The Histories · Old Testament
Joshua 13
Land still to possess and the eastern inheritances
General context
Joshua is old when the Lord tells him that much land remains to be possessed. The remaining regions include Philistine territory and northern lands toward Lebanon and Hamath. Joshua is commanded to divide the land for the nine tribes and half Manasseh, while the Lord promises further displacement. The account then reviews the eastern inheritances Moses gave to Reuben, Gad and the other half of Manasseh. Reuben's area is described around the Arnon, Medeba and Heshbon; Gad's includes Gilead and the Jordan valley; half Manasseh receives Bashan and associated towns. The Geshurites and Maachathites are explicitly said to remain among Israel. The list also recalls the defeat of Midianite rulers and Balaam's death. Levi's lack of a territorial allotment is stated twice, with the sacrifices and the Lord himself named as the tribe's inheritance.
Cited passages: Joshua 13:1, Joshua 13:2, Joshua 13:3, Joshua 13:4, Joshua 13:5, Joshua 13:6, Joshua 13:7, Joshua 13:8, Joshua 13:9, Joshua 13:10, Joshua 13:11, Joshua 13:12, Joshua 13:13, Joshua 13:14, Joshua 13:15, Joshua 13:16, Joshua 13:17, Joshua 13:18, Joshua 13:19, Joshua 13:20, Joshua 13:21, Joshua 13:22, Joshua 13:23, Joshua 13:24, Joshua 13:25, Joshua 13:26, Joshua 13:27, Joshua 13:28, Joshua 13:29, Joshua 13:30, Joshua 13:31, Joshua 13:32, Joshua 13:33
Joshua 13 (KJV)
1Now Joshua was old and stricken in years; and the Lord said unto him, Thou art old and stricken in years, and there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed.
2This is the land that yet remaineth: all the borders of the Philistines, and all Geshuri,
3From Sihor, which is before Egypt, even unto the borders of Ekron northward, which is counted to the Canaanite: five lords of the Philistines; the Gazathites, and the Ashdothites, the Eshkalonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites; also the Avites:
4From the south, all the land of the Canaanites, and Mearah that is beside the Sidonians, unto Aphek, to the borders of the Amorites:
5And the land of the Giblites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrising, from Baal-gad under mount Hermon unto the entering into Hamath.
6All the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon unto Misrephoth-maim, and all the Sidonians, them will I drive out from before the children of Israel: only divide thou it by lot unto the Israelites for an inheritance, as I have commanded thee.
7Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance unto the nine tribes, and the half tribe of Manasseh,
8With whom the Reubenites and the Gadites have received their inheritance, which Moses gave them, beyond Jordan eastward, even as Moses the servant of the Lord gave them;
9From Aroer, that is upon the bank of the river Arnon, and the city that is in the midst of the river, and all the plain of Medeba unto Dibon;
10And all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorites, which reigned in Heshbon, unto the border of the children of Ammon;
11And Gilead, and the border of the Geshurites and Maachathites, and all mount Hermon, and all Bashan unto Salcah;
12All the kingdom of Og in Bashan, which reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei, who remained of the remnant of the giants: for these did Moses smite, and cast them out.
13Nevertheless the children of Israel expelled not the Geshurites, nor the Maachathites: but the Geshurites and the Maachathites dwell among the Israelites until this day.
14Only unto the tribe of Levi he gave none inheritance; the sacrifices of the Lord God of Israel made by fire are their inheritance, as he said unto them.
15And Moses gave unto the tribe of the children of Reuben inheritance according to their families.
16And their coast was from Aroer, that is on the bank of the river Arnon, and the city that is in the midst of the river, and all the plain by Medeba;
17Heshbon, and all her cities that are in the plain; Dibon, and Bamoth-baal, and Beth-baal-meon,
18And Jahazah, and Kedemoth, and Mephaath,
19And Kirjathaim, and Sibmah, and Zareth-shahar in the mount of the valley,
20And Beth-peor, and Ashdoth-pisgah, and Beth-jeshimoth,
21And all the cities of the plain, and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, which reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses smote with the princes of Midian, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, which were dukes of Sihon, dwelling in the country.
22Balaam also the son of Beor, the soothsayer, did the children of Israel slay with the sword among them that were slain by them.
23And the border of the children of Reuben was Jordan, and the border thereof. This was the inheritance of the children of Reuben after their families, the cities and the villages thereof.
24And Moses gave inheritance unto the tribe of Gad, even unto the children of Gad according to their families.
25And their coast was Jazer, and all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the children of Ammon, unto Aroer that is before Rabbah;
26And from Heshbon unto Ramath-mizpeh, and Betonim; and from Mahanaim unto the border of Debir;
27And in the valley, Beth-aram, and Beth-nimrah, and Succoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon, Jordan and his border, even unto the edge of the sea of Chinnereth on the other side Jordan eastward.
28This is the inheritance of the children of Gad after their families, the cities, and their villages.
29And Moses gave inheritance unto the half tribe of Manasseh: and this was the possession of the half tribe of the children of Manasseh by their families.
30And their coast was from Mahanaim, all Bashan, all the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, and all the towns of Jair, which are in Bashan, threescore cities:
31And half Gilead, and Ashtaroth, and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan, were pertaining unto the children of Machir the son of Manasseh, even to the one half of the children of Machir by their families.
32These are the countries which Moses did distribute for inheritance in the plains of Moab, on the other side Jordan, by Jericho, eastward.
33But unto the tribe of Levi Moses gave not any inheritance: the Lord God of Israel was their inheritance, as he said unto them.
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Historical context
The chapter distinguishes assignment from possession: land can be allotted while its inhabitants still remain. The western allocation for nine and a half tribes is set beside an eastern distribution already credited to Moses in the plains of Moab. Tribal names designate descendants and their family holdings, not new journeys by Reuben, Gad or Manasseh themselves. Verse 25 calls part of Gad's area half the land of the children of Ammon, while Deuteronomy 2:19 forbids taking Ammon's land; these descriptions are preserved without inventing a border history to reconcile them. The stated sixty towns of Jair belong to the half-Manasseh account. Levi's exception concerns this tribal land distribution, with another form of inheritance explicitly affirmed.
Cited passages: Joshua 13:6, Joshua 13:7, Joshua 13:8, Joshua 13:13, Joshua 13:14, Joshua 13:15, Joshua 13:24, Joshua 13:25, Joshua 13:26, Joshua 13:27, Joshua 13:28, Joshua 13:29, Joshua 13:30, Joshua 13:31, Joshua 13:32, Joshua 13:33, Deuteronomy 2:19
Literary context
The Lord's opening words repeat Joshua's age and immediately turn to unfinished possession. That opening changes the task from recounting victories to distributing a land whose occupation remains incomplete. The repeated inheritance headings organize the eastern tribes, while the two statements about Levi frame the territorial lists with a different kind of provision. The final reference to Moses brings this distribution back to its setting east of the Jordan, before Joshua's western allotments.
Cited passages: Joshua 13:1, Joshua 13:2, Joshua 13:3, Joshua 13:4, Joshua 13:5, Joshua 13:6, Joshua 13:7, Joshua 13:8, Joshua 13:14, Joshua 13:15, Joshua 13:16, Joshua 13:24, Joshua 13:29, Joshua 13:32, Joshua 13:33
Key moments
- Much land remains (Joshua 13:1). The Lord's address to the aged Joshua begins by naming the unfinished possession.
- An allotment before full possession (Joshua 13:6). Joshua is told to distribute the inheritance while the Lord promises to drive out remaining inhabitants.
- Peoples still living among Israel (Joshua 13:13). The narrator explicitly notes that the Geshurites and Maachathites were not expelled.
- Levi's different inheritance (Joshua 13:33). The chapter closes by naming the Lord, rather than a tribal land portion, as Levi's inheritance.
For reflection
The land is assigned even while much remains unfinished. How can naming what has been entrusted to a community help it distinguish a responsibility from an accomplishment?
People in this chapter
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