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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 Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 113.3

Hebrew Bible · Early Christian

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Summary

Joshua is described dividing the conquered land to the tribes of Israel. The Christian theologian Justin Martyr connects this to Jesus, saying that just as Joshua gave Israel a temporary homeland, Jesus will give his people a permanent home.

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

Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 113.3

Early Christian
3 But since not only was his name changed, but he also became Moses’ successor, and he alone of those of his age who came out of Egypt led the surviving people into the Holy Land; and as he, not Moses, led the people into the Holy Land, and as he distributed it by lot to those who entered with him, so Jesus the Christ will gather back the scattered people and distribute the good land to each one, though not in the same way.
155–160 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho

References

... Justin Martyr, in a rather creative fashion, understood the final destination of Christians in a similar manner, though it is difficult to know whether he got this from 1 Peter: Why do you Trypho never inquire why the name Hosea, the son of Nun, which his father gave him, was changed to Jesus [=Joshua in Hebrew]? Especially since not only was his name changed, but also, after becoming Moses successor, he alone, of all his contemporaries who fled Egypt, led the rest of the people into the Holy Land. And just as he, not Moses, conducted the people into the Holy Land and distributed it by lot among those who entered, so also will Jesus the Christ gather together the dispersed people and distribute the good land to each, though not in the same manner. (Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, 113.3) ...
Kelly D. Liebengood, The Eschatology of 1 Peter: Considering the Influence of Zechariah 9–14 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014), 136–137.

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Joshua 18:10 and Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 113.3

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