Joshua 18 · Verse 9

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 18:9, King James Version

Joshua 18:9 in other translations

BSB	So the men departed and went throughout the land, mapping it city by city into seven portions. Then they returned with the document to Joshua at the camp in Shiloh.
WEB	The men went and passed through the land, and surveyed it by cities into seven portions in a book. They came to Joshua to the camp at Shiloh.
ASV	And the men went and passed through the land, and described it by cities into seven portions in a book; and they came to Joshua unto the camp at Shiloh.
YLT	And the men go, and pass over through the land, and describe it by cities, in seven portions, on a book, and they come in unto Joshua, unto the camp, at Shiloh.
DARBY	And the men went and passed through the land, and described it by cities into seven portions, in a book, and they came to Joshua, to the camp at Shiloh.
BBE	So the men went, travelling through the land, and made a record of it by towns in seven parts in a book, and came back to Joshua to the tent-circle at Shiloh.
Webster	And the men went and passed through the land, and described it by cities in seven parts in a book, and came again, to Joshua to the host at Shiloh.

What does Joshua 18:9 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…

Read the full comment on Joshua 18:4-9 →

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 9 And described it in a book - This as far as I can recollect, is the first act of surveying on record. These men and their work differed widely from those who had searched the land in the time of Moses; they went only to discover the nature of the country, and the state of its inhabitants; but these went to take an actual geographical survey of it, in order to divide it among the tribes which had not yet received their portions. We may suppose that the country was exactly described in a book, that is, a map, pointing out the face of the country, accompanied with descriptions of each part.

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…

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Joshua 18:9 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.

וַיֵּלְכ֤וּvai.ye.le.Khuand they wentH1980

הָֽאֲנָשִׁים֙ha.'a.na.Shimthe menH582

וַיַּעַבְר֣וּvai.ya.'av.Ruand they passedH5674

בָאָ֔רֶץva.'A.retzin the landH776

וַיִּכְתְּב֧וּהָvai.yikh.te.Vu.haand they described in writing itH3789

לֶֽעָרִ֛יםle.'a.Rimto the citiesH5892

לְשִׁבְעָ֥הle.shiv.'Ahinto sevenH7651

חֲלָקִ֖יםcha.la.KimportionsH2506

עַל\־'al-onH5921

סֵ֑פֶרSe.fera scrollH5612

וַיָּבֹ֧אוּvai.ya.Vo.'uand they cameH935

אֶל\־'el-toH413

יְהוֹשֻׁ֛עַye.ho.Shu.a'JoshuaH3091

אֶל\־'el-toH413

הַֽמַּחֲנֶ֖הha.ma.cha.Nehthe campH4264

שִׁלֹֽה\׃shi.LohShilohH7887

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

Cross references for Joshua 18:9

Acts 13:19
And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Chanaan, he divided their land to them by lot.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

described.The surveyors seem to have formed some kind of map of the country, as well as a description of it in writing. The Egyptians, from the situation of their fields, as annually overflowed by the Nile, acquired great skill in mensuration and land surveying; and some of the Israelites had, no doubt, learned these from them, without a knowledge of which they could not properly have divided the land. This is probably the first act of surveying on record.
into seven.
Ac 13:19

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

Context

Joshua 18:8
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.
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 18:10
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.

Read all of Joshua 18

Joshua 18:9 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Fueron pues aquellos varones y pasearon la tierra, delineándola por ciudades en siete partes en un libro, y tornaron á Josué al campo en Silo.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Et les hommes s’en allèrent, et traversèrent le pays, et en firent le relevé dans un livre, en sept parts, selon les villes; puis ils vinrent vers Josué, au camp, à Silo.
German Elberfelder 1871	Und die Männer gingen hin und durchzogen das Land und schrieben es, nach den Städten, zu sieben Teilen auf in ein Buch; und sie kamen zu Josua in das Lager nach Silo zurück.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Itaque perrexerunt: et lustrantes eam, in septem partes diviserunt, scribentes in volumine. Reversique sunt ad Josue in castra Silo.