Deeper Commentary
Jos 13:1 Now Joshua was old and well advanced in years. Yahweh said
to him, You are old and advanced in years, and there remains yet very much
land to be possessed-
We must note the difference between the Canaanite peoples and
their kings being "struck" and their land "taken" by Joshua-Jesus; and the
people of Israel permanently taking possession. This is the difference
between the Lord's victory on the cross, and our taking possession of the
Kingdom. Even though that possession has been "given" to us. The word used
for "possession" is literally 'an inheritance'. The allusion is to the
people, like us, being the seed of Abraham. The Kingdom was and is our
possession, our inheritance- if we walk in the steps of Abraham. But it is
one thing to be the seed of Abraham, another to take possession of the
inheritance; and Israel generally did not take possession of all the land
(Josh.
11:23 13:1; 16:10; 18:3; 23:4). The language of inheritance / possession
is applied to us in the New Testament (Eph. 1:11,14; Col. 3:24; Acts
20:32; 26:18; 1 Pet. 1:4 etc.). Israel were promised: "You shall possess
it" (Dt. 30:5; 33:23). This was more of a command than a prophecy, for
sadly they were "given" the land but did not "possess" it. They were
constantly encouraged in the wilderness that they were on the path to
possessing the land (Dt. 30:16,18; 31:3,13; 32:47), but when they got
there they didn't possess it fully.
The first half of Joshua describes his conquest of the land, and
chapters 13-24 the division of the land amongst God's people.
Jos 13:2 This is the land that still remains: all the regions of the
Philistines, and all the Geshurites-
These areas had had their kings slain by Joshua, but Israel had
failed to possess the territory; see on :1. The Hebrew for "remains" is
literally 'to swell up', and the idea may be that despite Joshua's
victories, the local population in these areas had swollen up strongly
again.
Jos 13:3 from the Shihor, which is before Egypt, even to the border of
Ekron northward, which is counted as Canaanite; the five lords of the
Philistines; the Gazites, and the Ashdodites, the Ashkelonites, the
Gittites, and the Ekronites; also the Avvim-
"Sihor", 'black stream', is a name for the Nile or the "brook of
Egypt" which formed the southern border of the land promised to Abraham.
But there is no mention of the Euphrates, which was to form the eastern
border of that territory. Clearly God had recalculated the possibilities
of Israel, and focused instead on giving them the land between the Jordan
and Mediterranean, with a little bit to the east of Jordan. Although it
seems even that was not His intention. He recalculated "the river" as not
Euphrates, but Jordan. He saw how weak they were. And He does likewise
with us in our weakness, recalculating at times what He expects from us,
bearing in mind our weakness in not rising up to our potentials.
Jos 13:4 on the south; all the land of the Canaanites, and Mearah that
belongs to the Sidonians, to Aphek, to the border of the Amorites-
"On the south" is LXX "from Teman". Aphek is modern Afka, near Beirut
in Lebanon, on the far northern border of Israel. This was a huge swathe
of land which had not been possessed.
Jos 13:5 and the land of the Gebalites, and all Lebanon, toward the
sunrise, from Baal Gad under Mount Hermon to the entrance of Hamath-
The land of the Gebalites was around Tyre in the far north (Ez.
27:8,9). "Baal Gad" suggests that Baal was worshipped through the worship
of Gad, another god (Is. 65:11). Baal, we thereby learn, was worshipped
through the worship of other gods. And this was exactly Israel's problem;
they justified the worship of Baal by saying that it was a form of Yahweh
worship. In various forms, this has been the abiding temptation for God's
people of all ages. To worship their own idols in the name of worshipping
Yahweh, to mix the flesh and the spirit, to mix paganism with true
worship.
Jos 13:6 all the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon to
Misrephoth Maim, even all the Sidonians; them will I drive out from before
the children of Israel: only allocate it to Israel for an inheritance, as
I have commanded you-
Misrephoth Maim means “the salt-pits" and again we see the
similarities with Abraham's earlier conquest of the land (Gen. 14:10). The
people, as Abraham's seed, were being encouraged to walk in the steps of
faith of Abraham, just as we are. Awareness of Abraham's life is therefore
of especial importance to all today who are baptized and thereby become
his seed.
Jos 13:7 Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance to the nine
tribes and the half-tribe of Manasseh-
It has been pointed out that there is no such surviving detailed
geographical description of any contemporary nation. This reflects the
extreme importance of the land of Israel to God. For it was and is to be
His Kingdom, and has a special significance to Him.
Jos 13:8 With him the Reubenites and the Gadites received their
inheritance which Moses had given them beyond the Jordan eastward, even as
Moses the servant of Yahweh gave them:
The boundaries of Gad appear to in practice encroach upon that given to
Manasseh (1 Chron. 5:11 cp. Josh. 13:8,7,11,25,30; Dt. 3:10-13). But the
tribe of Manasseh had extended their borders northward (1 Chron. 5:23).
The territory was given to Israel as their intended inheritance in the
Kingdom of God; but God was open to some flexibility about this. We think
of Caleb and Othniel asking for territory as an inheritance. And so it is
with our dialogue with God's and His eternal intentions for us.
Jos 13:9 from Aroer, that is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and
the city that is in the middle of the valley, and all the plain of Medeba
to Dibon-
The earlier victories in these areas (Num. 21:30; 32:3,34) had simply
not been built upon. The land had soon reverted to the local population,
just as the reforms of the kings of Judah so quickly were undone. And just
as some of our apparent spiritual victories can be revealed in time as the
building of the man who built on sand, with only apparently, surface level
progress. The city in the middle of the valley was Ar of Moab.
Jos 13:10 and all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorites who reigned in
Heshbon, to the border of the children of Ammon-
It is often not appreciated that the extent of the area given to the
two and a half tribes on the east of Jordan, as defined in Josh. 13:10-12, was roughly the same as the entire territory given to the nine and
a half tribes on the west of Jordan. The two and a half tribes saw good
pasture land and wanted it there and then, as a king of short cut to the
Kingdom of God. But there are no short cuts to the Kingdom. The conditions
they were given demanded even more faith from them. Their men had to leave
their flocks and families unprotected on the east of Jordan whilst they
fought in the front line vanguard of Joshua's army to secure the territory
on the west of Jordan. And the territory they were asked to possess was
huge, far larger than the pasture lands they initially coveted, and
inhabited by giants (see on Josh. 13:30)- which they probably didn't
realize at the time.
Jos 13:11 and Gilead, and the border of the Geshurites and Maacathites,
and all Mount Hermon, and all Bashan to Salecah-
This was a huge area; see on :10.
Jos 13:12 all the kingdom of Og in Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and in
Edrei (the same was left of the remnant of the Rephaim); for Moses
attacked these, and drove them out-
"Drove out" here and in :13 is s.w. "possessed" in :1; see note
on :1. This was a huge area; see on :10.
Jos 13:13 Nevertheless the children of Israel didn’t drive out the
Geshurites nor the Maacathites: but Geshur and Maacath dwell in the midst
of Israel to this day-
I would consider the book of Joshua to have largely been written by
Joshua, under Divine inspiration, although edited [again under Divine
inspiration] for the exiles. And the book of Judges likewise. For the
exiles too were set to reestablish God's Kingdom in the land and to
inherit it again as the Israelites first did. The phrase "to this day"
occurs several times in Joshua / Judges, and appears to have different
points of historical reference (Josh. 4:9; 5:9; 6:25; 7:26; 8:28,29; 9:27;
10:27; 13:13; 14:14; 15:63; 16:10; 22:3; 23:8,9; Jud. 1:26; 6:24; 10:4;
15:19; 18:12). I would explain this by saying that the book was edited a
number of times and the remains of those edits remain in the text. For
God's word is living and made relevant by Him to every generation.
Jos 13:14 Only He gave no inheritance to the tribe of Levi. The sacrifices
of Yahweh the God of Israel made by fire are his inheritance, as He spoke
to him-
The Levites had no material inheritance because "the
sacrifices of Yahweh the God of Israel... are his inheritance... Yahweh God
of Israel was their inheritance" (Josh. 13:14,33; Num. 18:20; Dt. 10:9;
18:2). Notice how "Yahweh" is put for what is sacrificed to Him. His very existence is an
imperative to sacrifice to Him, despising all material advantage in doing
so. Job comments that to make gold our hope and wealth our confidence is
to deny “the God that is above” (Job 31:24,28). To trust in material
wealth is effectively to proclaim ourselves atheists.
Jos 13:15 Moses gave to the tribe of the children of Reuben
according to their families-
The law of Moses reasons as if each family of Israel had a specific
inheritance which was not to be sold or moved outside the family. Hence
the sin of Ahab in obtaining Naboth's vineyard. It would seem that there
was some unrecorded list made of each family and which land they were to
be given. This looks forward to our very personal and unique inheritance
in God's Kingdom, possibly based around spiritual family units.
Jos 13:16 Their border was from Aroer that is on the edge of the valley of
the Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the valley, and all the
plain by Medeba-
The city in the middle of the valley was Ar of Moab.
Jos 13:17 Heshbon, and all its cities that are in the plain; Dibon, Bamoth
Baal, Beth Baal Meon-
"Bamoth Baal" is 'the high places of Baal', and we note how often the
term "Baal" occurs in the place names. There is no record at all of
Israel's obedience to the commands to destroy the local idols of the land,
although the change of name of Kiriath Baal (Josh. 15:60; 18:14) is
evidence enough that there was some local attempt to stamp out the name of
Baal in that case. Instead the historical record is full of evidence that
they worshipped these gods. Although the name of Baal Meon had been
changed in Num. 32:38, by the time of Josh. 13:17 the old name was still
being used. Clearly Israel did not detest idolatry as they ought to have
done. Just as the names of idols should not have passed the lips of
Israel, so for us, the things of sexual impurity are not to be named
amongst us (Eph. 5:3). The allusion shows how Paul understood such things
to be the equivalent of idolatry in his day, and that remains a fair
interpretation even in our age.
Jos 13:18 Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath-
Kedemoth was given to the Levites (Josh. 21:37) but was in fact a
town which had not been captured from the local population (Josh. 13:18).
They failed to learn the principle of 2 Sam. 24:24, that we are not to
apparently sacrifice to God that which cost us nothing.
Jos 13:19 Kiriathaim, Sibmah, Zereth Shahar in the mount of the valley-
Zereth Shahar is “the Splendour of the Dawn / sun”, surely another
name connected with idolatry. See on :17.
Jos 13:20 Beth Peor, the slopes of Pisgah, Beth Jeshimoth-
Josh. 12:8 says that all the slopes were secured by Joshua, but the
study of these names indicates that what he won in victory was simply not
possessed by Israel. This unwillingness to possess what we have been
potentially given by the Lord Jesus... is the greatest tragedy in
spiritual life. Every addiction and weakness which might stop a man
inheriting the Kingdom has been overcome. It needs to be possessed and
lived in, rather than left as a mere on paper victory.
Beth Peor was where Israel had been on their wilderness journeys (Dt. 3:29), and it clearly had not been renamed. The name of the idol Peor remained; see on :17.
Jos 13:21 all the cities of the plain, and all the kingdom of Sihon king
of the Amorites who reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses struck with the chiefs
of Midian, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the princes of Sihon, who lived
in the land-
The idea is “all the other cities of the table-land, and all the
kingdom of Sihon, as far as it extended over the plain”.
Jos 13:22 The children of Israel also killed Balaam the son of Beor the
soothsayer with the sword, among the rest of their slain-
This Kedesh is called Kishon in Josh. 21:28. We last hear of Balaam
returning to Mesopotamia, but clearly coveting the wealth offered him if
he succeeded in cursing Israel. We can deduce from this that Balaam
returned to the Midianites, and advised that if they could make Israel sin
by worshipping Baal-Peor, then Yahweh would curse them. And he was
destroyed with the Gentiles whose presence he clearly preferred to that of
God's people. Balaam was a prophet of Yahweh, and yet felt saddled with
His truth when he instead preferred the way of the flesh. And so he came
to his end and condemnation, and is set up in the New Testament as a
warning to us.
Jos 13:23 The border of the children of Reuben was the bank of the Jordan.
This was the inheritance of the children of Reuben according to their
families, the cities and its villages-
For "families", see on :15. According to Lev. 25:31, "cities"
referred to any walled settlement, and "villages" to unwalled settlements.
Jos 13:24 Moses gave to the tribe of Gad, to the children of Gad,
according to their families-
The law of Moses reasons as if each family of Israel had a specific
inheritance which was not to be sold or moved outside the family. Hence
the sin of Ahab in obtaining Naboth's vineyard. It would seem that there
was some unrecorded list made of each family and which land they were to
be given. This looks forward to our very personal and unique inheritance
in God's Kingdom, possibly based around spiritual family units.
Jos 13:25 Their border was Jazer and all the cities of Gilead, and half
the land of the children of Ammon, to Aroer that is before Rabbah-
The cities of Gilead had belonged to the kingdom of Sihon and were
given to Gad; the northern part of Gilead was given to the half tribe of
Manasseh. So we can note that different difficulties and struggles are
given to different members of God's people.
Jos 13:26 and from Heshbon to Ramath Mizpeh, and Betonim; and from
Mahanaim to the border of Debir-
Ramath Mizpeh, where Jacob and Esau made their mound of stones, and
Mahanaim (Gen. 32:2) are rich in association with the patriarchs. In our
lives too, we are constantly pointed back to the patriarchs as our
spiritual fathers, and in essence our lives, as those of Israel at this
time, repeat their experience. A study of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is one
of the most relevant Old Testament studies for a Christian today.
Jos 13:27 and in the valley, Beth Haram, Beth Nimrah, Succoth, and Zaphon,
the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon, the Jordan’s bank, to
the uttermost part of the sea of Chinnereth beyond the Jordan eastward-
"The valley" refers to the Jordan river valley. The Sea of Chinnereth
is the sea of Galilee. Succoth features in the account of Jacob; see on
:26.
Jos 13:28 This is the inheritance of the children of Gad according to
their families, the cities and villages-
The law of Moses reasons as if each family of Israel had a specific
inheritance which was not to be sold or moved outside the family. Hence
the sin of Ahab in obtaining Naboth's vineyard. It would seem that there
was some unrecorded list made of each family and which land they were to
be given. This looks forward to our very personal and unique inheritance
in God's Kingdom, possibly based around spiritual family units.
Jos 13:29 Moses gave an inheritance to the half-tribe of Manasseh. It was
for the half-tribe of the children of Manasseh according to their
families-
The words for "tribe" here are different. Some would see in this
evidence that the Divinely inspired compiler was bringing together
different existing records, giving us the Divinely inspired product of the
synthesis.
Jos 13:30 Their border was from Mahanaim, all Bashan, all the kingdom of
Og king of Bashan, and all the towns of Jair which are in Bashan, sixty
cities-
These are the 60 cities of "Argob" (Dt. 3:4), which is "called the
land of giants" (Dt. 3:13). The two and a half tribes saw good pasture
land and wanted it there and then, as a king of short cut to the Kingdom
of God. But there are no short cuts to the Kingdom. The conditions they
were given demanded even more faith from them. Their men had to leave
their flocks and families unprotected on the east of Jordan whilst they
fought in the front line vanguard of Joshua's army to secure the territory
on the west of Jordan. And the territory they were asked to possess was
huge, far larger than the pasture lands they initially coveted, and
inhabited by giants.
Jos 13:31 Half Gilead, Ashtaroth, and Edrei, the cities of the kingdom of
Og in Bashan, were for the children of Machir the son of Manasseh, even
for the half of the children of Machir according to their families-
Machir was a very large clan of seven families within Manasseh (1
Chron. 5:24) and were given a large inheritance.
Jos 13:32 These are the inheritances which Moses distributed in the plains
of Moab, beyond the Jordan at Jericho, eastward-
The land east of Jordan was far harder to possess and the two and a
half tribes faced far more opposition there than those on the west of
Jordan. We conclude that our inheritances in the Kingdom, and our paths
there, are all tailored according to our personality types. But the half
tribe of Manasseh east of Jordan initially prospered through all this. For
when David was crowned at Hebron, western Manasseh sent 18,000 men, all
Ephraim only 20,800, but the two and a half tribes east of Jordan sent
120,000.
Jos 13:33 But to the tribe of Levi Moses gave no inheritance. Yahweh, the
God of Israel, was their inheritance, as He had told them-
See on :14.
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