Joshua 18:11

11 And first came up the lot of the children of Benjamin by their families, to possess the land between the children of Juda, and the children of Joseph.

Joshua 18:11 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 18:11

And the lot of the tribe of the children of Benjamin came up
according to their families
This was the first lot of the seven that came up; it was but a small lot, and therefore called "little Benjamin", ( Psalms 68:27 ) ; but the land was very pleasant and fruitful. Josephus ^F8 says, this lot was very strait, because of the goodness of the soil, for it took in Jericho, and the city of Jerusalem:

and the coast of their lot came forth between the children of Judah and
the children of Joseph;
having Judah on the south, and Joseph on the north; this was so ordered by the providence of God, that Benjamin should lie close to Joseph, being own brothers, and the only children of Rachel, Jacob's beloved wife; and that it should be next to Judah, with whom it was to unite, both in religious and civil affairs, and both met in and had a part of Jerusalem, the metropolis of Israel; and this lot fell exactly according to the prediction of Moses, and the order of it, who places Benjamin between Judah and Joseph, the tribe of Levi having no share in the division of the land, ( Deuteronomy 33:7 Deuteronomy 33:12 Deuteronomy 33:13 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F8 Antiqu. l. 5. c. 1. sect. 22.

Joshua 18:11 In-Context

9 So they went and surveying it divided it into seven parts, writing them down in a book. And they returned to Josue, to the camp in Silo.

10 And he cast lots before the Lord in Silo, and divided the land to the children of Israel into seven parts.

11 And first came up the lot of the children of Benjamin by their families, to possess the land between the children of Juda, and the children of Joseph.

12 And their border northward was from the Jordan: going along by the side of Jericho on the north side, and thence going up westward to the mountains, and reaching to the wilderness of Bethaven,

13 And passing along southward by Luza, the same is Bethel, and it goeth down into Ataroth-addar to the mountain, that is on the south of the nether Beth-horon.