Simeon’s Inheritance
1 The second lot came out for Simeon, for the tribe of his descendants by their clans, but their inheritance was within the inheritance given to Judah’s descendants. 2 Their inheritance included
Beer-sheba (or Sheba t ), Moladah, 3 Hazar-shual, Balah, Ezem, 4 Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah, 5 Ziklag, Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susah, 6 Beth-lebaoth, and Sharuhen—thirteen cities, with their settlements; 7 Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan—four cities, with their settlements; 8 and all the settlements surrounding these cities as far as Baalath-beer (Ramah in the south ).
This was the inheritance of the tribe of Simeon’s descendants by their clans. 9 The inheritance of Simeon’s descendants was within the territory of Judah’s descendants, because the share for Judah’s descendants was too large. So Simeon’s descendants received an inheritance within Judah’s portion.
Zebulun’s Inheritance
10 The third lot came up for Zebulun’s descendants by their clans.
The territory of their inheritance stretched as far as Sarid; 11 their border went up westward to Maralah, reached Dabbesheth, and met the brook east of Jokneam. 12 From Sarid, it turned due east along the border of Chisloth-tabor, went to Daberath, and went up to Japhia. 13 From there, it went due east to Gath-hepher and to Eth-kazin; it extended to Rimmon, curving around to Neah. 14 The border then circled around Neah on the north to Hannathon and ended at Iphtah-el Valley, 15 along with Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem—twelve cities, with their settlements.
16 This was the inheritance of Zebulun’s descendants by their clans, these cities, with their settlements.
Issachar’s Inheritance
17 The fourth lot came out for the tribe of Issachar’s descendants by their clans.
18 Their territory went to Jezreel, and included Chesulloth, Shunem, u 19 Hapharaim, Shion, Anaharath, 20 Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez, 21 Remeth, En-gannim, En-haddah, and Beth-pazzez. 22 The border reached Tabor, Shahazumah, and Beth-shemesh, and ended at the Jordan—sixteen cities, with their settlements.
23 This was the inheritance of the tribe of Issachar’s descendants by their clans, the cities, with their settlements.
Asher’s Inheritance
24 The fifth lot came out for the tribe of Asher’s descendants by their clans.
25 Their boundary included Helkath, Hali, Beten, Achshaph, 26 Allammelech, Amad, and Mishal and reached westward to Carmel and Shihor-libnath. 27 It turned eastward to Beth-dagon, reached Zebulun and Iphtah-el Valley, north toward Beth-emek and Neiel, and went north to Cabul, v 28 Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, and Kanah, as far as greater Sidon. 29 The boundary then turned to Ramah as far as the fortified city of Tyre; it turned back to Hosah and ended at the Mediterranean Sea, including Mahalab, Achzib, 30 Ummah, Aphek, and Rehob—twenty-two cities, with their settlements.
31 This was the inheritance of the tribe of Asher’s descendants by their clans, these cities with their settlements.
Naphtali’s Inheritance
32 The sixth lot came out for Naphtali’s descendants by their clans.
33 Their boundary went from Heleph and from the oak in Zaanannim, including Adami-nekeb and Jabneel, as far as Lakkum, and ended at the Jordan. 34 To the west, the boundary turned to Aznoth-tabor and went from there to Hukkok, reaching Zebulun on the south, Asher on the west, and Judah at the Jordan on the east. 35 The fortified cities were Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Chinnereth, 36 Adamah, Ramah, Hazor, 37 Kedesh, Edrei, En-hazor, 38 Iron, Migdal-el, Horem, Beth-anath, and Beth-shemesh—nineteen cities, with their settlements.
39 This was the inheritance of the tribe of Naphtali’s descendants by their clans, the cities with their settlements.
Dan’s Inheritance
40 The seventh lot came out for the tribe of Dan’s descendants by their clans.
41 The territory of their inheritance included Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir-shemesh, 42 Shaalabbin, Aijalon, w Ithlah, 43 Elon, Timnah, Ekron, 44 Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath, 45 Jehud, Bene-berak, Gath-rimmon, 46 Me-jarkon, and Rakkon, with the territory facing Joppa. x
47 When the territory of the descendants of Dan slipped out of their control, they went up and fought against Leshem, captured it, and struck it down with the sword. So they took possession of it, lived there, and renamed Leshem after their ancestor Dan. y 48 This was the inheritance of the tribe of Dan’s descendants by their clans, these cities with their settlements.
Joshua’s Inheritance
49 When they had finished distributing the land into its territories, the Israelites gave Joshua son of Nun an inheritance among them. 50 By the LORD’S command, they gave him the city Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim, z which he requested. He rebuilt the city and lived in it.
51 These were the portions that the priest Eleazar, Joshua son of Nun, and the family heads distributed to the Israelite tribes by lot at Shiloh in the LORD’S presence at the entrance to the tent of meeting. a So they finished dividing up the land.
19:1–9. The second lot comes out for Simeon; the description of its inheritance includes only a list of towns and no delineation of tribal boundaries. What is noteworthy is that the inheritance of Simeon actually lies within the territories of Judah because Judah has received more land than it needs (19:1, 9). That is why many of the towns listed as belonging to Simeon are also found in an earlier list of Judahite cities in the Negev and the foothills (19:2–8; cf. 15:26–32, 42). The territories of Simeon are thus located toward the southwest corner of Judah.
19:10–16. The third lot belongs to Zebulun; the description of its inheritance includes a delineation of boundaries as well as a towns list, albeit a very brief one. The delineation of the tribe’s boundaries begins roughly at the midpoint of its southern boundary, at Sarid, and extends westward past Dabbesheth to the ravine at Jokneam, and eastward to Daberath at Mount Tabor. At Daberath, it loops northward and eastward past Rimmon and Hannathon, on its northern boundary, before turning south again at the Iphtah-el Valley, presumably to complete the circle as it ends back at the ravine of Jokneam (19:10–14). As such, the tribe’s inheritance seems to be landlocked, bordering Manasseh in the south, Asher in the west and northwest, Naphtali in the east and northeast, and possibly Issachar in the southeast. Of the twelve towns that belong to Zebulun, only five are cited by name (19:15). (Note that Bethlehem is not the Bethlehem in Judah but a border town close to Asher, in the west.)
19:17–23. Next is the allotment for Issachar (19:17). The tribe’s inheritance is described primarily by a list of towns (19:18–21), including several (e.g., Jezreel, Shunem, Hapharaim, and Kishion) located at the northeastern part of the fertile Jezreel Valley. Although there is a brief attempt to delineate a northern boundary from Mount Tabor past Beth-shemesh to the Jordan (19:22), with the Jordan understood as the tribe’s eastern boundary, the delineation is incomplete, as no southern and western boundaries are described. However, from 17:11 one can surmise that its western and southern boundaries probably loop just south of Megiddo, Taanach, Ibleam, and Beth-shean.
19:24–31. The allotment for Asher is next (19:24), with the names of some of its towns incorporated into the delineation of its boundaries. Its southern boundary begins north of Mount Carmel in the west, and extends eastward until it meets Zebulun at the Iphtah-el Valley (19:25–27a). Then it turns northward and goes all the way past Cabul, Neiel, and Kanah, into Sidonian territory, before turning westward and southward again, eventually ending at the Mediterranean coast after passing Tyre (19:27b–30).
19:32–39. Then comes the allotment for Naphtali (19:32), which is described with respect to both its boundaries (19:33–34) and its fortified cities (19:35–38). As with Zebulun, the delineation of its boundaries begins roughly at the midpoint of its southern boundary, at Heleph. Eastward, it passes Adami-nekeb and Jabneel until it reaches the Jordan. Westward, the tribe’s southern boundary goes past Aznoth-tabor, then along its border with Zebulun until it reaches Hukkok. The tribe’s western boundary then extends northward from Hukkok along its border with Asher, while its eastern boundary is the Jordan. A northern boundary is not specified for the tribe, perhaps because a few natural barriers, such as Mount Hermon and the Litani Gorge, render such description unnecessary.
19:40–48. The final lot is for Dan (19:40), and its allotment is described only by a list of towns (19:41–46). These towns are mostly clustered around the area to the northwest of Judah, just south of Ephraim, with at least two towns (Zorah and Eshtaol) falling within Judah’s border and two more (Shaalabbin and Aijalon) possibly falling inside Ephraim’s boundary. The rest, including Ekron, which have earlier been allotted to Judah (cf. 15:45), seem to be located in the northern part of the territory controlled by the Philistines. From this list of towns, it is clear that Dan was originally to be a southern tribe like Judah and Simeon. But as is immediately noted in 19:47, Dan is unable to take possession of its allotted territory, so the tribe eventually moves north. Having conquered Leshem (alternatively known as Laish in Jdg 18:7, 27), they rename the town Dan after their ancestor and settle there, thus becoming one of the northernmost tribes. (For a more detailed account of this event, see Jdg 18.)
19:49–51. The land having been thus allotted to all the tribes, the tribes then honor Joshua by giving him the town he has requested (19:49–50a). Perhaps as a testimony to his humility, Joshua requests not an important or well-established town but the small and obscure Timnath-serah, which is located in the hill country within the territory of his own tribe, Ephraim. This is a town Joshua will have to build up himself (19:50b); not only does he settle there, but he is also buried there eventually (24:30). The town is otherwise not mentioned in the OT.