Yosua 18:11-20

Benjamin’s Tribal Lands

18:11 The first lot belonged to the tribe of Benjamin ¹  by its clans. Their allotted territory was between Judah and Joseph. ²  18:12 Their northern border started at the Jordan, went up to the slope of Jericho ³  on the north, ascended westward to the hill country, and extended to the desert of Beth Aven. 18:13 It then crossed from there to Luz, to the slope of Luz to the south (that is, Bethel), ⁴  and descended to Ataroth Addar located on the hill that is south of lower Beth Horon. 18:14 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 ⁵  of Judah. This is the western border. ⁶  18:15 The southern side started on the edge of Kiriath Jearim and extended westward to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah. 18:16 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. 18:17 It went northward, extending to En Shemesh and Geliloth opposite the Pass ⁷  of Adummim, and descended to the Stone of Bohan son of Reuben. 18:18 It crossed to the slope in front of the Arabah to the north and descended into the Arabah. 18:19 It then crossed to the slope of Beth Hoglah to the north and ended at the northern tip of the Salt Sea ⁸  at the mouth of the Jordan River. ⁹  This was the southern border. 18:20 The Jordan River borders it on the east. These were the borders of the land assigned to the tribe of Benjamin by its clans. ¹⁰ 

[18:11]  ¹ tn Heb “and the lot came up for the tribe of the sons of Benjamin.”

[18:11]  ² tn Heb “and the territory of their allotment went out between the sons of Judah and the sons of Joseph.”

[18:12]  ³ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[18:13]  ⁴ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[18:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “sons,” here referring to the tribe.

[18:14]  ⁶ tn Or “side.”

[18:17]  ⁷ tn Or “ascent.”

[18:19]  ⁸ sn The Salt Sea is another name for the Dead Sea.

[18:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “to the tongue of the Salt Sea to the north, to the end of the Jordan to the south.” The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity (also in the following verse).

[18:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “This was the inheritance of the sons of Benjamin by its borders round about, by their clans.”