Josué 18

ARC · Chapter 18/24

¹E toda a congregação dos filhos de Israel se ajuntou em Silo, e ali armaram a tenda da congregação, depois que a terra foi sujeita diante d'elles.

²E d'entre os filhos de Israel ficaram sete tribus que ainda não tinham repartido a sua herança.

³E disse Josué aos filhos de Israel: Até quando sereis negligentes a passardes para possuir a terra que o Senhor Deus de vossos paes vos deu?

⁴De cada tribu escolhei vós tres homens, para que eu os envie, e se levantem, e corram a terra, e a descrevam segundo as suas heranças, e se tornem a mim.

⁵E a repartirão em sete partes: Judah ficará no seu termo para o sul, e a casa de José ficará no seu termo para o norte.

⁶E vós descrevereis a terra em sete partes, e m'a trareis a mim aqui descripta: para que eu aqui lance as sortes perante o Senhor nosso Deus.

⁷Porquanto os levitas não teem parte no meio de vós, porém o sacerdocio do Senhor é a sua parte: e Gad, e Ruben e a meia tribu de Manasseh tomaram a sua herança d'além do Jordão para o oriente, a qual lhes deu Moysés, o servo do Senhor.

⁸Então aquelles homens se levantaram, e se foram: e Josué deu ordem aos que iam descrever a terra, dizendo: Ide, e correi a terra, e descrevei-a, e então tornae a mim, e aqui vos lançarei as sortes perante o Senhor, em Silo.

⁹Foram pois aquelles homens, e passaram pela terra, e a descreveram, segundo as cidades, em sete partes, n'um livro: e voltaram a Josué, ao arraial em Silo.

¹⁰Então Josué lhes lançou as sortes, em Silo, perante o Senhor; e ali repartiu Josué a terra aos filhos de Israel, conforme ás suas divisões.

¹¹E subiu a sorte da tribu dos filhos de Benjamin, segundo as suas familias: e saiu o termo da sua sorte entre os filhos de Judah e os filhos de José.

¹²E o seu termo foi para a banda do norte, desde o Jordão: e sobe este termo ao lado de Jericó para o norte, e sobe pela montanha para o occidente, sendo as suas saidas no deserto de Beth-aven.

¹³E d'ali passa este termo a Luza, ao lado de Luza (que é Beth-el) para o sul: e desce este termo a Ataroth-adar, ao pé do monte que está da banda do sul de Beth-horon a baixa.

¹⁴E vae este termo e torna á banda do occidente para o sul do monte que está defronte de Beth-horon, para o sul, e as suas saidas vão para Kiriath-baal (que é Kiriath-jearim), cidade dos filhos de Judah: esta é a sua extensão para o occidente.

¹⁵E a sua extensão para o sul está á extremidade de Kiriath-jearim: e sae este termo ao occidente, e vem a sair á fonte das aguas de Nephtoah.

¹⁶E desce este termo até á extremidade do monte que está defronte do valle do filho de Hinnom, que está no valle dos rephains, para o norte, e desce pelo valle de Hinnom da banda dos jebuseos para o sul; e então desce á fonte de Rogel

¹⁷E vae desde o norte, e sae a En-*semes; e d'ali sae a Geliloth, que está defronte da subida de Adummim, e desce á pedra de Bohan, filho de Ruben;

¹⁸E passa até ao lado defronte d'Araba para o norte, e desce a Araba;

¹⁹Passa mais este termo até ao lado de Beth-hogla para o norte, estando as saidas d'este termo na lingua do mar salgado para o norte, na extremidade do Jordão para o sul: este é o termo do sul.

²⁰E termina o Jordão da banda do oriente: esta é a herança dos filhos de Benjamin, nos seus termos em redor, segundo as suas familias.

²¹E as cidades da tribu dos filhos de Benjamin, segundo as suas familias, são: Jericó, e Beth-hogla, e Emekkesis,

²²E Beth-araba, e Semaraim, e Beth-*el,

²³E Havvim, e Para, e Ophra,

²⁴E Chephar-haammonai, e Ophni, e Gaba: doze cidades e as suas aldeias:

²⁵Gibeon, e Rama, e Beeroth,

²⁶E Mispah, e Chephira, e Mosa,

²⁷E Rekem, e Irpeel, e Tharala,

²⁸E Sela, Eleph, e Jebusi (esta é Jerusalem), Gibeath e Kiriath: quatorze cidades com as suas aldeias: esta é a herança dos filhos de Benjamin, segundo as suas familias.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Joshua rebukes the seven remaining tribes for not taking possession of their inheritance. He organizes the surveying of the land and distributes it by lot, beginning with Benjamin.

Explanation

After years of conquest, seven tribes had still not formally occupied the land allotted to them - a sign of complacency or hesitation that Joshua confronts directly with the question, 'How long will you put off entering to take possession of the land?' The process of mapping the land into seven written portions before casting lots combined careful human planning with trust in God's direction through sacred lot-casting, a common practice for major decisions in the Old Testament. The delay of these tribes is a realistic picture of how, even after receiving a promise from God, actually taking possession of it requires initiative and willingness to act.

Fun facts

Sacred lot-casting was used in the Old Testament as a recognized way of seeking God's decision on important matters, including later the choosing of Matthias as an apostle in Acts 1:26.
Shiloh, where the tent of meeting was set up in this chapter, would remain Israel's religious center for generations, up to the time of Eli and the young Samuel.

Verse-by-verse explanation

Josué 18:1The tent of meeting, the portable sanctuary used since the wilderness, is set up at Shiloh, which becomes Israel's religious center for generations, before Jerusalem takes on that role much later, in the days of David.
Josué 18:2At this point, seven of the twelve tribes still had not received their share of the land.
Josué 18:3Joshua confronts the people about this delay, asking how long they will put off taking possession of the land God has already given them.
Josué 18:4Joshua organizes a survey: three men from each tribe will go across the land and map out what still needs to be divided.
Josué 18:5The land will be divided into seven parts, since Judah and the tribe of Joseph already keep the territories they received to the south and north.
Josué 18:6After the mapping, the results are to be brought back to Joshua so the division can be decided by lot before God.
Josué 18:7The Levites are left out of this division, since their role is the priesthood; Gad, Reuben, and half of Manasseh had already received land on the other side of the Jordan.
Josué 18:8The chosen men set out to map the land, following Joshua's instruction to describe it and then return for the casting of lots at Shiloh.
Josué 18:9They cross the land, record everything in a book divided into seven parts by city, and return to camp at Shiloh.
Josué 18:10Joshua casts lots before the LORD to divide the land among the seven tribes that still had not received their share. Casting lots was seen as a way to leave the decision in God's hands, avoiding disputes among the tribes over which piece of land each one deserved.
Josué 18:11The lot falls to the tribe of Benjamin, whose territory ends up wedged between Judah and the tribe of Joseph.
Josué 18:12Benjamin's northern border begins at the Jordan, climbs along the side of Jericho, and continues through the hill country to the wilderness of Beth-aven.
Josué 18:13From there the line passes by Luz, also called Bethel, and goes down to Ataroth-adar, near Lower Beth-horon.
Josué 18:14The border curves south and ends at Kirjath-jearim, a city belonging to Judah — this is the western extent of the territory.
Josué 18:15To the south, the border starts at the edge of Kirjath-jearim and goes to the spring of Nephtoah.
Josué 18:16The line goes down to the hill near the Valley of Hinnom, passing by the side of the Jebusites, and reaches En-rogel.
Josué 18:17It continues to En-shemesh, then Geliloth, near the ascent of Adummim, and down to the stone of Bohan, son of Reuben.
Josué 18:18The border passes by the side of Arabah, toward the north, and goes down into that region.
Josué 18:19It ends at the north bay of the Salt Sea, where the Jordan flows in — this is the full southern border of Benjamin.
Josué 18:20The Jordan marks the eastern limit, closing the whole outline of Benjamin's territory on every side.
Josué 18:21The list of Benjamin's cities begins, including Jericho, already well known from earlier in the book.
Josué 18:22Bethel is the most famous of these twelve cities of Benjamin — it was there that Jacob dreamed of the ladder reaching to heaven, and it later became one of Israel's great centers of worship.
Josué 18:23Benjamin's list continues with three more towns; Ophrah reappears much later, when the Philistines send raiding parties there in the days of Saul.
Josué 18:24This first group of Benjamin's cities closes with twelve cities and their villages.
Josué 18:25A second group of cities begins, including Gibeon, the city of the Gibeonites and their deceptive treaty.
Josué 18:26Three more cities join this second group of Benjamin's territory, including Mizpah.
Josué 18:27Three more small towns in Benjamin's territory — the smallest of the tribes, but wedged into a strategic strip between Judah to the south and Ephraim to the north.
Josué 18:28The second group closes with Jebus, which is Jerusalem, among the final fourteen cities of Benjamin's inheritance.

Chapters

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Our apps

Our apps →

Bible in Stories

The Bible told as a story, with audio and videos.

📱 Get the app

World in Stories

True stories of humanity that sound made up.

App Store Google Play

Feito! Pequenas Vitórias

A light daily routine for people who lose track of the day.

App Store Google Play