Jozua 18:9

9 De mannen dan gingen heen, en togen het land door en beschreven het, naar de steden, in zeven delen, in een boek; en kwamen weder tot Jozua in het leger te Silo.

Jozua 18:9 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 18:9

And the men went and passed through the land
Undisturbed by the inhabitants that remained; the fear of the Israelites being still upon them, and the providence of God restraining them, so that the men passed through the whole country, and took a survey of it without any molestation:

and described it by cities, into seven parts, in a book;
or map, or rather made seven maps of it, and set down the several cities in each division, with the places adjacent, hills and vales, and marked out a plain and exact chorography of the whole, by which it appears they must be men well skilled in geometry. Josephus ^F2 says, that Joshua added to them some that understood geometry; but doubtless the persons each tribe chose and sent were such whom they knew were well versed in that art, and so fit for the business; and which they had, no doubt, learned in Egypt, this being one part of the wisdom and learning of the Egyptians; who boasted of it as an invention of theirs, as Diodorus Siculus ^F3 relates; and indeed they were obliged to study it, their country being divided into several homes, and these into lesser districts, and which also were subdivided, and according thereunto were the king's taxes levied upon them; and what with the confusion frequently made by the overflowings of the Nile, they were frequently obliged to measure their land over again; and hence they became expert in this science, which is commonly believed took its rise from them, and passed into Greece, as Herodotus ^F4, and Strabo ^F5, and other authors relate; however, it is certain from this instance in the time of Joshua, that geometry was not the invention of Anaximander, about five hundred years before Christ, as some have asserted ^F6:

and came [again] to Joshua to the host at Shiloh;
where the camp, as well as the people in common, and the tabernacle, were; they returned, as Josephus ^F7 says, at the end of seven months; and to measure so much land, and make such divisions of it, and give the plans and maps of each division, must take up a considerable time.

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FOOTNOTES:

F2 Antiqu. l. 5. c. 1. sect. 21.
F3 Bibliothec. l. 1. p. 63.
F4 Euterpe, sive, l. 2. c. 109.
F5 Geograph. l. 17. p. 541, 542. Vid. Suidam in voce (gewmetria) .
F6 Vid. Strabo. Geograph. l. 1. p. 5. Lar. l. 2. Vit. Anaximan I.
F7 Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 5. c. 1. sect. 21.)

Jozua 18:9 In-Context

7 Want de Levieten hebben geen deel in het midden van ulieden; maar het priesterdom des HEEREN is hun erfdeel. Gad nu, en Ruben, en de halve stam van Manasse, hebben hun erfdeel genomen op gene zijde van de Jordaan, oostwaarts, hetwelk hun Mozes, de knecht des HEEREN, gegeven heeft.

8 Toen maakten zich die mannen op, en gingen heen. En Jozua gebood hun, die heengingen om het land te beschrijven, zeggende: Gaat, en doorwandelt het land, en beschrijft het; komt dan weder tot mij, zo zal ik ulieden hier het lot werpen, voor het aangezicht des HEEREN, te Silo.

9 De mannen dan gingen heen, en togen het land door en beschreven het, naar de steden, in zeven delen, in een boek; en kwamen weder tot Jozua in het leger te Silo.

10 Toen wierp Jozua het lot voor hen te Silo, voor het aangezicht des HEEREN. En Jozua deelde aldaar den kinderen Israels het land, naar hun afdelingen.

11 En het lot van den stam der kinderen van Benjamin kwam op, naar hun huisgezinnen; en de landpale van hun lot ging uit tussen de kinderen van Juda, en tussen de kinderen van Jozef.