7 So now make division of this land for a heritage to the nine tribes, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.
Let there be a division of the land among these, for their heritage, in relation to the number of names. To those families who are more in number, give a greater heritage; to those who are less in number, a smaller part: to every one let the heritage be given in relation to the number in his family. But let the distribution of the land be made by the decision of the Lord: by the names of the tribes of their fathers let their heritage be given them. As it is ordered by the decision of the Lord, let distribution be made between those who are more in number and those who are less.
The children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and said to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the chiefs of the meeting, Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Sebam, and Nebo, and Beon, The land which the Lord gave into the hands of the children of Israel, is a land for cattle, and your servants have cattle. And they said, With your approval, let this land be given to your servants as their heritage: do not take us over Jordan. And Moses said to the children of Gad and the children of Reuben, Are your brothers to go to the war, while you take your rest here? Why would you take from the children of Israel the desire to go over into the land which the Lord has given them? So did your fathers, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. For when they went up to the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they took from the children of Israel the desire to go into the land which the Lord had given them. And at that time the Lord was moved to wrath, and made an oath, saying, Truly, not one of the men of twenty years old and over who came out of Egypt will see the land which I gave by oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; because they have not been true to me with all their heart; But only Caleb, the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua, the son of Nun: because they have been true to the Lord. Then the Lord was angry with Israel, and he made them wanderers in the waste land for forty years? till all that generation who had done evil in the eyes of the Lord was dead. And now you have come to take the place of your fathers, another generation of sinners, increasing the wrath of the Lord against Israel.
And you will take up your heritage in the land by the decision of the Lord, to every family its part; the greater the family the greater its heritage, and the smaller the family the smaller will be its heritage; wherever the decision of the Lord gives to any man his part, that will be his; distribution will be made to you by your fathers' tribes.
This is what the Lord has said: These are the limits by which you will take up your heritage in the land among the twelve tribes of Israel: Joseph is to have two parts. And you are to make an equal division of it; as I gave my oath to your fathers to give it to you: for this land is to be your heritage. And this is to be the limit of the land: on the north side, from the Great Sea, in the direction of Hethlon, as far as the way into Hamath; To Zedad, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the limit of Damascus and the limit of Hazar-hatticon, which is on the limit of Hauran. And this is the limit from the sea in the direction of Hazar-enon; and the limit of Damascus is to the north, and on the north is the limit of Hamath. This is the north side. And the east side will be from Hazar-enon, which is between Hauran and Damascus; and between Gilead and the land of Israel the Jordan will be the limit, to the east sea, to Tamar. This is the east side. And the south side to the south will be from Tamar as far as the waters of Meribath-kadesh, to the stream of Egypt, to the Great Sea. This is the south side, on the south. And the west side will be the Great Sea, from the limit on the south to a point opposite the way into Hamath. This is the west side. You will make a division of the land among you, tribe by tribe. And you are to make a distribution of it, by the decision of the Lord, for a heritage to you and to the men from other lands who are living among you and who have children in your land: they will be the same to you as if they were Israelites by birth, they will have their heritage with you among the tribes of Israel. In whatever tribe the man from a strange land is living, there you are to give him his heritage, says the Lord.
And as for the rest of the tribes: from the east side to the west side: Benjamin, one part. And on the limit of Benjamin, from the east side to the west side: Simeon, one part. And on the limit of Simeon, from the east side to the west side: Issachar, one part. And on the limit of Issachar, from the east side to the west side: Zebulun, one part. And on the limit of Zebulun, from the east side to the west side: Gad one part. And on the limit of Gad, on the south side and to the south of it, the limit will be from Tamar to the waters of Meribath-kadesh, to the stream, to the Great Sea. This is the land of which distribution is to be made by the decision of the Lord, among the tribes of Israel for their heritage, and these are their heritages, says the Lord.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Joshua 13
Commentary on Joshua 13 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 13
Jos 13:1-33. Bounds of the Land Not Yet Conquered.
1. Now Joshua was old and stricken in years—He was probably above a hundred years old; for the conquest and survey of the land occupied about seven years, the partition one; and he died at the age of one hundred ten years (Jos 24:29). The distribution, as well as the conquest of the land, was included in the mission of Joshua; and his advanced age supplied a special reason for entering on the immediate discharge of that duty; namely, of allocating Canaan among the tribes of Israel—not only the parts already won, but those also which were still to be conquered.
2-6. This is the land that yet remaineth—that is, to be acquired. This section forms a parenthesis, in which the historian briefly notices the districts yet unsubdued; namely, first, the whole country of the Philistines—a narrow tract stretching about sixty miles along the Mediterranean coast, and that of the Geshurites to the south of it (1Sa 27:8). Both included that portion of the country "from Sihor, which is before Egypt," a small brook near El-Arish, which on the east was the southern boundary of Canaan, to Ekron, the most northerly of the five chief lordships or principalities of the Philistines.
3, 4. also the Avites: From [on] the south—The two clauses are thus connected in the Septuagint and many other versions. On being driven out (De 2:23), they established themselves in the south of Philistia. The second division of the unconquered country comprised
4. all the land of the Canaanites, and Mearah—("the cave")
that is beside the Sidonians—a mountainous region of Upper Galilee, remarkable for its caves and fastnesses.
unto Aphek—now Afka; eastward, in Lebanon.
to the borders of the Amorites—a portion of the northeastern territory that had belonged to Og. The third district that remained unsubdued:
5. all the land of the Giblites—Their capital was Gebal or Bylbos (Greek), on the Mediterranean, forty miles north of Sidon.
all Lebanon, toward the sunrising—that is, Anti-libanus; the eastern ridge, which has its proper termination in Hermon.
entering into Hamath—the valley of Baalbec.
6, 7. All the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon unto Misrephoth-maim—(See on Jos 11:8)—that is, "all the Sidonians and Phœnicians."
them will I drive out—The fulfilment of this promise was conditional. In the event of the Israelites proving unfaithful or disobedient, they would not subdue the districts now specified; and, in point of fact, the Israelites never possessed them though the inhabitants were subjected to the power of David and Solomon.
only divide thou it by lot unto the Israelites for an inheritance—The parenthetic section being closed, the historian here resumes the main subject of this chapter—the order of God to Joshua to make an immediate allotment of the land. The method of distribution by lot was, in all respects, the best that could have been adopted, as it prevented all ground of discontent, as well as charges of arbitrary or partial conduct on the part of the leaders; and its announcement in the life of Moses (Nu 33:54), as the system according to which the allocations to each tribe should be made, was intended to lead the people to the acknowledgment of God as the proprietor of the land and as having the entire right to its disposal. Moreover, a solemn appeal to the lot showed it to be the dictate not of human, but divine, wisdom. It was used, however, only in determining the part of the country where a tribe was to be settled—the extent of the settlement was to be decided on a different principle (Nu 26:54). The overruling control of God is conclusively proved because each tribe received the possession predicted by Jacob (Ge 49:3-28) and by Moses (De 33:6-25).
8. With whom—Hebrew, "him." The antecedent is evidently to Manasseh, not, however, the half-tribe just mentioned, but the other half; for the historian, led, as it were, by the sound of the word, breaks off to describe the possessions beyond Jordan already assigned to Reuben, Gad, and the half of Manasseh (see on Nu 32:1; Nu 32:33; also see De 3:8-17). It may be proper to remark that it was wise to put these boundaries on record. In case of any misunderstanding or dispute arising about the exact limits of each district or property, an appeal could always be made to this authoritative document, and a full knowledge as well as grateful sense obtained of what they had received from God (Ps 16:5, 6).