Joshua 18 · Verse 4

Joshua 18:4

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.
Joshua 18:4, King James Version

Joshua 18:4 in other translations

BSBAppoint three men from each tribe, and I will send them out to survey the land and map it out, according to the inheritance of each. Then they will return to me
WEBAppoint for yourselves three men from each tribe. I will send them, and they shall arise, walk through the land, and describe it according to their inheritance; then they shall come to me.
ASVAppoint for you three men of each tribe: and I will send them, and they shall arise, and walk through the land, and describe it according to their inheritance; and they shall come unto me.
YLTGive for you three men for a tribe, and I send them, and they rise and go up and down through the land, and describe it according to their inheritance, and come in unto me,
DARBYProvide you three men for a tribe; that I may send them, and they shall rise and go through the land, and describe it according to the proportion of their inheritance, and they shall come to me.
BBETake from among you three men from every tribe; and I will send them to go through the land and make a record of it for distribution as their heritage; then let them come back to me.
WebsterSelect 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.

What does Joshua 18:4 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Joshua 18:4-9
4-9. Give out from among you three men for each tribe--Though the lot determined the part of the country where each tribe was to be located, it could not determine the extent of territory which might be required; and the dissatisfaction of the children of Joseph with the alleged smallness of their possession gave reason to fear that complaints might arise from other quarters, unless precautions were taken to make a proper distribution of the land. For this purpose a commission was given to twenty-one persons--three chosen from each of the seven tribes which had not yet received their inheritance, to make an accurate survey of the country.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 4 Three men for each tribe - Probably meaning only three from each of the seven tribes who had not yet received their inheritance. It is likely that these twenty-one men were accompanied by a military guard, for without this they might have been easily cut off by straggling parties of the Canaanites. They shall - describe it - It is likely they were persons well acquainted with geography and mensuration, without which it would have been impossible for them to have divided the land in the way necessary on this occasion.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Joshua 18:2-10

After a year or more, Joshua blamed their slackness, and told them how to proceed. God, by his grace, has given us a title to a good land, the heavenly Canaan, but we are slack to take possession of it; we enter not into that rest, as we might by faith, and hope, and holy joy. How long shall it be thus with us? How long shall we thus stand in our own light, and forsake our own mercies for lying vanities? Joshua…

Read the full comment on Joshua 18:2-10 →

Joshua 18:4 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

הָב֥וּha.VuprovideH3051
לָכֶ֛םla.Khemfor <the> yourselves
שְׁלֹשָׁ֥הshe.lo.ShahthreeH7969
אֲנָשִׁ֖ים'a.na.ShimmenH582
לַשָּׁ֑בֶטla.Sha.vetto the tribeH7626
וְאֶשְׁלָחֵ֗םve.'esh.la.Chemso I may send themH7971
וְיָקֻ֜מוּve.ya.Ku.muand they may ariseH6965
וְיִֽתְהַלְּכ֥וּve.yit.ha.le.Khuso they may walkH1980
בָאָ֛רֶץva.'A.retzin the landH776
וְיִכְתְּב֥וּve.yikh.te.Vuso they may describe in writingH3789
אוֹתָ֛הּ'o.Tah<obj.> itH853
לְפִ֥יle.Fito [the] mouth ofH6310
נַֽחֲלָתָ֖םna.cha.la.Taminheritance theirH5159
וְיָבֹ֥אוּve.ya.Vo.'uso they may comeH935
אֵלָֽי\׃'e.Laito meH413

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Joshua 18:4

  • Numbers 13:2

    Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them.

  • Joshua 18:9

    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.

  • Joshua 18:3

    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?

  • Joshua 4:2

    Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man,

  • Joshua 3:12

    Now therefore take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a man.

  • Numbers 1:4

    And with you there shall be a man of every tribe; every one head of the house of his fathers.

  • Joshua 18:6

    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.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
three.
3; 3:12; 4:2; Nu 1:4; 13:2
describe.
6,9

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Joshua 18:3

    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?

  • Joshua 18:4

    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.

  • Joshua 18:5

    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.

Read all of Joshua 18

Joshua 18:4 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Señalad tres varones de cada tribu, para que yo los envíe, y que ellos se levanten, y recorran la tierra, y la describan conforme á sus heredades, y se tornen á mí.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Choisissez-vous trois hommes par tribu, et je les enverrai; et ils se lèveront, et ils parcourront le pays, et ils en feront le relevé selon la proportion de leur héritage, puis ils viendront vers moi.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Nehmet euch drei Männer für den Stamm, und ich will sie aussenden; und sie sollen sich aufmachen und das Land durchwandern und es aufschreiben nach Verhältnis ihres Erbteils, und dann zu mir kommen.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Eligite de singulis tribubus ternos viros, ut mittam eos, et pergant atque circumeant terram, et describant eam juxta numerum uniuscujusque multitudinis: referantque ad me quod descripserint.