I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.
Today, I am reading and commenting on Joshua 18-20.
It appears from today’s passage that over the course of Joshua’s life only the tribes east of the Jordan, Judah, Ephraim, and Manasseh actually began to settle down. The other seven tribes apparently continued a nomadic lifestyle. Here at the end of his life, Joshua instructed them to make a survey of the remaining land not already claimed by Judah or Ephraim and Manasseh. I am not sure of its significance, but we are told that Benjamin was given the land between Judah and Joseph (Ephraim and Manasseh), while Simeon was given land surrounded by lands settled by Judah. We see here how the portion of Manasseh which settled west of the Jordan became absorbed into Ephraim and that Simeon would become absorbed into Judah. We also see how Judah, Benjamin, and Simeon settled in the lands which had been part of the alliance of southern kings which Joshua conquered and the other tribes settled in the lands which had part of the alliance of northern kings. This foreshadows the eventual divide into two kingdoms.
There are two other, somewhat related things of importance in this passage. First, it begins by telling us that the Israelites set up the Tabernacle at Shiloh as the central point for worship. This was a more or less central location. It also both reflects and contributed to the somewhat dominant role which the tribe of Ephraim played in the pre-kingdom era of Israel. The other thing which was related here is that Joshua actually set up the cities of refuge as Moses had instructed the Israelites to do. The importance of this is that it shows that at least some of the system of justice laid out in the Law of Moses was implemented. The later portions ofthe Old Testament suggest that the system of justice (including Sabbath and Jubilee Years) laid out in the Law of Moses was never fully implemented, but this shows us that the early Israelites at least made a try at doing so.