Joshua 18:8

Jos 18:8 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.

Ver. 8. And the men arose and went away.] Without debates or delays, as if they had had wings and "wind in their wings," as Zec 5:9. God, saith Luther, loveth curristas, not quaeristas: such as will run and not reason, despatch and not dispute his commands.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

By writing the names of every country and city.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

And the men arose, and went away,.... The seven tribes took the advice of Joshua, chose three men out of each tribe, and presented them to him, who gave them their commission and instruction to go and describe the land of Canaan, not yet disposed of, and whether subdued, or not subdued; upon which they prepared for their journey, and took it, after he had given them the following charge:

and Joshua charged them that went to describe the land; before they departed from him:

saying, go and walk through the land; and take particular notice, and an exact survey of it, both of the quality and the quantity of it:

and describe it; its cities and towns, hills and dales, the goodness and badness of the soil, and put it down in a book, or lay it out in a map, that it may be discerned by the eye what number of cities, and what space of ground it contains, and what parts are hilly and woody, and what otherwise:

and come again to me; to make a report of it:

that I may cast lots for you before the Lord in Shiloh; that is, for the several tribes which they belonged to, and by whom they were chosen for this purpose.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The Levites have no part among you; therefore it shall be divided only into seven parts, as I have said.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Shiloh. (see note on ver. 1 and Jos_24:1) The seat of the tabernacle became, for the present at least, the headquarters of the Israelites.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Lot of Benjamin

v. 8. And the men, the twenty-one chosen from the tribes, 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.

v. 9. And the men went and passed through the land, and described it by cities, with special reference to the cities found throughout the unclaimed sections, into seven parts in a book, and came again to Joshua, to the host at Shiloh.

v. 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.

v. 11. And the lot of the tribe of the children of Benjamin came up, namely, when it was drawn from the urn, according to their families; and the coast of their lot, the territory allotted to them, came forth between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph, north of Judah and south of Ephraim.

v. 12. And their border on the north side was from Jordan, beginning at the river; and the border went up to the side of Jericho on the north side, the site of this city thus being included in the territory of Benjamin, and went up through the mountains westward, west and northwest of this city, Jos 16:1; and the goings out thereof, the continuation of the boundary line, were at the wilderness of Bethaven, the bare and rocky heights east of Bethel.

v. 13. And the border went over from thence toward Luz, to the side of Luz, which is Bethel, southward, the city itself thus being included in this territory; and the border descended to Atarothadar, near the hill that lieth on the south side of the nether Bethhoron, Jos 16:2.

v. 14. And the border was drawn thence, and compassed the corner of the sea southward, it turned southward on the western boundary of Benjamin, from the hill that lieth before Bethhoron southward; and the goings out thereof were at Kirjathbaal, which is Kirjathjearim, a city of the children of Judah, Jos 15:9; this was the west quarter.

v. 15. And the south quarter was from the end of Kirjathjearim, from the boundaries of this city, and the border went out on the west, westward, and went out to the well of the waters of Nephtoah, Jos 15:9;

v. 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, Jerusalem, on the south, and descended to Enrogel,

v. 17. and was drawn from the north, northward, and went forth to Enshemesh, and went forth to Geliloth, toward the west, which is over against the going up of Adummim, and descended to the stone of Bohan, the son of Reuben,

v. 18. and passed along. toward the side over against Arabah, the eastern plain, northward, and went down unto Arabah, the plain in which Jericho is situated;

v. 19. and the border passed along to the side of Bethhoglah northward; and the outgoings of the border were at the north bay of the Salt Sea at the south end, the mouth, of Jordan; this was the south coast. This description coincides with that of the north border of Judah, Jos 15:5-9, only the southeast corner being determined a little more exactly.

v. 20. And Jordan was the border of it, Benjamin’s territory, on the east side. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin, by their coasts thereof round about, according to their families.

v. 21. Now the cities of the tribe of the children of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho, and Bethhoglah, and the valley of Keziz, Emekkeziz, between Jerusalem and Jericho,

v. 22. and Betharabah, and Zemaraim, and Bethel,

v. 23. and Avim, probably the same as Ai, and Parah, and Ophrah,

v. 24. and Chepharhaamonai, and Ophni, and Gaba, some ten miles north of Jerusalem: twelve cities with their villages, those of the eastern half of the territory of Benjamin.

v. 25. Gibeon, Jos 10:1-15, and Ramah, and Beeroth,

v. 26. and Mizpeh, 1Sa 7:5-15, and Chephirah, near Gibeon, and Mozah,

v. 27. and Rekem, and Irpeel, and Taralah,

v. 28. and Zeiah, Eleph, and Jebusi, which is Jerusalem, Gibeath, later known as Gibeah of Saul, 1Sa 10:26; 1Sa 11:4; 1Sa 15:34, and Kirjath: fourteen cities with their villages, all of them in the western part of Benjamin’s territory. This is the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their families.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

General Information:

Joshua speaks to the twenty-one men who were to go look at the land.

up and down in the land

The words "up and down" mean in every direction. See how you translated this in Joshua 18:4. AT: "in every direction in the land" or "throughout the land" (See: Idiom)

translationWords

command

lots

Shiloh

scroll

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.