The remaining seven tribes who have not yet received their inheritance are rebuked by Joshua. A survey commission maps the remaining land, and lots are cast at Shiloh to distribute territory. Benjamin's allotment is detailed.
What Makes This Chapter Remarkable
Joshua's rebuke (v. 3) is pointed: 'How long will you be slack about going in to possess the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you?' The gift requires action — inheritance is not passive. The assembly at Shiloh (v. 1) marks the tabernacle's first permanent location after the wilderness, and Shiloh will remain the central sanctuary until the ark's capture in 1 Samuel 4.
Translation Friction
The survey commission (v. 4-9) is described with administrative detail: seven men walk the land, divide it into seven portions, and write descriptions in a document (sefer). We rendered the process as the Hebrew presents it — this is ancient land surveying, and the vocabulary is technical. Benjamin's territory between Judah and Joseph (vv. 11-28) places the smallest tribe in the most strategic location.
Connections
Shiloh as the tabernacle site continues through Judges and into 1 Samuel 1-4. Its destruction becomes a prophetic warning in Jeremiah 7:12 and 26:6. Benjamin's territory includes Jerusalem (v. 28) — the city that straddles the Judah-Benjamin border and will become David's capital. The lot-casting at Shiloh connects to the Urim and Thummim tradition (Exodus 28:30).
The entire assembly of the Israelites gathered at Shiloh and set up the Tent of Meeting there. The land lay subdued before them.
KJV 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.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Vayyashkinu sham et Ohel Mo'ed ('they caused the Tent of Meeting to dwell there') — the verb shakan ('to dwell, to tabernacle') is the root of Shekhinah ('divine dwelling presence'). The tabernacle's installation at Shiloh marks a new phase: the center of worship moves from the military camp at Gilgal to a more permanent site in the central highlands. Shiloh will serve as Israel's central sanctuary throughout the Judges period until its destruction, likely by the Philistines (cf. Psalm 78:60; Jeremiah 7:12-14; 26:6).
V'ha-arets nikhb'shah lifneihem ('the land was subdued before them') — the passive verb nikhb'shah confirms the land is under Israelite control. The remaining allotments can proceed in relative security.
Seven tribes among the Israelites had not yet received their inheritance.
KJV And there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes, which had not yet received their inheritance.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Shiv'ah sh'vatim ('seven tribes') — Judah, Ephraim, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their western allotments. Reuben, Gad, and the eastern half of Manasseh hold the Transjordan. Levi has no territorial inheritance. Seven tribes remain: Benjamin, Simeon, Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Dan.
Joshua said to the Israelites, "How long will you put off going in to take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your ancestors, has given you?
KJV 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?
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Ad anah attem mitrappim lavo lareshet et ha-arets ('how long will you be slack/negligent to go and possess the land?') — Joshua rebukes the remaining tribes for their passivity. The verb raphah (hitpael, 'to be slack, to relax, to be negligent') suggests a failure of initiative. The land has been given; the tribes have not moved to claim it. Joshua's question echoes Moses's rebuke to the Reubenites and Gadites: 'Shall your brothers go to war while you sit here?' (Numbers 32:6).
Appoint three men from each tribe. I will send them out to travel through the land, survey it for the purpose of their inheritance, and then report back to me.
KJV Give out from among you three men for each tribe: and I will send them, and they shall rise, and go through the land, and describe it according to the inheritance of them; and they shall come again to me.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Sh'loshah anashim la-shavet ('three men per tribe') — twenty-one men total will survey the remaining territory. V'yikht'vu otah l'fi nachalatam ('they will write/describe it according to their inheritance') — the survey is a written document, a formal land record. This is systematic, bureaucratic land management: survey, document, allocate by lot.
They are to divide it into seven portions. Judah will remain in its territory to the south, and the house of Joseph in its territory to the north.
KJV And they shall divide it into seven parts: Judah shall abide in their coast on the south, and the house of Joseph shall abide in their coast on the north.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The existing allotments of Judah (south) and Joseph (north) serve as fixed boundaries. The seven remaining portions will be fitted between them and in the areas they have not claimed. The framework is already established; the survey fills in the gaps.
You are to survey the land in seven portions and bring the description here to me. I will cast lots for you here before the LORD our God.
KJV Ye shall therefore describe the land into seven parts, and bring the description hither to me, that I may cast lots for you here before the LORD our God.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
V'yariti lakhem goral poh lifnei YHWH Eloheinu ('I will cast lots for you here before the LORD our God') — the lot-casting takes place at Shiloh, before the Tent of Meeting, in the LORD's presence. The process is explicitly liturgical: the divine will determines which tribe receives which surveyed portion. Human planning (the survey) meets divine sovereignty (the lot).
The Levites have no portion among you, because the priesthood of the LORD is their inheritance. And Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have already received their inheritance east of the Jordan, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave them."
KJV But the Levites have no part among you; for the priesthood of the LORD is their inheritance: and Gad, and Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh, have received their inheritance beyond Jordan on the east, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave them.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Ki khunat YHWH nachalato ('the priesthood of the LORD is his inheritance') — a third formulation of Levi's non-territorial inheritance: in 13:14 it was the fire offerings, in 13:33 it was the LORD Himself, and here it is the priesthood. The three statements complement each other: Levi's inheritance is God (the person), the priesthood (the role), and the offerings (the provision).
The men set out on their way. Joshua charged those going to survey the land: "Go, travel through the land, write up a description, and come back to me. Then I will cast lots for you before the LORD at Shiloh."
KJV And the men arose, and went away: and Joshua charged them that went to describe the land, saying, Go and walk through the land, and describe it, and come again to me, that I may here cast lots for you before the LORD in Shiloh.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
L'khu v'hithalkhu va-arets v'khitvu otah v'shuvu elai ('go, walk through the land, write it up, and return to me') — the commission is clear: survey, document, return. The written survey will serve as the basis for the lot-casting. U-foh ashlik lakhem goral lifnei YHWH b'Shiloh ('here I will cast lots for you before the LORD at Shiloh') — Shiloh is established as the administrative and religious center for the remaining allocations.
The men went and traveled through the land, recording it city by city in seven portions in a document. Then they returned to Joshua at the camp in Shiloh.
KJV And the men went and passed through the land, and described it by cities into seven parts in a book, and came again to Joshua to the host at Shiloh.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Vayyikht'vuha l'arim l'shiv'ah chalaqim al sefer ('they wrote it up by cities into seven portions in a scroll/document') — the survey produces a written scroll (sefer), an official land register. This is one of the earliest descriptions of systematic cartography and territorial documentation in the Bible. The document serves as the authoritative reference for the lot-casting.
Joshua cast lots for them at Shiloh before the LORD, and there he divided the land among the Israelites according to their tribal divisions.
KJV And Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the LORD: and there Joshua divided the land unto the children of Israel according to their divisions.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The lot-casting determines which of the seven surveyed portions goes to which tribe. The process combines human diligence (the survey) with divine determination (the lots). The result is binding — no tribe can dispute an allocation determined by lot before the LORD.
The lot for the tribe of Benjamin came up first, clan by clan. Their allotted territory fell between the people of Judah and the people of Joseph.
KJV And the lot of the tribe of the children of Benjamin came up according to their families: and the coast of their lot came forth between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Bein b'nei Yehudah u-vein b'nei Yosef ('between the people of Judah and the people of Joseph') — Benjamin's territory sits between the two dominant tribal blocs: Judah to the south and Joseph (Ephraim/Manasseh) to the north. This buffer position will give Benjamin outsized political significance: Jerusalem sits on the Judah-Benjamin border, and the tribe will be torn between north and south throughout Israel's history.
Their northern boundary began at the Jordan, went up along the northern slope of Jericho, ascended westward into the hill country, and ended at the wilderness of Beth-aven.
KJV And their border on the north side was from Jordan; and the border went up to the side of Jericho on the north side, and went up through the mountains westward; and the goings out thereof were at the wilderness of Bethaven.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Beit Aven ('house of wickedness/nothingness') — located near Bethel. The name may be an intentional derogatory distortion of Bethel ('house of God') used by later prophets to condemn the shrine's idolatrous practices (Hosea 4:15; 5:8; 10:5).
From there the boundary crossed to Luz — to the southern slope of Luz (that is, Bethel) — then descended to Ataroth-addar, near the hill south of Lower Beth-horon.
KJV And the border went over from thence toward Luz, to the side of Luz, which is Bethel, southward; and the border descended to Atarothadar, near the hill that lieth on the south side of the nether Bethhoron.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Luzah hi Beit El ('Luz, that is, Bethel') — the narrator again identifies Luz with Bethel, as in Genesis 28:19 where Jacob renamed the site after his vision of the heavenly stairway.
The boundary curved around the western side, turning south from the hill facing Beth-horon, and ended at Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a city of Judah. This was the western side.
KJV And the border was drawn thence, and compassed the corner of the sea southward, from the hill that lieth before Bethhoron southward; and the goings out thereof were at Kirjathbaal, which is Kirjathjearim, a city of the children of Judah: this was the west quarter.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Qiryat Ba'al hi Qiryat Y'arim ir b'nei Yehudah ('Kiriath-baal, that is Kiriath-jearim, a city of Judah') — this Gibeonite city (9:17) sits on the boundary between Judah and Benjamin, and will host the ark of the covenant for twenty years (1 Samuel 7:1-2).
The southern side began at the edge of Kiriath-jearim. The boundary went westward to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah,
KJV And the south quarter was from the end of Kirjathjearim, and the border went out on the west, and went out to the well of the waters of Nephtoah:
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Benjamin's southern boundary is described from west to east — the same line as Judah's northern boundary (15:5-9) but traversed in the opposite direction. The shared border confirms that Benjamin and Judah are immediate neighbors.
then descended to the foot of the hill facing the Valley of Ben-hinnom, at the northern end of the Valley of Rephaim. It went down through the Hinnom Valley along the southern slope of the Jebusite city and on down to En-rogel.
KJV And the border came down to the end of the mountain that lieth before the valley of the son of Hinnom, and which is in the valley of the giants on the north, and descended to the valley of Hinnom, to the side of Jebusi on the south, and descended to Enrogel,
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The boundary passes through the same landmarks as Judah's northern border (15:7-8): the Valley of Hinnom, the Jebusite city (Jerusalem), En-rogel. Jerusalem sits precisely on the tribal boundary — technically in Benjamin but claimed by Judah. This ambiguity will persist until David makes it the capital of all Israel.
It turned north to En-shemesh, then went to Geliloth facing the Ascent of Adummim, and descended to the Stone of Bohan son of Reuben.
KJV And was drawn from the north, and went forth to Enshemesh, and went forth toward Geliloth, which is over against the going up of Adummim, and descended to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben,
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Even Bohan ben R'uven ('Stone of Bohan son of Reuben') — the same boundary marker noted in 15:6. The description confirms that Benjamin's southern boundary exactly matches Judah's northern boundary.
The boundary passed along the northern slope of Beth-hoglah and ended at the northern bay of the Dead Sea, at the southern end of the Jordan. This was the southern boundary.
KJV And the border passed along to the side of Bethhoglah northward: and the outgoings of the border were at the north bay of the salt sea at the south end of Jordan: this was the south coast.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The southern boundary is complete — running from Kiriath-jearim in the west to the Dead Sea in the east, with Jerusalem on the border between Judah and Benjamin.
The Jordan formed the eastern boundary. This was the inheritance of the Benjaminites on all sides, clan by clan.
KJV And Jordan was the border of it on the east side. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin, by the coasts thereof round about, according to their families.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Benjamin's territory is now fully defined — a relatively small but strategically vital strip between Judah and Ephraim, stretching from the central highlands to the Jordan River, containing Jerusalem, Jericho, Bethel, Gibeon, and other sites of major significance.
The cities of the tribe of Benjamin, clan by clan, were: Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz,
KJV Now the cities of the tribe of the children of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho, and Bethhoglah, and the valley of Keziz,
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Y'richo ('Jericho') — the first city conquered in the promised land is now part of Benjamin's inheritance. The site of Israel's greatest initial victory becomes a tribal city.
Joshua 18:22
וּבֵ֧ית הָעֲרָבָ֛ה וּצְמָרַ֖יִם וּבֵ֥ית אֵֽל׃
Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel,
KJV And Betharabah, and Zemaraim, and Bethel,
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Beit El ('Bethel,' meaning 'house of God') — the site of Jacob's ladder vision (Genesis 28:10-22) and a major religious center throughout Israel's history. Its inclusion in Benjamin's territory (though near the Ephraim border) will have implications for the later division of the kingdom, when Jeroboam places a golden calf at Bethel (1 Kings 12:28-29).
Joshua 18:23
וְהָעַוִּ֥ים וְהַפָּרָ֖ה וְעׇפְרָֽה׃
Avvim, Parah, Ophrah,
KJV And Avim, and Parah, and Ophrah,
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Ofrah — likely the same Ophrah where Gideon will later build an altar and receive his call (Judges 6:11, 24), though some identify Gideon's Ophrah with a site in Manasseh.
Chephar-ammoni, Ophni, and Geba — twelve cities with their surrounding settlements.
KJV And Chepharhaammonai, and Ophni, and Gaba; twelve cities with their villages.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Geva ('Geba') — an important military site on the Benjaminite border with Ephraim. It will be the location of Jonathan's bold attack on the Philistine garrison (1 Samuel 13:3; 14:1-15) and will serve as the northern boundary of Judah in the later monarchy ('from Geba to Beersheba,' 2 Kings 23:8). The first city district totals twelve cities.
Joshua 18:25
גִּבְע֤וֹן וְהָרָמָה֙ וּבְאֵר֔וֹת׃
Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth,
KJV Gibeon, and Ramah, and Beeroth,
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Giv'on ('Gibeon') — the Hivite city that deceived Israel into a covenant (chapter 9). It is now formally within Benjamin's territory. Ha-Ramah ('Ramah') — later the home of Samuel (1 Samuel 7:17; 8:4). B'erot ('Beeroth') — one of the four Gibeonite cities (9:17).
Joshua 18:26
וְהַמִּצְפֶּ֥ה וְהַכְּפִירָ֖ה וְהַמֹּצָֽה׃
Mizpah, Chephirah, Mozah,
KJV And Mizpeh, and Chephirah, and Mozah,
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Ha-Mitspah ('Mizpah') — one of the most important assembly sites in Israel's history. Samuel will gather Israel here to pray before the Philistine defeat (1 Samuel 7:5-12). Saul will be chosen king here (1 Samuel 10:17-25). After Jerusalem's fall, Gedaliah will govern from Mizpah (2 Kings 25:23; Jeremiah 40:6). K'firah ('Chephirah') — another Gibeonite city (9:17).
Joshua 18:27
וְרֶ֥קֶם וְיִרְפְּאֵ֖ל וְתַרְאֲלָֽה׃
Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah,
KJV And Rekem, and Irpeel, and Taralah,
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Lesser-known Benjaminite settlements in the hill country.
Zela, Ha-eleph, the Jebusite city (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath — fourteen cities with their surrounding settlements. This was the inheritance of the Benjaminites, clan by clan.
KJV And Zelah, Eleph, and Jebusi, which is Jerusalem, Gibeath, and Kirjath; fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their families.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Ha-Y'vusi hi Yerushalayim ('the Jebusite city, that is Jerusalem') — Jerusalem appears in Benjamin's city list, confirming that the city is technically in Benjaminite territory even though Judah claims it as well (15:8, 63). Giv'at ('Gibeah') — later notorious as the site of the horrific crime in Judges 19-21 and as Saul's hometown and royal capital (1 Samuel 10:26; 11:4; 15:34). The second district totals fourteen cities, bringing Benjamin's total to twenty-six.