[80]
So Joshua took both Eleazar and the senate, and with them the heads
of the tribes, and distributed the land to the nine tribes, and to the
half-tribe of Manasseh, appointing the dimensions to be according to the
largeness of each tribe. So when he had cast lots, Judah had assigned him
by lot the upper part of Judea, reaching as far as Jerusalem, and its breadth
extended to the Lake of Sodom. Now in the lot of this tribe there were
the cities of Askelon and Gaza. The lot of Simeon, which was the second,
included that part of Idumea which bordered upon Egypt and Arabia. As to
the Benjamites, their lot fell so, that its length reached from the river
Jordan to the sea, but in breadth it was bounded by Jerusalem and Bethel;
and this lot was the narrowest of all, by reason of the goodness of the
land, for it included Jericho and the city of Jerusalem. The tribe of Ephraim
had by lot the land that extended in length from the river Jordan to Gezer;
but in breadth as far as from Bethel, till it ended at the Great Plain.
The half-tribe of Manasseh had the land from Jordan to the city of Dora;
but its breadth was at Bethsham, which is now called Scythopolis. And after
these was Issachar, which had its limits in length, Mount Carmel and the
river, but its limit in breadth was Mount Tabor. The tribe of Zebulon's
lot included the land which lay as far as the Lake of Genesareth, and that
which belonged to Carmel and the sea. The tribe of Aser had that part which
was called the Valley, for such it was, and all that part which
lay over-against Sidon. The city Arce belonged to their share, which is
also named Actipus. The Naphthalites received the eastern parts, as far
as the city of Damascus and the Upper Galilee, unto Mount Libanus, and
the Fountains of Jordan, which rise out of that mountain; that is, out
of that part of it whose limits belong to the neighboring city of Arce.
The Danites' lot included all that part of the valley which respects the
sun-setting, and were bounded by Azotus and Dora; as also they had all
Jamnia and Gath, from Ekron to that mountain where the tribe of Judah begins.
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