Joshua 13:7 - Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown

Joshua 13:7

5 the land of ^athe Gebalites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrise, ^bfrom Baal Gad below Mount Hermon as far as the entrance to Hamath;

6 all the inhabitants of the mountains from Lebanon as far as ^athe Brook Misrephoth, and all the Sidonians—them ^bI will drive out from before the children of Israel; only ^cdivide it by lot to Israel as an inheritance, as I have commanded you.

7 Now therefore, divide this land as an inheritance to the nine tribes and half the tribe of Manasseh.”

The Land Divided East of the Jordan

8 With the other half-tribe the Reubenites and the Gadites received their inheritance, ^awhich Moses had given them, ^bbeyond the Jordan eastward, as Moses the servant of the Lord had given them:

9 from Aroer which is on the bank of the River Arnon, and the town that is in the midst of the ravine, ^aand all the plain of Medeba as far as Dibon;

10 ^aall the cities of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, as far as the border of the children of Ammon;

11 ^aGilead, and the border of the Geshurites and Maachathites, all Mount Hermon, and all Bashan as far as Salcah;

12 all the kingdom of Og in Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and Edrei, who remained of ^athe remnant of the giants; ^bfor Moses had defeated and cast out these.

13 Nevertheless the children of Israel ^adid not drive out the Geshurites or the Maachathites, but the Geshurites and the Maachathites dwell among the Israelites until this day.

14 ^aOnly to the tribe of Levi he had given¹ no inheritance; the sacrifices of the Lord God of Israel made by fire are their inheritance, ^bas He said to them.

The Land of Reuben

15 ^aAnd Moses had given to the tribe of the children of Reuben an inheritance according to their families.

16 Their territory was ^afrom Aroer, which is on the bank of the River Arnon, ^band the city that is in the midst of the ravine, ^cand all the plain by Medeba;

Commentaries:

Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown

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Joshua 13:6-7

All the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon unto Misrephoth-maim—(See on Joshua 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 (Numbers 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 (Numbers 26:54). The overruling control of God is conclusively proved because each tribe received the possession predicted by Jacob (Gen. 49:3-28) and by Moses (Deu. 33:6-25).

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