Chapter 13
Land That Still Needs to Be Conquered
This chapter marks the end of Joshua leading the men of Israel in their ‘corporate’ conquering of the land. These seven verses serve as a transition from the conquering to the allocation of the land to the tribes. But before the allocation is to commence, God points out the areas in the Promised Land where the old inhabitants were still living. He will reiterate His promise to go before the people of Israel (see verse six), but instead of conquering as an army consisting of all tribes, the tribe that inherits the land will be responsible for the fighting.
13:1 Now Joshua was old and advanced in years, and the LORD said to him, “You are old and advanced in years, and there remains yet very much land to possess.
We are not given a time period from the people of Israel crossing the Jordan to this juncture, based on what God is telling Joshua, it appears to be several years and the conquering of the land is not yet complete. We will encounter a similar statement about Joshua’s age later in Joshua 23:1-2. God informs Joshua that there is more land to clear.
13:2 This is the land that yet remains: all the regions of the Philistines, and all those of the Geshurites
The first two regions God mentions are those of the Philistines and the Geshurites in the southern Mediterranean coastland. Geshur was south of the Philistines and should not be confused with the Geshur in Gilead listed below (see verse 11).
13:3 (from the Shihor, which is east of Egypt, northward to the boundary of Ekron, it is counted as Canaanite; there are five rulers of the Philistines, those of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron), and those of the Avvim, 4 in the south, all the land of the Canaanites,
The name of Shihor is an Egyptian name meaning “the pool of Horus,” here referring to the river known as the Wadi el-‘Arish (also known as the River of Egypt, which flows from the Sinai Peninsula into the Mediterranean Sea). It is interesting to note that there are a few scholars that believe the Shihor is another name for the Nile River based on Isaiah 23:3 and Jeremiah 2:18. The unconquered Philistine territory was identified as the land between the Shihor in the south to Ekron in the north where it was counted (Hebrew tē·ḥā·šēḇ’, to think, to consider) as Canaanite (since the Philistines had taken this region from the Canaanites). God then specifically names five rulers (Hebrew sǎr·nê’, thought to be a loan word from Greek meaning ‘tyrant’, but the actual etymological origin is unknown, believed to be a Philistine word ) of the Philistine cities of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron, some of these names should sound familiar as they remain spiritual strongholds today. According to Deuteronomy 2:23 the Avvim previously lived in this region and perhaps were still living among the Philistines at this time.
13:4b and Mearah that belongs to the Sidonians, to Aphek, to the boundary of the Amorites, 5 and the land of the Gebalites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrise, from Baal-gad below Mount Hermon to Lebo-hamath, 6a all the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth-maim, even all the Sidonians.
God further identifies areas in the north that remain to be conquered. The location of Mearah is unknown as it is the Hebrew (meā·rā(h)’) meaning cave. But the cities of Sidon, Aphek, Gebal are all in the north in Lebanon. The area from Baal-gad below Mount Hermon (also considered to be in the Lebanon Valley, see Joshua 11:17; 12:7) to Lebo-hamath referring to the entry or gates to Hamath on the northern Canaanite boundary (see Joshua 1:4; 2 Kings 14:25) was to be captured including the people in the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth-maim which would include the Sidonians. We previously read that Joshua and his men pursued the people into this territory but apparently they did not defeat them (see Joshua 11:8).
13:6b I myself will drive them out from before the people of Israel. Only allot the land to Israel for an inheritance, as I have commanded you. 7 Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance to the nine tribes and half the tribe of Manasseh.”
Just as God previously promised to drive out the inhabitants (see Joshua 3:10), He will continue, but not for Joshua to lead as he now has a new assignment, to allocate the land to the nine and half tribes on the west side of the Jordan River. The word ‘allot’ is the Hebrew hǎp·pi·lě’ meaning to fall, likely a reference to the use of lots (see Proverbs 16:33).
Inheritance of Land East of the Jordan
13:8 With the other half of the tribe of Manasseh the Reubenites and the Gadites received their inheritance, which Moses gave them, beyond the Jordan eastward, as Moses the servant of the LORD gave them:
Before reporting on the allocation of the land on the west side of the Jordan, we are first given a comprehensive breakdown of the land allocated to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh by Moses. The following five verses describe the location of the boundaries of the entire region.
13:9 from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the valley, and all the tableland of Medeba as far as Dibon;
The territory from Aroer which was east of the Dead Sea near the Arnon river valley (see Deuteronomy 2:36; Joshua 12:2) and an unnamed city in the middle of the valley, all of the plateau of Medeba and Dibon (both east of the Dead Sea) establishes the southern and western borders.
13:10 and all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, as far as the boundary of the Ammonites; 11 and Gilead, and the region of the Geshurites and Maacathites, and all Mount Hermon, and all Bashan to Salecah;
Sihon’s territory included Heshbon (near the north end of the Dead Sea) to the boundary of the Ammonites, including Gilead, the land of the Geshurites and Maacathites (see Deuteronomy 3:14), north to Mount Hermon which included Bashan and Salecah (see Deuteronomy 3:10; Joshua 12:5; 1 Chronicles 5:11).
13:12 all the kingdom of Og in Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei (he alone was left of the remnant of the Rephaim); these Moses had struck and driven out.
Og’s territory in the Bashon region included where he reigned in Ashtaroth (east of the Sea of Galilee) and Edrei (southeast of Ashtaroth). We are told that Og was the only remnant of the Rephaim giants (see Numbers 21:21-35; Deuteronomy 2:26-37, click here to read more about the Nephilim).
13:13 Yet the people of Israel did not drive out the Geshurites or the Maacathites, but Geshur and Maacath dwell in the midst of Israel to this day.
We are informed that not all of the people on the east side of the Jordan were driven out. Perhaps at the time of defeating Og and Sihon the land was not considered for Israel’s inheritance as it was not part of the original Promised Land (see Numbers 21:21-35; Deuteronomy 3:14). It was much later when the tribes of Rueben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh approached Moses with the idea (see Numbers 32:1-5).
13:14 To the tribe of Levi alone Moses gave no inheritance. The offerings by fire to the LORD God of Israel are their inheritance, as he said to him.
Before breaking down each tribe’s allocation of land inheritance, we are reminded that the tribe of Levi does not get a territory of land inheritance, as YHWH and the provisions through the offerings by fire are their inheritance (see Numbers 18:20-32).
Due to the fact that many of the following location names are unknown (see Considerations under Joshua 12:24), the text will be generalized and summarized for each tribe’s allocation. Each territory’s size will be based on the size of the tribe, the greater the number of people, the larger the territory (see Numbers 26:52-56).
13:15 And Moses gave an inheritance to the tribe of the people of Reuben according to their clans. 16 So their territory was from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the valley, and all the tableland by Medeba; 17 with Heshbon, and all its cities that are in the tableland; Dibon, and Bamoth-baal, and Beth-baal-meon, 18 and Jahaz, and Kedemoth, and Mephaath, 19 and Kiriathaim, and Sibmah, and Zereth-shahar on the hill of the valley, 20 and Beth-peor, and the slopes of Pisgah, and Beth-jeshimoth, 21 that is, all the cities of the tableland, and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses defeated with the leaders of Midian, Evi and Rekem and Zur and Hur and Reba, the princes of Sihon, who lived in the land. 22 Balaam also, the son of Beor, the one who practiced divination, was killed with the sword by the people of Israel among the rest of their slain. 23 And the border of the people of Reuben was the Jordan as a boundary. This was the inheritance of the people of Reuben, according to their clans with their cities and villages.
Beginning with the tribe of Rueben the territory northeast of the Dead Sea (from the Aroer River to Dibon) will be the southern most territory on the east side of the Jordan. Which included the city of Bamoth-baal where Balaam the prophet hired by Balak to curse Israel was killed (see Numbers 22:41, see also Joshua 24:9-10, click here to read more about Balaam).
13:24 Moses gave an inheritance also to the tribe of Gad, to the people of Gad, according to their clans. 25 Their territory was Jazer, and all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the Ammonites, to Aroer, which is east of Rabbah, 26 and from Heshbon to Ramath-mizpeh and Betonim, and from Mahanaim to the territory of Debir, 27 and in the valley Beth-haram, Beth-nimrah, Succoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon, having the Jordan as a boundary, to the lower end of the Sea of Chinnereth, eastward beyond the Jordan. 28 This is the inheritance of the people of Gad according to their clans, with their cities and villages.
The land allocated to the tribe of Gad was directly north of Rueben’s territory. The description includes two ‘fingers’ that extend north for several miles one on the west side along the eastern bank of the Jordan to the Sea of Galilee and one on the east side toward and including half of Gilead.
13:29 And Moses gave an inheritance to the half-tribe of Manasseh. It was allotted to the half-tribe of the people of Manasseh according to their clans. 30 Their region extended from Mahanaim, through all Bashan, the whole kingdom of Og king of Bashan, and all the towns of Jair, which are in Bashan, sixty cities, 31 and half Gilead, and Ashtaroth, and Edrei, the cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. These were allotted to the people of Machir the son of Manasseh for the half of the people of Machir according to their clans.
We are not provided with the same amount of detail description as provided for the territories of Rueben and Gad. But we can see that the territory for the half-tribe of Manasseh was north of Gad which extended north to the foothills of Mount Hermon was as big, if not bigger, as those two territories combined. Machir was the son of Manasseh (see Numbers 26:29; 32:39-40; Joshua 17:1) many of the people of Manasseh are called the sons of Machir.
13:32 These are the inheritances that Moses distributed in the plains of Moab, beyond the Jordan east of Jericho. 33 But to the tribe of Levi Moses gave no inheritance; the LORD God of Israel is their inheritance, just as he said to them.
This verse summarizes and concludes the allocation of tribal territories on the east side of the Jordan. We are once again told that the tribe of Levi was given no territory inheritance that YHWH is their inheritance.
Considerations
The Tribe of Levi Received No Territory
In this chapter we are told twice that the tribe of Levi has not and will not be allocated any land inheritance. We will see two more similar statements later in this book. But is interesting to note that appended to all four of these announcements are four different proclamations of things the Levites do inherit: 1) Offerings by fire to the LORD God of Israel (see Joshua 13:3); 2) The LORD God of Israel (see Joshua 13:33); 3) Cities to dwell in, with their pasturelands for their livestock and their substance (see Joshua 14:4, allocations begin in chapter 20); and 4) The priesthood of the LORD is their heritage (see Joshua 18:7).