Joshua 18:10
in Joshua 18And Joshua cast lots for them in the presence of the LORD at Shiloh, where he distributed the land to the Israelites according to their divisions.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before Jehovah: and there Joshua divided the land unto the children of Israel according to their divisions.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Joshua 18
Commentary
3 notes on this verseTherefore we must believe that also here, in imitation of these things, Scripture relates that lots are drawn by Jesus [Joshua], and the inheritance for each of the tribes is determined by divine dispensation; and that in this casting of lots, through the ineffable providence and foreknowledge of God, a model of the future inheritance in heaven is dimly sketched.
This site's exposition
Joshua charged them that went
on Joshua 18:8-10
Twenty one men walk the country and write it down by cities into seven parts in a book, which Clarke calls the first act of surveying on record. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown cite Josephus for the claim that the work was done by men expert in geometry, and the learning behind it would have come out of Egypt. The lot is then cast at Shiloh before the ark, the method Numbers 26:55 laid down, and Proverbs 16:33 states why a lot settled a question in Israel. The survey takes out the guesswork and the lot takes out the favour, so nothing in the division rests on Joshua's own preference.
The record, by era
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord--before the tabernacle, where the divine presence was manifested, and which associated with the lot the idea of divine sanction.
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּשְׁלֵךְ֩ | vaiyashlekh | and he threw | H7993 → | 125 times |
| לָהֶ֨ם | lahem | for <the> them | ||
| יְהוֹשֻׁ֧עַ | yehoshua' | Joshua | H3091 → | 218 times |
| גּוֹרָ֛ל | goral | a lot | H1486 → | 78 times |
| בְּשִׁלֹ֖ה | beshiloh | in Shiloh | H7887 → | 32 times |
| לִפְנֵ֣י | lifnei | <to> before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וַיְחַלֶּק־ | vaychalek- | and he apportioned | H2505 → | 65 times |
| שָׁ֨ם | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| יְהוֹשֻׁ֧עַ | yehoshua' | Joshua | H3091 → | 218 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָאָ֛רֶץ | haaretz | the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| לִבְנֵ֥י | livnei | to [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| כְּמַחְלְקֹתָֽם׃ פ | kemachlekotam | according to divisions their | H4256 → | 42 times |
וַיַּשְׁלֵךְ֩and he threw
vaiyashlekhH7993 →125 times
לָהֶ֨םfor <the> them
lahem
יְהוֹשֻׁ֧עַJoshua
yehoshua'H3091 →218 times
גּוֹרָ֛לa lot
goralH1486 →78 times
בְּשִׁלֹ֖הin Shiloh
beshilohH7887 →32 times
לִפְנֵ֣י<to> before
lifneiH6440 →2123 times
יְהוָ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וַיְחַלֶּק־and he apportioned
vaychalek-H2505 →65 times
שָׁ֨םthere
shamH8033 →834 times
יְהוֹשֻׁ֧עַJoshua
yehoshua'H3091 →218 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הָאָ֛רֶץthe land
haaretzH776 →2504 times
לִבְנֵ֥יto [the] people of
livneiH1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
כְּמַחְלְקֹתָֽם׃ פaccording to divisions their
kemachlekotamH4256 →42 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Colossians 1:12giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.
it leads to
- Acts 20:32
And now I commit you to God and to the word of His grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified.
- Ephesians 1:11
In Him we were also chosen as God’s own, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything by the counsel of His will,
- Ephesians 1:18
I ask that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope of His calling, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints,
- Acts 26:18
to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified…
- Romans 8:17
And if we are children, then we are heirs: heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with Him, so that we may also be glorified with Him.
- Acts 20:32
Through
Acts 13:19And having vanquished seven nations in Canaan, He gave their land to His people as an inheritance.
it leads to
- Joshua 14:1
Now these are the portions that the Israelites inherited in the land of Canaan, as distributed by Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the families of the tribes of…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 7:1
When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to possess, and He drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven nations…
- Psalms 78:55
He drove out nations before them and apportioned their inheritance; He settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.
- Joshua 14:1
About Joshua

Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonConquestJoshuaMoses' minister and successor, one of the two faithful spies; he led Israel across Jordan, around Jericho, and through the conques…
- PlaceEphraimShilohWhere the tabernacle rested through the judges' era; Hannah prayed here, Samuel heard his name in the night, and its later ruin be…
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON JOSHUA 23.4.
