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Matthew Henry on Joshua 17:14-18
Here, I. The children of Joseph quarrel with their lot; if they had had any just cause to quarrel with it, we have reason to think Joshua would have relieved them, by adding to it, or altering it, which it does not appe…
Matthew Henry on Joshua 18:1
Shiloh was in the lot of Ephraim, the tribe to which Joshua belonged, and it was proper that the tabernacle should be near the residence of the chief governor. The name of this city is the same as that by which Jacob pr…
The Tabernacle at Shiloh. (b. c. 1444.)
THE TABERNACLE AT SHILOH. (B. C. 1444.) 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 the…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 18:1
Shiloh. Shiloh was at once the seat of public worship and the centre of tribal union; the symbol of established peace and the witness to that Divine law on which the maintenance of peace and prosperity depended. Christe…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 18:1
Congregation. The word signifies a body of persons gathered together at a spot before indicated. The LXX. renders by συναγωγή. The idea is evidently that of an assembly gathered together for some specific acts of worsh…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 18:1-28
EXPOSITION THE CONTINUED DIVISION OF THE LAND.—
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 18:1-28
Progress in the great work. The tribes gathered together at Shiloh, set up the common tabernacle for worship, and then proceeded, at Joshua's instance, to complete the division of the land. Several detached consideratio…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 18:1
Shiloh, the sanctuary. The choice of Shiloh as a resting place for the tabernacle was not left at Joshua's discretion: it was a matter of Divine appointment (Deuteronomy 12:10-12). At the same time it was not without it…
Matthew Henry on Joshua 18:2-10
After a year or more, Joshua blamed their slackness, and told them how to proceed. God, by his grace, has given us a title to a good land, the heavenly Canaan, but we are slack to take possession of it; we enter not int…
Joshua Reproves the Unsettled Tribes. (b. c. 1444.)
JOSHUA REPROVES THE UNSETTLED TRIBES. (B. C. 1444.) 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 tri…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 18:3
An exhortation to advance. In Joshua 13:1 we find an address delivered to Joshua by Jehovah, in which he was reminded how much remained to be done ere his work was finished, and his age forbade the belief that many year…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 18:3
How long are ye slack? This "slackness" (the translation is a literal one) in the arduous conflict against the powers of evil is not confined to Jews. The exhortation needs repeating to every generation, and not less to…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 18:4
Give out from among you. Calvin enlarges much upon the boldness of these twenty-one men in venturing upon the task of the survey, rightly supposing that the difficulty of the task was enhanced by the number who undertoo…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 18:6
Ye shall therefore describe the land into seven parts. Literally, ye shall write the land, seven parts. Similarly in Joshua 18:8. That is to say, a written report was to be brought up in seven parts, a fair and equal di…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 18:7
But the Levites (see Joshua 13:14, Joshua 13:33). The priesthood of the Lord. An equivalent expression to that in Joshua 13:1-33. Here the office of the priesthood, there, more accurately, the sacrifices which it was th…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 18:8
Shiloh (see note on Joshua 18:1 and Joshua 24:1). The seat of the tabernacle became, for the present at least, the headquarters of the Israelites.
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 18:10
Cast lots. Here, and in Joshua 18:8, yet another phrase is used to describe the casting of the lots.
Matthew Henry on Joshua 18:11-28
The boundaries of each portion were distinctly drawn, and the inheritance of each tribe settled. All contests and selfish claims were prevented by the wise appointment of God, who allotted the hill and the valley, the c…
The Lot of Benjamin. (b. c. 1444.)
THE LOT OF BENJAMIN. (B. C. 1444.) 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 (Psalm…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 18:11
The children of Benjamin. Lying as their inheritance did between that of Ephraim and Judah, the chief places of note on their border have been already mentioned either in Joshua 15:1-63. or in Joshua 16:1-10.
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 18:14
And the border was drawn thence, and compassed the border of the sea. This is a serious mistranslation, arising from the same word being used for sea and west in Hebrew. The LXX. has πρὸς (some copies have παρὰ) θάλα…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 18:17
Geliloth (see Joshua 15:7).
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 18:23
Avim. Most probably Ai (see note on Joshua 7:2).
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 18:24
Ophrah. Not the Ophrah of Gideon, who ( 6:11; 8:2, 8:32) was a Manassite. Gaba. Some (as Knobel) think this the same as Gibeah of Saul. But see below, Joshua 18:28. Also Isaiah 10:29. Gibeah and Gaba, however, must have…