BIBLES NET. COM
Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
on the Whole Bible
Back to Biblesnet.com Home Page
|
[Previous] [Next] |
Matthew Henry |
J O S H U A
CHAP. XVIII.
In this chapter we
have,
I. The setting up of the tabernacle at Shiloh,
II. The stirring up of the seven tribes that were yet unsettled to look
after their lot, and the putting of them in a method for it, by Joshua,
III. The distributing of the land into seven lots, by certain men
employed for that purpose,
IV. The determining of these seven portions to the seven tribes yet
unprovided for by lot,
V. The particular lot of the tribe of Benjamin, the borders of it,
And the cities contained in it,
The other six tribes we shall find well provided for in the
| The Tabernacle at Shiloh. | B. C. 1444. |
|
|
|
1 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel
assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle of the
congregation there. And the land was subdued before them.
In the midst of the story of the dividing of the land comes in this
account of the setting up of the tabernacle, which had hitherto
continued in its old place in the centre of their camp; but now that
three of the four squadrons that used to surround it in the wilderness
were broken and diminished, those of Judah, Ephraim, and Reuben, by the
removal of those tribes to their respective possessions, and that of
Dan only remained entire, it was time to think of removing the
tabernacle itself into a city. Many a time the priests and Levites had
taken it down, carried it, and set it up again in the wilderness,
according to the directions given them
&c.); but now they
must do it for good and all, not one of the stakes thereof must any
more be removed, nor any of the cords thereof broken,
Observe,
I. The place to which the tabernacle was removed, and in which it was
set up. It was Shiloh, a city in the lot of Ephraim, but lying
close upon the lot of Benjamin. Doubtless God himself did some way or
other direct them to this place, for he had promised to choose the
place where he would make his name to dwell,
Deut. xii. 11.
It is most probable God made known his mind in this matter by the
judgment of Urim. This place was pitched upon,
1. Because it was in the heart of the country, nearer the centre than
Jerusalem was, and therefore the more convenient for the meeting of all
Israel there from the several parts of the country; it had been in the
midst of their camp in the wilderness, and therefore must now be in the
midst of their nation, as that which sanctified the whole, and was
the glory in the midst of them. See
2. Because it was in the lot of that tribe of which Joshua was, who was
now their chief magistrate, and it would be both for his honour and
convenience and for the advantage of the country to have it near him.
The testimony of Israel and the thrones of judgment do well together,
3. Some think there was an eye to the name of the place, Shiloh
being the name by which the Messiah was known in dying Jacob’s prophecy
which prophecy, no doubt, was well known among the Jews; the setting up
of the tabernacle in Shiloh gave them a hint that in that Shiloh whom
Jacob spoke of all the ordinances of this worldly sanctuary should have
their accomplishment in a greater and more perfect tabernacle,
And Dr. Lightfoot thinks that the place where the tabernacle was set up
was therefore called Shiloh, because of the peaceableness of the
land at this time; as afterwards in Salem was his temple, which also
signifies peaceable.
II. The solemn manner of doing it: The whole congregation assembled
together to attend the solemnity, to do honour to the ark of God,
as the token of his presence, and to bid it welcome to its settlement.
Every Israelite was interested in it, and therefore all testified their
joy and satisfaction upon this occasion. See
It is probable those tribes that were yet encamped when the tabernacle
was removed to Shiloh decamped from Gilgal and pitched about Shiloh,
for every true Israelite will desire to fix where God’s tabernacle
fixed. Mention is made, on this occasion, of the land being subdued
before them, to intimate that the country, hereabouts at least, being
thoroughly reduced, they met with no opposition, nor were they
apprehensive of any danger, but thought it time to make this grateful
acknowledgment of God’s goodness to them in the constant series of
successes with which he had blessed them. It was a good presage of a
comfortable settlement to themselves in Canaan, when their first care
was to see the ark well settled as soon as they had a safe place ready
to settle it in. Here the ark continued about 300 years, till the sins
of Eli’s house forfeited the ark, lost it and ruined Shiloh, and its
ruins were long after made use of as warnings to Jerusalem. Go, see
what I did to Shiloh,
Jer. vii. 12; Ps. lxxviii. 60.
| Joshua Reproves the Unsettled Tribes. | B. C. 1444. |
|
|
|
2 And there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes,
which had not yet received their inheritance.
3 And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, How long are
ye slack to go to possess the land, which the LORD God of your
fathers hath given you?
4 Give out from among you three men for each tribe: and I
will send them, and they shall rise, and go through the land, and
describe it according to the inheritance of them; and they shall
come again to me.
5 And they shall divide it into seven parts: Judah shall abide
in their coast on the south, and the house of Joseph shall abide
in their coasts on the north.
6 Ye shall therefore describe the land into seven parts, and
bring the description hither to me, that I may cast lots for
you here before the LORD our God.
7 But the Levites have no part among you; for the priesthood of
the LORD is their inheritance: and Gad, and Reuben, and half
the tribe of Manasseh, have received their inheritance beyond
Jordan on the east, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave
them.
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.
9 And the men went and passed through the land, and described
it by cities into seven parts in a book, and came again to
Joshua to the host at Shiloh.
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.
Here,
I. Joshua reproves those tribes which were yet unsettled that they did
not bestir themselves to gain a settlement in the land which God had
given them. Seven tribes were yet unprovided for, though sure of an
inheritance, yet uncertain where it should be, and it seems in no great
care about it,
v. 2.
And with them Joshua reasons
(v. 3):
How long are you slack?
1. They were too well pleased with their present condition, liked well
enough to live in a body together, the more the merrier, and, like the
Babel-builders, had no mind to be scattered abroad and break good
company. The spoil of the cities they had taken served them to live
plentifully upon for the present, and they banished the thoughts of
time to come. Perhaps the tribes of Judah and Joseph, who had already
received their inheritance in the countries next adjoining, were
generous in entertaining their brethren who were yet unprovided for, so
that they went from one good house to another among their friends, with
which, instead of grudging that they were postponed, they were so well
pleased that they cared not for going to houses of their own.
2. They were slothful and dilatory. It may be they wished the thing
done, but had not spirit to stir in it, or move towards the doing of
it, though it was so much for their own advantage; like the sluggard,
that hides his hand in his bosom, and it grieves him to bring it to
his mouth again. The countries that remained to be divided lay at a
distance, and some parts of them in the hands of the Canaanites. If
they go to take possession of them, the cities must be rebuilt or
repaired, they must drive their flocks and herds a great way, and carry
their wives and children to strange places, and this will not be done
without care and pains, and breaking through some hardships; thus he
that observes the wind shall not sow, and he that regards the clouds
shall not reap,
Eccl. xi. 4.
Note, Many are diverted from real duties, and debarred from real
comforts, by seeming difficulties. God by his grace has given us a
title to a good land, the heavenly Canaan, but we are slack to take
possession; we enter not into that rest, as we might by faith, and
hope, and holy joy; we live not in heaven, as we might by setting our
affections on things above and having our conversation there. How long
shall it be thus with us? How long shall we thus stand in our own
light, and forsake our own mercies for lying vanities? Joshua
was sensible of the inconveniences of this delay, that, while they
neglected to take possession of the land that was conquered, the
Canaanites were recovering strength and spirit, and fortifying
themselves in the places that were yet in their hands, which would make
the total expulsion of them the more difficult. They would lose their
advantages by not following their blow; and therefore, as an eagle
stirreth up her nest, so Joshua stirs them up to take possession of
their lot. He is ready to do his part, if they will but do theirs.
II. He puts them in a way to settle themselves.
1. The land that remained must be surveyed, an account taken of the
cities, and the territories belonging to them,
v. 4.
These must be divided into seven equal parts, as near as they could
guess at their true value, which they must have an eye to, and not
merely to the number of the cities and extent of the country. Judah is
fixed on the south and Joseph on the north of Shiloh, to protect the
tabernacle
(v. 5),
and therefore they need not describe their country, but those countries
only that were yet undisposed of. He gives a reason
(v. 7)
why they must divide it into seven parts only, because the Levites were
to have no temporal estate (as we say), but their benefices only, which
were entailed upon their families: The priesthood of the Lord is
their inheritance, and a very honourable, comfortable, plentiful
inheritance it was. Gad and Reuben, with half of the tribe of Manasseh,
were already fixed, and needed not to have any further care taken of
them. Now,
(1.) The surveyors were three men out of each of the seven tribes that
were to be provided for
(v. 4),
one-and-twenty in all, who perhaps for greater expedition, because they
had already lost time, divided themselves into three companies, one of
each tribe in each company, and took each their district to survey. The
matter was thus referred equally, that there might be neither any
partiality used in making up the seven lots, nor any shadow of
suspicion given, but all might be satisfied that they had right done
them.
(2.) The survey was accordingly made, and brought in to Joshua,
Josephus says it was seven months in the doing. And we must in it
observe,
[1.] The faith and courage of the persons employed: abundance of
Canaanites remained in the land, and all raging against Israel, as a
bear robbed of her whelps; the business of these surveyors would
soon be known, and what could they expect but to be way-laid, and have
their brains knocked out by the fierce observers? But in obedience to
Joshua’s command, and in dependence upon God’s power, they thus put
their lives in their hands to serve their country.
[2.] The good providence of God in protecting them from the many deaths
they were exposed to, and bringing them all safely again to the host at
Shiloh. When we are in the way of our duty we are under the special
protection of the Almighty.
2. When it was surveyed, and reduced to seven lots, then Joshua would,
by appeal to God, and direction from him, determine which of these lots
should belong to each tribe
(v. 6):
That I may cast lots for you here at the tabernacle (because it
was a sacred transaction) before the Lord our God, to whom each
tribe must have an eye, with thankfulness for the conveniences and
submission to the inconveniences of their allotment. What we have in
the world we must acknowledge God’s property in, and dispose of it as
before him, with justice, and charity, and dependence upon Providence.
The heavenly Canaan is described to us in a book, the book of the
scriptures, and there are in it mansions and portions sufficient for
all God’s spiritual Israel. Christ is our Joshua that divides it to
us. On him we must attend, and to him we must apply for an inheritance
with the saints in light. See
| The Lot of Benjamin. | B. C. 1444. |
|
|
|
11 And the lot of the tribe of the children of Benjamin came up
according to their families: and the coast of their lot came
forth between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph.
12 And their border on the north side was from Jordan; and the
border went up to the side of Jericho on the north side, and went
up through the mountains westward; and the goings out thereof
were at the wilderness of Beth-aven.
13 And the border went over from thence toward Luz, to the side
of Luz, which is Beth-el, southward; and the border descended to
Ataroth-adar, near the hill that lieth on the south side of the
nether Beth-horon.
14 And the border was drawn thence, and compassed the corner
of the sea southward, from the hill that lieth before Beth-horon
southward; and the goings out thereof were at Kirjath-baal, which
is Kirjath-jearim, a city of the children of Judah: this was
the west quarter.
15 And the south quarter was from the end of Kirjath-jearim,
and the border went out on the west, and went out to the well of
waters of Nephtoah:
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 on the south, and
descended to En-rogel,
17 And was drawn from the north, and went forth to En-shemesh,
and went forth toward Geliloth, which is over against the going
up of Adummim, and descended to the stone of Bohan the son of
Reuben,
18 And passed along toward the side over against Arabah
northward, and went down unto Arabah:
19 And the border passed along to the side of Beth-hoglah
northward: and the outgoings of the border were at the north bay
of the salt sea at the south end of Jordan: this was the south
coast.
20 And Jordan was the border of it on the east side. This was
the inheritance of the children of Benjamin, by the coasts
thereof round about, according to their families.
21 Now the cities of the tribe of the children of Benjamin
according to their families were Jericho, and Beth-hoglah, and the
valley of Keziz,
22 And Beth-arabah, and Zemaraim, and Beth-el,
23 And Avim, and Parah, and Ophrah,
24 And Chephar-haammonai, and Ophni, and Gaba; twelve cities
with their villages:
25 Gibeon, and Ramah, and Beeroth,
26 And Mizpeh, and Chephirah, and Mozah,
27 And Rekem, and Irpeel, and Taralah,
28 And Zelah, Eleph, and Jebusi, which is Jerusalem, Gibeath,
and Kirjath; fourteen cities with their villages. This is the
inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their
families.
We have here the lot of the tribe of Benjamin, which Providence cast
next to Joseph on the one hand, because Benjamin was own and only
brother to Joseph, and was little Benjamin
that needed the protection of great Joseph, and yet had a better
protector, for the Lord shall cover him all the day long,
Deut. xxxiii. 12.
And it was next to Judah on the other hand, that this tribe might
hereafter unite with Judah in an adherence to the throne of David and
the temple at Jerusalem. Here we have,
1. The exact borders and limits of this tribe, which we need not be
exact in the explication of. As it had Judah on the south and Joseph on
the north, so it had Jordan on the east and Dan on the west. The
western border is said to compass the corner of the sea
southward
(v. 14),
whereas no part of the lot of this tribe came near to the great sea.
Bishop Patrick thinks the meaning is that it ran along in a parallel
line to the great sea, though at a distance. Dr. Fuller suggests that
since it is not called the great sea, but only the sea,
which often signifies any lake or mere, it may be meant of the pool of
Gibeon, which may be called a corner or canton of the
sea; it is called the great waters of Gibeon
(Jer. xli. 12),
and it is compassed by the western border of this tribe.
2. The particular cities in this tribe, not all, but the most
considerable. Twenty-six are here named. Jericho is put first, though
dismantled, and forbidden to be rebuilt as a city with gates and walls,
because it might be built and inhabited as a country village, and so
was not useless to this tribe. Gilgal, where Israel first encamped when
Saul was made king
was in this tribe. It was afterwards a very profane place.
All their wickedness is in Gilgal. Beth-el was in this tribe, a
famous place. Though Benjamin adhered to the house of David, yet
Beth-el, it seems, was in the possession of the house of Joseph
and there Jeroboam set up one of his calves. In this tribe was Gibeon,
where the altar was in the beginning of Solomon’s time,
Gibeah likewise, that infamous place where the Levite’s concubine was
abused. Mizpeh, and near it Samuel’s Ebenezer, and also Anathoth,
Jeremiah’s city, were in this tribe, as was the northern part of
Jerusalem. Paul was the honour of this tribe
but where his land lay we know not: he sought the better country.
|
[Previous] [Next] |
Matthew Henry |
|
Back to Bibles Net . Com – Online Christian Library Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary – Free Download |
Copyright 2008. Bibles Net. Com. All Rights Reserved.