18:20a

On the east side the border was the Jordan: The eastern border is easy to describe. The full description is in this one phrase.

Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

The Jordan River formed the eastern boundary line
-or-
The border on the east side of Benjamin’s land was the Jordan River

18:20b

These were the borders around the inheritance of the clans of the tribe of Benjamin: The clause These were the borders around the inheritance is a conclusion to Joshua 18:12-20. We have now made a circle around all four of the boundary lines of the land that Benjamin received.

Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

This was the land that the clan of Benjamin received as their inheritance
-or-
That described the land that the Benjamin clan received as its permanent possession

These were the borders around the inheritance: The phrase the borders around refers to the boundary lines on all sides: north, south, east and west.

Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

These boundaries marked out the land that they received according to their family groups
-or-
Each clan received land within these boundaries

In some languages it may be more natural to combine the phrase the borders around with the information in 18:20b. For example:

These were the borders of the land which the clan of Benjamin received as their inheritance
-or-
Those boundaries described the land that the Benjamin clan received

the clans: The phrase the clans actually refers to the families within the clan of Benjamin.

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