Chapter 18
1 Then the whole congregation of the people of Israel assembled at Shiloh and set up the tent of meeting there. The land lay subdued before them. [Jos 18:1 ESV]
So this is when Shiloh was established as the home of the Tent of Meeting. This is where sacrifices to God during the feasts would have to be made. This is where the Aaronic and Levitical priesthoods would be centered at this time. Shiloh is about 20 miles NNW of Jerusalem.
The map of the allotments in MSB has a couple of interesting things. To start with, the tribe of Dan is given land that borders the Med, south of Ephraim's portion and north of Judah's. But I was thinking that later Dan would be the northernmost tribe, because "all Israel" will be referred to as the land from Dan to Asher...or maybe Dan to Naphtali - I'll keep an eye out for the phrase.
I also note that Manasseh seems to have gotten the lions share of the land, both East and West of the Jordan. Yet in chapter 17 they complain they don't have enough. Manasseh was the first born, but when Joseph brings his sons for Jacob to bless, Jacob gives Ephraim the primary blessing. This is where the double portion that would have been Reuben's goes instead to Joseph. Jacob says E and M would inherit as his own sons, though they were grand sons. And they do...but why does Manasseh get "double double" so to speak? Manasseh's reasons for requesting extra is that God has made them a much larger tribe than the others. Not sure if any of that has weight. MSB does not go into detail.
Well...this keeps bothering me. Since the Levites got no allotment, there were 11 sons of Jacob to inherit the land. But Jacob added Ephraim and Manasseh as his own sons. So 13 portions. The eldest son - whomever he was - seems to have been given a double portion - so that is now 14 portions. Manasseh was the oldest of Joseph's sons, and Reuben was not in good graces, so Manasseh would get 2 of 14, leaving 12 portions. The math works out this way, and the only question I still have is why it was Manasseh and not Ephraim that got the double portion. Here is the verse:
20 So he blessed them that day, saying, "By you Israel will pronounce blessings, saying, 'God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh.'" Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh. [Gen 48:20 ESV]
So the only way to read this is that Ephraim will be first in preeminence, not first in population or land area. That kind of has to be what it's about.
Seven tribes had still not received their land. Joshua asks these seven why they delay going in and taking possession of the land. He sends out a team to divide the remaining land into seven portions, bring him the report, and he will cast lots before the Lord to determine ownership. It seems the remaining land was spied out, since it still had at least some Canaanites in it even after 45 years of war. They spied it out and divided it up before they began to conquer it.
And why is it now up to each tribe to rid their allotment of Canaanites instead of having the whole army of Israel finish the job? I never saw anything that changed the way things were to be done. Nor did I see mention of when Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh went back to their own lands east of the Jordan. When were they released from service? Surely there is still land to conquer?
There are also these two verses to consider:
23 So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD had spoken to Moses. And Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal allotments. And the land had rest from war. [Jos 11:23 ESV]
15 Now the name of Hebron formerly was Kiriath-arba. (Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim.) And the land had rest from war. [Jos 14:15 ESV]
How do these two previous verses fit in with this verse:
3 So Joshua said to the people of Israel, "How long will you put off going in to take possession of the land, which the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you? [Jos 18:3 ESV]
Doesn't this imply that the job was not yet done?
Again, there is nothing in MSB that explains what was going on here.
Apparently the "survey" trip was accomplished, and then lots were cast. The allotment to Benjamin is described in the remainder of this chapter.
Jerusalem is not actually in the land given to Judah, as I always thought, but is within Benjamin's portion.