Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joshua 18:8

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.

The Levites have no part among you; therefore it shall be divided only into seven parts, as I have said.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

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 prepared for their journey, and took it, after he had given them the following charge:

and Joshua charged them that went to describe the land; before they departed from him:

saying, go and walk through the land; and take particular notice, and an exact survey of it, both of the quality and the quantity of it:

and describe it; its cities and towns, hills and dales, the goodness and badness of the soil, and put it down in a book, or lay it out in a map, that it may be discerned by the eye what number of cities, and what space of ground it contains, and what parts are hilly and woody, and what otherwise:

and come again to me; to make a report of it:

that I may cast lots for you before the Lord in Shiloh; that is, for the several tribes which they belonged to, and by whom they were chosen for this purpose.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

‘ And the men arose and went, and Joshua charged those who went to describe the land, saying, “Go and walk through the land and describe it in writing, and come again to me, and I will cast lots for you here before YHWH in Shiloh.” ’

So Joshua gave his last instructions to the men in accordance with what he had told the princes (Jos 18:4). The repetition enabled the listener to remind himself of what had been said and to be able to say it along with the narrator. It encouraged participation. The surveyors were to go through the land (whether together as a caravan, or separately in small groups is not said) and record in writing all the information needed for a fair division of the land. Then the information would be used to cast lots before YHWH at Shiloh, where they then were, in order to discover His will.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The Lot of Benjamin

v. 8. And the men, the twenty-one chosen from the tribes, 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.

v. 9. And the men went and passed through the land, and described it by cities, with special reference to the cities found throughout the unclaimed sections, into seven parts in a book, and came again to Joshua, to the host at Shiloh.

v. 10. 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.

v. 11. And the lot of the tribe of the children of Benjamin came up, namely, when it was drawn from the urn, according to their families; and the coast of their lot, the territory allotted to them, came forth between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph, north of Judah and south of Ephraim.

v. 12. And their border on the north side was from Jordan, beginning at the river; and the border went up to the side of Jericho on the north side, the site of this city thus being included in the territory of Benjamin, and went up through the mountains westward, west and northwest of this city, Jos 16:1; and the goings out thereof, the continuation of the boundary line, were at the wilderness of Bethaven, the bare and rocky heights east of Bethel.

v. 13. And the border went over from thence toward Luz, to the side of Luz, which is Bethel, southward, the city itself thus being included in this territory; and the border descended to Atarothadar, near the hill that lieth on the south side of the nether Bethhoron, Jos 16:2.

v. 14. And the border was drawn thence, and compassed the corner of the sea southward, it turned southward on the western boundary of Benjamin, 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, Jos 15:9; this was the west quarter.

v. 15. And the south quarter was from the end of Kirjathjearim, from the boundaries of this city, and the border went out on the west, westward, and went out to the well of the waters of Nephtoah, Jos 15:9;

v. 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, Jerusalem, on the south, and descended to Enrogel,

v. 17. and was drawn from the north, northward, and went forth to Enshemesh, and went forth to Geliloth, toward the west, which is over against the going up of Adummim, and descended to the stone of Bohan, the son of Reuben,

v. 18. and passed along. toward the side over against Arabah, the eastern plain, northward, and went down unto Arabah, the plain in which Jericho is situated;

v. 19. 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, the mouth, of Jordan; this was the south coast. This description coincides with that of the north border of Judah, Jos 15:5-9, only the southeast corner being determined a little more exactly.

v. 20. And Jordan was the border of it, Benjamin’s territory, on the east side. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin, by their coasts thereof round about, according to their families.

v. 21. Now the cities of the tribe of the children of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho, and Bethhoglah, and the valley of Keziz, Emekkeziz, between Jerusalem and Jericho,

v. 22. and Betharabah, and Zemaraim, and Bethel,

v. 23. and Avim, probably the same as Ai, and Parah, and Ophrah,

v. 24. and Chepharhaamonai, and Ophni, and Gaba, some ten miles north of Jerusalem: twelve cities with their villages, those of the eastern half of the territory of Benjamin.

v. 25. Gibeon, Jos 10:1-15, and Ramah, and Beeroth,

v. 26. and Mizpeh, 1Sa 7:5-15, and Chephirah, near Gibeon, and Mozah,

v. 27. and Rekem, and Irpeel, and Taralah,

v. 28. and Zeiah, Eleph, and Jebusi, which is Jerusalem, Gibeath, later known as Gibeah of Saul, 1Sa 10:26; 1Sa 11:4; 1Sa 15:34, and Kirjath: fourteen cities with their villages, all of them in the western part of Benjamin’s territory. This is the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their families.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

What an awe must have been upon the minds of the Canaanites yet remaining around them, that none of them assaulted them, as they walked through the land. Such, Reader, is the case now very frequently in the Christian’s walk. So true is that Scripture, When a man’s ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him. Pro 16:7 . But passing over this, as the inferior consideration in those verses, what I would beg the Reader to remark with me is, Joshua in this instance, acting as the type of Jesus. Is it not Jesus who hath obtained our inheritance for us, by his conquest over our enemies? And is it not the same Jesus who ever lives to be the distributor of his own gifts? Sweet and precious thought to the believer! I shall not only have that very mansion which Jesus hath purchased for me, and which he is gone before to take possession of in my name, and which he knows to be the very one most suited for me; but what will render it doubly precious, he himself will put me in possession of it with his own dear hand. Nay, I shall sit down with him on his throne, for so the promise runs. Rev 3:21 .

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Jos 18:8 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.

Ver. 8. And the men arose and went away. ] Without debates or delays, as if they had had wings and “wind in their wings,” as Zec 5:9 . God, saith Luther, loveth curristas, not quaeristas: such as will run and not reason, despatch and not dispute his commands.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

NASB (UPDATED TEXT): Jos 18:8-10

8 Then the men arose and went, and Joshua commanded those who went to describe the land, saying, Go and walk through the land and describe it, and return to me; then I will cast lots for you here before the LORD in Shiloh. 9So the men went and passed through the land, and described it by cities in seven divisions in a book; and they came to Joshua to the camp at Shiloh. 10And Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the LORD, and there Joshua divided the land to the sons of Israel according to their divisions.

Jos 18:8 These four IMPERATIVES relate to Jos 18:4.

1. go, BDB 229, KB 246, Qal IMPERATIVE

2. walk, BDB 229, KB 246, Hithpael IMPERATIVE

3. describe it, BDB 507, KB 503, Qal IMPERATIVE

4. return to me, BDB 996, KB 1427, Qal IMPERATIVE

Joshua wants these remaining tribes to act on YHWH’s promises and possess their inheritance! The very act of these tribal representatives walking on the land was a symbol of possession (cf. Gen 13:17; Num 13:17-24).

Jos 18:9 It is obvious that the Israelites were literate. They must have had some schooling in Egypt or at least by their parents during the wilderness wandering period.

Jos 18:10 Joshua cast lots for them See Num 34:16-29. For lots see note at Jos 14:2.

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

walk. See note on “go”, Jos 18:4.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Go: Gen 13:17

that I may here: Jos 18:6, Jos 18:10, Jos 7:16-18, Jos 13:7, Jos 14:1, Jos 14:2, Jos 15:1, 1Sa 14:41, Act 1:24-26, Rom 14:19

Reciprocal: Isa 34:17 – he hath cast

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

18:8 And the men arose, and went away: and Joshua charged them that went to {g} 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.

(g) By writing the names of every country and city.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes