Joshua 13

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Joshua 13 opens the second half of the book, where conquest gives way to allotment. The LORD tells the aged Joshua that much land remains unconquered, the Philistine coast, the Sidonian hills, and Lebanon, and that God himself will drive out its inhabitants, so Joshua is to divide the whole land by lot among the nine and a half tribes anyway. The rest of the chapter records what Moses had already given east of the Jordan: the kingdoms of Sihon and Og, allotted to Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh, city by city, from the Arnon gorge to Mount Hermon. Two notes break the survey: the Geshurites and Maacathites were never driven out, and Levi received no land, because the LORD and his offerings are Levi's inheritance.

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Joshua 13 is where the book stops fighting and starts surveying, and it begins with a frank word from God to an old soldier. You are old, the LORD tells Joshua, and there is a great deal of land still to be taken: the whole Philistine coast with its five cities, the Sidonian hills, Lebanon up to the pass of Hamath. Then comes the instruction that shapes the rest of the book. Do not wait. Divide the land now, all of it, conquered and unconquered alike, by lot among the nine and a half tribes, because I will drive out those hill peoples myself. Israel is to receive its inheritance on paper before it holds it in fact. The rest of the chapter looks back across the Jordan to the land Moses had already assigned to Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh, the kingdoms of Sihon and Og, described the way a land registry would describe them, from the Arnon gorge in the south to Mount Hermon in the north, plateau town by plateau town, with the note that Balaam the diviner died there too. Twice the survey pauses for something that is not geography. The Geshurites and Maacathites were never driven out and still live among the Israelites. And the tribe of Levi got nothing, no towns and no borders, because the LORD himself, and the offerings made to him, are Levi's inheritance. The chapter is a list, but it teaches two things a list rarely does: that promises are given before they are possessed, and that some of God's people are meant to own nothing but him.

Ключові місця

Joshua 13:1-7 Joshua 13:8-14 Joshua 13:15-23 Joshua 13:29-33 Numbers 32:1-5 Numbers 18:20-21

Historical and literary context

The chapter belongs to the land-division section of Joshua, chapters 13 to 21, which reads like an administrative archive of borders and towns. The Transjordan tribes had asked Moses for the conquered land east of the river because it suited their herds, on condition that their fighting men crossed over with the rest, a story told in Numbers 32. Sihon and Og were the Amorite kings defeated in Numbers 21, and Og "the remnant of the Rephaim" belonged to the giant peoples of the region. The Philistine pentapolis of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron would trouble Israel for centuries. The killing of Balaam, mentioned in passing, comes from Numbers 31. Many of the towns listed can be located on the Moabite plateau.

How the chapter unfolds

Verses 1 to 7 are the LORD's speech: Joshua's age, the land that remains, listed region by region, the promise to drive out the Sidonians, and the command to divide the land west of the Jordan. Verses 8 to 14 summarize the eastern inheritance given by Moses, with the notes on the undriven Geshurites and Maacathites and on Levi's inheritance of the offerings. Verses 15 to 23 give Reuben's territory with its towns and the note on Balaam. Verses 24 to 28 give Gad's. Verses 29 to 31 give the half-tribe of Manasseh's in Bashan. Verses 32 and 33 close the eastern survey and repeat that Levi's inheritance is the LORD himself.

Why this chapter matters

The chapter establishes the pattern that the promised land was given before it was fully possessed: Joshua divides territory still held by enemies, on the strength of God's word, which later readers have taken as a picture of living by promise. "Very much of the land remains to be possessed" became a text for Christian growth and for mission. Levi's inheritance, "the LORD, the God of Israel, is their inheritance," is the Old Testament's clearest statement that God himself can be a person's portion, echoed in the Psalms. The unconquered Geshurites and Maacathites, "to this day," are the first admissions in the allotment section that the conquest was incomplete.

Interpretive tension to watch

The chapter's lists sit beside the earlier claim in Joshua 11 that Joshua took the whole land, and the Philistine coast named here as unconquered was never taken in the biblical period; readers must reckon with a book that describes the conquest as both complete and unfinished. The Transjordan settlement, outside the land as promised to Abraham, was accepted by Moses but always uneasy, and the tribes east of the river were the first lost to Assyria. For modern readers, the allotment of towns inhabited by other peoples raises the ethical questions that surround the whole conquest narrative.

Запитання до цього розділу

God tells Joshua to divide land that is still in enemy hands. What does it mean to act on a promise before you can see it fulfilled?
Levi receives no territory because "the LORD is their inheritance." What would it mean to have God as your portion instead of property?
The chapter admits that some peoples were never driven out. How do you live faithfully with work that stays unfinished?

Study with context

Use this as a chapter guide, then press deeper into the text itself. The goal is to slow down observation, notice structure, and ask better questions before jumping to conclusions.

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1 约书亚年纪老迈，耶和华对他说：「你年纪老迈了，还有许多未得之地， 2 就是非利士人的全境和基述人的全地。 3 从埃及前的西曷河往北，直到以革伦的境界，就算属迦南人之地。有非利士人五个首领所管的迦萨人、亚实突人、亚实基伦人、迦特人、以革伦人[之地]，并有南方亚卫人之地。 4 又有迦南人的全地，并属西顿人的米亚拉到亚弗，直到亚摩利人的境界。 5 还有迦巴勒人之地，并向日出的全黎巴嫩，就是从黑门山根的巴力·迦得，直到哈马口。 6 山地的一切居民，从黎巴嫩直到米斯利弗·玛音，就是所有的西顿人，我必在以色列人面前赶出他们去。你只管照我所吩咐的，将这地拈阄分给以色列人为业。 7 现在你要把这地分给九个支派和玛拿西半个支派为业。」 8 玛拿西那半支派和吕便、迦得二支派已经受了产业，就是耶和华的仆人摩西在约旦河东所赐给他们的： 9 是从亚嫩谷边的亚罗珥和谷中的城，并米底巴的全平原，直到底本， 10 和在希实本作王亚摩利王西宏的诸城，直到亚扪人的境界； 11 又有基列地、基述人、玛迦人的地界，并黑门全山、巴珊全地，直到撒迦； 12 又有巴珊王噩的全国—他在亚斯他录和以得来作王（利乏音人所存留的只剩下他）。这些地的人都是摩西所击杀、所赶逐的。 13 以色列人却没有赶逐基述人、玛迦人；这些人仍住在以色列中，直到今日。 14 只是利未支派，摩西没有把产业分给他们。他们的产业乃是献与耶和华—以色列　神的火祭，正如耶和华所应许他们的。 15 摩西按着吕便支派的宗族分给他们[产业]。 16 他们的境界是亚嫩谷边的亚罗珥和谷中的城，靠近米底巴的全平原； 17 希实本并属希实本平原的各城，底本、巴末·巴力、伯·巴力·勉、 18 雅杂、基底莫、米法押、 19 基列亭、西比玛、谷中山的细列·哈沙辖、 20 伯·毗珥、毗斯迦山坡、伯·耶西末； 21 平原的各城，并亚摩利王西宏的全国。这西宏曾在希实本作王，摩西把他和米甸的族长以未、利金、苏珥、户珥、利巴击杀了；这都是住那地属西宏为首领的。 22 那时以色列人在所杀的人中，也用刀杀了比珥的儿子术士巴兰。 23 吕便人的境界就是约旦河与靠近约旦河的地。以上是吕便人按着宗族所得为业的诸城，并属城的村庄。 24 摩西按着迦得支派的宗族分给他们[产业]。 25 他们的境界是雅谢和基列的各城，并亚扪人的一半地，直到拉巴前的亚罗珥； 26 从希实本到拉抹·米斯巴和比多宁，又从玛哈念到底璧的境界， 27 并谷中的伯·亚兰、伯·宁拉、疏割、撒分，就是希实本王西宏国中的余地，以及约旦河与靠近约旦河的地，直到基尼烈海的极边，都在约旦河东。 28 以上是迦得人按着宗族所得为业的诸城，并属城的村庄。 29 摩西把[产业]分给玛拿西半支派，是按着玛拿西半支派的宗族所分的。 30 他们的境界是从玛哈念起，包括巴珊全地，就是巴珊王噩的全国，并在巴珊、睚珥的一切城邑，共六十个。 31 基列的一半，并亚斯他录、以得来，就是属巴珊王噩国的二城，是按着宗族给玛拿西的儿子玛吉的一半子孙。 32 以上是摩西在约旦河东对着耶利哥的摩押平原所分给他们的产业。 33 只是利未支派，摩西没有把产业分给他们。耶和华—以色列的　神是他们的产业，正如耶和华所应许他们的。