Yehoshua 18:5

5 And they shall divide it into shivah chalakim (seven portions); Yehudah shall abide in their territory on the south, and Bais Yosef shall abide in their territory on the north.

Yehoshua 18:5 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 18:5

And they shall divide it into seven parts
According to the number of the seven tribes not yet settled; and this they were to describe and divide was all the land subdued, or not subdued, only the following excepted:

Judah shall abide in their coast on the south;
on the south of the land of Canaan, where their lot fell, so that needed not to be measured and described; and this tribe was to retain what they were possessed of, unless it should appear they had too much, and others wanted, and they willing to part with some of it to their brethren, as they afterwards did to the tribes of Simeon and Dan:

and the house of Joseph shall abide in their coast on the north;
on the north of the tribe of Judah; not of the land of Canaan, for some other tribes lay more northerly.

Yehoshua 18:5 In-Context

3 And Yehoshua said unto the Bnei Yisroel, How long are ye mitrapim (slack ones, cowardly) going to take to go in and possess HaAretz, which Hashem Elohei Avoteichem hath given you?
4 Appoint from among you shloshah anashim for each tribe; and I will send them, and they shall rise, and go through and survey the land, and write down a description of it, according to the nachalah of each; and they shall come again to me.
5 And they shall divide it into shivah chalakim (seven portions); Yehudah shall abide in their territory on the south, and Bais Yosef shall abide in their territory on the north.
6 Ye shall therefore write a description of HaAretz in shivah chalakim, and bring the description here to me, that I may cast goral for you here before Hashem Eloheinu.
7 But the Levi’im have no chelek among you; for the Kehunah Hashem is their nachalah; and Gad, and Reuven, and the half tribe of Menasheh, have received their nachalah beyond the Yarden on the east, which Moshe Eved Hashem gave them.
The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.