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Joshua 18:2

in Joshua 18

there were still seven tribes of Israel who had not yet received their inheritance.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes, which had not yet divided their inheritance.

KJV

And there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes, which had not yet received their inheritance.

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This verse in Joshua 18

Commentary

5 notes on this verse
And there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes,.... Which were those of Benjamin, Simeon, Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Dan: which had not yet received their inheritance; and for which the lots were not cast.

This site's exposition

assembled at Shiloh and set up the Tent of Meeting

on Joshua 18:1-2

The tabernacle moves from Gilgal on the edge of the country to Shiloh in its middle, and it stays there until the ark is lost at 1 Samuel 4. Jeremiah 7:12 and Psalm 78:60 later use the ruin of Shiloh as an argument. Verse 1 says "the land was subdued before them", yet 13:1 says much land remained, and seven tribes still have no portion.

This site's exposition

seven tribes of Israel

Five tribes already held land. Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh had theirs east of the Jordan, and Judah and Joseph received theirs in chapters 15 to 17, as Barnes counts them. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown hold that the move to Shiloh had interrupted the casting of lots begun for Judah and Joseph.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

there remained . . . seven tribes, which had not yet received their inheritance--The selection of Shiloh for the seat of worship, together with the consequent removal of the camp thither, had necessarily interrupted the casting of lots, which was commenced by fixing localities for the tribes of Judah and Joseph.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

Two tribes and a half had already received their portions on the east of Jordan; Judah, Ephraim, and the remaining half of Manasseh had also been provided for Josh. 15–17. Thus there remained still seven tribes out of the twelve to be settled in their homes.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

And there they made a dwelling place for the Tent of Meeting. [This refers to the Tent of Meeting] that they had constructed in the wilderness.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Joshua 18:1:1, via Sefaria, The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

10 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיִּוָּֽתְרוּ֙and they remained

    vaiyivateruH3498 →106 times

  • בִּבְנֵ֣יamong [the] people of

    bivneiH1121 →4930 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לIsrael

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • לֹֽא־not

    lo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • חָלְק֖וּthey had divided

    chalkuH2505 →65 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • נַֽחֲלָתָ֑םinheritance their

    nachalatamH5159 →222 times

  • שִׁבְעָ֖הseven

    shivahH7651 →394 times

  • שְׁבָטִֽים׃tribes

    shevatimH7626 →190 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

About Joshua

Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still upon Gibeon, John Martin, 1816, National Gallery of Art. Public domain.
Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still upon Gibeon, John Martin, 1816, National Gallery of Art. Public domain.
Joshua: the study guide →Read Joshua 18 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).

Read on in Joshua 18 →