Joshua 18:11-20

Benjamin's Inheritance Joshua 18:11-20

11 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.
12 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 west-ward; and the goings out thereof were at the wilderness of Beth-aven.
13 And 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 the hill that lieth on the south side of the nether Beth-horon.
14 And the border was drawn thence, and compassed the corner of the sea southward, from the hill 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 quarter.
15 And the south quarter was from the end of Kirjath-jearim, and the border went out on the west, and went out to the well of waters of Nephtoah:
16 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 En-rogel,
17 And was drawn from 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.
18 And passed along toward the side over against Arabah northward, and went down unto Arabah:
19 And the border passed along to the side of Beth-hoglah 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.
20 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.

6.

Which lot came up first? Joshua 18:11

The first lot to be assigned was that given to Benjamin. Benjamin was the son of Jacob by Rachel (Genesis 35). The children of Benjamin inherited a territory which lay north of Judah and south of Ephraim. His land did not extend all the way from the Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea, but reached to the boundary of the children of Dan who had territory on the west of the territory of Benjamin.

7.

What were the borders of Benjamin? Joshua 18:12

The border of Benjamin on the east was the Jordan River. From a point on the river just north of Jericho the northern boundary ran almost due west to Beth-el, or Luz, as it was called in the early times. The western border ran directly south from lower Beth-horon to Kirjath-jearim. The southern border ran directly east from Kirjath-jearim to the north shore of the Dead Sea. The tribe of Ephraim was on the north, Dan was on the west, and Judah was on the south. The Jordan River (and across it, the tribe of Gad) was on the east.

8.

Where was Jebusi? Joshua 18:16

Jebusi was the city of the Jebusites. This site later was captured by David and became known as Jerusalem, David's capital and the capital of the succeeding kings of Judah until it was finally captured by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. This passage of Scripture clearly indicates that the site lay within the border of the tribe of Benjamin. It is mentioned again later in the list of the cities which belonged to Benjamin (Joshua 18:28).

List of Benjamin's Cities Joshua 18:21-28

21 Now the cities of the tribe of the children of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho, and Beth-hoglah, and the valley of Keziz,
22 And Beth-arabah, and Zemaraim, and Beth-el,
23 And Avim, and Parah, and Ophrah,
24 And Chephar-haammonai, and Ophni, and Gaba; twelve cities with their villages:
25 Gibeon, and Ramah, and Beeroth,
26 And Mizpeh, and Chephirah, and Mozah,
27 And Rekem, and Irpeel, and Taralah,
28 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.

9.

Why was Jericho mentioned? Joshua 18:21

Although Jericho was destroyed earlier, its site was important. The city itself was not rebuilt until much later in the days of Ahab. Nevertheless, the site was important to Israel and was worthy of mention among the cities possessed by the men of Benjamin. In addition, certain smaller villages pertained to most of the larger cities; and such was probably the case with Jericho.

10.

Where was Betb-el? Joshua 18:22

Beth-el was in the hill country, and was famous as well as hallowed among the Israelites since it was there that the father of the twelve sons who were heads of the tribes of Israel had worshiped, At Beth-el Jacob received the vision of a ladder set upon the earth and saw angels going up and down on it (Genesis 28), Abraham had pitched his tent near Beth-el, with Beth-el on the west and Ai on the east (Genesis 12); and the people of Benjamin must have counted themselves fortunate to have such an important spot within their borders.

11.

Where was Gibeon? Joshua 18:25

Gibeon was a Canaanite city west and a little south of Beth-el. The Hivites, a group of the Canaanites, had lived here. These people had tricked the children of Israel, pretending to have come from a great distance to make peace with God's people (Joshua 9). It was the defecting of these people which led to the formation of the southern coalition of Canaanite kings who attacked Israel and were defeated on the occasion when Joshua prayed for the sun to stand still, thus giving more time for his warriors to attack their enemies (chapter 10).

12.

Why mention Ramah? Joshua 18:25

Ramah was the home of Samuel. It was a high place, and the name itself means height. Such a high hill rises above Gibeon, and is pointed out as the burial place of Samuel. The land of Benjamin was filled with sites which became famous as events in later Israelite history transpired. Other sites to the north of Gibeon are also identified as Ramah's or heights and are considered to have been the Ramathaim-Zophim, the heights of Zuph, the home of Samuel's parents (1 Samuel 1:1).