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Joshua

About this book
Chapter 18

1 The entire Israelite community assembled at Shiloh and there they set up the tent of meeting.⁠ Though they had subdued the land, 2 seven Israelite tribes had not been assigned their allotted land. 3 So Joshua said to the Israelites: “How long do you intend to put off occupying the land the Lord God of your ancestors has given you? 4 Pick three men from each tribe. I will send them out to walk through the land and make a map of it for me. 5 Divide it into seven regions. Judah will stay in its territory in the south and the family of Joseph in its territory in the north. 6 But as for you, map out the land into seven regions and bring it to me. I will draw lots for you here before the Lord our God.⁠ 7 But the Levites will not have an allotted portion among you, for their inheritance is to serve the Lord. Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have already received their allotted land east of the Jordan, which Moses the Lord’s servant assigned them.” 8 When the men started out, Joshua told those going to map out the land, “Go, walk through the land, map it out, and return to me. Then I will draw lots for you before the Lord here in Shiloh.” 9 The men journeyed through the land and mapped it and its cities out into seven regions on a scroll. Then they came to Joshua at the camp in Shiloh. 10 Joshua drew lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord and divided the land among the Israelites according to their allotted portions.⁠ 11 The first lot belonged to the tribe of Benjamin by its clans. Their allotted territory was between Judah and Joseph. 12 Their northern border started at the Jordan, went up to the slope of Jericho on the north, ascended westward to the hill country, and extended to the wilderness of Beth Aven. 13 It then crossed from there to Luz, to the slope of Luz to the south (that is, Bethel), and descended to Ataroth Addar located on the hill that is south of lower Beth Horon. 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 of Judah. This is the western border. 15 The southern side started on the edge of Kiriath Jearim and extended westward to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah. 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. 17 It went northward, extending to En Shemesh and Geliloth opposite the Pass of Adummim, and descended to the Stone of Bohan son of Reuben. 18 It crossed to the slope in front of the rift valley to the north and descended into the rift valley. 19 It then crossed to the slope of Beth Hoglah to the north and ended at the northern tip of the Salt Sea at the mouth of the Jordan River. This was the southern border. 20 The Jordan River bordered it on the east. These were the borders of the land assigned to the tribe of Benjamin by its clans. 21 These cities belonged to the tribe of Benjamin by its clans: Jericho, Beth Hoglah, Emek Keziz, 22 Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, 23 Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, 24 Kephar Ammoni, Ophni, and Geba—a total of 12 cities and their towns. 25 Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, 26 Mizpah, Kephirah, Mozah, 27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28 Zelah, Haeleph, the Jebusite city (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath—a total of fourteen cities and their towns. This was the land assigned to the tribe of Benjamin by its clans.

Texts in conversation

Compare Joshua 18:10 and Acts 13:19

Hebrew Bible · New Testament

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Summary

At Shiloh, Joshua divides the land of Canaan to each tribe. In Acts, Paul is described reiterating this to a synagogue crowd, saying God gave Israel the land as their inheritance, a sign that early Christian tradition cared about the land of Israel.

Passages

Joshua 18:10

Hebrew Bible
9 The men journeyed through the land and mapped it and its cities out into seven regions on a scroll. Then they came to Joshua at the camp in Shiloh. 10 Joshua drew lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord and divided the land among the Israelites according to their allotted portions. 11 The first lot belonged to the tribe of Benjamin by its clans. Their allotted territory was between Judah and Joseph.
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Joshua

Acts 13:19

New Testament
17 The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors and made the people great during their stay as foreigners in the country of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it. 18 For a period of about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness. 19 After he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave his people their land as an inheritance. 20 All this took about 450 years. After this he gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet. 21 Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man from the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years.
70–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Acts

References

... However, many have overlooked the significance of Paul's reference to the gift of the land to Israel in his sermon to the synagogue in Pisidian Antioch. In Acts 13:19, Paul, recounting briefly the exodus, says, 'And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance' (English Standard Version, emphasis added). Paul goes on to speak of Jesus as the Christ raised up by God in accordance with the promise to David. But his mention of the gift of the land is significant in light of many denials that the New Testament has any interest in the land. The statement 'he gave them their land as an inheritance' is taken from covenant language. It is repeatedly found in Deuteronomy (Deuteronomy 4:21, 37-40; 12:10; 15:4; 19:10, 14; 21:23; 24:4; 25:19) and is declared to be everlasting (Deuteronomy 4:40), as is the Abrahamic covenant. ...
Craig A. Blaising, Biblical Hermeneutics: How Are We to Interpret the Relation Between the Tanak and the New Testament on This Question?, ed. Gerald R. McDermott (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2016), 92–93.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Joshua 18:10 and Acts 13:19

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