Tag Archives: Joshua 18-20

Daily Bible Study

March 17, 2024 Bible Study — Perhaps the Last Seven Tribes Weren’t Sure That They Wanted to Settle

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Joshua 18-20.

This passage sheds some interesting light on the process whereby the Israelites invaded and took control of Canaan.  It seems to suggest that Judah, Ephraim, and Manasseh took control of lands west of the Jordan River during the wars led by Joshua, while Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh had control of lands east of the Jordan.  However, it appears that the remaining seven tribes, not counting the Levites (who were not getting a separate territory, had not done so.  In fact, it reads that where those seven tribes would settle had not been determined.  Actually, it reads as if these tribes had given no thought to what land they would settle, as if they were perfectly happy moving around as an army at war, sacking and razing enemy towns.  If I am right, when Joshua asked them at the beginning of the passage how long they would wait to claim their portion, he was calling them to account for their failure to choose a place to settle.

For the last few days I have found myself trying to read between the lines to understand what the people in these events were doing, and perhaps also what they were thinking.

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

Daily Bible Study

March 17, 2023 Bible Study — The Remaining Tribes Claim Their Land

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Joshua 18-20.

Continuing what I have been saying about the passages for the last few days, today’s passage also seems to me to be an account of things which happened in the time before Joshua 11:23.  As I read it, the conquest of the southern cities described in Chapter 10 is about the tribe of Judah claiming its allotment in the land, and the conquest of the northern cities described in Chapter 11 is about the tribes of Joseph claiming their allotment.  The allotments for the other seven tribes described here were smaller campaigns which involved the conquests of territories which did not enter the larger alliances.  Interestingly, we even have a reference here to the tribe of Dan losing control of their territory and later taking over the territory they name “Dan” which is recounted in more detail in Judges 18.

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

Daily Bible Study

March 17, 2021 Bible Study Did The Conquest of Canaan Actually Happen?

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Joshua 18-20.

Many modern scholars argue that the conquest described in the Book of Joshua never happened because there is no archeological evidence for it, and that the existing archeological evidence seems to contradict it.  First, I want to point out that the dates given in the Bible are ambiguous enough (I have touched on the ambiguity of translating Hebrew) that determining the dates for the conquest cannot be done with reliability (that does not mean that it can’t be done, just that we should not put too much credence when dates arrived at from the Bible do not match up with dates arrived at from other dating methods).  Today’s passage gives us a reason to think that the events in the Book of Joshua actually happened (even if they may appear differently to our eyes than the description given here).   At several points earlier in this book and in the books preceding it, we were told that Joshua and Eleazar would sit down with representatives of the tribes and divide the land up by lot immediately after the Israelites had conquered all of the land (or, at least, all of the land which they had sufficient numbers to settle).  However, here we discover that late in Joshua’s life, seven of the tribes had not yet had any land allocated to them.  In fact, this passage indicates that the land which would be theirs had not even been conquered yet. What is presented here is not how one would describe the conquest of the land if one were making it up solely to justify control over the land.

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

Daily Bible Study

March 17, 2020 Bible Study

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.

So, at this point, the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasseh, had settled east of the Jordan River.  The tribes of Judah and Ephraim, and the other half of Manasseh, had settled land west of the Jordan.  The other tribes were still living as nomads.  They had not yet claimed their territory in the Promised Land.  Many of us behave in the same manner.  We know the promises God has made to us, but we fail to take the actions necessary to claim those blessings, whether from fear, laziness, or some other reason.  We need to claim God’s blessings by doing as He directs us.

Daily Bible Study

March 17, 2019 Bible Study — Settling Into The Promised Land

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.

Daily Bible Study

March 17, 2018 Bible Study — The Final Divisions of the Land

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.

    Today’s passage gives us an interesting insight into how the allocation of land occurred. Seven tribes have yet to have land allocated to them at this point and Joshua admonished them for their failure to claim their land. Joshua then lays out a plan for them to divide the remaining land among them. We learn from this that, while they got approval from Joshua and through him from God, the tribes of Judah, Ephraim, Manasseh, Reuben, and Gad received the land they did because they went out and conquered it. The other tribes had to settle for dividing what was left because they did not take the initiative to go out and conquer the land they desired. Of course, what I just wrote is an oversimplification, because we are told that the tribe of Simeon was given a portion of the land originally given to the tribe of Judah. What does this mean? I am not completely sure. However, my interpretation is that despite getting a choice portion of land because they took the initiative to conquer it, when the leadership of the Children of Israel reviewed the division of the land they realized that the tribe of Judah had bitten off more than they could chew and slotted some of the land initially claimed by Judah to the tribe of Simeon.

Daily Bible Study

March 17, 2017 Bible Study — Final Land Assignments

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.

    After the tribes of Reuben, Gad, Judah, Ephraim, and Manasseh had taken control of the land designated to them (at least to some degree), there were still seven tribes which had not taken any land. Joshua asked them to send out scouts into the remaining land so that he could divide it up among them. When they returned, it was discovered that there was some land within that given to the tribe of Judah which had not been claimed. That land was given to the tribe of Simeon. Which means that the tribe of Simeon was within what later became the Kingdom of Judah. This is yet another example of what I said yesterday about how reading these passages about how the land was divided up can provide us insight into things which happened later.

Daily Bible Study

March 17, 2016 Bible Study — Taking Action to Receive God’s Blessings

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

DSCN0251

Today, I am reading and commenting on Joshua 18-20.

    It becomes clear in this passage that the tribal allotments were in part based on the land which the tribes carved out for themselves, although there was clearly more to it than that. The remaining seven tribes had failed to claim land for themselves and Joshua challenges them to do so. The land designated for each of the first five tribes was more than they were able to conquer, but this passage makes it clear that the tribes took initiative in obtaining their land allotment. It works the same way for us, we must put faith in God and trust in Him to provide for us, but we must take action ourselves as well.