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6 Because the daughters of north, and in Issachar on the
Manasseh had an inheritance east.
among his sons: and the rest
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11 And Manasseh had. in Issachar and in Asher Bethshean and her towns, and Ibleam and her towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, and the inhabitants of En-dor and her towns, and the inhabitants of Taanach and her towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns, even three countries.

12 Yet the children of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities :

9 And the coast descended unto the river but the Canaanites would dwell in the Kanah, southward of the river: 9 these cities land. of Ephraim are among the cities of Manasseh; the coast of Manasseh also was on the north side of the river, and the outgoings of it were at the sea:

13 Yet it came to pass, when the children of Israel were waxen strong, that they put the Canaanites to "tribute; but did not utterly drive them out.

1

14 And the children of Joseph spake unto Joshua, saying, Why hast thou given me but

10 Southward it was Ephraim's, and northward it was Manasseh's, and the sea is his border; and they met together in Asher on the one lot and one portion to inherit, seeing I

m

Chap. xvi. 8.

-1 Chap. xvi. 9.

1 Chron. vii. 29.

Judg. i. 27, 28.- Lu Ch. w Gen. xlviii. 22.

Chap. xvi. "8.- -P Or, 1 Sam. xxxi. 10; 1 Kings iv. 12.-
xyi. 10. Chap. xvi. 4.
appear that in several cases the tribes were inter-
mingled; for Manasseh had several towns, both in
Issachar and in Asher, see ver. 11. In like manner,
Judah had towns in Dan and Simeon; and Simeon
had towns in Judah; and what is spoken of the boun-
daries of the tribes, may be sometimes understood of
those towns which certain tribes had within the limits
of others. For, in several cases, towns seem to be
interchanged, or purchased, by mutual consent, so
that in some instances the possessions were inter-
mingled, without any confusion of the tribes.or
families.

Chap. xvi. 6.brook of reeds. sketches which we find in different parts of the Old Testament it appears that their minds were in many respects well cultivated; nor could the division, which is mentioned in this book, have been made without such a measure of geographical knowledge, as we find it difficult to grant them. Suppose even in this case, the land was not measured with a chain, which in some cases would have been impracticable, because the ancient inhabitants still occupied the places which were allotted to certain tribes or families; yet the allusion to this mode of measurement shows that it was well known among them.

Verse 11. Beth-shean] Called afterwards Scythopolis; the city of the Scythians or Cuthites, those who were sent into the different Samaritan cities by

As there were six sons and five daughters, among whom this division was to be made, there should be eleven portions; but Zelophehad, son of Hepher, having left five daughters in his place, neither he nor Hepherthe kings of Assyria. are reckoned. The lot of Manasseh. therefore was divided into ten parts; five for the five sons of Gilead, who were Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, and Shemida; and five for the five daughters of Zelophehad, viz., Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.CALMET.

Verse 9. Unto the river Kanah] Literally, the river or valley of the reeds, translated by the Vulgate, vallis arundineti. The tribe of Manasseh appears to have been bounded on the north by this torrent or valley, and on the south by the Mediterranean Sea.

Verse 10. They met together in Asher on the north] The tribe of Asher extended from the Mediterranean Sea to Mount Carmel, chap. xix. 26, and the tribe of Manasseh extended to Dor and her towns, (see the following verse,) which were in the vicinity of Carmel; and thus it appears that these two tribes formed a junction at the Mediterranean Sea. This may serve to remove the difficulties in this verse; but still it does

Dor] On the Mediterranean Sea, about eight miles. from Cæsarea, on the road to Tyre.

En-dor] The well or fountain of Dor, the place where Saul went to consult the witch; 1 Sam. xxviii. 7, &c.

Verse 12. Could not drive out, &c.] They had neither grace nor courage to go against their enemies, and chose rather to share their territories with those whom the justice of God had proscribed, than exert themselves to expel them. But some commentators give a different turn to this expression, and translate the passage thus: But the children of Manasseh could not (resolve) to destroy those cities, but the Canaanites consented to dwell in the land. And as they were willing to pay tribute, and the others chose to tolerate them on those terms, they agreed to dwell together: but this paying of tribute seems not to have taken place till some time after, when the children of Israel were waxen strong, &c,

CHAP. XVIII.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Seven of the tribes having not yet received their inheritance, 2, Joshua orders three men from each tribe to be chosen, and sent to examine the land and divide it into seven parts, which should be distributed among them by lot, 3-7. The men go and do as commanded, and return to Joshua, 8, 9. Joshua casts lots for them, 10. The lot of Benjamin, how situated, 11. Its northern boundaries, 12-14. Its southern boundaries, 15-19. Its eastern boundary, 20, Its cities, 21-28.

Three men from each tribe

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which had not yet received their heritance: hand Gad, and Reuben,
inheritance.
and half the tribe of Manasseh, An. Exod. Isr
have received their inheritance
beyond Jordan on the east, which I. Olymp. 667.
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..

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 coast 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.

f

78 But the Levites have no part among you; for the priesthood of the LORD is their in

с

Le

Judg. xviii. 9.- d Chap. xv. 1. Chap. xvi. 1, 4. removed from Gilgal, after a residence there of seven years. Here the tabernacle remained one hundred and thirty years, as is generally supposed, being the most conveniently situated for access to the different tribes, and for safety, the Israelites having possession of the land on all sides; for it is here added, the land was subdued before them-the Canaanites were so completely subdued, that there was no longer any general resistance to the-Israelitish arms.

Verse 3. How long are ye slack to go to possess the land] We find an unaccountable backwardness in this people to enter on the inheritance which God had given them! They had so long been supported by miracle, without any exertions of their own, that they found it difficult to shake themselves from their inactivity. When it was necessary that all the people should go out to battle, they went with a measure of confidence, expecting miraculous help from God, and confiding in their numbers; but when each tribe found it necessary to fight for itself, in order to its establishment and the extension of its borders, it was discouraged, and chose rather a life of inglorious ease than the possession of an inheritance which would cost it much labour to conquer.

Verse 4. Three-men for each tribe] Probably meaning only three from each of the seven tribes who had not yet received their inheritance. It is likely that these twenty-one men were accompanied by a military guard, for without this they might have been easily cut off by straggling parties of the Canaanites.

They shall describe it] It is likely they were persons well acquainted with geography and mensuration, without which it would have been impossible for them to have divided the land in the way necessary on this occasion.

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 famif Chap. xiv. 2;. ver. 10.- - Chap. xiii. 33. Chap. xiii. 8. house of Joseph-on the north.] Joshua does not mean that the tribe of Judah occupied the south, and the tribe of Ephraim and Manasseh the north of the promised land; this was not the fact but being now at Shiloh, a considerable way in the territory of Ephraim, and not far from that of Judah, he speaks of them in relation to the place in which he then was. Calmet considers him as thus addressing the deputies: "Go and examine the whole of the country which remains yet to be possessed; do not take into consideration the tribe of Judah, which is on the south, nor the tribe of Ephraim, which is on the north of where we now are, but carefully divide the remaining land which is not occupied by these tribes into seven equal parts.". This makes a very good sense, and frees the place from embarrassment.

Verse 7. The priesthood of the Lord is their inheritance] We have already seen that the priests and Levites had the sacrifices, oblations, tithes, firstfruits, redemption-money of the first-born, &c., for their inheritance; they had no landed possessions in Israel; the LORD was their portion,

Verse 9. And described it—in a book] This, as far as I can recollect, is the first act of surveying on record. These men and their work differed widely from those who had searched the land in the time of Moses; they went only to discover the nature of the country, and the state of its inhabitants; but these went to take an actual geographical survey of it, in order to divide it among the tribes which had not yet received their portions. We may suppose that the country was exactly described in a book, that is, a map, pointing out the face of the country, accompanied with descriptions of each part.

Verse 11. And the lot-of Benjamin came up] On Verse 5. Judah shall abide―on the south, and the the manner of casting the lot, see on chap. xiv. 2, and

The boundaries and cities

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lies and the coast of their lot on the south, and descended to
came forth between the children P En-rogel,
of Judah and the children of

1. Olymp. 667. 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 Beth-aven.

13 And the border went over from thence toward Luz, to the side of. Luz, which is Beth-el, southward; and the, border descended to Ataroth-adar, near the hill that lieth on the south side of the nether Beth-horon.

14 And the border was drawn thence, and compassed the corner of the sea southward, from the hill that lieth before Beth-horon southward; and the goings out thereof were at Kirjath-baal, which is Kirjath-jearim, a city of the children of Judah: this was the west quarter.

m

15. And the south quarter was from the end of Kirjath-jearim, 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

1 See chap. xvi. 1.

3

xvi. 3.

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17 And was drawn from the north, and went forth to En- I. Olymp. 667. shemesh, 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,

t

19 And the border passed along to the side of Beth-hoglah 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 Benjamín, by the coasts thereof round about, according to their families.

21 Now the cities of the tribe of the children of Benjamín according to their families. were Jericho, and Beth-hoglah, and the valley of Keziz,

22 And Beth-arabah, and Zemaraim, and Beth-el,

23 And Avim, and Parah, and Ophrah, 24 And Chephar-haammonai, and Ophni, and Gaba; twelve cities with their villages: 25 Gibeon, and Ramah, and Beeroth,

26 And Mizpeh, and Chephirah, and Mozah, - Chap. xv. 6. Chap. xv. 6. Heb. tongue.

* Gen. xxviii. 19; Judg. i. 23. Chap. Chap. xv. 8.-P Chap. xv. 7.-
m See chap. xv. 9. Chap. xv. 9.
*Or, the plain.-

Num. xxvi. 55. There were probably two urns, one of which contained the names of the seven tribes, and the other that of the seven portions. They therefore took out one name out of the first urn, and one portion out of the second, and thus the portion was adjudged - to that tribe.

Verse 12. The wilderness of Beth-aven.] This was the same as Beth-el; but this name was not given to it till Jeroboam had fixed one of his golden calves there. Its first name signifies the house of God; its second, the house of iniquity.

Verse 16. To the side of Jebusi] The mountain of Zion, that was near Jerusalem; for Jebusi, or Jebus, was the ancient name of this city.

Verse 17. En-shemesh] The fountain of the sun; a proof of the idolatrous nature of the ancient inhabitants of this land.

Geliloth] As the word signifies borders or limits, it is probably not the proper name of a place: And went forth towards the BORDERS which are over against

the ascent to Adummim.

Verse 19. The north bay of the Salt Sea] As the word leshon signifies the tongue, it may here

refer to the point of the Dead or Salt Sea. Of these tongues or points it had two, one on the north, and the other on the south,

Verse 21. Now the cities] Some of these cities have been mentioned before, and described; of others we know nothing but the name.

Verse 24. And Gaba] Supposed to be the same as Gibeah of Saul, a place famous for having given birth to the first king of Israel; and infamous for the shocking act towards the Levite's wife, mentioned Judg. xix., which was the cause of a war in which the tribe of Benjamin was nearly exterminated. Judg. xx.

Verse 25. Gibeon] See before, chap. x. This place is famous for the confederacy of the five kings. against Israel, and their miraculous defeat. Ramah, a place about six or eight miles north of Jerusalem. Beeroth, i. e., wells; one of the four cities which belonged to the Gibeonites, who made peace with the Israelites by stratagem. See chap. ix.

Verse 26. And Mizpeh] This place is celebrated in the sacred writings. Here the people were accus-. tomed to assemble often in the presence of the Lord, as in the deliberation concerning the punishment to be

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27 And Rekem, and Irpeel, and Kirjath; fourteen cities with and Taralah, their villages. This is the inherit- An, Exod. Isr. ance of the children of Benjamin according to their families.

28 And Zelah, Eleph, and JeI. Olymp. 667. busi, which is Jerusalem, Gibeath,

inflicted on the men of Gibeah, for the abuse of the Levite's wife. Judg. xx. 1-3. Samuel assembled the people here to exhort them to renounce their idolatry, 1 Sam. vii. 5, 6. In this same place Saul was chosen to be king, 1 Sam. x. 17. It was deemed a sacred place among the Israelites; for we find, from 1 Mac. iii. 46, that the Jews assembled here to seek God, when their enemies were in possession of the temple.

48. Anno ante I. Olymp. 667.

was probably the place in which Melchizedek reigned in the days of Abraham; though some think a different place is meant; for that there was another place of the same name, is evident from John iii. 23. This place, called Salim by the evangelist, is said to be near to Enon, and there John baptized, because there was much water in the place. This, however, must not be confounded with the Salem mentioned above; for that this was a name of Jerusalem, is evident from Psa. lxxvi. 1, 2: In Judah is God known: his name is great in Israel. In SALEM also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling-place in Zion. This must refer to Jebusi, which is Jerusalem] We often meet with | Jerusalem, where the temple was situated. Whether this name, and it is evident that it was the ancient Jebus or Jebusi had its name from the Jebusites, or name of Jerusalem, which was also called Salem; and the Jebusites from it, cannot be ascertained.

Verse 28. And Zelah] This was the burying-place of Saul, Jonathan,, and the family of Kish. See 2 Sam. xxi. 14.

CHAPTER XIX.

The lot of Simeon, 1-9. Of Zebuluń, 10-16. Of Issachar, 17-23, Of Asher, 24-31. 32-39. Of Dan, 40-48. Joshua's portion, 49, 50. The conclusion of the division of the

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AND the second lot came forth

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8 And all the villages that were to Simean, even for the tribe round about these cities to Baaof the children of Simeon accord-lath-beer, Ramath of the south. ing to their families: and their This is the inheritance of the inheritance was within the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Simeon according to children of Judah. their families.

Anno ante
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9 Out of the portion of the children of Judah was the inheritance of the children of Simeon: for the part of the children of Judah was too much for them: therefore the children of Simeon had their inheritance within the inheritance of them.

10 And the third lot came up for the children of Zebulun according to their families and

7 Ain, Remmon, and Ether, and Ashan; the border of their inheritance was unto Sarid: four cities and their villages:

a Ver. 9.b1 Chron. iv. 28.

NOTES ON CHAP. XIX.

Verse 1. The second lot came forth to Simeon] In this appointment the providence of God may be especially remarked. For the iniquitous conduct of Simeon and Levi, in the massacre of the innocent Shechemites, Gen. xxxiv., Jacob, in the spirit of prophecy, foretold that they should be divided in Jacob, and scattered in Israel, Gen. xlix. 7. And this was most literally fulfilled in the manner in which God disposed of both these tribes afterwards. Levi was scattered through all Palestine, not having received any inheritance, only cities to dwell in, in different parts of the land; and Simeon was dispersed in Judah, with

what could scarcely be said to be their own, or a peculiar lot. See the note on Gen. xlix. 7.

Verse 2. Beer-sheba] The well of the oath. See the note on Gen. xxi. 31.

Verse 3. Hazar-shual] For this and several of the following places, see the notes on chap. xv.

Verse 5. Beth-marcaboth] The house or city of chariots. Probably a place where their war-chariots and cavalry were laid up.

Verse 6. Beth-lebaoth] The house or city of lionesses. Probably so called from the numbers of those animals which bred there.

Verse 8. Baalath-beer] The well of the mistresses.