1 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle of the congregation there. And the land was subdued before them.
2 And there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes, which had not yet received their inheritance.
3 And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, How long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the Lord God of your fathers hath given you?
4 Give out from among you three men for each tribe: and I will send them, and they shall rise, and go through the land, and describe it according to the inheritance of them; and they shall come again to me.
5 And they shall divide it into seven parts: Judah shall abide in their coast on the south, and the house of Joseph shall abide in their coasts on the north.
6 Ye shall therefore describe the land into seven parts, and bring the description hither to me, that I may cast lots for you here before the Lord our God.
7 But the Levites have no part among you; for the priesthood of the Lord is their inheritance: and Gad, and Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh, have received their inheritance beyond Jordan on the east, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave them.
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.
9 And the men went and passed through the land, and described it by cities into seven parts in a book, and came again to Joshua to the host at Shiloh.
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.
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 westward; and the goings out thereof were at the wilderness of Bethaven.
13 And the border went over from thence toward Luz, to the side of Luz, which is Bethel, southward; and the border descended to Atarothadar, near the hill that lieth on the south side of the nether Bethhoron.
14 And the border was drawn thence, and compassed the corner of the sea southward, 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: this was the west quarter.
15 And the south quarter was from the end of Kirjathjearim, 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 Enrogel,
17 And was drawn from the north, and went forth to Enshemesh, 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 Bethhoglah 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.
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,
22 And Betharabah, and Zemaraim, and Bethel,
23 And Avim, and Pharah, and Ophrah,
24 And Chepharhaammonai, 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.
<html><b>And there they made a dwelling place for the Tent of Meeting.</b> [This refers to the Tent of Meeting] that they had constructed in the wilderness.1<i class=“footnote”>Since Scripture does not identify the Tent of Meeting, Rashi explains that it is the same one they had constructed in the wilderness.</i> It did not have a roof, but it was a stone structure on the bottom and was covered with curtains above.2<i class=“footnote”>Zevachim 24b. During the fourteen years since they entered Eretz Yisroel, the <i>Mishkan</i> remained at Gilgal. They had been too occupied with conquering and dividing the land to establish a permanent dwelling place for the Tent of Meeting. Once they began settling in the land, they established a House of God. The walls of the House were made of stone, and instead of a roof it was covered with curtains of cloth and skins, as it had been when it was constructed in the wilderness.</i> This we learned in Maseches Zevachim.</html>
<html><b>And the land had been conquered before them.</b> Once the <i>Mishkon</i> was established, it became easier for them to conquer the land.3<i class=“footnote”>The land had actually not been conquered at that point in time, but even though the conquest had not been completed, they had faith that in the merit of the <i>Mishkan,</i> they would be blessed with continued victory in the remaining battles of conquest.</i></html>
<html><b>Seven tribes.</b> [For the following tribes] had already received their portions: Reuvein, Gad, and the half tribe of Menashe had received their inheritance in the days of Moshe on the other side of the Jordan. In the land of Canaan itself, the lot had already fallen for Yehudah, Ephraim and the half tribe of Menashe. These five tribes were provided for.</html>
<html><b>Timid</b>—weak.</html>
<html><b>For each tribe.</b> For each of the remaining seven tribes.</html>
<html><b>According to their inheritance.</b> Into seven parts but not equal ones, but according to the tribes appropriate portions— to the large tribe according to its largeness, and to the small tribe according to its smallness, as it is said, ‘To the large [tribe], increase their inheritance.’4<i class=“footnote”>Bamidbar 26:54.</i></html>
<html><b>And they will divide it into seven parts.</b> Including that which was already conquered and that which was destined to be conquered.</html>
<html><b>Yehudah will remain at his boundary in the south</b>— of Eretz Yisroel, for there fell to his lot the entire southern boundary.</html>
<html><b>And the house of Yoseif—in the north.</b> The north of the land already conquered. There is however much more to be conquered: the side of the boundary from Baal-gad to Levo-chamos which is near Hor hoHor in the northern boundary. The seven tribes will divide [the land] between Yehudah and Yoseif, and [the land] which remains to be conquered.</html>
<html><b>I will cast.</b>—I will throw, similar to, ‘He threw into the sea.’5<i class=“footnote”>Shemos 15:4.</i></html>
<html><b>Their northern boundary.</b> Their northern boundary was the Jordan, since the border started from the east and went up alongside Yericho from the north. It went from there westward alongside Yericho and the border line is drawn on the northside of Yericho. Thus Yericho is within the border line in the portion of Binyomin.</html>
<html><b>To the wilderness of Beis-Oven.</b> To the wilderness of Beis-Oven.6<i class=“footnote”> Rashi explains that the text מִדְבְּרָה בֵּית אָוֶן is the same as לַמִדְבַּר שֶׁל בֵּית אָוֶן.</i></html>
<html><b>From there the boundary passed</b>—westward.</html>
<html><b>To Luz, the southside of Luz which is Beis El.</b> [This is the city] that Yaakov called [Beis-el.] It is not the Beis-el which is near Ai, for it is said about the boundary of Yoseif: ‘And it extended from Beis-el to Luz.’7<i class=“footnote”>Chapter 16:2.</i> Thus we learn that there were two [Beis-els]. Luz was not in the portion of Binyomin; for the boundary line was from Luz and within; as it is said: ‘To the southside of Luz.’ the boundary line goes south of Luz, thus Luz is outside the boundary line, and is within the inheritance of the Bnei Yoseif. Beis-el is in the portion of Binyomin; as it said later in this section.8<i class=“footnote”>See ==== Verse 22.</i></html>
<html><b>And the boundary circled and went around the western side southward.</b> At Atros-ador, the length of the northern boundary ended; it went from east to west. From there the boundary line encircled the western boundary of Binyomin to go southward from north to south. The western boundary line, extended from the mountain which was opposite Beis-choron— south of the mountain— which was south of Beis-choron; that was the beginning of the northwest corner of Binyomen’s [portion,] and the boundary line went from north to south.</html>
<html><b>It extended—</b> From its south-western corner to Kiryas-yearim which belonged to Yehudah. Thus the width of Binyomin’s boundary occupies the entire width of the land between Yehudah and Ephraim. His [Binyomin’s] southern boundary meets with the northern boundary of Yehudah, which was the location of <i>Yerushalayim</i>, as is said later in this chapter.9<i class=“footnote”>V. 28.</i> Thus both tribes had a share in it.10<i class=“footnote”>The major portion of Yehudah’s territory was to the south, but there was one strip of land that extended north and bordered the portion of Binyomin. It extended to the city of the Yevusim which later became <i>Yerushalayim</i>. (See v. 28) The city and the <i>Beis ha Mikdosh</i> were situated right on the border of the two tribes. There are various opinions regarding the exact location of the Altar itself. Some say that it was in Binyomin’s portion, while others maintain that it was in the portion of Yehudah.</i> The Northern boundary of Binyomin and the sourthern boundary of Ephraim meet, and Shiloh was located there in the portion of Ephraim, as it is said, ‘And He abandoned the Mishkan of Shiloh, etc., and He abhorred the tent of Yoseif, and the tribe of Ephraim He did not choose.’11<i class=“footnote”>Tehillim 78:60,67.</i> Binyomin too had a share in it [Shiloh], and so we learned in Maseches Zevachim, ‘In three places the Divine Presence rested in Eretz Yisroel: in Shiloh, in Nov and in the Beis ha Mikdosh; and of all of them, it rested only in the portion of Binyomin:12<i class=“footnote”>From the time the land was divided, the Divine Presence (שְׁכִינָה) rested within the portion of Binyomin. Initially the Divine Presence rested in the Mishkon at Shiloh. After its destruction, the Mishkon was established at Nov, which was also within Binyomin’s portion. It was moved from there to Givon and afterwards to <i>Yerushalayim</i> where the Beis ha Mikdosh was built. The reason for the pre-eminence of Binyomin in this respect, was the blessing Moshe gave to him, as it is said: “Adonoy’s friend, let him live secure with Him. He hovers protectively over him throughout the day, and He resides between his shoulders.” (Devorim 33:12) The <i> Shechina,</i> Divine Presence, resided in Shiloh for many years, and for a short time it <i>hovered</i> over Nov and Givon, and finally a permanent, eternal dwelling place for the <i>Shechina</i> was established in <i>Yerushalayim</i>. Thus in his blessing, Moshe alluded to the places within the territory of Binyomin in which the Divine Presence would reside. (See Rashi there).</i></html>
<html><b>This was the western side—</b> the west side extending from Atros-ador to Kiryas-yearim.</html>
<html><b>And the southern side—</b> Referring to the southern border of Binyomin which is identical with the northern border of Yehudah. All the borders that are listed here are listed relative to the north of Yehudah, and every place described here as descending, is described in reference to Yehudah as going up because here he is listing [boundaries] from west to east and there he lists them from east to west.</html>
<html><b>And the boundary extended to the sea—</b> to a sea, but I do not know which sea it is.</html>
<html><b>To the bay of the Salt Sea to the north.</b> To the north of the bay. Thus the entire bay was in the portion of Yehudah.</html>
<html><b>[To the southern] end of the Jordan.</b> Referring to the place where the Jordan falls [empties into] the Dead Sea. This was listed as the north-eastern edge [of the territory] of Yehudah. And here it is listed as the south-eastern edge [of the territory] of Binyomin.</html>
<html><b>The Jordan borders it on the east.</b> The Jordan was the eastern boundary of Binyomin; as the Jordan goes along the width of his entire boundary to the east.</html>
<html><b>Tzeilah, Eleph and Yevusi which is <i>Yerushalayim</i>.</b> Each of these are individual cities. Similarly, Givas and Kiryas [are individual cities]. Thus five cities are mentioned in this verse.</html>