This chapter informs us of the setting up of the tabernacle at Shiloh, Josh. 18:1; of the notice Joshua took, that seven tribes had not received their inheritance, Josh.

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, ; at least all that had not received their inheritances in the land.

And there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes, &c.] Which were those of Benjamin, Simeon, Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Dan: which had not yet received their inheritance; and for which the lots were not cast.

And Joshua said unto the children of Israel To those of the seven tribes: how long are you slack to go to possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers hath given you? not that they might have taken possession of it of themselves, without having it assigned to them by lot; that they did not…

Give out from among you three men for each tribe That is, for each of the seven tribes, in all twenty one; though some think they were to be taken out of all the nine tribes and a half, and were thirty six; and so Josephus [[0]] seems to understand it; but then he makes but one out of each tribe to…

And they shall divide it into seven parts According to the number of the seven tribes not yet settled; and this they were to describe and divide was all the land subdued, or not subdued, only the following excepted: Judah shall abide in their coast on the south; on the south of the land of Canaan,…

Ye shall therefore describe the land into seven parts Or ye shall describe the land, even the seven parts of it when divided; it seems as if they were first to describe in general all the land not disposed of, and then divide it into seven parts, and make a particular description of each part, or…

But the Levites have no part among you And so needed not to send any men out of their tribe to measure the land on their account, and is a reason why the remaining part of the land was to be divided into seven parts only: for the priesthood of the Lord is his inheritance; not only the office, but…

And the men arose, and went away The seven tribes took the advice of Joshua, chose three men out of each tribe, and presented them to him, who gave them their commission and instruction to go and describe the land of Canaan, not yet disposed of, and whether subdued, or not subdued; upon which they…

And the men went and passed through the land Undisturbed by the inhabitants that remained; the fear of the Israelites being still upon them, and the providence of God restraining them, so that the men passed through the whole country, and took a survey of it without any molestation: and described…

And Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord For the seven tribes, as he had for the two tribes and a half at Gilgal; of the manner of casting lots, (See Gill on Num.

And the lot of the tribe of the children of Benjamin came up according to their families This was the first lot of the seven that came up; it was but a small lot, and therefore called “little Benjamin”, ; but the land was very pleasant and fruitful.

And their border on the north side was from Jordan Which was the eastern boundary of the tribe, and hence proceeded from east to west, and formed its northern border, which is described in like manner as the lot of the children of Joseph, (Josh. 16:1, Josh.

And the border went over from thence towards Luz From Bethaven, where the northern border ended, the western began, and went on to Luz: 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…

And the border was drawn thence From Bethhoron: and compassed the corner of the sea southward; it is hard to say what sea is meant, or what by it. Fuller [[9]] conjectures, that as the Hebrews call any confluence of water a sea, as we call such a “mere”, the great waters in Gibeon may be meant, ;…

And the south quarter was from the end of Kirjathjearim, &c.] Where the western quarter ended: and the border went out on the west; not directly south, but somewhat westerly.

And the border came down In the description of the border of Judah, hereabout, it is said to go up, ; because there, as Jarchi observes, the measure was from east to west, but here from west to east: to the end of the mountain that lieth before the valley of the son of Hinnom; this south border of…

And was drawn from the north Turning northward, and looking that way from the west to the east: and went forth to Enshemesh; or the fountain of the sun, see ; and went forth toward Geliloth; called Gilgal, ; which is over against the going up to Adummim; a place between Jerusalem and Jericho, see ;…

And passed along toward the side over against Arabah northward The same with Betharabah, ; 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, .

And the border passed along to the side of Bethhoglah northward Inclining somewhat toward the north, but not leaving the city to the north, for it is included in the lot of Benjamin, ; of which place see ; and the outgoings of the border were at the north bay of the salt sea; here ended the…

And Jordan was the border of it on the east side 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…

Now the cities of the tribe of the children of Benjamin, according to their families, were Jericho Which though destroyed, and not to be rebuilt as a city, was yet a place inhabited, and in future times was rebuilt, and in great splendour, and continued to the time of Christ; of which see ; and…

And Betharabah Of the first of these, (See Gill on Josh. 15:6); and Zemaraim; one of the sons of Canaan was named Zemira, ; 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…

And Avim, and Parah Of the two first of these we read nowhere else; and Ophrah is not the same with Ophrah in ; that belonged to the tribe of Manasseh, but rather that which was in the land of Shuah, .

And Chepharhaammonai, and Ophni Of the two first of these no mention is made elsewhere; 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, ; and for being the native place of King Saul, hence called…

Gibeon Gibeon is the place from whence the Gibeonites came, who deceived Joshua, . Jerom says [[14]], in his time there was a village shown of this name, four miles from Bethel to the east, near Ramah, next mentioned; and Ramah, which Jerom relates [[15]] was six miles from Aelia or Jerusalem to…

And Mizpeh Frequent mention is made of Mizpeh in Scripture; according to Fuller [[18]], it was about eight miles from Gibeah; it was near Ramathon, which Josephus says [[19]] was forty furlongs from Jerusalem; and Chephirah was one of the cities subject to Gibeon, .

And Rekem, and Irpeel, and Taralah. ] Of these cities there is no mention made elsewhere.

And Zelaheath Zelah was the buryingplace of Saul and his family, . Eleph is nowhere else mentioned; some join it with Zelah, and make one city of it, but then the number of cities given could not be completed; both Jarchi and Kimchi say they were two cities, as doubtless they were; and Jebusi,…