Today, I am reading and commenting on  Joshua 12-14.

At the end of Chapter 11 (the end of yesterday’s passage), we were told “Then the land had rest from war.”  Today’s passage ends with the same phrase.  This leads me to believe that we are intended to understand that some portion of today’s passage took place during the events recounted before that phrase was written at the end of Chapter 11.  As I read this, Chapter 12 is a summary of the kings defeated by Joshua before the end of Chapter 11.  I believe that Chapter 13 occurs after the end of Chapter 11, but that Chapter 14 occurs during the time when the battles written about before the end of Chapter 11 took place.  I am not quite sure when Caleb claimed his inheritance in Hebron, but I would guess it occurred shortly after Joshua and the Israelites finished their war against the alliance of the northern kings described in Chapter 11, most likely during the time in Chapter 11 where it describes the Israelites killing all of the Anakites who lived in the hill country.  I do not think figuring out the exact timing of when Caleb claimed his inheritance is important.  Rather, I think it is important to recognize the clues which tell us that account of one event is not intended to be understood as taking place after all of the events which had been described before the writer(s) got to the event in question.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.