# Joshua 18 📖: Land Divided at Shiloh [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-Joshua Overview]] | [[Joshua 17]] | [[Joshua 19]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) ### The Tribes Meet at Shiloh [[#Verse 01.]] The entire Israelite community assembled at Shiloh and there they set up the tent of meeting. Though they had subdued the land,  [[#Verse 02.]] seven Israelite tribes had not been assigned their allotted land. [[#Verse 03.]] So Joshua said to the Israelites: “How long do you intend to put off occupying the land the Lord God of your ancestors has given you?  [[#Verse 04.]] Pick three men from each tribe. I will send them out to walk through the land and make a map of it for me. [[#Verse 05.]] Divide it into seven regions. Judah will stay in its territory in the south, and the family of Joseph in its territory in the north. [[#Verse 06.]] But as for you, map out the land into seven regions and bring it to me. I will draw lots for you here before the Lord our God.  [[#Verse 07.]] But the Levites will not have an allotted portion among you, for their inheritance is to serve the Lord. Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have already received their allotted land east of the Jordan, which Moses the Lord’s servant assigned them.” [[#Verse 08.]] When the men started out, Joshua told those going to map out the land, “Go, walk through the land, map it out, and return to me. Then I will draw lots for you before the Lord here in Shiloh.”  [[#Verse 09.]] The men journeyed through the land and mapped it and its cities out into seven regions on a scroll. Then they came to Joshua at the camp in Shiloh.  [[#Verse 10.]] Joshua drew lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord and divided the land among the Israelites according to their allotted portions. ### Benjamin’s Tribal Lands [[#Verse 11.]] The first lot belonged to the tribe of Benjamin by its clans. Their allotted territory was between Judah and Joseph.  [[#Verse 12.]] Their northern border started at the Jordan, went up to the slope of Jericho on the north, ascended westward to the hill country, and extended to the wilderness of Beth Aven.  [[#Verse 13.]] It then crossed from there to Luz, to the slope of Luz to the south (that is, Bethel), and descended to Ataroth Addar located on the hill that is south of lower Beth Horon.  [[#Verse 14.]] It then turned on the west side southward from the hill near Beth Horon on the south and extended to Kiriath Baal (that is, Kiriath Jearim), a city belonging to the tribe of Judah. This is the western border.  [[#Verse 15.]] The southern side started on the edge of Kiriath Jearim and extended westward to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah.  [[#Verse 16.]] The border then descended to the edge of the hill country near the Valley of Ben Hinnom located in the Valley of the Rephaites to the north. It descended through the Valley of Hinnom to the slope of the Jebusites to the south and then down to En Rogel.  [[#Verse 17.]] It went northward, extending to En Shemesh and Geliloth opposite the Pass of Adummim, and descended to the Stone of Bohan son of Reuben.  [[#Verse 18.]] It crossed to the slope in front of the rift valley to the north and descended into the rift valley.  [[#Verse 19.]] It then crossed to the slope of Beth Hoglah to the north and ended at the northern tip of the Salt Sea at the mouth of the Jordan River. This was the southern border.  [[#Verse 20.]] The Jordan River bordered it on the east. These were the borders of the land assigned to the tribe of Benjamin by its clans. [[#Verse 21.]] These cities belonged to the tribe of Benjamin by its clans: Jericho, Beth Hoglah, Emek Keziz,  [[#Verse 22.]] Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel,  [[#Verse 23.]] Avvim, Parah, Ophrah,  [[#Verse 24.]] Kephar Ammoni, Ophni, and Geba—a total of twelve cities and their towns. [[#Verse 25.]] Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, [[#Verse 26.]] Mizpah, Kephirah, Mozah,  [[#Verse 27.]] Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah,  [[#Verse 28.]] Zelah, Haeleph, the Jebusite city (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath—a total of fourteen cities and their towns. This was the land assigned to the tribe of Benjamin by its clans. ## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary ###### Overall. ###### Verse 01. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ###### Verse 10. ###### Verse 11. ###### Verse 12. ###### Verse 13. ###### Verse 14. ###### Verse 15. ###### Verse 16. ###### Verse 17. ###### Verse 18. ###### Verse 19. ###### Verse 20. ###### Verse 21. ###### Verse 22. ###### Verse 23. ###### Verse 24. ###### Verse 25. ###### Verse 26. ###### Verse 27. ###### Verse 28. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. The tabernacle stayed at Shiloh until the days of Eli and Samuel (1 Samuel 1:3; 4:3-4). 2. Seven tribes had not yet received their inheritance (18:2). 3. Three men from each tribe surveyed the land (18:4). 4. They wrote a description of the land in a scroll, divided into seven parts (18:9). 5. Benjamin's land lay between Judah and Joseph (18:11), a small but strategic territory. 6. Benjamin's towns included Jericho, Bethel, Gibeon, and Jebus, which is Jerusalem (18:21-28). 7. Lots were cast "before the Lord" (18:6, 10), showing the allotment was God's decision, not Joshua's (Proverbs 16:33). 8. Jeremiah later pointed to Shiloh as a warning of what God does when His people turn away (Jeremiah 7:12). 9. Psalm 78:60 says God abandoned His tabernacle at Shiloh. 10. Gibeah, King Saul's hometown, was in Benjamin (18:28), and the apostle Paul was also from the tribe of Benjamin (Philippians 3:5). ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the One who calls us to take hold of what God has already given. Joshua asked how long the tribes would delay possessing the land (18:3), and Paul urges us to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of us (Philippians 3:12). ## 🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. Joshua asked seven tribes how long they would put off taking the land (18:3). Where are you delaying something God has already given you? 2. The men surveyed the land and wrote it down before the lots were cast (18:8-9). How can good planning serve faith? 3. Why was it significant that the tent of meeting was set up at Shiloh (18:1)? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verse 1: Israel gathers at Shiloh and sets up the tent of meeting there. - 📖 verse 3: Joshua asks how long they will delay taking the land the Lord has given. - 📖 verse 10: Joshua casts lots before the Lord at Shiloh and divides the land. ## 🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference - 🔗 [[Philippians 03#Verse 12.|Philippians 3:12-14]] - Take hold of that for which Christ took hold of you. - 🔗 [[1 Samuel 01#Verse 03.|1 Samuel 1:3]] - Worship at Shiloh. - 🔗 [[Jeremiah 07#Verse 12.|Jeremiah 7:12]] - Go to Shiloh and see. - 🔗 [[Psalm 78#Verse 60.|Psalm 78:60]] - God abandoned the tabernacle at Shiloh. - 🔗 [[Proverbs 16#Verse 33.|Proverbs 16:33]] - The lot is cast, but the decision is from the Lord. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection 📝 SOAP: [[Joshua 18 - SOAP|God’s Promises Require Action]] ## 📂 Internal Notes