Joshua 18:24

And Chepharhaammonai, and Ophni,.... Of the two first of these no mention is made elsewhere; and Gaba is the same with Gibeah, a well known place, because of the foul fact committed there, which had

And Chephar-haam'monai, and Ophni, and Gaba; twelve cities with their villages: Chephar-haammonai - i:e., hamlet of the Ammonites [Septuagint, Karafa, Kefima, Moni] - not ascertained.

THE OF .(11-28) The lot of the tribe of the children of Benjamin.—It can have been by no accident that their lot came forth “between Judah and Joseph.” No wiser method could have been devised to secure an united Israel than thus to make Benjamin the link between the two most powerful and naturally rival tribes. In the story of Joseph, the brethren are reconciled through the mutual affection of Judah and Joseph for Benjamin as their father’s youngest and best-loved son. The position thus given to Benjamin under Joshua was still further developed by circumstances. The tribe was almost exterminated in the time of the judges; the survivors were united in marriage with women of Ephraim and Manasseh (?). On the other hand, the city of Jerusalem, although assigned by Joshua to Benjamin, was first a joint possession of Judah and Benjamin (1 Chronicles 8:28; 1 Chronicles 8:32; Judges 1:8; Judges 1:21), then the royal city of the kings of the house of Judah. The selection of the first king of Israel from Benjamin, and the ultimate planting of the religious and political centre of all the tribes on the confines of Judah and Benjamin in Jerusalem, would have been two masterstrokes of policy if they had been schemes of man’s devising. They were really links in the long chain of God’s providential dealing with the chosen people. (12) And their border.—This is first described on the north side, where it coincided with the southern border of Ephraim. Conder draws it from El ‘Aujeh (sheet 15), five miles north of Jericho, towards Beth-el (Beitin), perhaps going along the Wβdy’ Aujeh, Beth-el lying within the territory of Benjamin (Joshua 18:22), and so on to Archi (Joshua 16:2), now Ain ‘Arik (near the top of sheet 17), and thence to Ataroth-addar (Ed-Dβrieh), near Beth-horon the nether (Beit- ϋr-et-Tahta). This line is from east to west. (14) And the border was drawn thence . . .—At this point it turns southward, and runs from the neighbourhood of Beth-horon to Kirjath-jearim (Khurbet ‘Erma, in sheet 17: very small, and not easily found). Corner of the sea.—Ph’ath Yβm, “the west side.” (15) And the south quarter.—Here the borderline again turns to the east, and runs to Ain Atβn (the waters of Nephtoah), near Bethlehem. Thence it turns to the north-east, and follows the line described above (Joshua 15:6-8) as the northern boundary of Judah. (17) The stone of Bohan the son of Reuben must have been near the Jordan. Is it possible that Bohan, the son of Reuben, did on his own account what was done for all Israel by the command of Joshua? (Joshua 4:8). (21) The cities of the tribe of . . . Benjamin.—The following are identified: viz., in Joshua 18:21, ‘Ain-es-Sultan,’ Ain Hajlah (sheet 18); Joshua 18:22, Khurbet es-Sϊmnrah, Beitin (sheet 18); Joshua 18:23, Fβtah (sheet 18), Taiyibeh (sheet 14); Joshua 18:24, Jeb ‘a (sheet 17). (22) Beth-el seems to have passed into the hands of Ephraim without question when the tribe of Benjamin was all but exterminated.

Verse 24. And Gaba] Supposed to be the same as Gibeah of Saul, a place famous for having given birth to the first king of Israel; and infamous for the shocking act towards the Levite's wife, mentioned Judges 19:16-30, which was the cause of a war in which the tribe of Benjamin was nearly exterminated. Judges 20:29-48.

24. 10. Chephar-haammonai] is quite unknown, so also is ii. Ophni; 12. Gaba, or Geba = “height,” “hill,” not the Geba or Gibeah of Saul, is mentioned in 2 Kings 23:8; Zechariah 14:10.

24. Ophni is doubtless the Gophna of Josephus, (Wars, Joshua 3:3; Joshua 3:5,) and is represented in the modern Jifna, three miles northwest of Beth-el.