Joshua 19

The Territories of the Remaining Tribes

¹The second lot came out for Simeon, even for the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their families. Their inheritance was in the middle of the inheritance of the children of Judah.

²They had for their inheritance Beersheba (or Sheba), Moladah,

³Hazar Shual, Balah, Ezem,

⁴Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah,

⁵Ziklag, Beth Marcaboth, Hazar Susah,

⁶Beth Lebaoth, and Sharuhen; thirteen cities with their villages;

⁷Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan; four cities with their villages;

⁸and all the villages that were around these cities to Baalath Beer, Ramah of the South. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their families.

⁹Out of the part of the children of Judah was the inheritance of the children of Simeon; for the portion of the children of Judah was too much for them. Therefore the children of Simeon had inheritance in the middle of their inheritance.

¹⁰The third lot came up for the children of Zebulun according to their families. The border of their inheritance was to Sarid.

¹¹Their border went up westward, even to Maralah, and reached to Dabbesheth. It reached to the brook that is before Jokneam.

¹²It turned from Sarid eastward toward the sunrise to the border of Chisloth Tabor. It went out to Daberath, and went up to Japhia.

¹³From there it passed along eastward to Gath Hepher, to Ethkazin; and it went out at Rimmon which stretches to Neah.

¹⁴The border turned around it on the north to Hannathon; and it ended at the valley of Iphtah El;

¹⁵Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem: twelve cities with their villages.

¹⁶This is the inheritance of the children of Zebulun according to their families, these cities with their villages.

¹⁷The fourth lot came out for Issachar, even for the children of Issachar according to their families.

¹⁸Their border was to Jezreel, Chesulloth, Shunem,

¹⁹Hapharaim, Shion, Anaharath,

²⁰Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez,

²¹Remeth, Engannim, En Haddah, and Beth Pazzez.

²²The border reached to Tabor, Shahazumah, and Beth Shemesh. Their border ended at the Jordan: sixteen cities with their villages.

²³This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Issachar according to their families, the cities with their villages.

²⁴The fifth lot came out for the tribe of the children of Asher according to their families.

²⁵Their border was Helkath, Hali, Beten, Achshaph,

²⁶Allammelech, Amad, Mishal. It reached to Carmel westward, and to Shihorlibnath.

²⁷It turned toward the sunrise to Beth Dagon, and reached to Zebulun, and to the valley of Iphtah El northward to Beth Emek and Neiel. It went out to Cabul on the left hand,

²⁸and Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, and Kanah, even to great Sidon.

²⁹The border turned to Ramah, to the fortified city of Tyre; and the border turned to Hosah. It ended at the sea by the region of Achzib;

³⁰Ummah also, and Aphek, and Rehob: twenty-two cities with their villages.

³¹This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Asher according to their families, these cities with their villages.

³²The sixth lot came out for the children of Naphtali, even for the children of Naphtali according to their families.

³³Their border was from Heleph, from the oak in Zaanannim, Adami-nekeb, and Jabneel, to Lakkum. It ended at the Jordan.

³⁴The border turned westward to Aznoth Tabor, and went out from there to Hukkok. It reached to Zebulun on the south, and reached to Asher on the west, and to Judah at the Jordan toward the sunrise.

³⁵The fortified cities were Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Chinnereth,

³⁶Adamah, Ramah, Hazor,

³⁷Kedesh, Edrei, En Hazor,

³⁸Iron, Migdal El, Horem, Beth Anath, and Beth Shemesh; nineteen cities with their villages.

³⁹This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Naphtali according to their families, the cities with their villages.

⁴⁰The seventh lot came out for the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families.

⁴¹The border of their inheritance was Zorah, Eshtaol, Irshemesh,

⁴²Shaalabbin, Aijalon, Ithlah,

⁴³Elon, Timnah, Ekron,

⁴⁴Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath,

⁴⁵Jehud, Bene Berak, Gath Rimmon,

⁴⁶Me Jarkon, and Rakkon, with the border opposite Joppa.

⁴⁷The border of the children of Dan went out beyond them; for the children of Dan went up and fought against Leshem, and took it, and struck it with the edge of the sword, and possessed it, and lived therein, and called Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their forefather.

⁴⁸This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families, these cities with their villages.

Joshua's Inheritance

⁴⁹So they finished distributing the land for inheritance by its borders. The children of Israel gave an inheritance to Joshua the son of Nun among them.

⁵⁰According to the LORD’s commandment, they gave him the city which he asked, even Timnathserah in the hill country of Ephraim; and he built the city, and lived there.

⁵¹These are the inheritances, which Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the children of Israel, distributed for inheritance by lot in Shiloh before the LORD, at the door of the Tent of Meeting. So they finished dividing the land.

Previous Joshua 18

Next Joshua 20

Joshua 19 completes the territorial allotment process by distributing land to the remaining six tribes of Israel. The chapter provides detailed boundary descriptions and city lists for Simeon, Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Dan, with Simeon notably receiving territory within Judah's oversized portion. The chapter concludes with Joshua himself receiving the city of Timnath Serah as his personal inheritance, demonstrating that even Israel's leader waited until all tribes were settled before claiming his own portion.

Context

This chapter concludes the systematic land distribution that began in chapter 14, completing God's promise to give Israel the promised land.

Key Themes

Outline

1-9
Simeon's Inheritance Simeon receives cities within Judah's territory because Judah's portion was too large for them.
10-16
Zebulun's Territory The third lot assigns Zebulun a region in lower Galilee with detailed boundary descriptions.
17-23
Issachar's Allotment Issachar receives the fertile Jezreel Valley region with sixteen cities including Jezreel and Shunem.
24-31
Asher's Coastal Territory Asher is granted the Mediterranean coastal region extending north toward Sidon and Tyre.
32-39
Naphtali's Northern Land Naphtali receives territory in northern Galilee with nineteen fortified cities.
40-48
Dan's Inheritance and Migration Dan initially receives territory near the Philistines but later migrates north to capture Leshem.
49-51
Joshua's Personal Inheritance After all tribal allotments are complete, Joshua receives Timnath Serah in the hill country of Ephraim.

The Territories of the Remaining Tribes

19:1–19:48

narrative narration solemn

The detailed allocation of territorial inheritances to the tribes of Simeon, Zebulun, and Issachar, with specific cities and boundaries listed for each tribal portion. This represents the fulfillment of God's covenant promise to give the Israelites the promised land as their inheritance.

geographic

Balah appears uniquely in Joshua's tribal allocations as one of Simeon's seventeen cities, never mentioned elsewhere in Scripture despite being part of Israel's foundational territorial inheritance.

Joshua's Inheritance

19:49–19:51

narrative narration solemn

Joshua receives his personal inheritance of Timnathserah in Ephraim after the completion of the land distribution. The passage concludes the formal division of the promised land among the tribes of Israel.

person_contrast

Joshua uniquely receives his inheritance last and by popular consent rather than divine lot, reversing the typical pattern where leaders claim first rights to conquered territory.

Insight Geography

Balah appears uniquely in Joshua's tribal allocations as one of Simeon's seventeen cities, never mentioned elsewhere in Scripture despite being part of Israel's foundational territorial inheritance.

Insight Character Study

Joshua uniquely receives his inheritance last and by popular consent rather than divine lot, reversing the typical pattern where leaders claim first rights to conquered territory.

Cross-References

Connected passages across Scripture

Joshua 19:1 5 references

Lexicals 5

Numbers 33:54 Lexical

You shall inherit the land by lot according to your families; to the larger groups you shall give a larger inheritance,…

4 shared words

Joshua 14:2 Lexical

by the lot of their inheritance, as the LORD commanded by Moses, for the nine tribes, and for the half-tribe.

Joshua 19

The Territories of the Remaining Tribes

Joshua's Inheritance

The Territories of the Remaining Tribes

Joshua's Inheritance

Insights

Cross-References

Joshua 19:1 5 references

Joshua 19:2 1 reference

Joshua 19:4 1 reference

Joshua 19:7 3 references

Joshua 19:8 5 references

Joshua 19:9 5 references

Joshua 19:10 3 references

Joshua 19:11 5 references

Joshua 19:12 1 reference

Joshua 19:14 5 references

Joshua 19:16 3 references

Joshua 19:17 1 reference

Joshua 19:22 3 references

Joshua 19:23 5 references

Joshua 19:24 5 references

Joshua 19:27 4 references

Joshua 19:28 1 reference

Joshua 19:29 5 references

Joshua 19:30 1 reference

Joshua 19:31 5 references

Joshua 19:32 1 reference

Joshua 19:33 3 references

Joshua 19:34 5 references

Joshua 19:38 1 reference

Joshua 19:39 5 references

Joshua 19:40 5 references

Joshua 19:41 5 references

Joshua 19:42 1 reference

Joshua 19:44 1 reference

Joshua 19:47 2 references

Joshua 19:48 5 references

Joshua 19:49 5 references

Joshua 19:51 5 references

Interlinear

Historical Context