Literally, “pebble,” the name evidently preserved from the primitive method of casting lots by the use of a pebble. Rabbinical scholars have a conjecture that two urns were used. In one had been placed little tablets (anciently perhaps stones) with the names of the tribes, and in the other, similar tablets with the names of the districts, and one of each was drawn at the same time by Eleazar and Joshua or by the representative of each tribe when his turn arrived. There is, of course, no verification for this story. There may have been only one urn containing the names of the districts, which the heads of the several tribes may have drawn. The exact method employed is not known. It seems evident that the land so divided could only point out the districts in general. The extent of their boundaries had to be decided by the leaders of the people. A larger tribe would require more territory, and a smaller tribe, less. This was the rule specified by the Lord (Num. 26:51-56; 33:54). The whole distribution was evidently overruled by special providence so that it would correspond with the inspired predictions of Jacob and Moses respecting the allotment of each tribe (Gen. 49 and Deut. 33). To Judah fell a country abounding in vineyards and pastures; to Zebulun, seacoasts; to Issachar, a rich plain between ranges of mountains; to Asher, one abounding in oil, wheat, and metals; and so to the others.