The borders and the cities of the tribe of Benjamin.
En-rogel,

10 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.

11 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. 12 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 Beth-aven.

13 And the border went over from thence toward Luz, to the side of Luz, which is Beth-el, southward; and the border descended to Ataroth-adar, near the hill that lieth on the south side of the nether Beth-horon.

14 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 Kirjath-baal, which is Kirjath-jearim, a city of the children of Judah this was the west quarter. 15 And the south quarter was from the end of Kirjath-jearim, and the border went out on the west, and went out to the well of waters of Nephtoah:

16 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

17 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,

18 And passed along toward the side over against Arabah northward, and went down unto Arabah:

19 And the border passed along to the side of Beth-hoglah 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.

20 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.

21 Now the cities of the tribe of the children of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho, and Beth-hoglah, and the valley of Keziz,

22 And Beth-arabah, and Zemaraim, and Beth-el,

23 And Avim, and Parah, and Ophrah,

24 And Chephar-haammonai, and Ophni, and Gaba; twelve cities with their villages:

25 Gibeon, and Ramah, and Beeroth,

26 And Mizpeh, and Chephirah, and Mozah,

27 And Rekem, and Irpeel, and Taralah,

28 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.

LECTURE 393.

Of increasing the amount of happiness on earth.

Many are the instances on record, wherein some one great chieftain has invaded his neighbours, spoiled them of their goods, seized upon their country; and then divided it out to the partners of his triumph, with no other guide in allotting it, than his own arbitrary will. Often has it thus come to pass, that they who ministered in peace to the corrupt passions of the conqueror, have obtained the share which was due to those, who helped him in war. Often they who helped most largely in war, have contended with their chief, or with each other, for the division of the conquered land; and have quickly turned aside from the joy of their common triumph, to deadly jealousy, and mutual destruction. And almost always the advantages to be gained have been confined to a few; to the chief leaders, and their connexions, friends, and favourites. What a contrast is afforded, to this scene of injustice, confusion, and strife, by Joshua casting lots in Shiloh before the Lord, and therein dividing the land unto the children of Israel according to their divisions! Truly God is a God of order. Truly He is not the author of confusion, but of peace. And we can but imperfectly have learnt his ways, if either in our public concerns, or in our private business, we proceed without method, calmness, and composure; if either in our social arrangements, or in our domestic habits, we allow disorder to flourish and prevail.

One use of promoting order is to prevent waste. One advantage of this orderly proceeding, in dividing the land amongst the Israelites, was that every family had a portion to itself. Instead of there being large tracts left to lie desolate, and other portions inconveniently crowded, instead of some families having far more than they could cultivate, whilst others had little or none, the whole was distributed equally, "according to their families." Each tribe had in proportion to the number of its families, so that each family might have in proportion to its rank and to its wants. A happy state of things! far happier than that arbitrary division of the soil, to which most nations have to trace the present tenure of land amongst them! Far happier than that state of fearful contrast, between the luxury of the great, and the abject destitution of the poor, at which we in this country have arrived! God's ways are far better than our ways. And many a lesson we might profitably learn, from his method of settling the Israelites in Canaan, towards enlarging the amount of comfort and happiness, to be enjoyed by our fellow creatures in this present life. Nor let us think that this is a thing beneath our notice, because of their being heirs of eternity. If God thought such matters not unworthy of his care, in providing for his people, if Christ went about doing good to the bodies of men, as well as to their souls, what are we, that we should not thankfully embrace every opportunity of increasing, in ever so small a degree, the amount of enjoyment in the world?

The lots of Simeon, Zebulon, and Issachar.

1 And the second lot came forth to Simeon, even for the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their families and their inheritance was within the inheritance of the children of Judah.

2 And they had in their inheritance Beer-sheba, Sheba, and Moladah,

3 And Hazar-shual, and Balah, and Azem,

4 And Eltolad, and Bethul, and Hormah,

5 And Ziklag, and Beth-marcaboth, and Hazar-susah,

6 And Beth-lebaoth, and Sharuhen; thirteen cities and their villages :

7 Ain, Remmon, and Ether, and Ashan; four cities and their villages:

8 And all the villages that were round about these cities to Baalath-beer, Ramath of the south. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their families.

9 Out of the portion of the children of Judah was the inheritance of the children of Simeon for the part of the children of Judah was too much for them therefore the children of Simeon had their inheritance within the inheritance of them. 10 And the third lot came up for the children of Zebulon according to their families: and the border of their inheritance was unto Sarid:

11 And their border went up toward the sea, and Maralah, and reached to Dabbasheth, and reached to the river that is before Jokneam;

12 And turned from Sarid eastward toward the sunrising unto the border of Chislothtabor, and then goeth out to Daberath, and goeth up to Japhia,

13 And from thence passeth on along on the east to Gittahhepher, to Ittah-kazin, and goeth out to Remmon-methoar to Neah;

14 And the border compasseth it on the north side to Hannathon: and the outgoings thereof are in the valley of Jiphthah-el:

15 And Kattath, and Nahallal, and Shimron, and Idalah, and Beth-lehem: twelve cities with their villages.

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

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

18 And their border was toward Jezreel, and Chesulloth, and Shunem,

19 And Haphraim, and Shihon, and Anaharath,

20 And Rabbith, and Kishion, and Abez,

21 And Remeth, and En-gannim, and En-haddah, and Bethpazzez;

22 And the coast reacheth to Tabor, and Shahazimah, and Beth-shemesh; and the outgoings of their border were at Jordan: sixteen cities with their villages.

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

LECTURE 394.

Of sharing our abundance with the needy.

It was against Simeon and Levi that Jacob of old spake these words: "Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel." Gen. 49. 7. In the lot of the tribe of Simeon we see the words of Jacob fulfilled, as far as their dispersion was concerned; in a manner calculated to shew the displeasure of God. For this one tribe had its inheritance within the inheritance of another. And by this means the tribe of Simeon lost much of its importance, as a separate tribe, in the commonwealth of Israel. And yet there was mercy vouchsafed, even accompanying this note of dishonour, put upon the offspring of Simeon. For it must be observed, that both Judah and Simeon had Leah for their mother. And this link of affection, strong as it always is, would be stronger in a case where one father had more wives and more families than one. So that if the tribe of Simeon was to be placed within the borders of any other, a situation involving risk of jealousy and strife, it was a mercy that this other tribe should be one of those, which looked up to Leah as its mother.

The reason assigned for placing Simeon within Judah's borders is this, "the part of the children of Judah was too much for them: therefore the children of Simeon had their inheritance within the inheritance of them." That is to say, when the survey of the land was made, as appointed by Joshua at Shiloh, see ch. 18. 6, it appeared that Judah, which had previously taken its inheritance, would occupy more than its share of territory. And it having been settled that one allotment should be taken out of this district, this allotment fell by lot to the tribe of Simeon. This arrangement appears to have been agreed to by the men of Judah, without any remonstrance on their part, or any endeavour to secure to themselves the whole extent of their original possessions. Yet those amongst ourselves, who have far more than they can possibly want, are often apt to murmur against God, if He takes from them a part, in the order of his providence, to bestow it on those who have not enough. Whether we think of the first establishment of the Israelites in Canaan, or whether we reflect on the first settlement of the Christian church, when the disciples had all things in common, see Acts 2. 44, we shall be inclined to think, that it would be better for the wealthy and the great to divide some of their possessions amongst the needy, than to aim, as they are often tempted, to "join house to house," and "lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may dwell alone in the midst of the earth." Is. 5. 8. Whatsoever then be our portion of this world's goods, let us search diligently how much we ought to spare, for relieving the necessities of our neighbours. And whereinsoever we find that we have too much for ourselves, let us cheerfully admit those who have too little to share our more ample inheritance.

8

The inheritances of Asher, Naphthali, Dan; and of Joshua. 24 And the fifth lot came out to Asher on the west side, and for the tribe of the children of to Judah upon Jordan toward Asher according to their families. the sunrising. 25 And their border was Helkath, and Hali, and Beten, and Achshaph,