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Joshua 13

Joshua 13 records Israel’s inheritance alongside unfinished conquest, placing the division of the land under YHWH’s command and promise.

Joshua is old, and much land remains to be possessed. YHWH names the remaining regions and commands Joshua to divide the land among nine tribes and half of Manasseh. The account then turns east of the Jordan, recording the territories Moses had assigned to Reuben, Gad, and the other half of Manasseh. It also names peoples Israel had failed to drive out and explains why Levi received no tribal territory.

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1Now Joshua was old and well advanced in years. The LORD said to him, “You are old and advanced in years, and there remains yet very much land to be possessed.
2“This is the land that still remains: all the regions of the Philistines, and all the Geshurites;
3from the Shihor, which is before Egypt, even to the border of Ekron northward, which is counted as Canaanite; the five lords of the Philistines; the Gazites, and the Ashdodites, the Ashkelonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites; also the Avvim,
4on the south; all the land of the Canaanites, and Mearah that belongs to the Sidonians, to Aphek, to the border of the Amorites;
5and the land of the Gebalites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrise, from Baal Gad under Mount Hermon to the entrance of Hamath;
6all the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth Maim, even all the Sidonians. I will drive them out from before the children of Israel. Just allocate it to Israel for an inheritance, as I have commanded you.
7Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance to the nine tribes and the half-tribe of Manasseh.”
8With him the Reubenites and the Gadites received their inheritance, which Moses gave them, beyond the Jordan eastward, even as Moses the servant of the LORD gave them:
9from Aroer, that is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the valley, and all the plain of Medeba to Dibon;
10and all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, to the border of the children of Ammon;
11and Gilead, and the border of the Geshurites and Maacathites, and all Mount Hermon, and all Bashan to Salecah;
12all the kingdom of Og in Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei (who was left of the remnant of the Rephaim); for Moses attacked these, and drove them out.
13Nevertheless the children of Israel didn’t drive out the Geshurites, nor the Maacathites: but Geshur and Maacath live within Israel to this day.
14Only he gave no inheritance to the tribe of Levi. The offerings of the LORD, the God of Israel, made by fire are his inheritance, as he spoke to him.
16Their border was from Aroer, that is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the valley, and all the plain by Medeba;
17Heshbon, and all its cities that are in the plain; Dibon, Bamoth Baal, Beth Baal Meon,
18Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath,
19Kiriathaim, Sibmah, Zereth Shahar in the mount of the valley,
20Beth Peor, the slopes of Pisgah, Beth Jeshimoth,
21all the cities of the plain, and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses struck with the chiefs of Midian, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the princes of Sihon, who lived in the land.
22The children of Israel also killed Balaam the son of Beor, the soothsayer, with the sword, among the rest of their slain.
25Their border was Jazer, and all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the children of Ammon, to Aroer that is near Rabbah;
26and from Heshbon to Ramath Mizpeh, and Betonim; and from Mahanaim to the border of Debir;
27and in the valley, Beth Haram, Beth Nimrah, Succoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon, the Jordan’s bank, to the uttermost part of the sea of Chinnereth beyond the Jordan eastward.
30Their border was from Mahanaim, all Bashan, all the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, and all the villages of Jair, which are in Bashan, sixty cities.
31Half Gilead, Ashtaroth, and Edrei, the cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan, were for the children of Machir the son of Manasseh, even for the half of the children of Machir according to their families.
33But Moses gave no inheritance to the tribe of Levi. The LORD, the God of Israel, is their inheritance, as he spoke to them.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Joshua 13:3The five Philistine rulers mark a substantial region still outside Israel’s possession as the distribution of land begins.
Joshua 13:8This verse turns from Joshua’s assignment to the eastern inheritance Moses had already given Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh.
Joshua 13:5The northern territories extend the account of unpossessed land through Lebanon, showing how much remains beyond the conquered regions.
Where this chapter reaches

Numbers and Deuteronomy recount Moses’ allocation of territory east of the Jordan to Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh, the same inheritance detailed here. Judges shares the account of incomplete possession and the continuing presence of peoples Israel had been commanded to drive out.

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After reading the whole chapter

What stands out about God’s command to divide land while so much remains to be possessed?

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How does Levi’s inheritance shape your reading of the chapter’s detailed lists of land and cities?

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Questions people ask about Joshua 13

How old was Joshua in Joshua 13?

The chapter says Joshua was old and advanced in years, but gives no age. YHWH acknowledges his age while assigning him the task of dividing the remaining land. Any precise age proposed for Joshua at this point goes beyond what this chapter states.

Why was land divided before it was conquered?

YHWH commands Joshua to allocate the remaining land as Israel’s inheritance and promises to drive out its inhabitants. The chapter therefore distinguishes the assignment of territory from its possession. Its opening list identifies unconquered regions, while the eastern account also records peoples Israel had failed to drive out.

Why did the tribe of Levi receive no land in Joshua 13?

Levi receives no tribal territory because its inheritance has a distinct character. Verse 14 identifies the offerings made by fire to YHWH as Levi’s inheritance; verse 33 names YHWH himself as their inheritance. Both statements appeal to what God had spoken concerning them.

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Joshua · 24 chapters
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).