Bible Strands
Joshua 18:28
Zelah, Haeleph, Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath-jearim—fourteen cities, along with their villages. This was the inheritance of the clans of the tribe of Benjamin.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Joshua records the territorial allotment for Benjamin’s clans during the initial distribution of the Promised Land. The narrator lists specific municipalities and their surrounding villages as the tribe’s designated inheritance.
The words — The text identifies Jebus (הַ/יְבוּסִ֨י, ha/y.vu.Si) and explicitly clarifies it is Jerusalem (יְרֽוּשָׁלִַ֙ם֙, ye.ru.sha.Lim). It also names Zelah (צֵלַ֡ע, tze.La') and Haeleph (הָאֶ֜לֶף, ha.'E.lef) among the fourteen cities assigned to the tribe.
The thread — The pattern of dividing land by lot for specific clans appears in Numbers 33:54, while Zelah reappears as Saul’s burial site in 2 Samuel 21:14. The identification of Jebus as Jerusalem parallels the border description in Joshua 15:8.
Why it lands — The text states that fourteen cities and their villages were formally assigned to Benjamin’s clans. This requires readers to acknowledge that territorial inheritance is determined by divine allotment rather than human strategy.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 21:14 And they buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in Zela in the land of Benjamin, in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish. After they had done everything the king had commanded, God answered their prayers for the land.
- Joshua 15:8 From there the border went up the Valley of Ben-hinnom along the southern slope of the Jebusites (that is, Jerusalem) and ascended to the top of the hill that faces the Valley of Hinnom on the west, at the northern end of the Valley of Rephaim.
- Numbers 33:54 And you are to divide the land by lot according to your clans. Give a larger inheritance to a larger clan and a smaller inheritance to a smaller one. Whatever falls to each one by lot will be his. You will receive an inheritance according to the tribes of your fathers.
- Joshua 15:63 But the descendants of Judah could not drive out the Jebusites living in Jerusalem. So to this day the Jebusites live there among the descendants of Judah.
- Joshua 18:16 Then it went down to the foot of the hill that faces the Valley of Ben-hinnom at the northern end of the Valley of Rephaim and ran down the Valley of Hinnom toward the southern slope of the Jebusites and downward to En-rogel.
- Judges 19:12 But his master replied, “We will not turn aside to the city of foreigners, where there are no Israelites. We will go on to Gibeah.”
- Judges 20:4 So the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, answered: “I and my concubine came to Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night.
- 1 Samuel 10:26 Saul also went to his home in Gibeah, and the men of valor whose hearts God had touched went with him.
- 1 Samuel 13:15 Then Samuel set out from Gilgal and went up to Gibeah in Benjamin. And Saul numbered the troops who were with him, about six hundred men.
- 2 Samuel 5:8 On that day he said, “Whoever attacks the Jebusites must use the water shaft to reach the lame and blind who are despised by David.” That is why it is said, “The blind and the lame will never enter the palace.”