Joshua 13
BBCJoshua 13:1
II. THE SETTLEMENT OF THE PROMISED LAND (Chaps. 13-21) A. The Lands Yet to Be Possessed (13:1-7)13:1-6 Joshua was now an old man, and the entire land promised to the Israelites had not as yet been occupied by them. Verses 2-6 describe portions in the southwest and in the northeast that were still inhabited by the heathen. We know also that the land eastward to the Euphrates had been promised to the Jews, but it has never yet been occupied by them. 13:7 The Lord instructed Joshua to divide the land which had already been conquered among the nine tribes and half the tribe of Manasseh.
Joshua 13:8
B. The Allotment of the Land (13:819:51)1. The Allotment to Reuben, Gad and Half of Manasseh 13:8-33 Two and a half tribes had already been assigned land east of the Jordan. It is described as follows: the entire territory occupied by the two and a half tribes (vv. 8-13); Reuben (vv. 15-23); Gad (vv. 24-28); and half the tribe of Manasseh (vv. 29-31). Levi did not receive a tribal inheritance (v. 14), since that was the priestly tribe, and the LORD was its inheritance in a special way (v. 33). Dropping Levi from the tribes leaves only eleven tribes. But Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, are included in Joseph’s place, and that raises the number to twelve again. The reason Joseph’s sons are included is that they were adopted by Jacob as his own sons before his death (Gen_48:5). Special mention is made of the fact that Balaam was among those slain in Transjordan (v. 22). The Lord had not forgotten the terrible calamity that this wicked prophet caused His people (see Num. 2325). “Be sure your sin will find you out” (Num_32:23). An interesting problem arises in verse 25. The tribe of Gad possessed some of the land of the Ammonites, which was forbidden in Deu_2:19. But this land had earlier been taken from the Ammonites by Sihon, king of the Amorites, and made part of his kingdom. So by the time Israel took the land from Sihon, it no longer belonged to the Ammonites. The Debir mentioned in verse 26 is not the same city mentioned in the previous chapter. This city was east of the Jordan, while the one Joshua conquered was west of the river.