
Jos_19:10. South Border, given as at Jos_16:6; Jos_19:33, from a central point toward west and east. It went to Sarid. Where this Sarid (שָׂריִד) lay cannot be made out. Von Raumer is entirely silent concerning it; Masius and Rosemüller seek the place south of Carmel, near the Mediterranean Sea, which however does not answer well on account of Jos_19:11; Keil and Knobel, just on account of this verse, place it more in the interior,—north or east of Legio (Lejijim) in the plain of Esdraelon (Keil), or one hour southeast of Nazareth (Knobel). The latter, however, supposes no place to be intended but, since Sarid may signify brook, incision (according to שָׂרַד, perforavit, and שָׂרַט, incidit), “the southern mouth of the deep and narrow wady descending from the basin of Nazareth.” It is possible that Sarid lay here, and was named after the mouth of this wady. But that this itself was intended appears to me contrary to all analogy in the other determinations of boundary.
Jos_19:11. From hence the boundary went up toward the sea (westward), and (more particularly) toward Maralah, and struck Dabbasheth, and struck the water-course that is before Jokneam. Maralah is unfortunately altogether unknown; perhaps on account of עָלָה, to which Keil calls attention, to be sought somewhere on Carmel. Dabbasheth (דַּבֶּשֶׁת, camel’s hump, Isa_30:6, therefore a name like שֶׁכֶם) perhaps situated on the height of Carmel (Keil). Knobel refers to Jebata (Robinson, iii. 201) between Mujeidil and Kaimon, near the edge of the mountains which border the plain of Jezreel, or to Tel Tureh somewhat further toward the southwest (Robinson, Later Bibl. Res. p. 115). These are pure conjectures without any firm foundation. The water-course that is before Jokneam (see Jos_12:22) is, without doubt, the Kishon, (קִישׁוֹן, i.e. which curves, winds about, from קוּשׁ), now Nahr el-Mukattáa (Mukattua) with clear, green water (von Raumer, p. 50). “It flows through the slender valley which separates Carmel from the hills lying along to the north of it. Dense oleander thickets skirt the bed of the brook, and follow its pleasantly winding course (Furrer, p. 280). The Kishon is historically celebrated for the events recorded, Jdg_4:7; Jdg_4:13; Jdg_5:21 (comp. Psa_83:10), and 1 Kings 19:40. With reference to Jdg_5:9, Furrer observes, “The water flowed in a swift stream of about a foot in depth, strong enough to carry away corpses.” Differing from all other commentators, Knobel will see nothing of the Kishon here, but thinks of the Wady el-Milh on whose eastern bank Kaimea (Jokneam) should lie. The grounds of his view are given in his Commentary, p. 458.
Jos_19:12. As the border turned from Sarid westward, so also it turned from the same point toward the east: Eastward, toward the sun-rising, unto the border of Chisloth-tabor, and went out to Daberath, and went up to Japhia. Chisloth-tabor (כִּסְלוֹת־תָּבֹר, like כְּסָלוֹן, Jos_15:10, from כָּסָל, to be strong), probably =כְּסֻלּוֹת, Jos_19:18, in the tribe of Issachar; now Iksal, Ksal, Zal, on a rocky height west of Tabor, with many tombs in the rock (Rob. 3:182). The rocky height on which it stands lies more in the plain (Rob. l. c.). Daberath, a Levitical city, Jos_21:28; 1Ch_6:72, pertaining to Issachar; now Deburijeh, a small and unimportant village “lying on the side of a ledge of rocks directly at the foot of Tabor” (Rob. iii. 210). Furrer describes its situation thus “A little valley running north and south divides Tabor from the low hills in the west. Near the mouth of this wady, in the northeast arm of the valley of Jezreel, lies the village of Deburijeh” (p. 306). Japhia (יַפִיעַ, “glancing,” Gesen.). Jafa, somewhat over half an hour southwest of Nazareth in another valley. It contains thirty houses with the remains of a church and a couple of solitary palm trees..… The Japha fortified by Josephus was probably the same, a large and strong village in Galilee, afterward conquered by Trajan and Titus under the orders of Vespasian (Rob. iii. 200). When it is said of the border that it ascended (עָלָה) toward Japhia, this is correct, for “Monro ascended the Galilean mountains from the plain of Jezreel, ‘in a ravine’ toward Jaffa” (Monro, i. 276 ap. von Raumer, p. 128). With this comp. Knobel’s remark: “עָלָה stands correctly, since according to von Schubert, iii. 169, the valley of Nazareth lies about four hundred feet higher than the plain at the western foot of Tabor.”
Jos_19:13. From Japhia the border ran still in an easterly direction: Eastward, toward the rising (of the sun), to Gittah-hepher, to Ittah-kazin, and went out to Remmon, which stretches to Neah. Gath-hepher (גַּתָּה־חֵפֶה, גַּת with ה local), the birth-place of the prophet Jonah (2Ki_14:25), whose grave is shown in a mosque = el Meschad, one hour northeast of Nazareth (Rob. iii. 209). Robinson says concerning it (note, p. 209): “At el-Meshhad is one of the many tombs of Neby Yunas, the prophet Jonah; and hence modern monastic tradition has adopted this village as the Gath-hepher where the prophet was born (2Ki_14:25; Quaresimus, ii. 855).” Ittahkazin (עִתָּה־קָצין, עֵת with ה local), unknown. The name signifies, “time of the judge.” Remmon, a city of Levites, Jos_21:35; 1Ch_6:62, perhaps the present Rummaneh, north of Nazareth (Rob. iii. 194, 195; von Raum. p. 138). Which extends to Neah. Thus, according to the very simple and therefore obvious conjecture of Knobel: רִמֹּנָה מִהֹאָר. The LXX. made a proper name out of הַמִתֹאָר, Αμμαθαρίμ, Vulg. Amthar. Fürst renders the participle by “marked off, staked out.” With him agree Knobel and Bunsen. Gesenius, Rosenmüller, De Wette, on the other hand, translate it, “which stretches toward.” Since תָאַר everywhere else is employed of the boundary, we side with Knobel.2Neah (נֵעָה, perhaps “inclination,” slope, declivity, r. נוּעַ, Gesen.), unknown; “perhaps the same as נִעִיאֵל, Jos_19:27, which lay south of Jiphtha-el, as they said also יַבְנֶה for יַבְנְאֵל, Jos_15:11” (Knobel).
Jos_19:14. And the border bent around it (Neah) northward to Hannathon: and the outgoings thereof were in the valley of Jiphthahel (God opens). Compassed Neah, not Rimmon (Keil), and went in a northerly direction toward Hannathon (חַנָּתֹן, pleasant), in which Knobel and Keil (Bibl. Com. ii. 1, in loc.) suspect the New Testament Cana (Joh_2:1; Joh_2:11; Joh_4:46; Joh_21:2); the present Kana el-Jelil between Jefat and Rummaneh. Jiphtha-el (יִפְתָה־אֵל) is perhaps the Japata defended by Josephus, now Jefat, midway between the sea of Tiberias and the Bay of Accho (von Raumer, p. 129; Knobel and Keil). The valley would be, according to this view, the great Wady Abilie, which commences above in the hills near Jefat (Rob. Later Bib. Res. p. 103 f.). It empties into the Nahr Amar (Belus), as Van de Velde’s map clearly shows. Comp. Jos_19:27. Keil remarks very correctly, “that this verse should describe the northern boundary,” but, as is to be inferred also from the other expressions of Keil, does this very imperfectly.
Jos_19:15. This verse beginning with וְ is evidently a fragment. There must something before have fallen out, in favor of which is the circumstance also, that at the close of the verse twelve cities and their villages are summed up, while only five are named. We must conclude, as Keil also assumes, that there is here a chasm in the text where we are left in the lurch even by the LXX., who at Jos_15:59 offered so helpful a supplement. Probably there has dropped out (a) the statement of the west border, which Knobel also feels to be wanting; (b) the enumeration of seven cities among which it is likely that Nazareth would not have failed to be. In respect to this last city, it cannot help striking one without needing to agree with Jerome on Jos_15:59, that here Nazareth is wanting as there Bethlehem. As regards the missing west border, it is indicated Jos_19:27, in connection with Asher, but “in a very general and vague manner.” The five cities are: Kattath, perhaps = קָרְתָּה (Jos_21:34), Kireh, a place of ruins one and a half hour’s south of Kaimon (Knobel, on the authority of Rob. Later Bibl. Res. p. 116). Nahallal or Nahalol, a Levitical city, Jos_21:35; Jdg_1:30; unknown. Shimron (Jos_11:1), likewise. Idalah, the same. Beth-lehem, now Beitlahm, west-northwest of Nazareth (Rob. Later Bibl. Res. p. 113); von Raumer, p. 122.
e. Jos_19:17-23. The Territory of the Tribe of Issachar. The borders of the tribe of Issachar are not particularly noted by the author, having been given by him in connection with the other tribes, except the eastern part of the north border and the east border, Jos_19:22. Issachar touched in the north on Zebulun and Naphtali; in the west on Asher and Manasseh; in the south likewise on Manasseh in part, and in part also (see the maps) on Ephraim; in the east on the Jordan. Its most important and most beautiful section of country was the fertile plain of Jezreel (von Raumer, Palest. p. 39 ff.; Ritter, xvi. 689 ff.; Furrer, p. 258 ff.). Josephus observes concerning the boundaries, merely: Καὶ μετὰ τον́τοις ̓Ισαχαρις, Κάρμηλόυ τε ὄρος καί τὸν ποταμὸν τον͂ μήκονς ποιησαμένη τέρμονα, τὸ δ̓ Ιταβύριον (Tabor) ὄρος τον͂ πλάτους (Ant. v. 1, 22).
Jos_19:18. Jezreel (יִזְרְעֵאל), “i. e., God’s planting. Esdraela, among the Greeks, from which Stradela; at the time of the crusades, Little Gerinum (Parvum Gerinum); now Zerin” (von Raumer, p. 157). It stands on the brow of a very steep rocky slope of one hundred feet or more toward the northeast, commanding a wide and noble view of the country around in all directions (Rob. iii. 161 ff.). The present village is small and poor. The inhabitants live in constant strife with the Bedouins of the plain of Jezreel, who, with violence or craft, practice incessant provocations and robberies on the wretched people (Furrer, pp. 262–264). The splendid site induced Ahab and his house to reside here, perhaps more especially in the summer (Keil), to keep court, 1Ki_18:45-46; 1Ki_21:1 ff.; 2Ki_8:29; 2Ki_9:15-37; 2Ki_10:1-11. Hosea refers to the blood-guiltiness of Jezreel (Jos_1:4; Jos_1:11; Jos_2:22). Chesulloth = Chisloth-tabor, Jos_19:12
Shunem, שׁוּנֵם (prop., according to Gesenius, “two resting-places,” for שׁוּנַים, for which, as Eusebius informs us, שׁוּלֵם also was employed), now Solam or Sulem (Rob. iii. 169), on the declivity at the western end of Mount Duhy (little Hermon), over against Zerin, but higher. Furrer required one and a half hours between Zerin and Shunem. The ground in the broad valley rose and fell in gentle undulations. The village itself lies behind tall cactus hedges and trees (Furrer, p. 264, 265). Here the Philistines encamped before Saul’s last battle (1Sa_28:4). Shunem was the home of Abishag (1Ki_1:3). In the house of a Shunamite woman Elisha often lodged, and her son he raised from death (2Ki_4:8-37; 2Ki_8:1-6). Shunem (Shulem) was probably also the birthplace of the Shulamite (Son_6:12).
Jos_19:19. Chepharaim, perhaps = Chepher, the residence of a Canaanitish king mentioned Jos_12:17; according to the Onom., Affarea, according to Knobel, Afuleh, west of Shulem, and more than two hours northeast of Lejun. Shihon, not found.
Anaharath. According to Knobel either Na’urah, on the east side of Little Hermon (Rob. Later Bibl. Res. p. 339) on an elevation, or—since Cod. A of the LXX. gives instead of this name, ̔Pενάθ and, ̓Αῤῥανέθ, therefore ארחנת—Arraneh, north of Jenin, in the plain (in Seetzen, ii. 156; Rob. iii. 157, 160).
Jos_19:20. Rabbith, “conjecturably Arabboneh, somewhat further toward the northeast on Gilboa, in Rob. iii. 158” (Knobel).
Kishion, a Levitical city, Jos_21:28, is erroneously called קֶדֶשׁ, 1Ch_6:57 (Knobel, Keil). The site is unknown.
Abez, not identified.
Jos_19:21. Remeth, “or Ramoth, or Jarmuth, belonging to the Levites (Jos_21:29, 1Ch_6:58); the name signifies height” (Knobel). Concerning Knobel’s further conjectures, see Keil, Bib. Com. on the O. T. ii. 145, rem. Unknown.
En-Gannim,עֵין־גּנִּים, i.e., Garden-spring, a Levitical city, Jos_21:29, “without doubt,” as Knobel rightly says, “the present Jenin.” For, according to Robinson (iii. 155), this town lies in the midst of gardens of fruit-trees, which are surrounded by hedges of the prickly pear; but having for its most remarkable feature a beautiful, flowing, public fountain, rising in the hills back of the town, and brought down so that it issues in a noble stream in the midst of the place. Furrer describes it as an important place on the border of the Samaritan mountain, and mentions not only the copiousness of the water, but the fruitfulness of the gardens there (p. 257). In Josephus (Ant. xx. 6, 1; Bell. Jud. iii. 3, 4), En-gannim is called Γιναία, from which Jenin has come, as Robinson rightly conjectured (iii. 156, note 1).
En-Haddah and Beth-pazzaz, not yet identified. En-haddah may have been the same as Judeideh or Beit Kad, Kadd on Gilboa (Rob. iii. 157, Knobel.
Jos_19:22. And the border struck Tabor and Shahazimah, and Beth-shemesh; and the outgoings of their border were at the Jordan. In this the eastern part of the north border is given. The western point of beginning was Tabor, here probably not the mountain of this name, but a city lying on this mountain (Knobel and Keil), which was given to the Levites (1Ch_6:62). Remains of walls have been found there by Seetzen, Robinson (iii. 213 ff.), Buckingham, Rusegger, and most recently Furrer (p. 307 ff.). The largest and best preserved mass of ruins is found, according to Furrer’s representation, on the southeast corner of the plateau of the mountain, where the large closely-jointed blocks of cut stone lie firmly one upon the other, from fifteen to twenty feet high. Shahazimah (the Kethib reads שַׁחֲצוּם) = heights, therefore a city lying on a height, perhaps Hazetheth, on the hills east of Tabor toward the Jordan (Knobel). Beth-shemesh, not to be confounded with Beth-shemesh in the tribe of Judah (Jos_15:10, mentioned besides in Jdg_1:33), per haps = Bessum (Rob. iii. 237), a conjecture of Knobel’s with which Keil agrees. “The eastern portion of the north border of Issachar toward Naphtali may have run from Tabor northeastward through the plain to Kefr Sabt, and thence along the Wady Bessum to the Jordan. But how far the territory of Issachar extended down into the Jordan Valley is not stated” (Keil).
Sixteen cities. The number is correct if Tabor is taken as a city. This city would then be ascribed here to Issachar, while in 1Ch_6:62 it is reckoned to Zebulun; not a remarkable thing in the case of a border town.
f. Jos_19:24-31. The Territory of the Tribe of Asher. The fifth lot fell to the tribe of Asher, which received its territory on the slope of the Galilean mountains toward the Mediterranean; in general, likewise, a very beautiful and fertile region, whose olive trees (Deu_33:24) were formerly famous for their rich product. Even yet there are in that region “ancient olive trees, large gardens with all kinds of southern fruit trees, and green corn-fields” (Furrer, p. 291). From the Franciscan cloister at Accho “the eye sweeps eastward over the wide, fertile, grassy plains up to the mountains of Galilee” (ibid. p. 294). Here Asher had his beautiful possession. This was the κοιλάς of which Josephus speaks: Τὴν δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ Καρμήλον, κοιλάδα προδαλορευομένην διὰ τὸ καὶ τοιαύτηι εἶναι, Ασηρίται Φέρονται πᾶσαν τὴν ἐπὶ Σιδῶνος τετραμμένην (Ant. v. 1, 22). The description begins in the vicinity of Accho (Jos_19:25), goes first toward the south (Jos_19:26-27), then northward (Jos_19:28-30).
Jos_19:25. Helkath, a city of the Levites, Jos_21:31 = Jelka or Jerka, northeast of Accho (Robinson iii. App. p. 133), on the slope of the mountains by a little wady.
Hali, passed over by von Raumer, possibly Julis or Gulis, in the same region, somewhat to the southwest of Helkath and more toward the sea.
Beten (בֶּטֶן, Belly, = Valley, κοιλάς, Gesen. with which the designation used by Josephus for the whole region is suggestively accordant), not yet identified; according to the Onom. called Beth-beten or Βεβετέν, eight Roman miles east of Ptolemais. Von Raumer (p. 121, Rem. 18, E.) inquires whether it is identical with Ekbatana not far from Ptolemais (Plin. v. 17, 5; Reland, p. 617).
Achshaph, Jos_11:1; Jos_12:20.
Jos_19:26. Alammelech. The name is preserved in the Wady el-Malek which empties into the Kishon from the northeast.
Amad. Knobel supposes this to be the modern Haifa, about three hours south of Accho, on the sea, called by the ancients Sycaminon, i e. Sycamore-town, since the Hebrew name עַמְעָד must, according to the Arab., be interpreted by Sycomorus. Knobel further thinks that since d passes into r, for which Exo_2:15 is cited, the old name Amad may be preserved in Ammara as the country people call Haifa.
Misheal, a Levitical city (Jos_21:30; 1Ch_6:59), according to the Onom. s. v. Masan, situated on the sea, juxta Carmelum. This suits with the following statement of the direction of the boundary: and struck Carmel westward and Shihor-libnath,—Shihor-libnath. The brook of Egypt was called simply שִׁיהוֹר, Jos_13:8. Here by שׁ׳לִבְנָה is intended not the Belus (Nahr Raaman), which empties into the Mediterranean north of Carmel, but, from the direction which the description takes, and with respect to Jos_17:10, a stream south of Carmel, and quite probably the Nahr Zerka or Crocodile Brook. Its name Zerka, “blue,” bluish stream, as Knobel and Keil suppose, might answer both to the שִׁיהוֹר, “black,” and to the לְבְנָה, “white.”
Jos_19:27. From that point the border returned toward the sunrising, to Beth-dagon. This Beth-dagon, different from the Beth-dagon in the Shephelah which was assigned to Judah, Jos_15:41, has not been discovered. Proceeding in a northeasterly direction the border struck Zebulun and the ravine of Jiphtha-el, that is, according to the explanations on Jos_19:14, the Wady Abilin, to the north of Beth-emek and Neiel.—Beth-emek is not identified. Neiel is perhaps the same as Neah, Jos_19:13.—From hence the border went out to Cabul on the left hand, i.e. “on the north side of it. Cabul, northeast of the Wady Abilin, four hours southeast of Accho still bears the same name; in the LXX. Καβώλ; in Josephus κώμη Καβωλώ (Vit. § 43). Comp. Robinson, Later Bibl. Res. p. 88.
Jos_19:28-30. The main province proper of the tribe of Asher having been marked out in the preceding verses, the northern district is now more particularly defined (Knobel).
Jos_19:28. Hebron, probably a mistake of the copyist for Abdon, which is named Jos_21:30; 1Ch_6:59, among the Levitical cities (=עֶבְרֹן עַבְדוֹן). Not yet recognized; neither is Rehob, Hammon, or Kanah. See Conjectures in Knobel, pp. 464, 465; and Keil, Bibl. Com. ii. 2, in l. [also Dict. of the Bible]. The limitation even unto Great Zidon indicates that these places are to be sought for in that direction. Concerning Sidon, see on Jos_11:8.
Jos_19:29. From Sidon the border returned southward toward Ramah and to the fortified city of Tyre (Zor). Ramah is, according to Robinson (Later Bibl. Res. p. 63), Rameh, southeast of Tyre, on a solitary hill (hence the name) in the midst of a basin of green fields and surrounded by greater heights. מִבצַר־צֹר “ ‘Fortress of Zor,’ i.e. Tyre, is not the island of Tyre, out the city of Tyre standing on the main land, now Sur” (Keil). At present the once mighty Tyre is a “small and wretched” town, in respect to which the predictions of the prophets have been fulfilled (Isa_23:7-8; Ezek. 26:12, 27). For the future also “she seems destined to remain necessarily a miserable market spot” (Furrer, p. 385). The site is a noble one. The name צֹר signifies “rock” = צוּר. Notice the alliteration צֹר מִבְצַר. Comp. further, Ritter, Erdk. xvii. p. 320 ff. and Movers, Phönizier, ii. 1, 118 ff. (in Keil). Now the border turned toward Hosah, which is unknown, and finally ran out to the sea in the region of Achzib. “Achziph. Hœc est Ecdippa in nono milliario Ptolemaidis pergentibus Tyrum” (Onom.), Now Zib, three hours north of Accho; the ̓Αρκή or ̓Ακτιπούς of Josephus (Ant. v. 1, 22). Another Achzib belonged to Judah, Jos_15:44. The name is probably = to אַכְזָב, “Winter-brook,” Gesen. In fact, “Pococke saw (ap. Ritter, xvi. 811) a brook pass along on the south side, over which, a beautiful bridge having an arch crossed.” By a wide circuit the author has arrived again at the vicinity of Accho.
Jos_19:30. Finally he names still three cities by themselves, Ummah and Aphek, and Rehob, of which only the Aphek on Lebanon, Jos_13:14, can with certainty be made out, as was there stated. Possibly, nay probably, Ummah and Rehob also lay in that mountain region. It is to be noted that the name Rehob (רְחֹב, from רָחַב, “to be wide, spacious”) occurs twice in the territory of Asher, namely, here and in Jos_19:28 above. (It is a name precisely analogous to מִצְפֶּה and רָמָה). The total twenty-two does not agree with the enumeration, as is often the case.
g. Jos_19:32-39. The Territory of the Tribe of Naphtali. The sixth lot came to the tribe of Naphtali, which is designated in Gen_49:21 as the “hind let loose” (אַיָּלָה שְׁלוּחָה). Their province was bounded east by the sea of Gennesaret and the Jordan, west by Asher, south by Zebulun and Issachar. In the north it reached far up into Cœle-syria, and so to the very extremity of west Palestine. The possession of the tribe, through which runs the mountain of Naphtali rising to the height of 3,000 feet—the modern Jebel Safed,—sinks down on the west into the plain on the sea, while in the east it falls off to the Jordan valley and the sea of Merom. The soil is, generally speaking, fruitful, the natural scenery of great beauty. Comp. besides the former travellers, Furrer, pp. 306–331, for the vicinity of the sea of Merom, p. 361 ff.
Jos_19:33. Knobel assumes that here, as in Jos_19:10 and Jos_16:6, the author, proceeding from a central point, describes the west border first toward the north, then toward the south. To us it appears more simple, since Heleph is not repeated like Sarid (Jos_19:10; Jos_19:12), to understand with Keil that in Jos_19:33 the west border toward Asher, with the north and east border is described, in Jos_19:34 the south border.
Heleph is unknown. On the other hand we know from Jdg_4:11, where Allon, the Oak, i.e., according to Gen_12:6, the oak forest (אלוֹן taken collect.) near Zaannanim lay, namely, by Kadesh northwest of the sea of Merom. Here Sisera was slain (Jdg_4:21) by Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, who had pitched his tent there (Jdg_4:11). The name צַעֲנַנִּים is derived from צָעַן, “to wander,” a place, therefore, where the tents of the wanderers, the nomads, stand Such a nomadic herdsman was Heber. Even to the present day the Bedouins more or less friendly disposed wander about in the north of Palestine, in the plain of Jezreel, on Gilboa, and on Tabor. Comp. Furrer, p. 311, and often. Robinson notices the oaks growing in this region (3. p. 370; Later Bibl. Res. p. 365 [Stanley, S. & P. pp. 142, 355 n.]). Furrer clearly perceived from Tibnin, looking eastward, near the elevated Biraschit, the mighty Messiah-tree, “a solitary, majestic oak” (indicated on Van de Velde’s Map). Forests, however, nowhere met the view, however eagerly he sought to discern them. He is led accordingly to the remark: “Other travellers have praised the abundance of trees in northern Galilee. They could not, I think, have followed my road. An atmosphere of death seemed to me to lie on the holy land here as in Benjamin” (Furrer, p. 337).
Adami-nekeb (אֲדָמִי־הַנֶּקֶב, i.e. Adami of the depth, hollow, “of the pass” (Knobel and Keil). The name אֲדָמִי (reddish) recalls אָדָם, Jos_3:16.
Jabneel, Lakum, like the preceding, unrecognized, although Knobel thinks he has found Adami-nekeb in Deir-el-ahmar, i.e. red cloister, three hours northwest of Baalbec. See particulars, Knobel, p. 466; a different view, Keil, ii. 1, p. 149.
And the outgoings thereof were at the Jordan (Jos_19:22). The upper Jordan is meant, the Nahr Hasbany, as a source of the Jordan, comp. Num_34:10-12.
Jos_19:34. And the border returned westward,i.e. from the Jordan, the border, namely, the south border of Naphtali turned back, probably following the Wady Bessum westward to Aznath-tabor.שָׁב, as in Jos_19:12. Aznath-tabor is, according to the Onom. a “vicus ad regionem Diocœsareœ pertinens in campestribus.” Not discovered. From this notice it stood near Diocæsarea = Sepphoris = Sefurieh, perhaps, as Knobel and Keil suppose, southeast of this city, toward Mount Tabor. Thence it ran on to Hukkok, which cannot be identified.
And struck Zebulun on the south, and struck Asher on the west, and Judah; the Jordan (was) toward the sun-rising. The south and west boundary is to be understood, which grazed Zebulun in the south, and Asher and Judah in the west, while the Jordan is noticed as the east border. Great difficulties are raised by the enigmatical בּיהוּדָה. The LXX. do not have it, but read: καὶ συνάψειτῷ Ζαβυλὼν ἀπὸ νότου, καί τῷ ̓Ασὴρ συνάψει κατὰ θάλάσσαν, καὶ ὁ ̓Ιορδάνης ἀπὸ ἀναταλῶν ἡλίου. Either the word was wanting in their text, or, which is more likely, they left it out because they knew not what to do with it. The Vulgate translates, disregarding the punctuation of the Masoretes: “Et in Juda ad Jordanem.” This Luther [and the Eng. Ver.] followed; but von Raumer (p. 233 ff.) has labored to show that this Judah on the Jordan consisted in the sixty Jair villages on the east side of the Jordan. His reason is that Jair, who is brought in, 13:40; Num_32:41, contra morem (i.e. contrary to the rule proposed Num_36:7, as a descendant of Manasseh, from Machir the Manassite) was actually, according to 1Ch_2:5; 1Ch_2:21 f., descended through Hezron, on his father’s side, from Judah, and therefore to be designated properly and regularly a descendant of Judah. Keil also has adopted this view, which, however, after all the care with which von Raumer has labored to develope it, appears not sufficiently established by that solitary passage in Chronicles combined with Josephus, Ant. viii. 2, 3. Rather “it is hard to believe that the possession of Jair, which belonged, from Jos_13:30, to Manasseh, could have borne the name of Judah” (Bunsen). Not more satisfactory are the attempts of older writers; of Masius, who supposes that a narrow strip of the land of Naphtali stretched along down the west shore of the Sea of Galilee to Judah; of Bachiene, who places a city Judah on the Jordan; of Reland, who says that sometimes all Palestine, the whole land of the twelve tribes, was called Judæa, therefore the land east of the Jordan might be so called. Hence alterations of the text have been resorted to. From the omission of ובהודה by the best Codices of the LXX. (Vat., Alex., and Ald.), Clericus had proposed to treat it simply as not belonging to the text. Maurer, followed by Bunsen, referring to Jos_17:10; Jos_19:22, would read גְּבוּלָם, and, translates accordingly: “et terminus eorum erat Jordanus ab oriente.” Concerning the LXX. he says briefly and well: “Sept. ובהודהsuo Marte omiserunt, cfr. ad Jos_19:15; Jos_19:30; Jos_19:38 al.” Knobel thinks “it would be more suitable to read בְּיִשָּׂשְכָר, since Naphtali bordered on Issachar on the west and south.” He says further, “If we retain בִּיהוּדָה, we must assume that the part of Issachar bordering on Naphtali was called Judah, of which, however there is no evidence.” But what if not an adjacent portion of Issachar, but a place in Asher, which was mentioned immediately before בִּהוּדָה, was so called? And this appears in fact to have been the case, for on Van de Velde’s Map there is a place north of Tibnin marked el-Jehudi-jeh, in whose name the old name has been preserved, since Jehudijeh might come from יְהוּדָה as well as from יְהוּד, Jos_19:45 (see below). Furrer reached this Jehudijeh from Tibnin in an hour (p. 339 1. 11, compared with 1. 4 from bottom). After first descending the steep path, which winds down along the west slope from Tibnin, he went up then out of the ravine (the Wady Ilmah is meant) toward the west, and came to the little village Jehudijeh, “Jews village,” surrounded by many trees. Of ruins, Furrer found there a finely chiseled block of stone which he regards as the slight trace of a synagogue. In this manner we may solve the riddle, simply and easily, as it seems to us, without any change of the text and holding fast the Masoretic punctuation. If, however, we were to change the text, Maurer’s conjecture would deserve the preference over that of Knobel, because וביהודה, from the similarity of the letters, might very easily have arisen from וּגבוּלם, which is not the case with בישׂשכר.
Jos_19:35-39. Fortified Cities of Galilee, ver 35. Ziddim, unknown. Zer, likewise unknown Hammath, to be kept distinct from the often mentioned Hamath, the northern boundary-town of Palestine; a Levitical city; Jos_21:32, called also Hammoth-dor or Hammon (1Ch_6:61). The name indicates warm springs, such as existed at Ammaus south of Tiberias (’Αμμαοῦς in Joseph. Ant. 8:2, 3; Bell Jdg_4:1; Jdg_4:3; see Menke’s Map v., side map of Galilee), and still exist.
Rakkath, situated, as the Jews have thought on the site of the later Tiberias.
Cinneroth (כִּנֶּרֶת or כִּנָּרוֹת, Jos_11:2; Targ.: גִּנּוֹסַר ,גִּינוֹסַר ,גִּנֵיסַר, Γεννησάρ, Joseph. Bell. Jud. iii. 10, 7, 8), the city already mentioned, Jos_14:2, which gave name to the beautiful and fertile plain, pictured by Josephus (l. c.) in the most splendid colors, and to the sea (Jos_12:3; Jos_13:27; Num_34:11), but which has itself disappeared. Knobel supposes the Khan Minijeh to be the place where it stood. The plain, which is about an hour long and twenty minutes broad, extends from near Mejdel to Khan Minijeh. Comp. further Furrer, p. 319 ff.; Robinson, 3:290). כִּנֶּרֶת signifies probably “low ground,” a hollow, κοιλάς, from כָּנַע (Knobel).
Verse 36. Adamah, unknown. Ramah, the present Rameh, southwest of Safed, on a plain, a large, beautiful village surrounded with plantations of olive trees. Hazor, see on Jos_11:1.
Jos_19:37. Kadesh, see on Jos_12:22. Edrei, not to be confounded with Edrei in Bashan, Jos_12:4, unknown. En-hazor, doubtless Ain Hazur south of Rameh.
Jos_19:38. Iron, now Jaron, Jarun, on a height northwest of el-Jisch (Giscala) in a fertile and cultivated region with ruins near by. Seetzen, ii. p. 123 f.; Van de Velde, Narr. i. 174 ff., apud Knobel.
Migdal-el (מִגְּדַּל־אֵל, God’s tower). The name speaks for Magdala (Mat_15:39), now el-Mejdel, which it is supposed to be by Gesen. and Robinson (iii. 278), only it is remarkable that Migdal-el was not before (Jos_19:35) included in the cities lying on the Sea of Gennesaret, rather than here among such as lie further west. On this account Knobel, contrary to the Masoretic pointing מגדל־אמ, joins it with the following חְָרֵם, and then finds the place in Mejdel Kerum, west of Rama, three hours east of Accho (Robinson, Later Bibl. Res. p. 86). Too far west.
Horem, unless one accepts Knobel’s combination, not yet found. So with Beth-anath (Jdg_1:33), and Beth-shemesh, which is different from Beth-shemesh in Judah (Jos_15:10), and Beth-shemesh in Issachar (Jos_19:22). Nineteen cities. The number detailed is sixteen.
g. Jos_19:40-48. The Territory of the Tribe of Dan. This tribe received the seventh lot, which fell to them in “pleasant places” (Psa_16:6), west of Benjamin, north of Judah, south of Ephraim. Their country lay mostly in the Shephelah, but hindered by the Amorites (Jdg_1:34) from taking possession of their province, the warlike tribe conquered, besides, a small tract far up in the mountains of the north (Jdg_18:1 ff.). Josephus does not mention this (Ant. v. 1, 27), but our author does (Jos_19:47).
Jos_19:41. Zorah, Eshtaol, and Ir-shemesh, three cities of Judah which were yielded to the Danites, but of which they did not occupy Irshemesh, a city assigned to the Levites (Jos_21:16).
Jos_19:42. Shaalabbin (שַׁעֲלַבִּין or שַׁעַלְבּוֹן, Gesenius: place of jackals, comp. חַצַר־שׁוּעָל, Jos_15:28), 2Sa_23:32; 1Ch_11:33; 1Ki_4:9; now Salbit (Robinson, Later Bibl. Res. p. 144, n. 3 [Selbit]. Ajalon, Jos_10:12.
Jethlah. According to Knobel contained in the Wady Atallah west of Jalo (Ajalon) (Robinson, Later Bibl Res. pp. 144, 145).
Jos_19:43. Elon, perhaps Ellin (Robinson, iii. Ap. p. 120). Thimnathah, Jos_15:10. Ekron, Jos_15:11.
Jos_19:44. Eltekeh, a city of the Levites, ch.21:23, otherwise unknown.
Gibbethon, Jos_21:23, a Levitical city also. Mentioned 1Ki_15:27; 1Ki_16:15; 1Ki_16:17, in the contests with the Philistines; not yet discovered in modern times.
Baalath, fortified by Solomon, 1Ki_9:18; unknown. Whether identical with Baala, Jos_15:11? (Knobel).
Jos_19:45. Jehud, very probably el-Yehudijeh, two hours north of Ludd (Robinson, 3:45), in a beautiful, well-cultivated plain.
Bene-berak, now Ibn Abrak, one hour to the west of Yehudijeh.
Gath-rimmon, a Levitical city, Jos_21:24; 1Ch_6:54, to be sought according to the Onom. in the vicinity of Thimnah, but not yet discovered (Keil).
Jos_19:46. Me-jarkon (aquœ flavedinis, yellow water), unknown.
Rakkon (רַקּוֹן from רַקָּה≡רָקַק, “cheek,” Gesen.) unknown.
With the border before Japho. These words indicate that Me-jarkon and Rakkon are to be sought in the region of Japho.
Japho (יָפוֹ, beauty) is mentioned elsewhere in the O. T. only 1Ki_5:9; 2Ch_2:16; Eze_3:7; Jon_1:3. Under the Greek name of Ιοππη Lat. Joppe, it occurs often in the books of Maccabees (1Ma_10:74; 1Ma_10:76; 1Ma_12:34; 1Ma_14:15; 1Ma_14:34; 1Ma_15:28; 1Ma_15:35; 2Ma_12:3-7), and in the Acts of the Apostles (Act_9:36-43; Act_10:5; Act_10:8; Act_10:23; Act_10:32; Act_11:5). The place is now called Jaffa, in which the old name Japho is preserved, and it has, since the times of the Crusaders to the present day been the landing-place of pilgrims who go thence to Jerusalem. The population amounts to not far from five thousand souls, including about three thousand Mohammedans, six hundred Christians, and only about one hundred and twenty Jews (von Raum. p. 205). The city is very old, built, as the ancients thought, before the Flood: “Est Joppe ante diluvium, ut ferunt condita” (Pomp. Mela, 1:11); “Joppe Phœnicum antiquior terrarum inundatione, ut ferunt” (Plin. Hist. Nat. v. 13) (apud von Raumer, p. 204). On the east the town is surrounded by a wide circle of gardens and groves of noble trees. Oranges, almonds, figs, apricots, peaches, pomegranates, apples and plums, sugar-cane and cotton, all flourish admirably here (Furrer, pp. 6, 7). Even to these gardens extended, according to the passage before us, the territory of Dan. Concerning Joppa, comp. further, Ritter, 16:574 ff. [Gage’s transl. 4:253–259]), Winer in the Realwörterbuch, Robinson,3 Tobler, Wanderung, and Nazareth, nebst Anhang u. s. w., p. 302. This author found civilization so far advanced there in 1865 that houses were numbered, and “in genuine Arabic numerals,” and their “gates named, e.g. Tarif el-Baher, Sea-gate.”
And the border of the children of Dan went out from them, i.e. the children of Dan extended their territory as is related in Judg. xviii; not, however, in the immediate vicinity, but rather, after having through five scouts become satisfied of the feasibility of their undertaking (Jdg_18:7-10), at the foot of Anti-Lebanon in Laish (לַיִשׁ, Jdg_18:7; Jdg_18:27), or לֶשֶׁם, as the place is called in the latter half of our verse. The reason for this migration lay in the pressure of the Amorites who did not allow the Danites to spread themselves in the plain (Jdg_1:34). With the peaceful and quiet Sidonians they were able more easily to deal and then conquer them also. For the children of Dan went up to fight against Leshem, and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and possessed it, and dwelt therein, and called Leshem Dan, after the name of Dan their father. This Leshem or Lais which was called Dan by the Danites, and per prolepsin, is called so also in Gen_14:14, is preserved in the present name of the place, Tel el-Kadi (hill of the judge), hill of Dan, for דָּן means judge, as Wilson, 2:172, apud von Raumer, p. 125, Rem. 24 a, has pointed out, and with this Gen_49:16 may be compared. It is a pleasant green hill of not more than twenty or thirty feet in height on the north side, while toward the south it falls off to a considerably greater depth (Furrer, p. 365, 366). Furrer saw no trace of an ancient city except some heaps of stones near the southwest edge. The same traveller describes very vividly the capture of Leshem by the Danites, p. 367. Comp. Robinson, 3:351, 358; Later Bibl. Res. p. 392; Ritter, xv. p. 207 [Gage’s transl. 2:204–207], von Raumer, p. 125. The name was most familiar from the expression “from Dan to Beersheba,” Jdg_20:1; 1Sa_3:20; 1Sa_30:30; 2Sa_17:11. Jeroboam established here the worship of the calves, the “Neo-Israelitish worship,” 1Ki_12:28-29. Jehu was still devoted to it, 2Ki_10:29; Amo_8:13-14. May not the old name Leshem have been retained in that of the middle source of the Jordan, el-Leddan (Keil, 1:2, p. 53)?
i. Jos_19:49-50. Joshua’s Possession. According to his desire, the moderation of which has already been alluded to, Jos_17:14 ff., Joshua received, after the land had been divided, Timnathserah (remaining portion, Gesen.), or Timnathheres (portion of the sun), as a possession, on Mount Ephraim. There on the mountain Gaash was he buried, Jos_24:30; Jdg_2:8-9. It is now Tibneh between Gophnah and el-Mejdel, first discovered by Smith in 1843 on an affluent of the Wady Belat. The ruins are of considerable importance; the tombs there are similar to the royal tombs at Jerusalem (Bib. Sacra, 1843, p. 484 ff. in von Raumer, p. 166). Robinson, Later Bibl. Res. p. 141. Ritter, xvi. p. 562 ff. [Gage’s transl. 4:246 f.]. The place is not to be confounded with Timnath (Jos_19:43) Jos_15:10.
k. Jos_19:51. Conclusion. This general re mark in closing the narrative, directly refers, by the statement that the division was made in Shiloh, only to Jos_18:1, because there the majority of the tribes had received their portions.
Footnotes:
[1][Professor Plumtre (Dict. of the Bible, p. 3152) leads us rather to “the Tabernacle of meeting” (meeting-tent?) as the proper equivalent to the Hebrew designation, but with a deeper sense than would commonly be attached to the phrase. He well says: “The primary force of יָעַד is ‘to meet by appointment,” and the phrase אֹהֶל מוֹעד has therefore the meaning of “a place of or for a fixed meeting.” “The real meaning of the word is to be found in what may be called the locus classicus, as the interpretation of all words connected with the tabernacle, Exo_29:42-46. The same central thought occurs in Exo_25:22, ‘there I will meet with thee’ (comp. also Exo_30:6; Exo_30:36; Num_17:4). It is clear therefore that ‘congregation’ is, inadequate. Not the gathering of the worshippers only, but the meeting of God with his people, to commune with them, to make himself known to them, was what the name embodied. Ewald has accordingly suggested Offenbarungs zelt = Tent of Revelation, as the best equivalent (Alterthümer, p. 130). This made the tent a sanctuary. Thus it was that the tent was the dwelling, the house of God (Bähr, Symbolik, 1:81).”—Tr.]
[2][The author translates precisely with Gesenius, indeed here seems to be little difference in conception between these critics.—Tr.]
[3][Robinson gives no original information concerning Joppa; see 3:31, note.—Tr.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 9, 10 THE REMAINDER OF THE LAND DESCRIBED. (Jos 18:2-9)
THE REMAINDER OF THE LAND DESCRIBED. (Jos 18:2-9)
there remained . . . seven tribes, which had not yet received their inheritance--The selection of Shiloh for the seat of worship, together with the consequent removal of the camp thither, had necessarily interrupted the casting of lots, which was commenced by fixing localities for the tribes of Judah and Joseph. Various causes led to a long delay in resuming it. The satisfaction of the people with their change to so pleasant and fertile a district, their preference of a nomad life, a love of ease, and reluctance to renew the war, seem to have made them indifferent to the possession of a settled inheritance. But Joshua was too much alive to the duty laid on him by the Lord to let matters continue in that state; and accordingly, since a general conquest of the land had been made, he resolved to proceed immediately with the lot, believing that when each tribe should receive its inheritance, a new motive would arise to lead them to exert themselves in securing the full possession.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9 THE TABERNACLE ERECTED AT SHILOH, Jos_18:1.
THE TABERNACLE ERECTED AT SHILOH, Jos_18:1.
The location of the tribes was not yet completed, but it had proceeded so far that it was desirable that the tabernacle should be permanently established in a central place. This could not well be accomplished till Ephraim, in whose borders it was to be located, had received his portion.
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1. Shiloh — Rest; the first national capital and sanctuary in Palestine. Bethel, “the house of God,” from its sacred name and associations, would probably have been selected if it had not been in the hands of the Canaanites. Shiloh, now Seilun, remarkable for its seclusion, not for its natural strength or beauty, is situated near the central thoroughfare of Palestine, twenty miles north of Jerusalem and ten south of Nablus. [Tristram describes the modern site as “a mass of shapeless ruins, scarcely distinguishable from the rugged rocks around them, with large hewn stones occasionally marking the site of ancient walls. There is one square ruin, probably a mediaeval fortress-church, with a few broken Corinthian columns, the relics of previous grandeur. Straggling valleys, too open to be termed glens, within an amphitheatre of dreary round-topped hills, bare and rocky, without being picturesque, are the only characteristics of this featureless scene.” This same writer thus discusses the question why so unattractive a spot as Shiloh should have been chosen as the religious centre of Israel for so many generations: “One reason may probably be found in this very natural unattractiveness, inasmuch as it was a protest against the idolatry of the people of the land, which selected every high hill and every noble grove as the special home of their gods; here being neither commanding peak nor majestic cedar, neither deep glen nor gushing fountain. Moreover, it was a central point for all Israel, equidistant from north to south, easily accessible to the trans-Jordanic tribes, and in the heart of that hill-country which Joshua first subdued, and which remained to the end of Israel’s history the district least exposed to the attacks of Canaanitish or foreign invaders.”] Here the remaining seven tribes received their allotments, here the yearly feasts were held, and here the ark remained more than three hundred and fifty years, till taken by the Philistines. 1Sa_4:1-11. The place was afterwards forsaken and accursed of God. Psa_78:60; Jer_7:12-14; Jer_26:6.
Tabernacle — This was, according to the rabbinical representation, still a tent, or, rather, a low structure of stones with a tent drawn over it. “Although a city grew round it, and a stone gateway rose in front of it, yet it still retained its name ‘camp of Shiloh’ and the ‘tent that God had pitched among men.’” — Stanley. Its structure is described in Exo_25:26.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10 Ch. Jos_18:1-10. Erection of the Tabernacle at Shiloh
Ch. Jos_18:1-10. Erection of the Tabernacle at Shiloh
1. And the whole congregation of the children of Israel] The descendants of Judah and of Joseph had now taken up their respective inheritances, the one in the south, the other in the north of the country. But “the murmuring,” it has been remarked, “of the children of Joseph, and the spirit from which it proceeded, gave sad indications of danger in the near future. National disintegration, tribal jealousies, coupled with boastfulness and unwillingness to execute the work given them of God, were only too surely foreboded in the conduct of the children of Joseph. If such troubles were to be averted, it was high time to seek a revival of religion.” Dr Edersheim’s Israel in Canaan under Joshua and the Judges, p. 94. The camp at Gilgal, therefore, was broken up, and the people removed to Shiloh, which was situated within the territory of Ephraim, Joshua’s own tribe.
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The whole congregation of the children of Israel. This formula often recurs. Thus in Exo_16:1 we read, “And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin;” and again, Exo_16:9, “And Moses spake unto Aaron, Say unto all the congregation of the children of Israel.” Sometimes it is more brief, “the congregation of Israel,” as in Exo_12:3, “Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel.” Sometimes more briefly still, “the congregation,” as in Lev_4:15, “And the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands upon the head of the bullock before the Lord.” The Greek word here used is the same as that used by our Lord, Mat_16:18, “Upon this rock I will build My Church.” Originally it denoted an assembly of persons called out from among others by the voice of a herald, as, at Athens, for the purpose of legislation. It is applied to the Israelites, as being a nation called out by God from the rest of the world, to bear witness to His unity, to preserve His laws, to keep alive the hope of Redemption, and to exhibit the pattern of a people living in righteousness and true godliness. Hence, St Stephen says of Moses, that he was “in the Church (or congregation) in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina” (Act_7:38); again, David says in Psa_22:22, quoted in Heb_2:12, “I will declare Thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church (or congregation) will I sing praise unto Thee;” and again he says in Psa_26:12, “My foot standeth in an even place: in the congregations will I bless the Lord.”
assembled together at Shiloh] Few places in respect to situation are described so accurately as Shiloh. In Jdg_21:19 it is said to have been situated “on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.” “In agreement with this, the traveller at the present day, going north from Jerusalem, lodges the first night at Beitîn, the ancient Bethel; the next day, at the distance of a few hours, turns aside to the right, in order to visit Seilûn, the Arabic for Shiloh; and then passing through the narrow Wady, which brings him to the main road, leaves el-Lebbân, the Lebonah of Scripture, on the left, as he pursues the ‘highway’ to Nâblus, the ancient Shechem.” Smith’s Bibl. Dict. It was one of the earliest and most sacred of the Hebrew sanctuaries. “Its selection,” observes Dean Stanley, “may partly have arisen from its comparative seclusion, still more from its central situation. The most hallowed spot of that vicinity, Bethel, which might else have been more naturally chosen, was at this time still in the hands of the Canaanites (Jdg_1:23-27); and thus, left to choose the encampment of the Sacred Tent, not by old associations, but according to the dictates of convenience, the conquerors fixed on this retired spot in the heart of the country, where the allotment of the territory could be most conveniently made, north, south, east, and west, to the different tribes; and there the Ark remained down to the fatal day when its home was uprooted by the Philistines.” S. and P. p. 232. “It was a central point for all Israel, equidistant from north and south, easily accessible to the trans-Jordanic tribes, and in the heart of that hill-country which Joshua first subdued, and which remained, to the end of Israel’s history, the district least exposed to the attacks of Canaanitish or foreign invaders.” Tristram’s Land of Israel, p. 162. Here (a) “the daughters of Shiloh” were seized by the Benjamites (Jdg_21:19-23); here (b) Samuel spent his boyhood in the service of the Lord, and as an attendant upon the aged Eli (1Sa_3:19-21); here (c) the wicked conduct of the sons of that pontiff occasioned the loss of the Ark of the Covenant, and Shiloh from that day forward sank into insignificance (1Sa_2:17; 1Sa_4:12), for the Lord “forsook the tabernacle” there, “the tent that He had pitched among men; He refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim” (Psa_78:60; Psa_78:67). “Shiloh is a mass of shapeless ruins, scarcely distinguishable from the rugged rocks around them.… No one relic could we trace which in any way pointed to earlier times among all the wasted stone-heaps which crowded the broken terraces. So utterly destroyed is the house of the ark of God, the home of Eli and of Samuel. ‘Go ye now unto My place which was in Shiloh, where I set My Name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of My people Israel’ (Jer_7:12).” Tristram’s Land of Israel, p. 161.
the tabernacle of the congregation] i.e. the tabernacle, or, tent of meeting. The phrase has the meaning of a place of or for a fixed meeting. This thought comes out in Exo_25:22, “there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat;” in Exo_30:6, “before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee;” and especially in Exo_29:42-43, “This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord; where I will meet you, to speak there unto thee: and there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by My glory.” “Not the gathering of the worshippers only, but the meeting of God with His people, to commune with them, to make Himself known to them, was what the name embodied.” See Smith’s Bibl. Dict. After the catastrophe when the Ark fell into the hands of the Philistines, the Tabernacle was removed (i) to Nob (1Sa_21:1), and (ii) when that place was destroyed by Saul (1Sa_22:19), to Gibeon (1Ki_3:4).
was subdued before them] The word rendered “subdued” denotes to “tread under the feet.” Comp. Gen_1:28, “Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it;” and Jer_34:16, “But ye turned and polluted My name, and caused every man his servant … to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids.” The verse seems to imply that immediately after the conquest of the land, it was the intention of the Israelites to set up the sacred Tent, but that this purpose could not be carried into effect until the tribe, in the midst of which the Lord had intended it to stand, had received its inheritance. See Keil’s Commentary.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 5 (1) At Shiloh.—Seilûn (sheet 14), about ten miles due…
XVIII.
(1) At Shiloh.—Seilûn (sheet 14), about ten miles due south of Shechem, in the territory of Ephraim. The inheritance of the tribe of Judah was determined in Gilgal. The assignment of the central part of the country to Ephraim and Manasseh brought the leaders of Israel into that district, and as soon as the position of Ephraim, Joshua’s tribe, was settled, the tabernacle was set up there. For the situation of Shiloh, see Jdg_21:19.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10 Congregation. The word signifies a body of persons gathered…
THE CONTINUED DIVISION OF THE LAND.
Congregation. The word signifies a body of persons gathered together at a spot before indicated. The LXX renders by sunagwgh . The idea is evidently that of an assembly gathered together for some specific acts of worship. This passage teaches the duty of a national recognition of religion. Whatever evils there might be in Israel at that time, the absence of a general and formal acknowledgment of God was not one of them. When that public acknowledgment of Him ceased, the downfall of the nation was at hand. It was the absence of such acknowledgment that was the ruin of Israel, while the hypocritical and purely external recognition of God by Judah was equally offensive in God"s sight. Assembled . Literally, was summoned; by whom, we are not told. But this general gathering to set up the tabernacle was at once an act of due homage to Him by whose power they had done so many great deeds, and also the establishment of a centre of national life. As long as the worship of God was maintained in its purity, the unity of Israel would be preserved, in spite of the twelve-fold division into tribes, and without the need to introduce the monarchical power. When fidelity to the outward symbol of Israelitish unity, the tabernacle at Shiloh, relaxed, then dissension and weakness crept in, and Israel became a prey to her enemies. A remarkable instance of an opposite character meets us in the history of our own country. The prey of various unconnected Teutonic tribes, the island was one vast scene of anarchy and confusion, until the great Archbishop Theodore came over and founded a National Church. It was this religious unity and cooperation which tended to harmonise the conflicting forces in the land and steadily pioneered the way to a union of the rival tribes under one head. Without attempting to say whose fault it is that this religious unity is lost, or how it may best be reestablished, it surely is the duty of every patriot and every Christian to cooperate to the best of his ability and knowledge, with all the forces that he sees tending towards unity, and both pray and labour for the coming of the day when men may once more "with one mind and with one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ," and be willing to meet together "with one accord in one place." Shiloh. In Deu_12:5, Deu_12:11, Deu_12:14, we find God prescribing that only in a place chosen by Himself shall the public worship of the congregation be paid to Him. Thither were all the males to resort three times a year. It is obvious how such a regulation tended to keep alive national feeling among the Israelites. The reason for the choice of Shiloh (which was probably made by Urim and Thummim, the case being important enough for such a decision) is to be found in its central position, five hours south of Shechem, and eight hours north of Jerusalem. Its situation is minutely described in Jud_1:21:19. It is difficult to understand why; since Shiloh must have been well known to all the dwellers in Israel at that time, unless it was to explain to those who were not acquainted with the localities in the tribe of Benjamin the reason for the selection of Shiloh, namely, that it lay close by the road between Bethel and Shechem. (see, however, note on Jos_24:1) The place has been identified. It is the modern Seilun, but only a few ruins remain to mark the place once so famous in the history of Israel, where Eli abode, where Samuel spent his early years. Rejected by God Himself, as the Jewish Psalmist relates with patriotic pride, (Psa_78:60, Psa_78:67-69) it fell into utter neglect, and even in the days of Jeremiah it seems to have become a by word. (see Jer_7:12, 14 26:6, 9. Also Pal. Expl. Fund, Quart. Paper, Jan., 1873, where an account, with a plan, is given of the place in its present condition. There are a few rock-hewn tombs there) Whether it was named Shiloh on account of the word used in Gen_49:10, it is impossible to say. The name appears to signify rest, and was an appropriate name to be given to the visible symbol of rest from warfare which Joshua had obtained for Israel. (see Jos_11:23 Jos_14:15 Jos_21:44 Jos_22:4) The difficult passage in Gen_49:10 is not of course included in this interpretation of the meaning of the word Shiloh. Congregation . The word here differs slightly from the word translated "congregation" in the first part of the verse, but it comes from the same root. And the land was subdued before them. That is, the land in which the tabernacle was set up. We know from the next verse that the land as a whole was not subdued.
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Vers. 1-28. Progress in the great work.
The tribes gathered together at Shiloh, set up the common tabernacle for worship, and then proceeded, at Joshua"s instance, to complete the division of the land. Several detached considerations may be derived from this chapter.
I THE DUTY OF A PUBLIC RECOGNITION OF GOD. The duty of public worship has been universally recognised in all religions, and is founded in a natural tendency of mankind. Philosophical sects, in which religious observances are neglected or proscribed, show by that very fact their exclusiveness. Religions, however perverted, exist for mankind as a whole; philosophies, for the cultivated few. Christianity has provided fewer forms than perhaps any other religion for the gratification of this instinct, but the principle is clearly acknowledged. At first, the disciples met together weekly to "break bread." At the Reformation, the abuses that had crept into the doctrine and practice of the Lord"s Supper led to its more infrequent reception. Yet still the precept, "not forgetting the assembling of yourselves together," has continued to be recognised, and the man who habitually neglects public worship is scarcely regarded as a Christian at all. The duty of a public national recognition is a matter of more difficulty in the midst of our present religious divisions. Yet it is practically not neglected. The fact that the nation as such recognises Christianity is proved by the spectacle presented by our country every Lord"s Day, a spectacle which drew from a distinguished French Roman Catholic writer the admission that England was the most religious country in the world. And in times of national rejoicing, or national distress, the various religious bodies in the country do not fail, according to their various forms, to unite in common thanksgiving, or common humiliation and intercession. A more complete external agreement in the manner of such national recognition of religion may or may not be desirable. But it would be folly to conclude that no such recognition exists because it is not externally organised into a system. Perhaps in God"s eyes the agreement is greater than it seems to us: that where we discern conflicting institutions and rival denominations. He sees the tribes of Israel gathered together at Shiloh, and offering up united praises and supplications to Him for His mercy and His bounty. Be it ours to recognise more and more a real union under seeming disagreement, and to abstain from all uncharitable expressions, which are out of harmony with the voice of praise and thanksgiving, of prayer and intercession, addressed to our common Father in heaven.
II BEHOLD HOW GOOD AND JOYFUL A THING IT IS, BRETHREN, TO DWELL TOGETHER IN UNITY. This consideration has been partially anticipated already. It was the whole congregation that assembled together. None stayed away, still less refused to come. And though perhaps, in view of the wide freedom allowed in the Christian Church, the minor differences of ceremonial do not prevent us from coming as one body before the throne of grace; yet, in so far as these divisions of opinion produce jealousy, suspicion, unkindness, bitter accusations and revilings, they exclude those who are so affected by them from a part in the common worship. Such persons are unclean, and cannot enter into the congregation of the faithful; they are unloving, and can have neither part nor lot in the worship of Him who came to call us to unity and peace. We may be sure that as there is no more certain method of checking the progress of the Church on earth than a contentious spirit, so there is nothing more sure to deprive us of the favour of God. Let the spectacle, then, of a united Israel, worshipping peacefully before God in Shiloh, lead us to beware how we promote disunion among God"s people, remembering the exhortation, "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice," and "walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour.
III REST IN GOD. Shiloh means rest, or peace. And rest and peace is only to be found in the presence of God. "Peace on earth," cried the angels at His birth. "I will give you rest." "My peace I give unto you," said He Himself. "He is our peace," said the apostle. Through Him we possess the "peace that passeth all understanding." And, thanks be to Him, we are never far from His tabernacle. The tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell with them, and wherever a soul pours itself out in prayer to Him, there is His tabernacle and Shiloh, or restful dependence on Him.
IV WHAT HAS TO BE DONE SHOULD BE DONE THOROUGHLY. Many a Christian has fallen into serious trouble by neglecting this precept. Some think that a certain profession of religion ought to excuse all shortcomings. Some even go so far as to think that the careful and punctual performance of duty is a legal work, below the attention of a redeemed and sanctified man. Such a view receives no confirmation from Scripture. Our Lord did not neglect the lighter matters of the law Himself, nor advise others to do so. St. Paul did not consider the minutest details beneath his attention. And here the survey was made with the most scrupulous exactness, and recorded in a book. Let Christians learn hence the duty of performing, accurately and punctually, whatever falls to their lot to do. Christ did not give His Spirit to men to make them slovenly, careless, indifferent to what they undertake, but the reverse. Both the Old Testament and the New combine to enforce on us the lesson, "Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.
HOMILIES BY J. WAITE Ver. 1. Shiloh, the sanctuary.
The choice of Shiloh as a resting place for the tabernacle was not left at Joshua"s discretion: it was a matter of Divine appointment. (Deu_12:10-12) At the same time it was not without its natural reason. The situation was both central and secluded; in the midst of the land, as the tabernacle had always been "in the midst of the camp" in the wilderness, (Num_2:17) and yet removed from the main routes of the country"s traffic. Its name, dating probably from this time, while expressive of the fact that God had now given His people rest from their enemies, was also suggestive of the deeper thought of His settled dwelling among them, and was in harmony with the retired and tranquil aspect of the scene. Shiloh, the sanctuary, the place of rest. In this establishment of the tabernacle at Shiloh the Israelites were performing the highest function of their life as a people. It was a devout recognition of God; the majesty of His being, His sovereignty over them, their dependence on Him as the living root of all their social order and prosperity, that testimony for Him which it was their high calling to present before the nations. The tabernacle at Shiloh stands as a type of all places where people assemble to pay their homage to the Supreme.
I THE SANCTITY OF THE SCENE OF WORSHIP. The tabernacle was the centre and home of all devout thought and feeling. The highest acts of worship could alone be performed there. It represented the unity of the religious life of the people, as opposed to a scattered and divided worship. It was called "the tabernacle of witness". (Num_17:7 Act_7:44) In several ways is every scene of worship, every "house of prayer," a witness.
1. As a symbol of the presence of God with His people. It bears witness to the fact of His spiritual nearness and accessibility. It could have no meaning if personal and "congregational" communion with God were not a blessed reality. The fundamental idea of the tabernacle was that it is the place where man "meets with God," and finds a gracious response to his seeking. "In all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee". (Exo_20:24) "There will I meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat". (Exo_25:22) And Christ perpetuates and confirms the promise with a freer, richer grace: "Wheresoever two or three," etc. (Mat_18:15) This gives sanctity to any place; makes it a true sanctuary. What other consecration can be needed than the realised presence of the living God?
2. As a memorial of the hallowed traditions of the past. The historic associations of the tabernacle were distinctive, wonderful, supernatural. Its origin: made "after the pattern shown to Moses in the mount"; (Ex 26) the "glory cloud" that rested upon it; its varying fortunes; the changing scenes through which it had passed scenes of human shame, and fear, and sorrow, and scenes of joyous triumph and marvellous Divine interposition all this invested it with extraordinary interest. Every true house of prayer has its hallowed memories. Some small chapter at least of the sacred story of the past is enshrined in it. It speaks to us of struggles for truth and liberty, purity of faith and worship, freedom of conscience, in former days. It represents the earnest thought and self-denying labour of devout men and women who have long, perhaps, been numbered with the dead. It has been the scene of many a solemn spiritual transaction: revelations of truth, searchings of heart, stirrings of sympathetic emotion, heavenly aspirations, visions of God. However lowly a place it may be, the memory of these lingering about it gives it an interest and a distinction that no outward charm can rival.
3. As a prophecy of the better future. The tabernacle, though it had come now to a resting place after all its wanderings, was still only a temporary provision, a preparation for something more substantial and enduring. The time came when "Ichabod" must be pronounced on Shiloh. The ark of God was taken, the sanctuary was desecrated, and the faded glory of the sacred tent was lost at last in the greater splendour of the temple; until that also should pass away, to be followed by a nobler shrine. So is it with all earthly scenes of worship. They are but temporary and provisional. They are expressive, after, all, of our human weakness dimness of spiritual vision, imperfection of spiritual life. They remind us ever of the "vail that hangs between the saints and joys Divine." They "have no glory by reason of the glory that excelleth." They speak to us of the "more perfect tabernacle not made with hands." We see in them a prophecy of the nobler worship of the future, and learn through them to lift our longing eyes to that eternal city of God of which it is written, "I saw no temple therein, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it". (Rev_21:22)
II THE PEACEFUL ASSOCIATIONS OF THE SCENE OF WORSHIP. "Shiloh" is a name that becomes every place of prayer, every scene of Divine manifestation and communion. It ought to be a place of rest in the midst of earthly agitations, a quiet resort for the spirit from the traffic and turmoil of life, a refuge for the weak and weary, a sanctuary for those who are harassed by the contradictions and pursued by the animosities of a hostile world. Unhappily the house of God is too often connected in men"s minds with far other ideas than those of tranquillity and peace. It is suggestive to them of division, and enmity, and bitter contention. The mischief done by those historic strifes about faith and worship that have raged around it, or those mean discords that have reigned within, can never be exaggerated. And yet wherever there is a place of Christian assembly there stands a testimony to the "one Lord, one faith," etc. Beneath these superficial distractions lies the bond of a true spiritual unity. Let that essential unity become manifest, then shall the "glory of the Lord" be again upon His tabernacle, and it shall attract the world to itself as a true sanctuary and place of rest. W.
HOMILIES BY W.F. ADENEY Ver. 1. Shiloh.
Shiloh was at once the seat of public worship and the centre of tribal union; the symbol of established peace and the witness to that Divine law on which the maintenance of peace and prosperity depended. Christendom needs its Shilohs. It is true that our privileges of worship are not confined to consecrated buildings, holy days, priestly ministrations, and church ordinances. Anywhere, on the lonely hillside or in the busy street, at any hour in the silent night or at the noisy noon every Christian can claim the privilege of one of God"s priests and offer up secret worship, which God will accept and bless. There is often a depth and spirituality in such worship which is not attained in the observance of public religious services. Nevertheless there are special advantages connected with public worship.
I PUBLIC WORSHIP AFFORDS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR SPIRITUAL REST. The tabernacle was set up when "the land was subdued." The seat of worship was named "Shiloh," the "place of peace." Our churches should be homes of spiritual peace; our Sundays, Sabbaths of spiritual rest. The ejaculatory prayer of sudden emergencies, and the "praying without ceasing" of those who "walk with God" and enjoy constant communion with Him, are not sufficient means for withdrawing us from the spirit of the world and revealing to us the heights and depths of heavenly things. For this we want a more complete separation from common scenes, and a longer season of quiet meditation.
II PUBLIC WORSHIP AFFORDS THE MEANS FOR THE OUTWARD EXPRESSION OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. All true worship must be internal and spiritual. (Joh_4:24) External ordinances without this are a mockery; but spiritual worship will naturally seek some external expression. The body is so connected with the soul that all emotion tends to bodily manifestations joy to smiles, sorrow to tears, anger to frowns. So emotions of worship find their outlet in articulate prayers and songs of praise. Such expression is
(1) natural,
(2) helpful.
III PUBLIC WORSHIP IS AN OCCASION FOR A PUBLIC TESTIMONY TO RELIGION. The tabernacle was set up in the sight of the people as a visible witness for God. We have our "altars of witness." It is our duty
(1) to confess our faith; (Mat_10:32)
(2) to glorify God by declaring His character to the world and thanking Him before men for the blessings we have received;
(3) to preach Christ by making the light of His gospel shine through the worship of His Church. (Mat 5:18-16)
IV PUBLIC WORSHIP IS A STIMULUS TO PRIVATE DEVOTION. It counteracts the depressing influence of worldly occupations and the variations of private experience resulting from our own changing moods. It stimulates us
(1) by the direct influence of the religious exercises of prayer, praise, and the reading of Scripture and preaching;
(2) by mutual sympathy.
V PUBLIC WORSHIP HELPS US TO REALISE CHRISTIAN BROTHERHOOD. The erection at Shiloh was "the tabernacle of the congregation. There the tribes assembled together. It was to them the centre of national unity. In our worship we should forget our differences. Rich and poor meet together first as one in sin and want and helplessness, and then as one in redemption, spiritual joy, and Christian service. No duty is more important than that of maintaining a spirit of Christian brotherhood. (Joh_4:20, Joh_4:21) By no means is this more fully realised than by union in the deepest emotions of the spiritual life. W. F. A.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v1 The whole congregation . . . assembled together at…
Jos_18:1-28
The whole congregation . . . assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle.
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Religion in the new land
An event of great importance now occurs; the civil arrangements of the country are in a measure provided for, and it is time to set in order the ecclesiastical establishment. First, a place has to be found as the centre of the religious life; next, the tabernacle has to be erected at that place--and this is to be done in the presence of all the congregation. It is well that a godly man like Joshua is at the head of the nation: a less earnest servant of God might have left this great work unheeded. How often, in the emigrations of men, drawn far from their native land in search of a new home, have arrangements for Divine service been forgotten! In such cases the degeneracy into rough manners, uncouth ways of life, perhaps into profanity, debauchery, and lawlessness, has usually been awfully rapid. On the other hand, when the rule of the old puritan has been followed, Wherever I have a house, there God shall have an altar; when the modest spire of the wooden church in the prairie indicates that regard has been had to the gospel precept--Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you--a touch of heaven is imparted to the rude and primitive settlement; we may believe that the spirit of Christ is not unknown; the angels of virtue and piety are surely hovering round it. The narrative is very brief, and no reason is given why Shiloh was selected as the religious centre of the nation. We should have thought that the preference would have been given to Shechem, a few miles north, in the neighbourhood of Ebal and Gerizim, which had already been consecrated in a sense to God. That Shiloh had been chosen by Divine direction we can hardly doubt, although there may have been reasons of various kinds that commended it to Joshua. Situated about half-way between Bethel and Shechem, in the tribe of Ephraim, it was close to the centre of the country, and, moreover, not difficult of access for the eastern tribes. Here, then, assembled the whole congregation of the children of Israel, to set up the tabernacle, probably with some such rites as David performed when it was transferred from the house of Obed-Edom to Mount Zion. Hitherto it had remained at Gilgal, the headquarters and depot of the nation. The whole congregation that now assembled does not necessarily mean the whole community, but only selected representatives, not only of the part that had been engaged in warfare, but also of the rest of the nation. (W. G. Blaikie, D. D.)
How long are ye slack to go to possess the land?--
Joshuas remonstrance
I. Is not the goodly portion freely provided, and waiting your acceptance? Hath not the Lord God of your fathers freely given you a title to the country of peace and rest in heaven? May not an entrance be ministered unto you abundantly? &c. His hand broke asunder your chains, when ye lay helpless in the land of your spiritual bondage--when Satan was your taskmaster, sin your service, and death your wages. He paid the full ransom of your deliverance. The same hand which took you forth from the captivity and death of sin has still led you onward, cheered with increasing hope of reposing in the kingdom and glory of Jesus Christ. As your day, so has your strength been. Is there then, in the little circle of perishing enjoyments around you, is there, even among the present spiritual privileges with which Divine love has invested you, anything sufficiently great to satisfy the aspirations of one who looks for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life?
II. Is not the attainment of salvation the great business of life, to which ye should be devoted? Your life, in its best and only worthy acceptation, consists not in seeking what ye shall eat, and what ye shall drink, and wherewithal ye shall be clothed, and how ye shall enjoy the present, and be aggrandised for the future; but in holy resolve and aim to seek the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. Be your portion of present advantages, whether temporal or spiritual, what it may, let it not absorb your minds, that ye may rest upon it, and seek nothing beyond. Do not live so much beneath your privileges as to be satisfied with the mere shadow of good; while the pure, perfect, unsatiating, and everlasting reality solicits you in vain.
III. Have ye not lost time enough already? If we look inward to the experience of our own hearts--if we recollect the testimony of years past and gone, they will surely speak of long and guilty inattention to the duty of serving God who hath called us to His kingdom and glory. How many opportunities have ye possessed of walking with God, like Enoch, and of illustrating the holy character of His religion so unequivocally, that men must have taken knowledge of you that you had been with Jesus! What then remains? Redeem the time by an increasing zeal and diligence to do the work of God, and to attain by His grace a meetness for the inheritance of the saints in light. (R. P. Buddicom, M. A.)
Slack to possess
The weakness of our nature discovers itself, even under the most prosperous and encouraging circumstances. This degrades our conquests and diminishes the glory of our triumphs. Either self-indulgence, indolence, or indifference was the cause why they were slack to go to possess the land. The luxury of new and undisturbed possessions succeeding to the incessant toils and privations of warfare too long, and it may be too immoderately, entwined about their earthly affections, and retained them in the lap of indulgence. A condition like this, so congenial with the fleshly desires of the heart, induced a frame of indolence which was not only indisposed but might render them indifferent to new achievements, How unfavourable to those energies and exertions which require the mortification of self-indulgence as a condition of uninterrupted prosperity! This has often been found attended with more dangerous results than even the most pressing adversity. Who has not needed this reproof again and again? Why are ye slack to go to possess the land? Present gratifications have made us indifferent to future interests; and private satisfactions to public duties. Let the Christian remember that he owes much to the interests of others, not only to the present, but even to future generations, as far as concerns the Church of God; and therefore, to live to himself, inclosed within the narrow limits of his own person and concerns, is unworthy the greatness of his character, and far beneath the dignity of his being. Though nothing were wanting to render complete our personal estate or family patrimony, yet let us remember that we have much to achieve for others, for our brethren, and the cause of truth, that require self-denying and self-sacrificing exertions. (W. Seaton.)
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The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v1 Jos_18:1. Shiloh]=“Place of rest,” or of “tranquillity;” the word…
THE ENCAMPMENT AT SHILOH, AND A FURTHER DIVISION OF THE LAND
CRITICAL NOTES.
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Jos_18:1. Shiloh]=“Place of rest,” or of “tranquillity;” the word apparently pointing to the fulfilment of the promise in Deu_12:5; Deu_12:9-11. Shiloh is now called Seilûn. In Jdg_21:19, it is placed on the north side of Bethel, east of the road from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah. The tabernacle of the congregation] Luther = “tent of the covenant;” Calvin = “tabernacle of convention.” Prof. Plumtre, remarking that the primary force of yä ‘ad is “to meet by appointment,” says that óhel mó’êd means “a place of or for a fixed meeting.” He would therefore translate, “tent of meeting;” to which Crosby adds the idea, “where the meeting is that of God and men, rather than of men together,” as in the word for congregation used in the beginning of this verse. With the view of expressing somewhat more fully the idea of meeting to commune with men, made emphatic in such passages as Exo_25:22, Ewald suggested the phrase, “tent of revelation.” And the land was subdued before them] That is, there was nothing to hinder the setting up of the tabernacle, the surrounding district being entirely subjugated. Crosby strangely imagines, from this remark, “that there had been some formidable insurrection of the Canaanites that broke off the division at Gilgal.” Possibly there may have been, but it is not mentioned.
Jos_18:4. Three men for each tribe] Probably meaning three men for each of the seven tribes whose inheritance had not yet been apportioned, but possibly including, also, representatives from Judah, Ephraim, and Manasseh. According to the inheritance of them] “The phrase, l’pht nach’ãläthäm is thus explained by Clericus and Rosenmüller, ‘according to the size of the tribes, each family of which was to receive an inheritance.’ To this Masius has properly objected, ‘How could the surveyors make such and such a province great or small in proportion to the size of such and such a tribe, when it had still to be decided by the lot, where each tribe was to be located?’ L’pht nach’ãlähäm can only mean having regard to the fact that they were to receive it as an inheritance, or. as it is explained in Jos_18:5-6, with reference to its being divided into seven parts, which could be allotted as an inheritance to the seven tribes.” [Keil.]
Jos_18:5. Judah shall abide, etc.] The three tribes here named were to remain in the positions already chosen for them by the lot. But this did not prevent the subsequent revision of the extent of the lots, which, after the survey, was found to be necessary, when Judah had to make room for both Dan and Simeon.
Jos_18:6. Before the Lord our God] Before the door of the tabernacle, as explained in chap. Jos_19:51.
Jos_18:9. Described it by cities into seven parts in a book] There is no evidence here, as many have supposed, for a careful survey of the country by actual measurement. Seeing that the Canaanites still held a considerable portion of the land (cf. chap. Jos_13:1-6, etc.), such a survey seems highly improbable, if not impossible. Most likely the surveyors merely made catalogues of the cities, arranging them into seven groups, and making such notes of their size, and of the characteristic features and extent of the surrounding country as they were able. In any case, there is nothing in these verses to warrant elaborate speculations about maps, mensuration, and the ancient art of land-surveying. Looking at the usual method of describing the territory of the tribes; first by boundaries or borders, and then by an enumeration of the cities contained within such border-lines, we have in this alone some indication of the character of the work done by these surveyors. On the other hand, there is absolutely no trace of mensuration—no allusion whatever to quantities or size.
Jos_18:10. There Joshua divided the land, etc.] This was in addition to the casting of the lots, mentioned in the first part of this verse. That is to say, Joshua first cast lots to determine which of the seven groups of cities, with their surrounding territory, should go to each of the seven tribes; he then “divided the land” by readjusting the groups of cities themselves, according to the size of the tribe to which any particular group had fallen. A small tribe would have its lot made smaller, while a numerous tribe would have its lot increased by the cities and lands thus taken from the tribe of fewer people. This would be according to the law of division which God gave through Moses (Num_33:54).
Jos_18:11-20. The lot of the tribe of Benjamin] This, it is said, “came up” and “came forth;” both expressions allude to the drawing up or forth from the urn. The borders of Benjamin, described in these verses, have already been partly given in defining the southern border of Ephraim, on the north, and the northern border of Judah, on the south of this tribe.
Jos_18:12-13. Their border on the north side] Cf. on chap. Jos_16:1-3, as far as to the lower Beth-horon.
Jos_18:14. Compassed the corner of the sea southward] Heb.=“turned round on the west side toward the south,” or “on the sea side,” i.e., on that side of the tribe which lay seaward. In the close of this verse, the word yâm is rendered “west;” and as the territory of Benjamin did not go near the sea, the word should obviously have the same meaning here. In Exo_27:12; Exo_38:12, where p’ath-yäm is used in relation to the court of the tabernacle, it is necessarily translated “on the west side.” The sea being on the west of Palestine, yâm (=“the sea”) seems frequently to have been used much in the same way that the phrase, “toward the sun-rising,” was employed to denote the east. Kirjath-jearim] One of the four cities of the Gibeonites (chap. Jos_19:17), situated on the northern boundary of Judah (chap. Jos_15:9), and belonging to that tribe (chap. Jos_15:60), as stated also in this verse. It afterwards became notable in connection with the Danite encampment, and as the residence for twenty years of the ark of the Lord.
Jos_18:15-19. The south quarter] This corresponds with the north border of Judah, as given in chap. Jos_15:5-9, excepting that it is here taken from west to east.
Jos_18:21. The cities of the tribe] These are divided into two groups, the first containing twelve cities, and the second fourteen. Some of them have already been noticed. The valley of Keziz] This is said to have been “a city,” and should therefore be read Emek Keziz. The LXX.=ʼΑμεκασὶς Fay notices that Van de Velde and Knobel refer to “a Wady el-Kaziz, east of Jerusalem.”
Jos_18:22. Zemaraim] “Earlier witers suppose that it stood upon Mount Zemaraim, one of the mountains of Ephraim, where Abijah besieged Jeroboam (2Ch_13:4). In that case it must be looked for in the mountains to the south of Bethel.” [Keil.] “The Zemarites, once mentioned as a Canaanite tribe (Gen_10:18), reappear in the local name of Mount Zemaraim in Benjamin, 2Ch_13:4, and Jos_18:22.” [Dean Stanley.]
Jos_18:23. Avim] “Since Avim here follows directly after Bethel, while Ai, which stood near Bethel, is not mentioned, it is natural with Knobel to regard Avim as identical with Ai, which is also called Aiah (Neh_13:11), and Aiath (Isa_10:23). The signification of all these names is essentially the same; ruins, heaps, stone-heaps (Mic_1:6; see Gesen.)” [Fay.] Parah] Thought to be Fârah, on the Wady Fârah, to the west of Jericho. Ophrah] Perhaps the same as Ophrah in 1Sa_13:17, Ephraim in 2Ch_13:19, Joh_11:54, and now known as Taiyibeh. It must not be confused with Ophrah of the Abi-ezrites, which was probably in Manasseh.
Jos_18:24. Chephar-haammonai and Ophni] Both unknown, and not mentioned elsewhere. Gaba] Elsewhere, Geba, “which,” says Keil, “we must distinguish from Gibeah, or the Gibeah of Saul, which is also sometimes called Geba.” (Compare Isa_10:29, 1Ki_15:22, Jos_21:17.) In Ezr_2:26, Neh_7:30, it is again called Gaba.
Jos_18:25. Ramah]=“a lofty place.” Now er-Ram. It is frequently mentioned, and its position is clearly indicated by Jdg_4:5; Jdg_19:13, 1Ki_15:22. It should be carefully distinguished from Ramah, the birthplace of Samuel, in “Mount Ephraim.” Mizpeh] Not the same with the Mizpeh of chap. Jos_15:38, which stood in the Shephelah. There was also a Mizpeh in Moab (1Sa_22:8), one in Gad (Jdg_11:29), and a valley of the same name in the mountains of Lebanon (cf. Gesen., Mizpeh and Mizpah). Mizpeh of Benjamin is where Samuel judged the people (1Sa_7:5-6; 1Sa_7:16), and where Saul was chosen king (1Sa_10:17). It is almost certainly the present Neby Samwil. Chephirah] Cf. chap. Jos_9:3. The four cities which follow are unknown, and are only named in this place.
Jos_18:28. Zelah] Mentioned in 2Sa_21:14 as containing the sepulchre of Kish, where the remains of Saul and Jonathan were ultimately buried. Gibeath] “The Gibea of Benjamin or Saul, so frequently referred to, which is still to be seen in the village of Jeba, between the Wady es-Suweinit and the Wady Fârah” [Keil.] Kirjath] Rosenmüller and Maurer, according to Keil, identified this place with Kirjath-jearim. Smith’s Dictionary also adopts this view to the extent of saying that “there seems a strong probability that the latter part of the name has been omitted by copyists at some very early period.” Keil’s remark, however, seems decisive: “Von Raumer has properly opposed this conclusion, since Kirjath-jearim is not merely reckoned as one of the cities of Judah in chap. Jos_15:60, but in chap. Jos_18:14 is expressly called the city of the children of Judah.” Knobel supposes that Kirjath may be Kerteh, west of Jerusalem, while Crosby mentions Khirbet el-Kuta, near Gibeah.
OUTLINES AND COMMENTS ON THE PARAGRAPHS
Jos_18:1.—THE ARK FINDING A RESTING-PLACE IN “THE PLACE OF REST.”
There can be little doubt but that the instruction to set up the tabernacle at Shiloh came from Jehovah Himself. This might be sufficiently clear from Deu_12:5; Deu_26:2, but it is made still more plain by the same words in Jos_9:27. Not only Moses, but Joshua also, recognised it as the Divine will that the Lord Himself should choose the place in which He would put His name. God would have the tabernacle more permanently erected before the division of the land was completed; He would also have it set up at Shiloh, and thus make His resting-place, and the place where Israel should find rest spiritually, in a city whose very name was “rest” or “tranquillity.”
I. The time of setting up the ark.
1. It was after a long period of wandering. The stay in Egypt had been only “a sojourn.” To that long sojourn had succeeded the forty years’ wandering in the wilderness. Finally, to the wanderings in the wilderness there had been added seven years of marching and counter-marching over the land of Canaan itself. How grateful to many must have been this act of setting up the tabernacle at Shiloh! It was the initial step towards having a fixed home for themselves.
2. It was after severe and prolonged conflict. The strife which began at the overthrow of Sihon and Og, which took on new features at the fall of Jericho, and which, for the time being, was consummated in the destruction of the hosts of Jabin and the cities of northern Canaan, had been an arduous and bitter work. Many of the Israelites themselves may have fallen, although the history is singularly silent on this point, excepting that we are told, in connection with the defeat before Ai, that “the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men.” Any way, the setting up of the tabernacle must have been looked upon as indicating a blessed rest from the terrible conflicts of the past. The rest was not final and permanent, for there remained yet very much land to be possessed; yet, in the main, Canaan was won when the ark was thus set up at Shiloh. Such is the sense of rest when Christ is enthroned in the hearts of men individually. The peace which He gives stands in sweet contrast to the strife of the conscience with sin and unbelief. To believe in Him is not utter cessation from conflict, but it is the beginning of such a cessation to every man who is found faithful.
3. It was as the Israelites were about to enter upon their own personal inheritance. Ere most of them found a home, they set up together the tabernacle of the Lord. The way with many is to arrange business and domestic matters first, and to take afterwards, as they may find it, the religious provision of the neighbourhood in which they may have determined to settle. When starting, or starting afresh in life, they give no place whatever to religious considerations. Many ignore their spiritual wants altogether, even when they find nigh at hand facilities for the worship and service of God. There are not a few who might learn much from this ancient example.
II. The place of setting up the ark.
1. It was nearly in the centre of the land. It was as though Divine forethought would place the means of worship within reach of all the people, and render the service of the Lord as little burdensome as possible. Of Israel it should be said, “God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved.”
2. It was in one of the safest parts of the land. “And,” or “For the land was subdued before them.” Calvin remarks that the ark was stationed at Shiloh “because it was a completely subjugated place, and safe from all external violence and injury. For it behoved to be the special care of the Israelites to prevent its exposure to sudden assault. No doubt the hand of God would have been stretched out to ward off attacks of the enemy from any quarter; still, however, though God dwelt among them, they were to be regarded as its guardians and attendants.” As God kept the ark, so does He keep His truth and the honour of His name among men now. He means us to feel them to be our trust. As with the ark, God keeps the truth, but He keeps it by men. We are to feel responsible for making it as secure as possible. We are “put in trust with the gospel.”
3. It was in what also became the place of judgment. Here the claims of the wronged were heard. They can be heard nowhere so well as in the presence of the God of compassion and truth. Of the place where the Lord dwells, it should ever be said, “There are set thrones of judgment.” (Cf. also Deu_17:9; 2Ch_19:8.)
III. The time and place of setting up the ark, in their joint significance. After a long period of wandering and warfare, the ark was set up in a place, the very name of which pointed to tranquillity and rest. As this is the first time that Shiloh is mentioned in the Scriptures as the name of a city, it is possible that the name may have been given to the place on this occasion. This makes no difference to the significance of erecting the ark of rest in the city of rest. If the place was selected because it had previously borne this name, the circumstance is full of meaning; if, on the other hand, when it was determined to set up the tabernacle in this place, some old name was exchanged for the word “Shiloh,” the significance of such a conjunction is, perhaps, still more emphatic.
1. God dwells only where men rest. He makes His abode where men are at peace with Himself and at peace with each other. Where men rest in Him, there He tabernacles.
2. Men rest only where God dwells. There was only one Shiloh in Israel, and that was found in the place where Jehovah sat between the cherubim. With us, the accidents of description are changed, but the facts remain. Peace is only found through Him who said, “My peace I leave with you;” and where Christ dwells, surrounding enemies are not able to break the peace of His people. It is said that in the catacombs of Rome, one of the epitaphs very frequently met with is this, “In Christo, in pace.” Notwithstanding all the horrors of the Roman persecution, it remained true—“in Christ, in peace.” It has always been thus: God dwells where men rest, and men rest where God dwells. “In Salem” (= “peace”) “is His tabernacle;” and it is there that His people learn to sing, “Oh, rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.”
IV. The period of the ark’s continuance at Shiloh, and the cause of its removal. The ark probably remained at Shiloh for rather more than three hundred years. At the end of this period the place was so polluted by the sins of Eli’s sons, that the Lord forsook it for ever. Though not in name, yet no less actually, Shiloh passed into Ichabod. Dean Stanley remarks: “Shiloh is so utterly featureless, that, had it not been for the preservation of its name (Seitûn), and for the extreme precision with which its situation is described in the book of Judges (chap. Jos_21:19), the spot could never have been identified; and, indeed, from the time of Jerome till the year 1838, its real site was completely forgotten, and its name was transferred to that commanding height of Gibeoh, which a later age naturally conceived to be a more congenial spot for the sacred place, where for so many centuries was ‘the tent which He had pitched among men,’—
‘Our living Dread, who dwells
In Silo, His bright sanctuary.’ ”
So complete was the desolation which God wrought, when Israel abandoned those essential conditions of piety which were necessary for His dwelling-place. Only they who walk with God in spirit, find God abiding with them. Sin, of any kind, is the sign for His departure. It may be sin of irreverence, impurity, and covetous injustice, as at Shiloh; or, as at Jerusalem in after generations, men may stand in haughty ecclesiastical pride, and cry, “The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these;” finding presently that they have only the temple, and no Lord at all, excepting one who jealously responds, “Go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.… Therefore will I do to this house as I have done to Shiloh” (cf. Jeremiah 7). Only they who keep the words of the Father, know the abiding presence of the Father (Joh_14:23). All others He forsakes. Even many years of past mercy and manifested glory fail to secure His continued stay. When His people ignore His commandments, where He once wrote “Shiloh,” He henceforth writes “Ichabod.”
Jos_18:1, with Num_10:33, and Jos_6:6-7.—“THE ARK: GOD OUR GUIDE, DEFENCE, AND REST.”
I. “Is human life a journey? Place it under the guidance of God. Let ‘the Lord God go before you to search you out a place to pitch your tents in.’ That is the significance of the scene at Sinai.
II. “Is human life a conflict? Let the Lord God be your sword and shield. He hath provided an armour all complete, from head to foot, and offers Himself to you as the ‘Captain of your salvation.’ That is the significance of the scene at Jericho.
III. “Is human life a sojourn? Let the Lord God prescribe where it shall be spent, and let His rest give the appointed home all purity and peace. That is the significance of the scene at Shiloh.
“How holy must that house be which the Lord hath chosen for me! As I cross its threshold, nothing unclean is to enter; as I depart from it for duty, nothing sinful is to fill my spirit. That house that is purchased by the price of iniquity is not allotted by the Lord. That house that is the scene of lust, of selfishness, of unkindness, is held by a man who has clean forgotten whose tenant he is. That house that is the abode of disorder and strife violates all the covenants on which it is held. But that house that has its altar and its Bible, by which each inmate is ever reminded of the Lord before whom its lot of assignment was taken, is a house that will ever derive peace, rest, and strength from the tabernacle of the Lord at Shiloh. These houses are hard by each other; their inmates are no strangers to each other. Man goes to the Lord’s house, and the Lord goes to man’s house: man with his homage, and penitence, and trust, and prayer, the Lord with His benediction in all manifold grace.” [G. B. Johnson, Edgbaston.]
“Verse
3.—MAN’S SLOWNESS IN POSSESSING GOD’S GIFTS.
I. God’s commandments as a rich inheritance. The Israelites had been solemnly charged to go up and possess the land, and to drive out the Canaanites utterly. Both Moses and Joshua had repeatedly urged this as the commandment of the Lord. Thus, in this case, to obey the Divine precepts was also to enter upon a rich inheritance. It is ever the same with all who are faithful to the words of God. To obey is to inherit. To obey continually is to inherit largely. Some of the commandments of God are of a negative character, while others are positive; some tell us of things which we must not do, and others of things which we are to do. Look at the effect of obedience in each case.
1. Such commandments as forbid sins tend to preserve us from moral and spiritual destitution. He who does the things which he ought not to do hastens to spiritual bankruptcy at a pace proportionate to the rapidity of his transgressions. Take, for instance, the ten commandments of the moral law, which are mostly negative. To have many gods is to be without God altogether. To worship graven images is to find them only graven, and only images, in the hour of real necessity. To take the name of the Lord thoughtlessly upon our lips, is to find that its sacred and mysterious power has fled from our hearts. To violate the day of rest is to need rest all the week. To dishonour parents is to become insolvent in manhood and womanhood. To kill is to die, and that before we so much as lift a hand to slay; for he that hateth is a murderer, and no murderer hath life. To commit adultery is to wrong ourselves even more than others. To steal is to lose more within than we can get without. To slander others is to lose self-respect even more than we shew disrespect. Finally, to covet what is another’s is to forfeit the generosity and kindness and peace which might still have remained our own. The man who does that which God forbids is continually forfeiting the very capital which God would have him use so as to gain a larger inheritance. He is living on his principal. He is spending himself.
2. Such commandments as enjoin duties always tend to an increase of possessions. The inheritance which comes from obeying (a) God’s commandments to believe; (b) His commandments to be holy; (c) His commandments to worship; (d) His commandments to work (cf. remarks on page 254).
II. Man’s slowness in possessing this inheritance. “How long are ye slack?” etc. We see here:—
1. Men on whose behalf God had long wrought by wonderful miracles, slothfully waiting when the miracles ceased. For forty-seven or eight years God had been working miraculously for the Israelites. From the time of the ten plagues in Egypt to the battle in which the day had been so wonderfully prolonged, God had wrought great wonders for His people. He had brought them into the land with “a high hand and an outstretched arm.” It is not a little significant, when we see this indolence and inactivity following such marvellous interposition. There is a place in the minds of men where miracles exhaust themselves. They no longer work faith, but inaction. Those who are continually seeking for the manifest interposition of God should remember that nothing which men have ever witnessed seems so conspicuously to have failed as the evidently supernatural. It was the men for whom the waters of the earth had parted, for whom the skies for many years had rained daily bread, before whom solid walls had fallen down, and on whose behalf the sun had stayed his setting, who were so slack to go up and possess the land to which these and many other wonders had led them. It was after witnessing for three years and a half the gracious miracles of Christ, that the multitudes at Jerusalem were turned by their exasperated leaders into a raging mob, hoarsely shouting to the Roman Governor concerning that same Jesus, “Crucify Him; Crucify Him.”
2. Men indolently and sinfully failing to use God’s great mercies, through treating them as tiresome duties to be done. They thought of the work which yet remained as a task, and regarding it in that light, found little heart to undertake it. They needed love, and thus wanted also the alacrity of love. Christ says to us each, Occupy till I come.” He who does not think highly of Christ’s gift, and who does not love to occupy for Christ’s sake, will weary himself with his Lord’s commandment, instead of finding it a joyful possession. He who thought his Lord an austere man, and hid his talent in the earth, was afraid notwithstanding that it was hidden, and presently passed from fear to judgment.
III. Man’s inheritance curtailed through his inactivity. The slothfulness of the Israelites was ultimately the cause of many sorrows.
1. Much of the land was never possessed at all. When we miss the opportunities which God makes for us, it is not an easy work to make fresh opportunities ourselves.
2. The land which was inherited was made insecure by that which was left in the possession of enemies. The Philistines, especially, became grievous oppressors of the Israelites for many years. As God had forewarned His people, the enemies whom they spared became as “thorns in their sides” (Num_33:55). The soldier who leaves unreduced a strong fortress in his rear, exposes himself to danger. The Christian who deliberately passes by an imperative commandment of God is still more unwise. A large inheritance and great safety go only with full and loving obedience.
Jos_18:1-3.—ISRAEL AT SHILOH.
“
1. God brings men to Shiloh that He may set them to work. When the sinner comes to Christ, he enters into ‘peace’ and ‘rest,’ and yet he is not suffered to remain idle. We are saved by grace, without works; but we are also saved by grace to work, and the great work set before us is the sanctification of our souls and the service of our generation. Only through the doing of this work shall we enter upon our inheritance.
“
2. Nothing is so displeasing to God as slackness on our part to go up and possess His gifts.” [Dr. Wm. Taylor.]
Jos_18:5-7.—THE LOT OF GOD, AND THE SURVEY OF MEN.
I. The choice of God cannot be corrected by the survey of men. Judah, Manasseh, and Ephraim were still to abide in the position already indicated by the lots previously drawn. It is true that great alterations were to be made in the extent of some of these lots, but no alteration was to be made in the general situation. The work of men in respect to these three tribes had to be corrected by the survey; the arrangement, so far as it was God’s, was to remain untouched (cf. remarks on chap. Jos_14:2, pp. 250, 252). God makes no mistakes. He had surveyed the land long before these representatives of the tribes undertook the work. Our most minute investigations can correct no determination which is of the Lord.
II. The choice of God cannot be omitted because of the survey of men. After the work of the surveyors was completed, they were to bring the description to Joshua, that he might “cast lots for them before the Lord” (Jos_18:6). Josephus (Ant. v. 1. 21) speaks of the men sent out as “geometricians who could not easily fail of knowing the truth, on account of their skill,” and further says, they returned to Joshua “in the seventh month.” Even if they were as skilled as some think, and if they took upwards of six months for their task, the appeal to the Lord for His guidance was as necessary as ever. Our utmost care can never render us independent of prayer.
III. The choice of God and the survey of men work together.
1. Divine guidance is independent of the investigation of men. God did not need the survey to help Him in determining on His selection. We cannot do without His work, but He does not rest on ours.
2. Divine guidance does not clash with the investigation of men. God ever leaves something for us to do. A loving father does the difficult part of a work for his child. It would be less trouble to the father to complete it entirely. The easy parts left to the child would take the father but a few moments to do, whereas the child requires watching and helping for hours, and even then goes far to spoil what has been done for him. For all that, a wise and patient father says, Though this detains me, it is good for my child. God leaves us something to do, much in this spirit. It is not that we can improve or even supplement His work; it is through the kindness that would not have us children always that we are found “labourers together with God.” Our investigation does not suppose so much to be subtracted from omniscience; our labour is never a fraction which is necessary to make omnipotence perfect.
3. Divine guidance is made known through the investigation of men. It is as we inspect, and measure, and plan, that the Lord’s selection for us becomes comprehensible and plain. Before the survey, the lot notwithstanding, Judah had regarded as its own the whole inheritance of Simeon. It is just where our most careful labours end that we best begin to understand what is the meaning of God.
IV. The choice of God is never needed to correct or to supplement His own previous arrangements. Jos_18:7. The Levites were still to find their inheritance in the Lord God of Israel. The two and a half tribes east of Jordan were to continue in their lots, according to God’s former arrangement through Moses. Judah and the children of Joseph were also in their right place. The casting of lots at Shiloh was no amended edition of God’s previous selection. “God is not a man, that He should repent.” Few things are more imposing than this unbending and unhesitating purpose of God. Creation is one, and has no contradictions. Nature lies in a straight line, broken nowhere by halting purposes, and free everywhere from disfiguring patches. In the kingdom of grace it is emphatically the same. From the offerings of Abel and the altars of Abraham to the cross of Calvary, there is but one voice from heaven crying out to the sons of men, and that is ever saying, “Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.” God’s walk through the universe, during all the ages, is a straight path. The only lane in this world which “has no turning” is the way trodden by the feet of the God of infinite wisdom and justice and love.
Jos_18:8-10.—DANGEROUS WORK AND DIVINE PROTECTION.
I. Men sent on a dangerous service for the people of God, and protected by God.
II. Men prospered by God, and successfully accomplishing their work.
III. Men doing their utmost to shed light on a difficult task, and needing the guidance of God notwithstanding.
THE DANGER TO WHICH THE SURVEYORS WERE EXPOSED.—“Nothing seems more incongruous than to send twenty-one men, who were not only to pass directly through a hostile country, but to trace it through all its various windings and turnings, so as not to leave a single corner unexamined, to calculate its length and breadth, and even make due allowance for its inequalities. Every person whom they happened to meet must readily have suspected who they were, and for what reason they had been employed on this expedition. In short, no return lay open for them except through a thousand deaths. Assuredly they would not have encountered so much danger from blind and irrational impulse, nor would Joshua have exposed them to such manifest danger had they not been aware that all those nations, struck with terror from heaven, desired nothing so much as peace. For although they hated the children of Israel, still, having been subdued by so many overthrows, they did not dare to move a finger against them, and thus the surveyors proceeded in safety as through a peaceful territory, either under the pretext of trading, or as harmless strangers passing on their way. It is also possible that they arranged themselves in different parties, and thus made the journey more secretly. It is certain, indeed, that there was only one source from which they could have derived all this courage and confidence, from trusting under the shadow of the wings of the Almighty, and thus having no fear of blind and stupid men. Hence the praise here bestowed on their ready will.” [Calvin.]
Jos_18:9-10.—THE DESCRIPTION OF OUR HEAVENLY INHERITANCE.—“The heavenly Canaan is described to us in a book, the book of the Scriptures, and there is in it a record of mansions and portions sufficient for all God’s spiritual Israel. Christ is our Joshua that divides it to us; on Him we must attend, and “to Him we must apply ourselves for an inheritance with the saints in light (cf. Joh_14:2-6).” [Matt. Henry.]
Jos_18:11-28.—THE SITUATION OF THE TRIBE OF BENJAMIN.
In the matter of numbers, the tribe of Benjamin was amongst the smallest in Israel. As concerning the order of birth, Benjamin was the youngest of the twelve sons of Jacob. These two things, the latter of them especially, may go far to account for the considerate sympathy which was repeatedly shewn towards “little Benjamin,” who, after the slaughter recorded in Judges 21, became known as the “smallest of the tribes of Israel” (1Sa_9:21; Psa_68:27). Whether the name Benjamin be taken into account, or the gentle sympathy with which the tribe was often regarded be thought of, the Scripture history repeatedly leaves the impression that they were a favoured people in Israel. Even in the dark page of sin and slaughter already referred to there are traces of the same feeling: it is shewn, on the one hand, in the haughty demeanour of the “spoiled children” who alone recklessly set themselves in array against the overwhelming thousands of the kingdom; and, on the other hand, in the tearful inquiry of the other tribes before the Lord, in the half-hearted character of the earlier attacks, as though the avengers were at first too pitiful to smite firmly, and in the way in which the people after the victory “repented them for Benjamin their brother, and said, There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day.” This feeling of affectionate interest in the children of Jacob’s youngest son is not only shewn towards them by their brethren, but is conspicuously marked in the inspired blessing of Moses the man of God, “Of Benjamin he said, The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him; and the Lord shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between His shoulders.”
The following interesting features, according so well with the spirit and language of this blessing, may be noticed in regard to the situation of the territory of the tribe:—
1. The people had their inheritance near to the place where Benjamin, their father, was born, and where his mother Rachel died and was buried. The southern boundary of the tribe could not, at most, have been more than five or six miles from the spot (Gen_35:16; Gen_35:19), and probably included the actual site of Rachel’s tomb (cf. Jos_18:25; 1Sa_10:2).
2. The inheritance of the tribe was next to that of the house of Joseph, Benjamin’s “own and only brother.”
3. From the powerful and dreaded Philistines, and other enemies, it had the strong tribe of Judah to defend it on the south, and the warlike Danites to shield it on the west.
4. It was situated in a district having very great advantages for the purposes of defensive warfare (cf. Stanley’s Sinai and Palestine, on “The Heights and the Passes of Benjamin,” pp. 199–214).
5. It was immediately south of Shiloh, where, during those earlier centuries of the national history, God tabernacled with His people, and immediately north of Jerusalem, which was given to the Benjamites as a part of their possession. Thus this highly favoured tribe “dwelt safely by Jehovah,” and the Lord “covered him all the day long,” and he “dwelt between the shoulders” of Deity.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 The Second Allotment. Introduction. The Territory of Benjamin
The Second Allotment. Introduction. The Territory of Benjamin
1-10. These vv supply an introduction to the second allotment in general, and agree with the passages which, in common with Judges 1, view the conquest as gradual and partial. The seven tribes still hang back through 'slackness' (Jos_18:3), while Judah and Joseph are already in possession.
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5. Judah shall abide, etc.] In the final allotment the S. border of Benjamin coincided with the N. border of Judah as far as Kirjath-jearim; the lowlands and plains W. of that were given to Dan (Jos_19:40).
11-20. The lot of Benjamin. It had, as boundaries, Ephraim to the N. and Judah to the S: the Jordan was the E. border, and Beth-horon to Kirjath-jearim the W. Jerusalem (Jebus) was within its borders.
13. Luz, which is Beth-el] see on Gen_28:19.
14. And compassed the corner of the sea] RV 'and turned about on the west quarter.'
15. Nephtoah] a fountain near Jerusalem. The S. boundary is the same as the N. boundary of Judah (Jos_15:5-9), but traced here from W. to E.
16. Jebusi] RV 'the Jebusite,' meaning Jerusalem. The Benjamin border passed S. of Jerusalem. It is often forgotten that this city, though bordering upon Judah, was really in the territory of Benjamin.
19. Beth-hoglah] N. end of the Dead Sea.
21-28. The cities of Benjamin. The most famous of them are Jericho, Ramah (1Sa_1:19), Mizpeh (1Sa_7:5), Jerusalem, and Gibeath or Gibeah.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 6. The Portion of the Rest of the Tribes
6. The Portion of the Rest of the Tribes
CHAPTER 18
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1. The tabernacle at Shiloh (Jos 18:1)
2. The remaining seven tribes (Jos 18:2-10)
3. The lot of Benjamin (Jos 18:11-28)
The tabernacle of the congregation is now set up at Shiloh. Shiloh means “peace,” “security.” The land was then subdued before them. Shiloh is now the center. From there the operations proceed. Seven times after this Shiloh is mentioned in the book of Joshua: Jos 18:8-10; Jos 19:51; Jos 21:2; Jos 22:9; Jos 22:12. Read these carefully and see what happened in connection with Shiloh, the place of rest. The tabernacle remained at Shiloh till the Philistines came and took the ark, as recorded in 1Sa 4:11. Then it was at Nob in the days of Saul, then at Jerusalem, at Gibeon in the beginning of Solomon’s reign (2Ch 1:3). It never got back to this first resting-place.
At that time seven tribes still remained without an inheritance. They seemed to be content without any inheritance whatever. Most likely they had also become tired of war. Theirs had been a strenuous experience. It was difficult work to go forth and conquer, to occupy new territory and meet the enemies. They must likewise have come into possession of many things for their comfort, which were unknown to them in the wilderness; and with the natural and plentiful resources of the land they became self-indulgent and were at ease. Joshua’s earnest appeal suggests such a state of the people. “How long are ye slack to go to possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers hath given you?” And their negligence in not possessing the land avenged itself, for the unpossessed land with its enemies became “scourges in their sides and thorns in their eyes.” What ingratitude it was, after God’s wonderful power had brought them in, that they should neglect to avail themselves of so great a gift! Such is man, always a failure in himself. It needs hardly to be said, that all this finds an application with ourselves, whom the Lord has brought into a better land and richer inheritance. How slack we are to go to possess the land! How many neglect so great salvation! Joshua then gave instructions and the men selected walked through the land and made a survey of it.
The inheritance of Benjamin is described in the remaining portion of this chapter. Their lot fell into a steep, mountainous country; many of the cities they received were in high places, indicated by such names as Gibeon (hilly); Gibeath (a hill); Gaba (elevation); Ramah (the height); Mizpeh (watch-tower), etc. May we ascend the heights of glory we have in Christ, and walk in our high-places, with feet as swift as the hinds’ feet (Hab 3:19). And we too have our “Mizpeh,” the place of watching and waiting for Him, who will lead us into our wonderful inheritance in the day of His coming glory.
“Benjamin was counted the least of the tribes (1Sa 9:21), and when, with other tribes, it was represented by its chief magistrate, it was rather disparagingly distinguished as ‘little Benjamin with their ruler’ (Psa 68:27). Yet it was strong enough, on one occasion, to set at defiance for a time the combined forces of the other tribes (Jdg 20:12, etc.) It was distinguished for the singular skill of its slingers; seven hundred, who were left-handed, ‘could every one sling stones at an hair-breadth and not miss’ (Jdg 20:16). The character of its territory, abounding in rocky mountains, and probably in game, for the capture of which the sling was adapted, might, in some degree, account for this peculiarity.
“Many famous battles were fought on the soil of Benjamin. The battle of Ai; that of Gibeon, followed by the pursuit through Bethhoron, both under Joshua; Jonathan’s battle with the Philistines at Michmash (1 Samuel 14), and the duel at Gibeon between twelve men of Saul and twelve of David (2Sa 2:15-16); were all fought within the territory of Benjamin. And when Sennacherib approached Jerusalem from the north, the places which were thrown into panic as he came near were in this tribe. ‘He is come to Aiath, he is passed through Migron; at Michmash he layeth up his baggage; they are gone over the pass; they have taken up their lodging at Geba; Ramah trembleth; Gibeah of Saul is fled. Cry aloud with thy voice, O daughter of Gallim! Hearken, O Laishah! O thou poor Anathoth! Madmenah is a fugitive, the inhabitants of Gebim gather themselves to flee. This very day shall he halt at Nob; he shaketh his hand at the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem (Isa 10:28-32, R.V.). In later times Judas Maccabeus gained a victory over the Syrian forces at Bethhoron; and, again, Cestius and his Roman troops were defeated by the Jews” (Expositor’s Bible).
The tribe counted the least, “little Benjamin,” came into possession of the richest inheritance, which is abundantly witnessed to by the names of the different cities, if we diligently search out their meaning. God delights to take up what is little and make it great. (Saul of Tarsus, our great Apostle Paul (Paul means “little”), was of the tribe of Benjamin. He possessed and enjoyed his inheritance in the heavenlies.)
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv1, 8 The Tabernacle Set Up
The Tabernacle Set Up
v. 1. And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh, a little more than one half the distance between Jerusalem and Shechem, and set up the Tabernacle of the Congregation there. Shiloh, approximately in the center of the country, was the city of the Sanctuary for several centuries, until the time of Eli. So the Ark of the Covenant had now found a place of rest and thus served as a sign encouraging the people to strive for the true rest which is reserved for the children of God, Hebrews 4. And the land was subdued before them, and there was nothing hindering the division of the land.
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v. 2. And there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes which had not yet received their inheritance, Reuben, Gad, Judah, Ephraim, and Manasseh having been provided for.
v. 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? The chief strongholds of the heathen inhabitants had fallen before the vigorous onslaughts of Joshua and the army of Israel, and it now remained merely to take possession of the land and to complete the extermination of the heathen. Apparently the tribes of Israel were not at all eager to exchange the nomadic form of life with that of settled abodes, and the thought of taking possession of their land with their weapons in their hand did not appeal to them.
v. 4. Give out from among you, select and set forth, 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, with reference to its being taken possession of by the seven remaining tribes. Their chief work consisted in their making a list of the cities and their vicinity, the physical aspect of the land, and the condition of the soil. And they shall come again to me, their report serving as the basis of the subsequent division of the land.
v. 5. And they shall divide it, the land still remaining, 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, no changes being made in the possessions of these tribes.
v. 6. Ye shall therefore describe the land into seven parts, and bring the description, the list as thus made out, hither to me, to Shiloh, that I may cast lots for you here before the Lord, our God, probably in the court of the Tabernacle, Jos 19:51.
v. 7. But the Levites have no part among you, Jos 13:33; Num 18:20; for the priesthood of the Lord is their inheritance, and as ministers of the Sanctuary they were granted certain privileges which compensated, in a way, for the fact that they had not received a definite section of the Promised Land as their home; 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, Numbers 32. The weakness of the children of God in waging the war which is their lot in life may easily result in disaster of the worst kind for them.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10 and they conquered the land
and they conquered the land
They had conquered the people who lived in the land before they set up the tent of meeting. AT: "after they had conquered the land" (See: Order of Events)
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whose inheritance had not been assigned
The land that the tribes would receive is spoken of as if it were an inheritance that they would receive as a permanent possession. This can be stated in active form. AT: "to whom Joshua had not assigned land as an inheritance" (See: Metaphor and Active or Passive)
translationWords
assembly
Israel
Shiloh
tent of meeting
tribe
inherit
assign
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9 18:1 Israel had been encamped at Gilgal in the…
18:1 Israel had been encamped at Gilgal in the Jordan Valley (14:6). Shiloh was about twenty miles north of Jerusalem, in the hill country of Ephraim. By setting up the Tabernacle there, Joshua made Shiloh Israel’s religious and political center. The Tabernacle remained at Shiloh until the Philistines captured the Ark (1 Sam 4:10-11).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.