7 `And now, apportion this land for an inheritance to the nine tribes, and the half of the tribe of Manasseh,' --
`To these is the land apportioned by inheritance, by the number of names; to the many thou dost increase their inheritance, and to the few thou dost diminish their inheritance; `to' each according to his numbered ones is given his inheritance. `Only by lot is the land apportioned, by the names of the tribes of their fathers they inherit; according to the lot is their inheritance apportioned between many and few.'
and the sons of Gad, and the sons of Reuben, come in and speak unto Moses, and unto Eleazar the priest, and unto the princes of the company, saying: `Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Shebam, and Nebo, and Beon -- the land which Jehovah hath smitten before the company of Israel, is a land for cattle, and thy servants have cattle.' And they say, `If we have found grace in thine eyes, let this land be given to thy servants for a possession; cause us not to pass over the Jordan.' And Moses saith to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben, `Do your brethren go in to the battle, and ye -- do ye sit here? and why discourage ye the heart of the sons of Israel from passing over unto the land which Jehovah hath given to them? `Thus did your fathers in my sending them from Kadesh-Barnea to see the land; and they go up unto the valley of Eshcol, and see the land, and discourage the heart of the sons of Israel so as not to go in unto the land which Jehovah hath given to them; and the anger of Jehovah burneth in that day, and He sweareth, saying, They do not see -- the men who are coming up out of Egypt from a son of twenty years and upward -- the ground which I have sworn to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, for they have not been fully after Me; save Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua son of Nun, for they have been fully after Jehovah; and the anger of Jehovah burneth against Israel, and He causeth them to wander in the wilderness forty years, until the consumption of all the generation which is doing the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah. `And lo, ye have risen in the stead of your fathers, an increase of men -- sinners, to add yet to the fury of the anger of Jehovah toward Israel;
`Thus said the Lord Jehovah: This `is' the border whereby ye inherit the land, according to the twelve tribes of Israel; Joseph `hath' portions. And ye have inherited it, one as well as another, in that I have lifted up My hand to give it to your fathers; and this land hath fallen to you in inheritance. `And this `is' the border of the land at the north quarter; from the great sea, the way of Hethlon, at the coming in to Zedad: Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, that `is' between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath; Hazar-Hatticon, that `is' at the coast of Havran. And the border from the sea hath been Hazar-Enan, the border of Damascus, and Zaphon at the north, and the border of Hamath: and `this is' the north quarter. `And the east quarter `is' from between Havran, and Damascus, and Gilead, and the land of Israel, `to' the Jordan; from the border over-against the eastern sea ye measure: and `this is' the east quarter. `And the south quarter southward `is' from Tamar unto the waters of Meriboth-Kadesh, the stream unto the great sea: and `this is' the south quarter southward. `And the west quarter `is' the great sea, from the border till over-against the coming in to Hamath: this `is' the west quarter. `And ye have divided this land to you, according to the tribes of Israel; and it hath come to pass, ye separate it for an inheritance to yourselves, and to the sojourners who are sojourning in your midst, who have begotten sons in your midst, and they have been to you as native, with the sons of Israel, with you they are separated for an inheritance in the midst of the tribes of Israel. And it hath come to pass, in the tribe with which the sojourner sojourneth, there ye give his inheritance -- an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.
`As to the rest of the tribes, from the east side unto the west side, Benjamin one, and by the border of Benjamin, from the east side unto the west side, Simeon one, and by the border of Simeon, from the east side unto the west side, Issachar one, and by the border of Issachar, from the east side unto the west side, Zebulun one, and by the border of Zebulun, from the east side unto the west side, Gad one, and by the border of Gad, at the south side southward, the border hath been from Tamar `to' the waters of Meriboth-Kadesh, the stream by the great sea. This `is' the land that ye separate by inheritance to the tribes of Israel, and these `are' their portions -- an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.
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).