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Benjamin’s Inheritance
Joshua 18:11–28 — Benjamin’s Inheritance. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.
11The first lot came up for the clans of the tribe of Benjamin. Their allotted territory lay between the tribes of Judah and Joseph:
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
gō·w·ral way·ya·‘al lə·miš·pə·ḥō·ṯām maṭ·ṭêh ḇin·yā·min ḇə·nê- gō·w·rā·lām gə·ḇūl way·yê·ṣê bên bə·nê yə·hū·ḏāh ū·ḇên bə·nê yō·w·sêp̄
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And the lot of the tribe of the sons of Benjamin came up according to their families; and the territory of their lot came out between the sons of Judah and the sons of Joseph.
Where the English smooths the original
It can have been by no accident that their lot came forth “between Judah and Joseph.” No wiser method could have been devised to secure an united Israel than thus to make Benjamin the link between the two most powerful and naturally rival tribes. In the story of Joseph, the brethren are reconciled through the mutual affection of Judah and Joseph for Benjamin as their father’s youngest and best-loved son.
their coast, or the portion assigned them, lay between the children of Judah, who were on the south of them, and the children of Joseph, the Ephraimites in particular, who lay on the north of them; the only place in which the prophecy contained in Deuteronomy 33:12 , could have been accomplished.
it was but a small lot, and therefore called "little Benjamin", Psalm 68:27 ; but the land was very pleasant and fruitful. Josephus (h) says, this lot was very strait, because of the goodness of the soil, for it took in Jericho, and the city of JerusalemGill cites Josephus, Antiquities 5.1.22; the parenthetical (h) is the source's footnote marker.
It has been supposed that there were two urns or vessels, from which the lots were drawn: one containing the names of the tribes, the other containing those of the seven portions; and that the two were drawn out simultaneously.
12On the north side their border began at the Jordan, went up past the northern slope of Jericho, headed west through the hill country, and came out at the wilderness of Beth-aven.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ṣā·p̄ō·w·nāh lip̄·’aṯ hag·gə·ḇūl way·hî lā·hem min- hay·yar·dên wə·‘ā·lāh hag·gə·ḇūl ’el- miṣ·ṣā·p̄ō·wn ke·ṯep̄ yə·rî·ḥōw wə·‘ā·lāh yām·māh ḇā·hār wə·hå̄·yå̄h tō·ṣə·’ō·ṯāw miḏ·ba·rāh bêṯ ’ā·wen
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And the boundary was to them on the north side from the Jordan; and the boundary went up to the shoulder of Jericho on the north, and went up through the hill country westward; and its goings-out were toward the wilderness of Beth-aven.
Where the English smooths the original
the border went up to the side of Jericho on the north side; from Jordan it went to the north of Jericho, and so took in that place, which was within the tribe of Benjamin, Joshua 18:21 , and went up through the mountains westward; the mountains that were on the north of Jericho; for, as Strabo says (i), Jericho was surrounded with mountains
The northern boundary of Benjamin mainly coincided with the southern boundary of Ephraim. from Jordan ] Commencing from the Jordan on the east, their boundary ascended to the mountains west and north-west of Jericho as far as “the wilderness of Beth-aven,” i.e. the bare and rocky heights to the east and north of Michmash.
The northern boundary ("the boundary towards the north side") therefore coincided with the southern boundary of Ephraim as far as Lower Beth-horon, and has already been commented upon in the exposition of Joshua 16:1-3 .
13From there the border crossed over to the southern slope of Luz (that is, Bethel) and went down to Ataroth-addar on the hill south of Lower Beth-horon.
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miš·šām hag·gə·ḇūl wə·‘ā·ḇar lū·zāh ’el- neḡ·bāh ke·ṯep̄ lū·zāh hî bêṯ- ’êl hag·gə·ḇūl wə·yā·raḏ ‘aṭ·rō·wṯ ’ad·dār ‘al- hā·hār ’ă·šer min·ne·ḡeḇ lə·ḇêṯ- taḥ·tō·wn ḥō·rō·wn
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And from there the boundary crossed over to Luz, to the shoulder of Luz southward (that is Bethel); and the boundary went down to Ataroth-addar, on the hill that is on the south of Lower Beth-horon.
Where the English smooths the original
to the side of Luz, which is Bethel, southward; that is, passed along, leaving that city to the south, which formerly was called Luz, but now Bethel, which though distinct places formerly, yet being very near, might in process of time be joined
descended ] We understand the appropriateness of this word when we remember that Bethel lay 3000 feet above the level of the Mediterranean Sea.
Which was in the tribe of Ephraim: another Bethel was in the tribe of Benjamin.The note glosses the {k} marker set against "Bethel" in the Geneva text.
14On the west side the border curved southward from the hill facing Beth-horon on the south and came out at Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a city of the sons of Judah. This was the western side.
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yām lip̄·’aṯ- hag·gə·ḇūl wə·ṯā·’ar wə·nā·saḇ neḡ·bāh min- hā·hār ’ă·šer ‘al- pə·nê ḇêṯ- ḥō·rō·wn neḡ·bāh wə·hå̄·yå̄h ṯō·ṣə·’ō·ṯāw ’el- qir·yaṯ- ba·‘al hî qir·yaṯ yə·‘ā·rîm ‘îr bə·nê yə·hū·ḏāh zōṯ yām pə·’aṯ-
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And the boundary was drawn out and curved round on the west side southward, from the hill that is before Beth-horon southward; and its goings-out were at Kiriath-baal (that is Kiriath-jearim), a city of the sons of Judah. This was the west side.
Where the English smooths the original
This is a serious mistranslation, arising from the same word being used for sea and west in Hebrew.Excerpt ends before the source's Greek citation of the LXX (θάλασσαν) and its literal rendering, 'the border extended, and deflected to the western side.'
Kirjath-baal, which is Kirjath-jearim — The Israelites changed the name, to blot out the remembrance of Baal.
Render "and turned on the west side southward." The meaning is, that at lower Beth-horon the northern boundary-line of Benjamin curved round and ran southward - Beth-horon being its extreme westerly point.
The word here rendered quarter , = (i) a mouth , then (ii) a side , which is turned to any quarter of the heavens. The Eastern boundary was formed by the Jordan, see Joshua 18:20 .
15On the south side the border began at the outskirts of Kiriath-jearim and extended westward to the spring at the Waters of Nephtoah.
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neḡ·bāh ū·p̄ə·’aṯ- hag·gə·ḇūl miq·ṣêh qir·yaṯ yə·‘ā·rîm wə·yā·ṣā yām·māh wə·yā·ṣā ’el- ma‘·yan mê nep̄·tō·w·aḥ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And the south side was from the end of Kiriath-jearim; and the boundary went out westward, and went out to the spring of the Waters of Nephtoah.
Where the English smooths the original
"As for the southern boundary from the end of Kirjath-jearim onwards, the (southern) boundary went out on the west (i.e., it started from the west), and went out (terminated) at the fountain of the water of Nephtoah." Consequently it coincided with the northern boundary of Judah, as described in Joshua 15:5-9
The south quarter; the same with the north quarter of Judah. See Joshua 15:5 ,6,11 .
It is, in the original, "the sea", and should be rendered, "from the sea", or "from the west" (m); and Jarchi confesses his ignorance, and says, I know not what sea it is; and well he might, for there was no sea hereJarchi = Rashi; Gill cites the medieval Jewish commentator's own admission of difficulty.
16Then it went down to the foot of the hill that faces the Valley of Ben-hinnom at the northern end of the Valley of Rephaim and ran down the Valley of Hinnom toward the southern slope of the Jebusites and downward to En-rogel.
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hag·gə·ḇūl wə·yā·raḏ ’el- qə·ṣêh hā·hār ’ă·šer ‘al- pə·nê gê ḇen- hin·nōm ’ă·šer ṣā·p̄ō·w·nāh bə·‘ê·meq rə·p̄ā·’îm wə·yā·raḏ gê hin·nōm ’el- neḡ·bāh ke·ṯep̄ hay·ḇū·sî wə·yā·raḏ ‘ên rō·ḡêl
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And the boundary went down to the end of the hill that is before the Valley of Ben-hinnom, which is in the Valley of Rephaim on the north; and it ran down the Valley of Hinnom to the shoulder of the Jebusite southward, and went down to En-rogel.
Where the English smooths the original
Before the valley of the son of Hinnom, i.e. in the prospect of that valley; or, that reacheth to that valley on the south. In the valley of the giants on the north; which extends to this other valley on the north side of it. To the side of Jebusi; to that part where the Jebusites lived, which was in and near Jerusalem.
In the description of the border of Judah, hereabout, it is said to go up, Joshua 15:5 ; because there, as Jarchi observes, the measure was from east to west, but here from west to east
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,
17From there it curved northward and proceeded to En-shemesh and on to Geliloth facing the Ascent of Adummim, and continued down to the Stone of Bohan son of Reuben.
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wə·ṯā·’ar miṣ·ṣā·p̄ō·wn wə·yā·ṣā ‘ên še·meš wə·yā·ṣā ’el- gə·lî·lō·wṯ ’ă·šer- nō·ḵaḥ ma·‘ă·lêh ’ă·ḏum·mîm wə·yā·raḏ ’e·ḇen bō·han ben- rə·’ū·ḇên
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And it was drawn from the north, and went out to En-shemesh, and went out to Geliloth, which is opposite the Ascent of Adummim; and it went down to the Stone of Bohan son of Reuben.
Where the English smooths the original
The stone of Bohan the son of Reuben must have been near the Jordan. Is it possible that Bohan, the son of Reuben, did on his own account what was done for all Israel by the command of Joshua? ( Joshua 4:8 ).Ellicott's note on v.17 appears within his consolidated comment printed at the 18:11 page.
Geliloth, called also Gilgal , as appears from Joshua 15:7 Judges 3:19 ; but differing from that Gilgal by Jordan.
and went forth toward Geliloth; called Gilgal, Joshua 15:7 , which is over against the going up to Adummim; a place between Jerusalem and Jericho, see Joshua 15:7 , and descended to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben
18Then it went on to the northern slope of Beth-arabah and went down into the valley.
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wə·‘ā·ḇar ’el- ṣā·p̄ō·w·nāh ke·ṯep̄ mūl- hā·‘ă·rā·ḇāh wə·yā·raḏ hā·‘ă·rā·ḇā·ṯāh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And it crossed over to the shoulder over against the Arabah northward, and went down to the Arabah.
Where the English smooths the original
Arabah, called Beth-arabah , Joshua 15:6 .
And passed along toward the side over against Arabah northward,.... The same with Betharabah, Joshua 15:6 ; and so it is called here in the Greek version: and went down unto Arabah; the same as before, and included it, for it is mentioned among the cities of this tribe, Joshua 18:22 .
19The border continued to the northern slope of Beth-hoglah and came out at the northern bay of the Salt Sea, at the mouth of the Jordan. This was the southern border.
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hag·gə·ḇūl wə·‘ā·ḇar ’el- ṣā·p̄ō·w·nāh ke·ṯep̄ bêṯ- ḥā·ḡə·lāh wə·hå̄·yå̄h tō·ṣə·ʾō·ṯå̄w ’el- ṣā·p̄ō·w·nāh lə·šō·wn yām- ham·me·laḥ ’el- neḡ·bāh qə·ṣêh hay·yar·dên zeh gə·ḇūl ne·ḡeḇ hag·gə·ḇūl
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And the boundary crossed over to the shoulder of Beth-hoglah northward; and the goings-out of the boundary were at the tongue of the Salt Sea northward, at the south end of the Jordan. This was the south boundary.
Where the English smooths the original
and the outgoings of the border were at the north bay of the salt sea; here ended the southern border of Benjamin, even at the bay or creek of the salt sea, which looked northward, as the southern border of Judah began at that bay of it, which looked southward, Joshua 15:2
In the construction haגּבוּל תּוצאותיו, the noun הגּבוּל is in apposition to the suffix: the outgoings of it, namely of the border (see Ewald, 291, b.).The garbled "haגּבוּל" reflects the source's mixed Latin-Hebrew typesetting of haggᵉbūl.
To the very straight, where the river runs into the Salt sea.Geneva's note on {m}, "the south end of Jordan"; "straight" = strait/narrows.
20On the east side the border was the Jordan. These were the borders around the inheritance of the clans of the tribe of Benjamin.
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qê·ḏə·māh lip̄·’aṯ- yiḡ·bōl- ’ō·ṯōw wə·hay·yar·dên zōṯ liḡ·ḇū·lō·ṯe·hā sā·ḇîḇ na·ḥă·laṯ lə·miš·pə·ḥō·ṯām bə·nê ḇin·yā·min
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And the Jordan bordered it on the east side. This was the inheritance of the sons of Benjamin, by its borders round about, according to their families.
Where the English smooths the original
It had Jordan on the east, Dan on the west, Judah on the south, and Joseph or Ephraim on the north: this was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin, by the coasts thereof round about, according to their families; this is the general description of the limits of this tribe
The eastern boundary was the Jordan.
The boundaries of each portion were distinctly drawn, and the inheritance of each tribe settled. All contests and selfish claims were prevented by the wise appointment of God, who allotted the hill and the valley, the corn and pasture, the brooks and rivers, the towns and cities.
21These were the cities of the clans of the tribe of Benjamin: Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz,
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wə·hā·yū he·‘ā·rîm bə·nê lə·miš·pə·ḥō·w·ṯê·hem lə·maṭ·ṭêh ḇin·yā·min yə·rî·ḥōw ū·ḇêṯ- ḥā·ḡə·lāh wə·‘ê·meq qə·ṣîṣ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And the cities of the tribe of the sons of Benjamin according to their families were: Jericho, and Beth-hoglah, and Emek-keziz,
Where the English smooths the original
And the valley of Keziz — Rather, Emir-keziz, for a city is here meant, and not a valley. Or it may be interpreted, Keziz in the valley; that is, in the plain of Jericho.Benson's "Emir-keziz" is a misprint for Emek-keziz (ʻêmeq, "valley").
Jericho; for though the city was destroyed, the territory remained, and some houses probably were built and inhabited there, though it was not made a city with walls and gates, which was the only thing forbidden, Joshua 6:26 .
The towns of Benjamin are divided into two groups. The first group ( Joshua 18:21-24 ) contains twelve towns in the eastern portion of the territory. Jericho: the present Riha (see at Joshua 2:1 ). Beth-hoglah, now Ain Hajla (see Joshua 15:6 ).
22Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel,
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ū·ḇêṯ hā·‘ă·rā·ḇāh ū·ṣə·mā·ra·yim ū·ḇêṯ- ’êl
Literal — word-for-word from the original
and Beth-arabah, and Zemaraim, and Bethel,
Where the English smooths the original
Zemaraim, i. e. "two wooded hills," is supposed to be the ruins called "Es-Sumrah," on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho.
and Zemaraim; one of the sons of Canaan was named Zemira, Genesis 10:18 ; by whom this city Zemaraim might be built, or however have its name given it, in memory of him; there was a mountain of this name in the tribe of Ephraim, near to which this city might be, 2 Chronicles 13:4 .
4. Beth-arabah ] See note above, Joshua 15:6 . 5. Zemaraim is unknown. 6. Bethel , see Joshua 18:13 .
23Avvim, Parah, Ophrah,
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wə·hā·‘aw·wîm wə·hap·pā·rāh wə·‘ā·p̄ə·rāh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
and Avvim, and Parah, and Ophrah,
Where the English smooths the original
Ophrah ( Joshua 15:9 note), to be distinguished here and in 1 Samuel 13:17 from the Ophrah of Judges 6:11 , is probably the Ephrain of 2 Chronicles 13:19 , and the Ephraim of John 11:54 . It is conjecturally identified with "Et-Taiyibeh," on the road from Jerusalem to Bethel.
Avim . Most probably Ai (see note on Joshua 7:2).
7. Avim ] Some have regarded this as identical with Ai, which is also called Aija ( Nehemiah 11:31 ) and Aiath ( Isaiah 10:28 ). 8. Parah is unknown. 9. Ophrah appears to be mentioned again in 1 Samuel 13:17
24Chephar-ammoni, Ophni, and Geba—twelve cities, along with their villages.
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ū·ḵə·p̄ar hå̄·ʿam·mō·nī wə·hā·‘ā·p̄ə·nî wā·ḡā·ḇa‘ šə·têm- ‘eś·rêh ‘ā·rîm wə·ḥaṣ·rê·hen
Literal — word-for-word from the original
and Chephar-ammoni, and Ophni, and Geba — twelve cities with their villages.
Where the English smooths the original
Gaba - This name, like Gibeah, Gibeon, etc. Joshua 9:3 , indicates a town placed on a hill, and occurs repeatedly in various forms in the topography of Palestine.
Gaba, or Geba of Benjamin ( 1 Samuel 13:16 ; 1 Kings 15:22 ) which was given up to the Levites ( Joshua 21:17 ; 1 Chronicles 6:45 ), was in the neighbourhood of Ramah ( 1 Kings 15:22 ; 2 Chronicles 16:6 ). It is mentioned in 2 Kings 23:8 ; Zechariah 14:10 , as the northern boundary of the kingdom of Judah
and Gaba is the same with Gibeah, a well known place, because of the foul fact committed there, which had like to have been the ruin of this tribe, Judges 19:14 ; and for being the native place of King Saul, hence called "Gibeah of Saul", 1 Samuel 11:4Gill here conflates Geba and Gibeah; Barnes and Keil (above and at v.28) keep them distinct.
25Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth,
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giḇ·‘ō·wn wə·hā·rā·māh ū·ḇə·’ê·rō·wṯ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
Gibeon, and Ramah, and Beeroth,
Where the English smooths the original
Ramah - i. e. "lofty;" probably the native town and abode of Samuel 1 Samuel 1:19 ; 1 Samuel 25:1 . Its exact site is uncertain.
2. Ramah , not the Ramah of Samuel or Ramathaim . In Isaiah 10:28-32 , the king of Assyria is described as crossing the ravine at Michmash, and successively dislodging or alarming Geba , Ramah, and Gibeah of Saul . This Ramah is the modern er-Râm , a wretched village on an elevation. It was the place where Jeremiah was set free ( Jeremiah 31:15 ; Jeremiah 40:1 ).
Ramah, in the neighbourhood of Gibeah and Geba ( Judges 19:13 ; Isaiah 10:29 ; 1 Kings 15:17 ; Ezra 2:26 ), most probably the Ramah of Samuel ( 1 Samuel 1:19 ; 1 Samuel 2:11 ; 1 Samuel 25:1 ; 1 Samuel 28:3 ), is the present village of er-RmKeil affirms what Cambridge (above) denies — the conflict is preserved deliberately.
26Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah,
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wə·ham·miṣ·peh wə·hak·kə·p̄î·rāh wə·ham·mō·ṣāh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
and Mizpeh, and Chephirah, and Mozah,
Where the English smooths the original
Mizpeh - See Joshua 11:3 . Not the Mizpeh of Joshua 15:38 , but the place where Samuel judged the people and called them together for the election of a king 1 Samuel 7:5-16 ; 1 Samuel 10:17 . In the Chaldaean times it was the residence of Gedaliah 2 Kings 25:22 ; Jeremiah 40:14 .
and Mozah; there was a place called Motza, near to Jerusalem, where they used to go to get willows at the feast of tabernacles (w).Gill cites Mishnah Sukkah 4:5; the (w) is his footnote marker.
4. Mizpeh ] Not the same as the Mizpeh of ch. Joshua 15:38 , but either ( a ) the modern Neby Samwîl , or ( b ) the tower of Scopus . Here ( a ) the war against Benjamin was resolved on (Judges 20.); here ( b ) Samuel judged the people ( 1 Samuel 7:5-15 ), and ( c ) chose Saul as king ( 1 Samuel 10:17 ).
27Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah,
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wə·re·qem wə·yir·pə·’êl wə·ṯar·’ă·lāh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
and Rekem, and Irpeel, and Taralah,
Where the English smooths the original
And Rekem, and Irpeel, and Taralah. Of these cities there is no mention made elsewhere.
7. Rekem unknown. 8. Irpeel , Lieut. Conder thinks that this may be recognised in the modern Râfât , N. of El Jib, being the same from which the name Rephaim is derived. 9. Taralah is unrecognised.
Mozah is only mentioned here, and is still unknown. Joshua 18:27 . This also applies to Rekem, Irpeel, and Taralah.
28Zelah, Haeleph, Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath-jearim—fourteen cities, along with their villages. This was the inheritance of the clans of the tribe of Benjamin.
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wə·ṣê·la‘ hā·’e·lep̄ wə·hay·ḇū·sî hî yə·rū·šā·lim giḇ·‘aṯ qir·yaṯ ’ar·ba‘- ‘eś·rêh ‘ā·rîm wə·ḥaṣ·rê·hen zōṯ na·ḥă·laṯ lə·miš·pə·ḥō·ṯām bə·nê- ḇin·yā·min
Literal — word-for-word from the original
and Zelah, Haeleph, and the Jebusite (that is Jerusalem), Gibeah, Kiriath — fourteen cities with their villages. This was the inheritance of the sons of Benjamin according to their families.
Where the English smooths the original
Jerusalem is always thought of as the capital of Judah. Probably few readers of the Bible would answer, if asked for its position, that it was originally a Benjamite city. And we may add that no later writer than Joshua would be likely to have placed it in the territory of Benjamin.Ellicott's note on v.28 is printed within his consolidated comment at the 18:11 page.
and Jebusi, which is Jerusalem; of Jerusalem being called Jebusi, see Joshua 15:63 ; it belonged partly to the tribe of Judah, and partly to the tribe of Benjamin; Mount Zion belonged to Judah, and Moriah to Benjamin
In his mountain passes—the ancient haunt of beasts of prey, he ‘ravined as a wolf in the morning,’ descended into the rich plains of Philistia on the one side, and of the Jordan on the other, and ‘returned in the evening to divide the spoil’ ( Genesis 49:27 ). In the troubled period of the Judges, the tribe of Benjamin maintained a struggle, unaided and for some time with success, against the whole of the rest of the nationCambridge here quotes Dean Stanley, Sinai and Palestine, pp. 200-201.
And Jebusi, which is Jerusalem — See Joshua 15:63 , where it is reckoned to the tribe of Judah; for both that tribe and Benjamin had an interest in it, as we have there stated. The inheritance of the children of Benjamin — Which was one of the smallest, with respect to the quantity of ground which they possessed, but the soil was the richest of all the other tribes, as Josephus informs us.
The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.
AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.
The seven remaining tribes have just been surveyed and divided into seven portions (18:1-10); now the lots are cast "before the LORD," and Benjamin's gōral (H1486, "pebble, lot") comes up first. The text states one geographic fact and lets it carry enormous weight: the territory "came out bên — between — the sons of Judah and the sons of Joseph" (v.11). ⚙ Every commentator in the apparatus seizes on this bên. Charles Ellicott: "It can have been by no accident that their lot came forth 'between Judah and Joseph'... No wiser method could have been devised to secure an united Israel than thus to make Benjamin the link between the two most powerful and naturally rival tribes." Joseph Benson, Matthew Poole, and Jamieson-Fausset-Brown independently name the same hinge: this is "the only place in which the prophecy contained in Deuteronomy 33:12 could have been accomplished" — Moses had blessed Benjamin to "dwell between" the LORD's shoulders. ⚙ The literary force is this: a thrown stone (the lot) lands Benjamin exactly where a centuries-old blessing required, and the narrator does not editorialize. He records geography; the providence is left for the reader to see. Matthew Henry draws the devotional point from the whole chapter: "All contests and selfish claims were prevented by the wise appointment of God, who allotted the hill and the valley... Is the lot of any servant of Christ cast in affliction and sorrow? It is the Lord."
Nine verses track a single subject, haggᵉbūl ("the border," H1366, whose root is "a cord as twisted"), as it walks the perimeter. ⚙ The Hebrew animates the line with verbs of motion and a vocabulary borrowed from the human body. The boundary ascends (ʻālāh, vv.11-12) from the Jordan rift, crosses over (ʻābar, vv.13, 18), descends (yārad, three times in v.16 alone), and finds its goings-out (tôtsᵉʼôt, H8444, a rare surveyor's term, vv.12, 14, 19). It runs along the shoulder (keteph, H3802) of Jericho, of Luz, of the Jebusite city (vv.12, 13, 16), reaches the tongue (lᵉshōwn, v.19) of the Salt Sea, and is finally roped in by the Jordan on the east (the verb yigbōl, v.20). ⚙ The translators' great difficulty here is yām (H3220), which means both "sea" and "west"; the Pulpit Commentary exposes the KJV's "corner of the sea" (v.14) as "a serious mistranslation, arising from the same word being used for sea and west in Hebrew," since Benjamin never touched the Mediterranean. Keil & Delitzsch and Matthew Poole note the survey's most important structural fact: Benjamin's southern line (vv.15-19) is identical to Judah's northern line (Joshua 15:5-9), read in the opposite direction — the two tribes share one cord, described forwards by one chapter and backwards by another.
The static verb "to be" (hāyû, v.21) replaces the moving boundary-verbs, and the survey of lines becomes a catalogue of towns: twelve in the east (vv.21-24), fourteen in the west (vv.25-28), each group sealed with its count and "their villages" (ḥaṣrêhen). ⚙ The list is studded with names that the rest of Scripture will make famous: Jericho the cursed-but-inheritable city (v.21; Poole: "though the city was destroyed, the territory remained"); three of the four deceiving Gibeonite towns — Gibeon, Beeroth, Chephirah (vv.25-26; cf. Joshua 9:17), the covenant of Joshua 9 quietly honored in the grant; Mizpeh the "watch-tower" where Israel mustered and crowned Saul (v.26; Barnes); and Gibeah, Saul's home and the scene of Benjamin's near-extinction (v.28). ⚙ The roll culminates in the unit's deepest tension: "the Jebusite — that is Jerusalem" (v.28). The city is named by the people Israel had not driven out (cf. v.16, "the shoulder of the Jebusite"). Ellicott presses the point that this is a fingerprint of the text's antiquity: "no later writer than Joshua would be likely to have placed it in the territory of Benjamin," since all of later history reads Jerusalem as Judah's capital. Gill resolves the double assignment (Benjamin here, Judah in Joshua 15:63) along the ridge itself: "Mount Zion belonged to Judah, and Moriah to Benjamin." The unit closes as it opened — not with conquest but with naḥălāh, inheritance (vv.20, 28), land received clan by clan from the hand that cast the lot.
⚙ This is my own fallible reading, offered under Sola Scriptura to be tested against the text. A chapter of place-names and compass-points looks like the least devotional page in Joshua — and that is exactly its theology. Twice the survey calls the result not a conquest but an inheritance (naḥălāh, vv.20, 28), and it opens with a lot (vv.11), a thrown pebble whose every fall "is from the LORD" (Proverbs 16:33). The narrator never says "and God arranged this"; he simply records that the pebble landed Benjamin "between Judah and Joseph" — precisely where Moses' blessing required (Deuteronomy 33:12) and where the reconciliation-story of Genesis 44-45, turning on the brothers' love for little Benjamin, had foreshadowed. The point is restraint: God's providence is written into the data, not pasted on top of it. And the most charged datum is saved for last. Israel's eternal city is listed here under Benjamin while it is still "the Jebusite" — a city not yet taken. The roll of an unconquered town inside the inheritance is the whole gospel-shape of Joshua in miniature: the gift is real, deeded, named, and counted — fourteen cities with their villages — yet the possessing of it is still to come. Benjamin holds the title-deed to Jerusalem centuries before David takes the stronghold. So with every promise that is "Yes" in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20): named and certain in the casting, awaited still in the conquest.
Benjamin holds the title-deed to Jerusalem while it is still 'the Jebusite' — the gift is named and counted before it is ever possessed.
AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.
The unit's opening fact — Benjamin's lot "came out between the sons of Judah and the sons of Joseph" (18:11) — is read by Benson, Poole, and Jamieson-Fausset-Brown as the one place where Moses' blessing, "the beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by Him... He shall dwell between His shoulders" (Deuteronomy 33:12), could be fulfilled. ⚙ This is a cross-chapter structural/thematic link, not a quotation: the shared lexemes are the common name Binyāmîyn (H1144, in 160 vv) and the preposition bên (H996, "between," in 247 vv), both too frequent to ground a verbal claim — but the motif has a pointed lexical echo, for Moses' blessing places Benjamin "between His shoulders" (bên kᵉtêpāyw, H3802), and this survey runs the boundary from keteph to keteph (vv.12, 13, 16) — the same word for "shoulder." What binds the texts is the "Benjamin between" motif, affirmed in the commentary tradition and quietly underscored by that shared anatomy, not a rare quotation.
Deuteronomy 33:12
basis: Verifier: shared lexemes are common H1144 Binyâmîyn (160 vv), H996 bêyn (247 vv), and H3802 kâthêph 'shoulder' (58 vv, Joshua 18:12↔Deuteronomy 33:12) — none rare enough for 'verbal'; the link is the 'Benjamin between (the shoulders)' motif, affirmed verbatim by Benson, Poole, and JFB, reinforced by the shared keteph imagery, not a quotation.
The southern boundary of Benjamin (18:13-19) retraces, in reverse, the northern boundary of Judah (Joshua 15:6-9). Keil & Delitzsch and Poole state it plainly: "it coincided with the northern boundary of Judah, as described in Joshua 15:5-9... given there from east to west, and here from west to east." ⚙ The Verifier confirms this with rare shared place-names, not just common border-words: Ataroth-addar (H5853, in only 2 vv) ties 18:13 to Joshua 16:5; En-shemesh and the Ascent of Adummim (H5885, H131, each in only 2 vv) tie 18:17 to Joshua 15:7; the Stone of Bohan and the Valley of Hinnom (H2011, in 11 vv) tie 18:16 to Joshua 15:8. These low-frequency lexemes make the verbal identity demonstrable.
Joshua 15:6 · Joshua 15:7 · Joshua 15:8 · Joshua 16:5
basis: Verifier (Hebrew↔Hebrew): rare shared place-name lexemes — H5853 Atroth-Addar (2 vv, 18:13↔15:7/16:5), H131 Adummim + H5885 En-Shemesh (2 vv each, 18:17↔15:7), H2011 Hinnom (11 vv, 18:16↔15:8); a deliberate repeated survey, not coincidence.
At 18:14 the western terminus is "Kiriath-baal (that is Kiriath-jearim), a city of the sons of Judah." Benson and Poole read the gloss as deliberate erasure: "the Israelites changed the name, to blot out the remembrance of Baal" (cf. Hosea 2:17). ⚙ The Verifier confirms a verbal link to Joshua 15:60 (and 15:9) on the strength of Qiryath Baʻal (H7154), a name occurring in only 2 verses in all of Scripture — the rarest possible anchor. The two surveys are quoting one another's place-list; the doubled name (old idol-name plus its replacement) is preserved identically in both.
Joshua 15:60 · Joshua 15:9
basis: Verifier (Hebrew↔Hebrew): H7154 Qiryath Baʻal occurs in only 2 verses canon-wide (here + Joshua 15:60), re-glossed in both as Kiriath-jearim (H7157, 19 vv); a maximally rare shared proper name.
Zemaraim is listed among Benjamin's cities (18:22). The same rare name marks the mountain in the hill country of Ephraim from which Abijah of Judah denounced Jeroboam's rebellion (2 Chronicles 13:4). Gill notes the connection: "there was a mountain of this name in the tribe of Ephraim, near to which this city might be, 2 Chronicles 13:4." ⚙ The Verifier finds Tsᵉmārayim (H6787) in only 2 verses in the entire canon — these two — making the lexical link as rare as it can be, though the city and the mountain are distinct sites bearing one name.
2 Chronicles 13:4
basis: Verifier (Hebrew↔Hebrew): H6787 Tsᵉmârayim occurs in only 2 verses canon-wide (Joshua 18:22 + 2 Chronicles 13:4); a maximally rare shared name, though town (here) and mountain (Chronicles) are likely distinct sites.
Three of the four Hivite towns that deceived Joshua into a sworn covenant (Joshua 9:17) appear in Benjamin's western group: Gibeon (18:25), Beeroth (18:25), Chephirah (18:26). ⚙ The Verifier ties 18:25 to Joshua 9:17 and to the post-exilic return lists (Ezra 2:25; Nehemiah 7:29) through shared place-names: Kiriath-jearim (H7157, 19 vv), Beeroth (H881, in only 6 vv), and Gibeon (H1391, 35 vv). The presence of the spared deceivers' cities inside the inheritance is the land-grant honoring the oath of Joshua 9 — a covenant Israel later treats as binding even against Saul's violation (2 Samuel 21:1-2).
Joshua 9:17 · Ezra 2:25 · Nehemiah 7:29
basis: Verifier (Hebrew↔Hebrew): shared rare place-names H881 Bᵉʼêrôwth (6 vv) + H7157 Qiryath Yᵉʻârîym (19 vv) bind 18:25 to Joshua 9:17 and the return-lists Ezra 2:25 / Nehemiah 7:29; same towns enumerated across conquest and restoration.
The boundary at 18:16 runs along "the Valley of Ben-hinnom" (Gê ben-Hinnōm) past "the shoulder of the Jebusite." ⚙ This is a pure place-name in Joshua, but the same valley — defiled by child-sacrifice to Molech (2 Chronicles 28:3; 33:6) and made an unclean burning by Josiah (2 Kings 23:10) — gives its name, through Aramaic Gê-Hinnām, to the Greek Geenna (Gehenna), Jesus' word for the fire of final judgment (Matthew 5:22; 10:28; Mark 9:43). The Hebrew→Greek link cannot rest on a shared Strong's number (the languages differ); it is a structural/thematic connection of place and later usage, not a verbal quotation. The Verifier's confirmed link is only the internal one, 18:16↔Joshua 15:8, on rare Hinnôm (H2011, 11 vv).
Joshua 15:8 · 2 Kings 23:10 · Matthew 5:22
basis: Cross-Testament (Hebrew↔Greek) cannot share Strong's numbers, so this is not 'verbal': the Hebrew Gê-Hinnōm becomes Greek Geenna through later defilement (2 Kings 23:10) and usage (Matthew 5:22). The Verifier confirms only the internal Hebrew link 18:16↔Joshua 15:8 via rare H2011 Hinnôm (11 vv).
Verse 28 lists "the Jebusite, that is Jerusalem" as a Benjamite city; Joshua 15:63 lists it under Judah and records that "the people of Judah could not drive out the Jebusites." Benson, Poole, and Gill all wrestle with the overlap; Gill resolves it topographically — "Mount Zion belonged to Judah, and Moriah to Benjamin." ⚙ The Verifier confirms the link to Joshua 15:8 / 15:63 through the rare ethnonym Yᵉbûwçî (H2983, 39 vv) and the Hinnom-valley names. The city sits on the very seam between the two tribes the whole unit traces.
Joshua 15:63 · Joshua 15:8
basis: Verifier (Hebrew↔Hebrew): shared H2983 Yᵉbûwçî (the Jebusite, 39 vv) and the Hinnom-valley place-names tie 18:16/18:28 to Joshua 15:8/15:63; the same un-dispossessed city named in both Judah's and Benjamin's allotments.
Zelah heads the final cluster (18:28). It reappears once more in the canon as the place where the bones of Saul and Jonathan were finally laid in their father Kish's tomb (2 Samuel 21:14): "in Zela, in the tomb of Kish his father." Keil and Cambridge note the identification. ⚙ The Verifier's shared lexeme between this unit and 2 Samuel 21:14 is only the common tribal name Binyāmîyn (H1144, 160 vv) — far too frequent to ground a verbal link. The connection is the place Zela itself (H6762), confirmed in the commentary, so the badge is structural/thematic, not verbal.
2 Samuel 21:14
basis: Verifier finds only common H1144 Binyâmîyn (160 vv) shared with 2 Samuel 21:14 — no rare term — so not 'verbal'; the link is the place Zela (H6762), the burial-site of Saul's house, affirmed by Keil and Cambridge.
The smallest of the western group of fourteen cities (18:28) closes a famously small inheritance; Gill calls Benjamin "little Benjamin, Psalm 68:27," and Cambridge, quoting Dean Stanley, ties the tribe's warlike character to Jacob's oracle — "Benjamin is a ravenous wolf... in the evening he divides the plunder" (Genesis 49:27). ⚙ Both Psalm 68:27 and Genesis 49:27 share with this unit only the common name Binyāmîyn (H1144, 160 vv); the Verifier finds no rare lexeme. The links are structural/thematic — the tribe's smallness and ferocity, drawn out by the commentators — not verbal quotation.
Genesis 49:27 · Psalm 68:27
basis: Verifier: the only shared lexeme with Genesis 49:27 and Psalm 68:27 is common H1144 Binyâmîyn (160 vv); no rare term, so not 'verbal'. The thread is the 'little Benjamin'/wolf characterization, supplied by Gill and Cambridge (quoting Stanley).
AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.
⚙ The unit names Benjamin's land twice as naḥălāh, "inheritance" (vv.20, 28) — received by a lot whose fall is the LORD's (Proverbs 16:33), not won by the tribe's strength. Matthew Henry turns this Godward for every believer: the portion, whether "affliction and sorrow" or "prosperity and peace," is "from above... Forget not Him that gave the good." The New Testament takes up exactly this word: in Christ believers "have obtained an inheritance" (eklērōthēmen, literally "were assigned by lot," Ephesians 1:11), "an inheritance incorruptible... reserved in heaven" (1 Peter 1:4). ⚙ The figure is widely held in the tradition, not novel: the allotted land prefigures the allotted heavenly inheritance, given before it is entered, secured by the One who casts the lot.
Ephesians 1:11 · 1 Peter 1:4 · Proverbs 16:33
⚙ Verse 28 deeds Jerusalem to Benjamin while it is still "the Jebusite," an unconquered city held only in title. Charles Ellicott reaches for the Joseph-typology explicitly: when Jerusalem, "which killed the prophets," was at last "called to account for all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, the cup was found in Benjamin's sack, having been put there... by Joshua, the steward (after Moses) of the true Joseph's house" — echoing the silver cup hidden in Benjamin's sack (Genesis 44:2, 12) and Jesus' lament over Jerusalem (Matthew 23:35-37). ⚙ The city named here is the city where the true King will be crowned with thorns and will enter His inheritance through the cross; the survey records its address in Benjamin centuries before David takes the stronghold (2 Samuel 5:6-9) and a millennium before its King weeps over it. This typological reading (Joshua/Yeshua as steward of the inheritance, Jerusalem as the deeded-but-awaited city) is Ellicott's, and is a more novel figural reading than the standard inheritance-typology above.
Genesis 44:12 · Matthew 23:35 · 2 Samuel 5:6
The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.
Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:
⚙ Honesty notes specific to this unit. (1) This is a boundary-and-city catalogue, not narrative. The literal renderings are built from the Hebrew topographical idiom — gᵉbūl as a "twisted cord"/boundary, keteph as "shoulder," yām as both "sea" and "west," tôtsᵉʼôt as "goings-out." Where the BSB supplies "Beth-arabah" (v.18) for a bare hāʻărābāh, or an ordinal "first" for an unmarked gōral (v.11), I have flagged the addition. (2) The text's own difficulty. Albert Barnes warns that "there are many indications found in this and the next chapter that the text is in great disorder, and many of the places are still unknown"; I have not smoothed that over. Several towns — Emek-keziz, Mozah, Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, Kiriath (v.28), Eleph — are unidentified, and I say so rather than invent locations. (3) Disputed identifications are left disputed. Keil affirms and Cambridge denies that Ramah (v.25) is Samuel's Ramah; Gill conflates Geba and Gibeah while Barnes and Keil keep them distinct. I have preserved both sides verbatim rather than adjudicate. (4) Cross-Testament links are never tiered 'verbal.' The Hinnom→Gehenna and Jerusalem→Christ threads cross from Hebrew to Greek, where shared Strong's numbers are impossible; those are marked structural/thematic or typological, with the reason stated. The Deuteronomy 33:12, Genesis 49:27, Psalm 68:27, and 2 Samuel 21:14 threads share only the common name 'Benjamin' with this unit and are therefore downgraded from verbal to structural/thematic, the link resting on the commentary tradition, not on a rare lexeme. (5) Verbal links rest on genuinely rare names. Where I claim 'verbal/quotation,' the Verifier supplies a place-name occurring in only 2-19 verses canon-wide (Kiriath-baal in 2 vv, Zemaraim in 2 vv, Atroth-addar in 2 vv, Adummim/En-shemesh in 2 vv each); these are not coincidences but a deliberately repeated survey shared with Joshua 15-16. The Zemaraim link is verbally certain but the city (here) and the Ephraimite mountain (2 Chronicles 13:4) are probably distinct sites bearing one name — noted in the thread.
✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)