Jo’s Place

The Land Given to Benjamin The first allotment of land (made  by holy lots ) went to the clans, of the tribe of Benjamin.  It lay between the territory assigned to the tribes of Judah .. and Joseph.  The northern boundary, of Benjamin’s land, began at the Jordan River, went north of the slope of Jericho, then west…through the hill country and the wilderness of Beth-aven.  From there, the boundary went south to Luz ( also called , Bethel) and proceeded down to Ataroth-addar, on the hill that lies south of Lower Beth-horon.  The boundary then made a turn … and swung south, along the western edge of the hill, facing Beth-horon, ending at the village of Kiriath-baal ( also known as , Kiriath-jearim), a town belonging to the tribe of Judah.  This was the western boundary.  The southern boundary began at the outskirts of Kiriath-jearim.  From that western point, it ran to the spring, at the waters of Nephtoah, …and down to the base of the mountain, besi...

​ The Tribes of Ephraim and Benjamin These were the clans descended from the sons of Ephraim:  The Shuthelahite clan, named after their ancestor Shuthelah.  The Bekerite clan, named after their ancestor Beker.  The Tahanite clan, named after their ancestor Tahan.  … and this was the  subclan  descended from the Shuthelahites:  The Eranites, named after their ancestor Eran.  So, these were the clans of Ephraim.  Their registered troops numbered 32,500.  These clans, of Manasseh and Ephraim, were all descendants of Joseph.  ———————————————- Then, these were the clans descended from the sons of Benjamin  (Israel’s youngest son) :  The Belaite clan, named after their ancestor Bela.  The Ashbelite clan, named after their ancestor Ashbel.  The Ahiramite clan, named after their ancestor Ahiram.  The Shuphamite clan, named after their ancestor Shupham.  The Huphamite clan, named after their ancestor Hupham....

​ Judah Speaks for His Brothers Judah stepped forward and said,  “Please, my lord, let your servant say just one word to you.  Please, do not be angry with me, even though you are as powerful as Pharaoh himself.  “My lord, previously you asked us, your servants,  ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’  And we responded,  ‘Yes, my lord, we have a father who is an old man,  ….and his youngest son is a child of his old age.  His full brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother’s children, and his father loves him very much.’  “And you said to us,  ‘Bring him here so I can see him with my own eyes.’  But we said to you,  ‘My lord, the boy cannot leave his father, for his father would die.’  But you told us, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes with you, you will never see my face again.’ “So we returned to your servant, our father, and told him what you had said.  Later, when he said, ‘Go back again and buy us more f...

​ Joseph’s Silver Cup When his brothers were ready to leave, Joseph gave these instructions to his palace manager:  “Fill each of their sacks with as much grain as they can carry, and put each man’s money back into his sack.  Then put my personal silver cup at the top of the youngest brother’s sack, along with the money for his grain.”  So the manager did as Joseph instructed him.  The brothers were up at dawn and were sent on their journey with their loaded donkeys.  But when they had gone only a short distance and were barely out of the city, Joseph said to his palace manager,  “Chase after them and stop them.  When you catch up with them, ask them,  ‘Why have you repaid my kindness with such evil?  Why have you stolen my master’s silver cup, which he uses to predict the future?  What a wicked thing you have done!’ ”  When the palace manager caught up with the men, he spoke to them as he had been instructed.  “What are y...

A Feast at Joseph’s Palace The brothers approached the manager of Joseph’s household and spoke to him at the entrance to the palace.  “Sir,” they said, “we came to Egypt once before to buy food.  But as we were returning home, we stopped for the night and opened our sacks.  Then we discovered that each man’s money—the exact amount paid—was in the top of his sack!  Here it is; we have brought it back with us.  We also have additional money to buy more food.  We have no idea who put our money in our sacks.”  “Relax. Don’t be afraid,” the household manager told them.  “Your God, the God of your father, must have put this treasure into your sacks.  I know I received your payment.”  Then he released Simeon and brought him out to them.  The manager then led the men into Joseph’s palace.  He gave them water to wash their feet and provided food for their donkeys.  They were told they would be eating there, so they prepared their g...

​ The Brothers Return to Egypt The famine continued to ravage the land of Canaan.  When the grain they had brought from Egypt was almost gone, Jacob said to his sons, “Go back and buy us a little more food.”  But Judah said, “The man was serious when he warned us,  ‘You won’t see my face again unless your brother is with you.’  If you send Benjamin with us, we will go down and buy more food.  But if you don’t let Benjamin go, we won’t go either.  Remember, the man said, ‘You won’t see my face again unless your brother is with you.’ ”  “Why were you so cruel to me?” Jacob moaned.  “Why did you tell him you had another brother?”  “The man kept asking us questions about our family,”  they replied.  “He asked,  ‘Is your father still alive?  Do you have another brother?’  So we answered his questions. How could we know he would say, ‘Bring your brother down here’?”  Judah said to his father,  “Send the boy w...