Joshua 18:1

XVIII. (1) At Shiloh.—Seilûn (sheet 14), about ten miles due south of Shechem, in the territory of Ephraim. The inheritance of the tribe of Judah was determined in Gilgal. The assignment of the central part of the country to Ephraim and Manasseh brought the leaders of Israel into that district, and as soon as the position of Ephraim, Joshua’s tribe, was settled, the tabernacle was set up there. For the situation of Shiloh, see Judges 21:19.

Joshua 18:1 . The whole congregation of the children of Israel — Not only their elders, and heads of their tribes, who represented the people of Israel, and are sometimes meant by the whole congregation; but, as the expression may here very well signify, the whole body of the people, who, it is probable, accompanied the ark, in order to fix it in a new situation. Assembled together at Shiloh — A place in the tribe of Ephraim, about fifteen miles from Jerusalem, situate upon a hill in the heart of the country. And set up the tabernacle there — Which had now remained seven years with the camp at Gilgal. No doubt if was by God’s order that it was removed hither, for he was to choose the place of its residence, Deuteronomy 12:5 ; Deuteronomy 12:11 ; Deuteronomy 12:14 . And, it is probable, he made known his will in this respect by the oracle of Urim and Thummim, and by giving some extraordinary token of his accepting their sacrifices there. For when he made choice of mount Zion, an angel ordered the Prophet Gad to direct David to set up an altar in the threshing-floor of Ornan, and there God answered by fire, 1 Chronicles 21:18 ; 1 Chronicles 21:26 . It would have been too far, after the division of the land, for all the tribes to go up to Gilgal to transact all that the law required to be done at the tabernacle, and now indispensably necessary to be performed there, although, while they sojourned in the wilderness, they did not observe these rules.

This place was very convenient for all the tribes to resort to, being in the centre of them, and likewise very safe, being guarded by the two powerful tribes of Judah and Ephraim. And being in the lot of the latter tribe, to which Joshua belonged, and in which he probably fixed his stated abode, it was both for his honour and convenience that it was placed here; that he might have the opportunity of consulting God by Urim as often as he needed, and might more easily finish what remained to be done in the division of the land. Here, it is thought, the tabernacle remained for the space of three hundred and fifty years, even till the days of Samuel, 1 Samuel 1:3 . Archbishop Usher, however, only reckons the time to be three hundred and twenty- eight years. Shiloh was the name given to the Messiah in dying Jacob’s prophecy. So the pitching the tabernacle in Shiloh, says Henry, intimated to the Jews, that “in that Shiloh whom Jacob spoke of all the ordinances of this worldly sanctuary should have their accomplishment in a greater and more perfect tabernacle.”

Ch. Joshua 18:1-10 . Erection of the Tabernacle at Shiloh 1 . And the whole congregation of the children of Israel ] The descendants of Judah and of Joseph had now taken up their respective inheritances, the one in the south, the other in the north of the country. But “the murmuring,” it has been remarked, “of the children of Joseph, and the spirit from which it proceeded, gave sad indications of danger in the near future. National disintegration, tribal jealousies, coupled with boastfulness and unwillingness to execute the work given them of God, were only too surely foreboded in the conduct of the children of Joseph. If such troubles were to be averted, it was high time to seek a revival of religion.” Dr Edersheim’s Israel in Canaan under Joshua and the Judges , p. 94. The camp at Gilgal, therefore, was broken up, and the people removed to Shiloh, which was situated within the territory of Ephraim, Joshua’s own tribe. The whole congregation of the children of Israel . This formula often recurs.

Thus in Exodus 16:1 we read, “And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin;” and again, Exodus 16:9 , “And Moses spake unto Aaron, Say unto all the congregation of the children of Israel .” Sometimes it is more brief, “ the congregation of Israel ,” as in Exodus 12:3 , “Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel .” Sometimes more briefly still, “ the congregation ,” as in Leviticus 4:15 , “And the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands upon the head of the bullock before the Lord.” The Greek word here used is the same as that used by our Lord, Matthew 16:18 , “Upon this rock I will build My Church .” Originally it denoted an assembly of persons called out from among others by the voice of a herald, as, at Athens, for the purpose of legislation. It is applied to the Israelites, as being a nation called out by God from the rest of the world, to bear witness to His unity, to preserve His laws, to keep alive the hope of Redemption, and to exhibit the pattern of a people living in righteousness and true godliness.

CHAPTER 18 Jos 18:1. The Tabernacle Set Up at Shiloh. 1. the whole congregation … assembled together at Shiloh—The main body of the Israelites had been diminished by the separation of the three tribes, Judah, Ephraim, and Manasseh into their respective allotments; and the country having been in a great measure subdued, the camp was removed to Shiloh (now Seilun). It was twenty or twenty-five miles north of Jerusalem, twelve north of Beth-el, and ten south of Shechem, and embosomed in a rugged and romantic glen. This sequestered spot in the heart of the country might have been recommended by the dictates of convenience. There the allotment of the territory could be most conveniently made, north, south, east, and west, to the different tribes. But "the tabernacle of the congregation was also set up there," and its removal therefore must have been made or sanctioned by divine intimation (De 12:11). It remained in Shiloh for more than three hundred years (1Sa 4:1-11).The tabernacle is set up in Shiloh, Joshua 18:1. The remainder of the land described, and divided into seven parts, for the seven tribes which as yet had no inheritance, Joshua 18:2-9. Joshua casts the lot at Shiloh, Joshua 18:10: the first comes out for Benjamin, whose borders and cities are described, Joshua 18:11-28. Set up the tabernacle of the congregation there, by God’s appointment, as is manifest from Deu 12:5, &c.; Jeremiah 7:12.