Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Joshua
Chapter 18: How Long Are Ye Slack?
The congregation gathers at Shiloh and sets up the tabernacle, and the land lies subdued before them. Yet seven tribes still have not gone in to take their inheritance. Joshua's question cuts to the heart: 'How long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the LORD God of your fathers hath given you?' The land is theirs by promise, subdued and waiting, but it must be possessed. Surveyors describe it, lots are cast before the LORD at Shiloh, and Benjamin, small but beloved, receives its portion. Here is a rebuke of spiritual slackness: God has given the inheritance; His people must rise and take it.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Joshua chapter 18. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Here the tabernacle is set up at Shiloh, Joshua rebukes the slackness of the seven tribes, the land is surveyed and divided by lot, and Benjamin receives its inheritance. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
The Tabernacle Set Up
God's dwelling comes to rest in the midst of the land.
How Long Are Ye Slack?
Seven tribes delay to possess what God has given.
Describe It in a Book
The land is walked, mapped, and divided by lot.
Son of the Right Hand
The small, beloved tribe receives its portion.
How Long Are Ye Slack to Possess the Land? (Joshua 18:1-10)
The tabernacle is set up at Shiloh, and Joshua rebukes the seven tribes for delaying to take their inheritance, sending men to survey the land so it can be divided by lot before the LORD.
The Land Which the LORD Hath Given You
"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. And there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes, which had not yet received their inheritance. 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? 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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."
Word Study
"slack," Hebrew raphah (רָפָה). The verb means to sink down, to relax, to let drop, to be slack or lax; Joshua's question is, "How long are ye slack (raphah) to go to possess the land, which the LORD God of your fathers hath given you?" Here is a spiritual danger less obvious than open rebellion: not fighting against God, but simply failing to go forward, letting the hands drop, growing slack in claiming what God has given. The land was already "given" by promise and "subdued before them"; the enemy was broken, the way was open, the inheritance was theirs, yet seven tribes had "not yet received their inheritance," not because God withheld it, but because they were slow to go and take it. Slackness had crept in after the great victories, a settling down, a losing of momentum, a failure to press on and possess. Joshua's rebuke is God's word to every generation that grows spiritually lazy: how long will you delay to take hold of what God has already given? The same warning runs through the New Testament: "that ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises" (Hebrews 6:12); "give diligence to make your calling and election sure" (2 Peter 1:10). God's promises are not possessed by drifting but by diligent, active faith. So raphah confronts the sin of spiritual slackness. It is not enough to have the promise; we must go up and possess it. The land subdued but unoccupied is a rebuke to the believer who is content to leave much of his inheritance in Christ unclaimed. God says, "How long are ye slack?" Rise, and go, and possess what He has given.
Explanation
With the tabernacle newly set up at Shiloh, Joshua confronts a strange sluggishness: seven tribes still had not gone to take the land already won for them. His rebuke is pointed — "How long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the LORD God of your fathers hath given you?" He sends men to survey the remaining territory, write it up, and bring it back to be divided by lot. The scene is a mirror for every believer slow to lay hold of what God has freely granted: the gift was theirs, yet they had to be prodded to possess it.
Gospel Focus
The chapter opens with a solemn and hopeful moment: "the whole congregation... assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle." After years of conquest, God's dwelling comes to rest in the midst of the land, and Shiloh becomes the center of Israel's worship for generations. The name itself carries a shadow of Messiah, for Jacob had prophesied, "the sceptre shall not depart from Judah... until Shiloh come" (Genesis 49:10); at Shiloh, God dwelt among His people, a foretaste of the day when "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1:14), the word "dwelt" meaning "tabernacled." But into this good moment Joshua speaks a rebuke: "there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes, which had not yet received their inheritance," and, "How long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the LORD God of your fathers hath given you?" The land was given and subdued, but seven tribes had grown passive. The energy of conquest had faded into a settled complacency; they were content to camp rather than to claim. Joshua stirs them to action: survey the land, describe it, divide it, possess it. For the Apostolic reader this is a searching word. The greatest danger after victory is not defeat but drift, a spiritual slackness that leaves much of our inheritance in Christ unclaimed. God has given us "all things that pertain unto life and godliness" (2 Peter 1:3), blessed us "with all spiritual blessings" (Ephesians 1:3); the land is subdued, the way is open. Yet how easily we grow slack, content to camp near the promise without possessing it. Joshua's question is the Lord's question to us: how long will you be slack? The remedy is not more promises but active, diligent faith, to rise, to go, to take hold of all that God has given. The tabernacle is at Shiloh; God dwells among His people; now let His people go up and possess their full inheritance.
The Lot of Benjamin (Joshua 18:11-28)
The first of the seven lots falls to Benjamin, whose small portion lies between Judah and Joseph, and includes the cities near Jerusalem.
Between Judah and Joseph
"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. 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 Bethaven. And the border went over from thence toward Luz, to the side of Luz, which is Bethel, southward; and the border descended to Atarothadar, near the hill that lieth on the south side of the nether Bethhoron. And the border was drawn thence, and compassed the corner of the sea southward, from the hill that lieth before Bethhoron southward; and the goings out thereof were at Kirjathbaal, which is Kirjathjearim, a city of the children of Judah: this was the west quarter. And the south quarter was from the end of Kirjathjearim, and the border went out on the west, and went out to the well of waters of Nephtoah: 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 Enrogel, And was drawn from the north, and went forth to Enshemesh, 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, And passed along toward the side over against Arabah northward, and went down unto Arabah: And the border passed along to the side of Bethhoglah 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. 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. Now the cities of the tribe of the children of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho, and Bethhoglah, and the valley of Keziz, And Betharabah, and Zemaraim, and Bethel, And Avim, and Parah, and Ophrah, And Chepharhaammonai, and Ophni, and Gaba; twelve cities with their villages: Gibeon, and Ramah, and Beeroth, And Mizpeh, and Chephirah, and Mozah, And Rekem, and Irpeel, and Taralah, 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."
Word Study
"Benjamin," Hebrew Binyamin (בִּנְיָמִין), "son of the right hand." Benjamin was the youngest of Jacob's sons, born as his mother Rachel died; she named him with her dying breath "Benoni," "son of my sorrow," but Jacob renamed him Benjamin, which means "son of the right hand," a place of honor and strength (Genesis 35:18). Benjamin's tribe was small, the least in number after its near destruction in the days of the Judges, yet it held a place of honor, and its lot fell "between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph," between the two great tribes, near the future site of Jerusalem, the very "side of Jebusi... which is Jerusalem" lay in Benjamin's border. From little Benjamin would come Israel's first king, Saul, and, far greater, the apostle Paul, who called himself "of the tribe of Benjamin" (Philippians 3:5; Romans 11:1). There is grace in this. The son whose birth brought sorrow was named the son of the right hand; the smallest tribe was set in a place of honor between the greatest, near the city of God. God delights to lift the little and the sorrowful to places of honor. And the name whispers of Christ, who was truly "Benoni," a man of sorrows at His cross, and yet "Benjamin," the Son now seated "on the right hand of the Majesty on high" (Hebrews 1:3), His sorrow turned to exaltation. So Binyamin preaches that God honors the small and turns sorrow into strength. The least tribe held a place of honor; the son of sorrow became the son of the right hand; and God still lifts the lowly, setting them in places of honor near Himself, for "he hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree" (Luke 1:52).
Explanation
The first lot falls to little Benjamin, and its portion is set, fittingly, "between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph" — a small tribe wedged as a buffer between the two greatest. Yet its modest territory carried enormous weight for the future: within or along its borders lay Jericho, Gibeon, Bethel, and Jerusalem itself. From this smallest of portions would come Israel's first king, Saul, and, centuries later, the apostle Paul. God often tucks the greatest significance into the smallest inheritance.
Gospel Focus
Once the land is surveyed, the lots are cast, and the first falls to Benjamin. Its portion is small, fitting for the smallest tribe, and it lies "between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph," nestled between the two most prominent tribes. Its borders wind past familiar places, Jericho, Bethel, the valley of Hinnom, and, notably, "Jebusi, which is Jerusalem," lay within Benjamin's territory, on the border it shared with Judah. The future city of God, still a Jebusite stronghold, sat in the inheritance of little Benjamin and royal Judah together, a fitting picture, for the city of the great King would belong to all Israel. The careful listing of Benjamin's cities again testifies to God's precise faithfulness: even the smallest tribe receives an exact and honored portion. For the Apostolic reader Benjamin's lot is a quiet encouragement. God does not overlook the small. The least tribe was given a place of honor between the greatest, near the city where God would set His name. And Benjamin's history shows how God uses the little: from this small tribe came a king, and came Paul, the apostle who carried the gospel to the nations. The God who honors little Benjamin honors every one of His people, however small or overlooked; He assigns each a portion, and He can raise up from the least the greatest servants of His kingdom. So we do not despise our small place or our lowly portion. The God who set Benjamin between Judah and Joseph, near His holy city, assigns each of us a portion in His good pleasure, and He delights to do great things through the small who trust Him.
Chapter 18 in Review
Joshua 18 gathers Israel at Shiloh, where "the tabernacle of the congregation" is set up and God comes to dwell in the midst of the land. But seven tribes still had "not yet received their inheritance," and Joshua rebukes them: "How long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the LORD God of your fathers hath given you?" Men are sent to survey the land and "describe it... in a book," and Joshua "cast lots for them in Shiloh before the LORD." The first lot falls to Benjamin, the smallest tribe, whose portion lies "between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph," including the cities near Jerusalem.
For the Apostolic reader this chapter holds two enduring lessons. First, the rebuke of spiritual slackness. The land was given and subdued, the way was open, yet seven tribes were slow to possess it, not through rebellion but through drift, a settling down after victory. Joshua's question, "How long are ye slack?", is the Lord's word to every believer content to camp near the promise without claiming it. God has given us all things in Christ; the danger after victory is not defeat but complacency, leaving much of our inheritance unpossessed. The remedy is active, diligent faith: rise, go, and take hold of all He has given. Second, the honor God gives the small. Little Benjamin, the "son of the right hand," received a place of honor between the greatest tribes, near the city of God, and from this least tribe God raised up a king and the apostle Paul. God does not overlook the lowly; He assigns each a portion and delights to do great things through the small. So we heed the rebuke and shake off our slackness, rising to possess our full inheritance in Christ; and we take heart that the God who dwells at Shiloh honors the least, assigning each of His people a good portion and lifting the lowly to places near Himself.
- The tabernacle set up at Shiloh: God dwells in the midst of His people (18:1).
- "How long are ye slack?", the rebuke of spiritual laziness in claiming the promise (18:3).
- The land was given and subdued, but must still be possessed by active faith (18:3; Hebrews 6:12).
- The danger after victory is drift, not defeat; much inheritance goes unclaimed (18:2).
- Benjamin, "son of the right hand," is honored though small (18:11; Genesis 35:18).
- God honors the lowly and does great things through the small (18:11; Luke 1:52).
Questions for Reflection
- Is there inheritance in Christ you have left unclaimed through slackness?
- Has complacency crept in after past victories, leaving you content to camp near the promise?
- What would it look like to "rise, and go" to possess more of what God has given?
- How does God's honor to little Benjamin encourage you in your own small place?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. The tabernacle at Shiloh; Shiloh and the Messiah: Joshua 18:1; Genesis 49:10; Judges 18:31; 1 Samuel 1:3; 4:3-4; Psalm 78:60; Jeremiah 7:12; John 1:14. The rebuke of slackness; possess the promise: Joshua 18:2-3; Judges 18:9; Hebrews 6:11-12; 2 Peter 1:3-10; Proverbs 24:30-34. The survey and division by lot at Shiloh: Joshua 18:4-10; Numbers 33:54; Proverbs 16:33. Benjamin, son of the right hand: Joshua 18:11-28; Genesis 35:16-18; Deuteronomy 33:12; 1 Samuel 9:1-2; Romans 11:1; Philippians 3:5; Hebrews 1:3; Luke 1:52. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- The tabernacle set up at Shiloh; a shadow of God dwelling with men: Joshua 18:1; Genesis 49:10; John 1:14.
- "How long are ye slack?": the rebuke of spiritual laziness: Joshua 18:2-3; Hebrews 6:12; 2 Peter 1:10.
- The land surveyed and divided by lot before the LORD: Joshua 18:4-10; Proverbs 16:33.
- Benjamin, "son of the right hand," honored though small: Joshua 18:11-28; Genesis 35:18; Luke 1:52.