result of the casting of the lot, and the size of the tribe. It is generally suggested (and is the traditional Jewish view) that the lot established only the approximate location of the land inheritance each tribe would have. That is, that it designated an inheritance in one section or another of the land, such as to the N or S, E or W, along the coastal plain, or in the mountainous region. The decision of the lot proceeded from Jehovah and hence would serve to prevent jealousy or quarreling among the tribes. (Prov. 16:33) By this means God would also guide matters so that the situation of each tribe fell in accordance with the inspired deathbed prophecy of the patriarch Jacob recorded at Genesis 49:1-33.

After the casting of the lot had determined the geographical location of a tribe it would then be necessary to determine the extent of its territory on the basis of the second factor: its proportionate size. “You must apportion the land to yourselves as a possession by lot according to your families. To the populous one you should increase his inheritance, and to the sparse one you should reduce his inheritance. To where the lot will come out for him, there it will become his.” (Num. 33:54) The decision of the lot as to the basic geographical location would stand, but adjustment could be made as to the size of the inheritance. Thus, when Judah’s territory was found to be too large, its land area was reduced by assigning portions of it to the tribe of Simeon.—Josh. 19:9.

The ‘increasing’ or ‘decreasing’ of the inheritance does not seem to have been merely on the basis of land area, for the tribe of Dan, though second most populous, received one of the smaller portions as to actual dimensions. Other factors such as the number of cities, the type of land, the quality of the soil, and so forth, may have been considered.—Compare Joshua 17:14-18.

When the more precise boundaries of the tribal divisions had been worked out, then the individual family holdings could be assigned and this appears to have been done, not by lot, but by the direction of the appointed ‘committee,’ composed of Eleazar, Joshua and the chieftains. (Josh. 17:3, 4) So, Deuteronomy 19:14 states that “when the ancestors will have set the boundaries in your inheritance” they should not be moved back.

The account of the division of the territory W of the Jordan shows that first the lots for Judah (Josh. 15:1-63), Joseph (Ephraim) (16:1-10) and the half tribe of Manasseh settling W of the Jordan (17:1-13) were determined, their boundaries and cities being enumerated. After this there appears to have been an interruption of the dividing of the land, since the camp of Israel is shown to have moved from Gilgal to Shiloh. (Josh. 14:6; 18:1) The length of time involved is not stated, but Joshua eventually reprimanded the remaining seven tribes for their dilatory attitude as to settling the rest of the land. (Josh. 18:2, 3) Various explanations have been offered as to the cause of this delinquency on the part of the seven tribes, some commentators reasoning that the abundance of spoil obtained during the conquest and the relative freedom from any immediate threat of attack by the Canaanites may have caused these tribes to feel no particular urgency about taking possession of the remaining portion of the territory. A reluctance to face up to the problem of dealing with the pockets of strong enemy resistance there may have contributed to this tardiness. (Josh. 13:1-7) Also, their knowledge of this portion of the Promised Land may have been considerably more limited than in those sections already allotted.

To expedite the matter, Joshua sent out a delegation of twenty-one men, three from each of the seven tribes, to “map out the land into seven shares,” and after the men had “mapped it out by cities” Joshua drew lots for them in order to obtain Jehovah’s decision. (Josh. 18:4-10) The individual inheritances allotted are discussed in Joshua 18:11–19:49.

The priestly tribe of Levi was not given a particular region as its allotment, but was granted forty-eight scattered cities and pasture grounds located within the boundaries of other tribes.—Josh. 13:14, 33; 21:1-42.

OTHER BOUNDARIES

By the Law covenant God ‘divided Israel off’ as his chosen people for 1,545 years (Lev. 20:26), but by the sacrificial death of his Son he destroyed the figurative “wall in between” that fenced off the Gentile peoples from the Jews, abolishing the Law of commandments. At Ephesians 2:12-16, Paul likely alluded to the barrier or wall in the temple area beyond which boundary Gentiles were prohibited under penalty of death, such wall serving the apostle as an apt illustration of the division created by the Law covenant.

Under the new covenant mediated by Christ Jesus a spiritual demarcation, far more impressive than any geographical boundary, was made, separating off the spiritual nation of the Christian congregation from the rest of the world of mankind. (John 17:6, 14-19; 1 Pet. 2:9-11) Jehovah had long before prophesied that he would build Zion with precious gems and make all her boundaries of “delightsome stones,” and Jesus quoted from this prophecy applying the succeeding verse to those becoming his disciples. (Isa. 54:12, 13; John 6:45; compare Revelation 21:9-11, 18-21.) These spiritual boundaries are to be held inviolate, for God warns that those invading them will meet with destruction.—Compare Isaiah 54:14, 15; 60:18 with 1 Corinthians 3:16, 17.

Conversely, those forming that spiritual nation are required to remain within its confines, recognizing the moral limitations set forth (1 Cor. 5:9-13; 6:9, 10; 1 Thess. 4:3-6) and the spiritual boundaries separating them from false worship and worldly systems (2 Cor. 6:14-18; Jas. 4:4; Rev. 18:4), as well as governing proper relationships between Christians and the “superior authorities” of the existing governments (Rom. 13:1, 5; 1 Pet. 2:13-16; Acts 4:19, 20; 5:29), husband and wife (1 Cor. 7:39; 1 Pet. 3:1, 7), and in many other respects. Paul also shows there were boundaries governing the territory assigned for ministerial activity.—2 Cor. 10:13-16; see BOUNDARY MARK.

BOUNDARY MARK

When the Israelites occupied Canaan, a plot of land was given to each family and such holdings were marked off by landmarks or boundary marks. These are not described in the Bible, but they may have been posts, stones or even furrows in the ground. It is possible that at least some boundary marks in Palestine bore inscriptions of identification. Elaborate inscriptions do appear on landmarks or boundary stones in Egypt and Mesopotamia. For example, an inscribed boundary stone of Nebuchadnezzar I was discovered at Nippur.

Regardless of the way in which the Hebrews marked off their inheritance or landholdings, Jehovah’s law prohibited the moving back of boundary marks. (Deut. 19:14; see also Proverbs 22:28.) In fact, cursed was the one moving back “the boundary mark of his fellow man.” (Deut. 27:17) Since landholders generally were dependent upon the produce of their plots of ground, moving back a boundary mark would mean depriving another person of some of his means of sustenance. Doing this was equivalent to theft and was so viewed in ancient times. (Job 24:2) But there were unscrupulous persons who were guilty of such abuses, and princes of Judah in Hosea’s time were likened to those moving back a boundary.—Hos. 5:10.

Removal of landmarks or boundary marks was viewed as a crime, not only under the Mosaic law, but according to Babylonian law. This action was also prohibited by the Egyptian ruler Amen-em-opet and in Greek and Roman legislation.

God is considerate of the widowed and fatherless. Thus it is said that Jehovah will tear down the house of the self-exalted, “but he will fix the boundary of the widow.” (Prov. 15:25) Then, too, Proverbs 23:10, 11 declares: “Do not move back the boundary of long ago, and into the field of fatherless boys do not enter. For their Redeemer is strong; he himself will plead their cause with you.”

[Picture on page 255]

Bablyonian boundary marker

BOW

See ARMS, ARMOR.

BOWELS

The intestines or entrails. The word may refer to the deep or remote part of anything, as the “bowels” of the earth. The Hebrew words frequently translated “bowels” in the older Bible versions are also rendered in more modern translations as “intestines,” or “entrails,” where the context clearly indicates that they have that connotation. (Compare 2 Samuel 20:10; 2 Chronicles 21:15, 18, 19; Job 20:14, in various Bible versions.) Where the Hebrew terms are not confined to “intestines” the English words “belly,” “inward parts,” “body,” “stomach,” “womb,” and related expressions are sometimes used in modern translations.—Gen. 15:4; 25:23; Ps. 71:6; Isa. 16:11; 49:1.

Physical food is assimilated by the intestines. This fact was metaphorically used to represent mental or spiritual digestion when in vision, Ezekiel was told to eat a scroll, filling his intestines or bowels with it. Ezekiel was to gain spiritual strength by meditating upon and storing in his memory the words written in the scroll. He was thereby nourished spiritually and provided with a message to speak.—Ezek. 3:1-6; compare Revelation 10:8-10.

Since deep emotions have a marked effect on one’s literal bowels, the same Hebrew words or forms of the words are sometimes used figuratively as “inward emotions,” “pity,” “inward parts,” “mercies” and the like, as at Genesis 43:14, 30; Lamentations 3:22; Isaiah 48:19.

In the Christian Greek Scriptures the word splagʹkhna literally means “bowels.” It is used once (in the plural) to refer to the literal intestines. (Acts 1:18) Elsewhere the forms of the word denote “tender affections” and similar emotions.—2 Cor. 6:12; Phil. 1:8; 2:1; Col. 3:12; 1 John 3:17.

BOWING DOWN

See ATTITUDES AND GESTURES.

BOWL

See BASIN; VESSELS.

BOWMAN

See ARCHER; ARMS, ARMOR.

BOY

See CHILD, CHILDREN; SON.

BOZEZ

(Boʹzez) [perhaps, shining].

One of two rocks or toothlike crags associated with Jonathan’s victory over the Philistines recorded at 1 Samuel 14:4-14. Jonathan, looking for a passage to cross over to attack the Philistine outpost, saw the two crags, one on the N facing Michmash (where the Philistines were encamped), the other on the S facing Geba. (1 Sam. 13:16; 14:5) Between these two cities the Wadi Suweinit descends toward the Jordan and becomes a deep gorge with nearly vertical cliffs somewhat to the E of the cities. The location of the two crags is considered to have been at the point where the wadi makes a sharp bend, though the precise identification of the crags is conjectural. Nevertheless, in the book The Romance of the Last Crusade, by Major Vivian Gilbert of the British Army, the author presents the account of a brigade major in General Allenby’s army in Palestine who, upon receiving orders to take the village of Michmash, successfully employed the information in 1 Samuel chapters 13 and 14 regarding these two crags to locate a pass up to the rocky prominence on which Michmash lay.

BOZKATH

(Bozʹkath) [elevated, stony ground].

A town in the inheritance of Judah (Josh. 15:39) and home of King Josiah’s maternal grandfather Adaiah. (2 Ki. 22:1) Listed between Eglon and Lachish, it was apparently in the lowlands or Shephelah region. Its identification is uncertain; some would place it at present-day ed-Dawaʼime, about eleven and a half miles (19 kilometers) W of Hebron, and SW of Lachish.

BOZRAH

(Bozʹrah) [fortified place].

1. A prominent city of Edom, the home of the father of Jobab, an Edomite king in the second millennium B.C.E. (Gen. 36:31, 33; 1 Chron. 1:44) Its prominence is evident from the fact that the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah and Amos under inspiration referred to it as representative of all Edom, due for desolation.—Isa. 34:5, 6; 63:1-4; Jer. 49:12, 13, 17, 22; Amos 1:11, 12.

Bozrah’s name indicates it to have been a fortress city. It is identified with modern Buseira, about twenty-four miles (39 kilometers) SE of the southern extremity of the Dead Sea, and situated on the main road to Petra. It thus occupied a fairly central position in the Edomite kingdom and guarded the approaches to the copper mines in the Arabah. The ancient ruins at Buseira show Bozrah to have been a strongly fortified city built on a narrow spur jutting out from the Jebel esh-Sheraʼ with deep wadis on either side so that its position was nearly impregnable.

The rendering of Micah 2:12 in the Authorized Version contains the name “Bozrah” but most modern translations view this as referring, not to a town, but an enclosure or “pen” for sheep.

2. In prophesying against Moab, Jeremiah 48:24 refers to Bozrah as among cities “of the land of Moab.” It is included among other cities of the tableland or “land of level country [Heb., mi·shorʹ]” (vs. 21), and the use of this same Hebrew word in connection with Bezer (Deut. 4:43) causes some scholars to view them as likely the same place. Since Jeremiah’s prophesying took place about a century after the fall of the northern kingdom, this would allow for Moab’s expansion northward to take in the cities previously held by Reuben. Others would identify this Bozrah with Bosora in the Hauran, but this site seems too far to the N and too removed from the other cities mentioned to fit the description.—See BEZER No. 2.

BRACELET

A decorative circlet worn on the wrist or upper arm, sometimes forming a complete circle, though in other instances having an opening or clasp. The term “armlet” can be applied to such a band for the upper arm, but this can also be called a bracelet. In ancient times bracelets were worn by both men and women, sometimes