13 1 Now Joshua was old and well stricken in years ; and the LORD said unto him, Thou art old and well stricken in years, and there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed. 2 This is the land that yet remaineth : all the regions of the Philistines, and all the Geshurites ; 3 from the Shihor, which is before Egypt, even unto the border of Ekron northward, which is counted to the Canaanites : the five lords of the Philistines ; the Gazites, and the Ashdodites, 4 the Ashkelonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites ; also the Avvim, on the south : all the land of the Canaanites, and Mearah that belongeth to the Zidonians, unto Aphek, to the border of 5 the Amorites : and the land of the Gebalites, and all Lebahon, toward the sunrising, from 6 Baal-gad under mount Hermon unto the entering in of Hamath : all the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon unto Misrephoth-maim, even all the Zidonians ; them will I drive out from before the children of Israel : only allot thou it unto Israel for an inheritance, as I have 7 commanded thee. Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance unto the nine tribes, and the half tribe of Manasseh.

14 1 And these are the inheritances which the children of Israel took in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the 2 tribes of the children of Israel, distributed unto them, by the lot of their inheritance, as the 3 LORD commanded by the hand of Moses, for the nine tribes, and for the half tribe. For Moses had given the inheritance of the two tribes and the half tribe beyond Jordan : but unto the 4 Levites he gave none inheritance among them. For the children of Joseph were two tribes,

Manasseh and Ephraim : and they gave no portion unto the Levites in the land, save cities to 5 dwell in, with the suburbs thereof for their cattle and for their substance. As the LORD commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did, and they divided the land.

15 : 1-12, 20-63. The inheritance of Judah.

16 : 1-10 ; 17 : 1-11. The inheritance of Ephraim and Manasseh.

17 12 Yet the children of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities ; but 13 the Canaanites would dwell in that land. And it came to pass, when the children of Israel were waxen strong, that they put the Canaanites to task work, and did not utterly drive them out. 14 And the children of Joseph spake unto Joshua, saying, Why hast thou given me but one lot and one part for an inheritance, seeing I am a great people, forasmuch as hitherto the LORD 15 hath blessed me? And Joshua said unto them, If thou be a great people, get thee up to the forest, and cut down for thyself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the Rephaim ; since 16 the hill country of Ephraim is too narrow for thee. And the children of Joseph said, The hill country is not enough for us : and all the Canaanites that dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both they who are in Bethshean and her towns, and they who are in the valley 17 of Jezreel. And Joshua spake unto the house of Joseph, even to Ephraim and to Manasseh, 18 saying, Thou art a great people, and hast great power : thou shalt not have one lot only : but the hill country shall be thine ; for though it is a forest, thou shalt cut it down, and the goings out thereof shall be thine : for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have chariots of iron, and though they be strong.

18 1 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled themselves together 2 at Shiloh, and set up the tent of meeting there : and the land was subdued before them. And there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes, which had not yet divided their in- 3 heritance. And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, How long are ye slack to go in to 4 possess the land, which the LORD, the God of your fathers, hath given you? Appoint for you three men for each tribe : and I will send them, and they shall arise, and walk through the 5 land, and describe it according to their inheritance ; and they shall come unto me. And they shall divide it into seven portions : Judah shall abide in his border on the south, and the house 6 of Joseph shall abide in their border on the north. And ye shall describe the land into seven portions, and bring the description hither to me : and I will cast lots for you here before the 7 LORD our God. For the Levites have no portion among you ; for the priesthood of the LORD is their inheritance : and Gad and Reuben and the half tribe of Manasseh have received their 8 inheritance beyond Jordan eastward, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave them. And the men arose, and went : and Joshua charged them that went to describe the land, saying, Go and walk through the land, and describe it, and come again to me, and I will cast lots for you 9 here before the LORD in Shiloh. And the men went and passed through the land, and de- scribed it by cities into seven portions in a book, and they came to Joshua unto the camp at 10 Shiloh. And Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the LORD : and there Joshua divided the land unto the children of Israel according to their divisions.

18 : 11-28 ; 19 : 1-48. Inheritances of Benjamin, Simeon, Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naph- tali, and Dan.

49. So they made an end of distributing the land for inheritance by the borders thereof ;

51. These are the inheritances, which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the children of Israel, distributed for inheritance by lot in Shiloh before the LORD, at the door of the tent of meeting. So they made an end of dividing the land.

The conquest of Canaan by Joshua was suffi- ciently complete to permit the distribution of the territory among the tribes of Israel, and its general occupation accordingly. The assign- ment to each tribe of its portion of the territory was made, as a rule, by lot ; and it is remarkable how well the condition of the several tribes, in its district thus assigned, answered to the con- dition predicted of it, many years before, by the dying Moses, and even to the condition predicted of it hundreds of years before in Egypt by the dying Jacob. N. C. B.—The Book of Joshua is the Domesday Book of Palestine, not only describing, with the fulness of a govern- ment survey, the various tribal boundaries throughout the land, but containing long lists of the towns and villages allotted to each tribe, in the order, as recent research has shown, of their geographical position. Porter.

The conquest of Palestine, so far as it required the united forces of all Israel, was over; what remained to be done, in putting down risings, in consolidating what had been won, and in capturing isolated and still unconquered cities, was left for the most part to the energy of the tribe to which the territory in question was assigned. The warlike half of Joshua’s great task was accomplished: the peaceful work of dividing the territory between the victorious tribes remained. The second half of the Book of Joshua—chapters 13-22—the Domesday Book of Palestine, is mainly taken up with details of the distribution. These are no less honorable to the man who carried them out than the details of the campaign which rendered them possible. Plummer.

13:1. Now Joshua was old. To what age he was now advanced we cannot certainly know, because we do not know his age when he came out of Egypt. If he was then forty-three, he was eighty-three when they came into Canaan; and now he wanted not much of a hundred. Patrick.

3. When the Israelites arrived, the Philistines were in full possession of the Shephelah, or maritime plain, from the “river of Egypt” in the south to Ekron in the north, and had formed a confederacy of five powerful cities—Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. The interval that elapsed between Abraham and the Exodus seems sufficient to allow for the alteration that took place in the position of the Philistines, and their transformation from a pastoral tribe to a settled and powerful nation. P. S.

5. The notices in the Bible lead us to search for Baal-gad in the direction and neighborhood of Baalbek. In the valley of Lebanon, under Hermon, and the entrance into Hamath: these are the geographical indications. Let any one ride from Baalbek northward to Lebweh or ‘Ain, or, better still, to Kamâa Hermel, and look off toward Hamath, and he will be struck with the propriety of the phrase, entrance into Hamath. From his standpoint the valley of the Bak’ah opens out like a vast fan on to the great plain of northern Syria, and he is at the gate of the kingdom. Baalbek being, therefore, in the neighborhood where we must look for Baal gad, there seems to be no good reason to doubt their identity, for there is no rival to dispute the honor of the name and site. The remains at Baalbek are adequate to meet the demands of any history, and some of them may claim an antiquity equal to anything that even Egypt can boast. Thompson.

6. It should be always remembered that the promise made by God, of driving out the old inhabitants (“Them will I drive out,” verse 6), was conditional, and depended on the adherence of the Israelites to his worship and service. Accordingly, in consequence of their flagrant and repeated disobedience, they only partially deserved the fulfilment of the promise. We do not read that the Sidonians (verse 6) were ever conquered by the Israelites, and the people of Lebanon were not made tributary till the days of David and Solomon. Patrick.—Joshua actually did all that it was promised he should do. God never said that he should conquer all the land, but simply that he should bring Israel into it, and divide it among them, both which he did, and procured them footing by his conquests sufficient to have enabled them to establish themselves in it forever. Their failure to do so was owing wholly to themselves.

7. Dividing the land by lot was the readiest way of satisfying all parties, and preventing discontent and discord. The several allotments are here very minutely detailed in order that litigation growing out of disputed boundaries might ever after be prevented. When the limits of each tribe were so clearly settled there could be little room for contending claims; or if there were, an authentic register of the lot of each tribe would be at hand to be appealed to for a decision, and there is no doubt that it was often made use of in after ages for this purpose. The reading of this account by succeeding generations would tend to excite a deep impression of the goodness of God in bestowing upon their ancestors for the benefit of their posterity, such a large and fertile country, an inheritance so replete with all worldly blessings. Bush.

Ch. 13: 8-33.

8-13. These verses comprise a general description of the whole country east of Jordan given to the two tribes and a half. The remainder of the chapter is occupied with a detailed account of the several districts allotted to each. Bush.

Chs. 14-19.

14: 1-5. These verses comprise a general introduction to the six chapters.

The division of the land among the nine and a half tribes was, in strict accordance with Divine direction (Nu. 26: 52-56; 33: 54; 34: 2-29), made by Eleazar, Joshua, and one representative from each of the ten tribes. It was decided by the “lot,” which probably, however, only determined the situation of each inheritance, whether north or south, inland or by the seashore, not its extent and precise boundaries. These would depend upon the size of each tribe. In point of fact, the original arrangements had in some cases to be afterward modified, not as to tribal localization which was unalterably fixed by the Divine lot, but as to extent of territory. Thus Judah had to give up part of its possession to Simeon (19 : 9), while Dan, whose portion proved too small, obtained certain cities both from Judah and from Ephraim. A. E.

2. The sacred lot was employed at the division of the tribal territories, to discover the guilty one who had brought a curse on the people (Josh. 7), and in 1 S. 10 : 20 f., at the king’s election. These methods of inquiring into the Divine will retire into the background the more prophecy becomes prominent. O.—This distribution by lot was overruled by a special providence, so as to correspond with the inspired predictions of Jacob and Moses respecting the allotment of each tribe. The fact is unquestionable, that the tribes found themselves placed by lot in the very sections of the country which Jacob had foretold two hundred and fifty years before, and Moses shortly before his death (comp. Gen. 49 and De. 33). To Judah fell a country abounding in vineyards and pastures; to Zebulun, sea-coasts; to Issachar, a rich plain between ranges of mountains; to Asher, one abounding in plenty of oil, wheat, and metals; and so of the others. Bush.

Chs. 15-17. Judah and Joseph, as the two great tribes, dividing the birthright between them, had the land first divided between them, their general outlines being given. Afterward the other tribes are arranged, modifying the first division. The lot probably gave only general indications, while the commissioners made the special allotments, according to circumstances. Crosby.

The tribe of Judah was powerful in consequence of its numbers, and now received such natural frontiers as to form, on the south, a rampart of protection to the whole of Israel against the enemy. Therefore its boundaries went from the south end of the Salt Sea westward to where Sihor empties itself into the Mediterranean; its eastern limits, from the south end of the Salt Sea to the point where it receives the waters of the Jordan; its northern, from thence over Mount Zion, by Timnah and the brook Sorek, to the sea which bounds it on the west. C. G. B.—The lot of Judah as here marked out was bounded on the south by the wilderness of Sin and the southern coast of the Salt Sea; on the east by that sea, reaching to the place at which it receives the waters of the Jordan; on the north by a line drawn nearly parallel to Jerusalem across from the northern extremity of the Salt Sea to the south boundary of the Philistines and to the Mediterranean Sea; which sea was its western boundary as far as the river of Egypt. Joshua is particular in giving the limits of this tribe, as being the first, the most numerous, the most important, that which was to furnish the kings of Judea, that in which pure religion was to be preserved, and that from which the Messiah was to spring. As this portion, however, contained nearly half the southern part of Canaan, it was afterward found too extensive, and the possessions of Simeon and Dan were taken out of it. Bush.—In travelling over these places one begins early to perceive that not only is the geography and scenery of Palestine “a fifth gospel,” but it is a second Pentateuch, Book of Joshua, and Kings. The feeling deepened at every step of the journey. S. C. B.

20. This is the preface to the list of principal towns of Judah, which follow in four sections: those in the Negeb (the technical “South” of Judah); those in the Shephelah (the fertile plain on the coast); those in the Mountain country, and those in the Wilderness west of the Dead Sea. Crosby.

Natural or Physical Characteristics of Judah’s Inheritance.

First, the Negeb or “South” country extends along the whole southern frontier from east to west. It is an irregularly shaped tract, extending from the mountains of Judah on the north to the edge of the Desert of Paran, and from the south end of the Dead Sea to the Mediterranean; but stretching in a sloping direction toward the northeast to the Dead Sea, and to the southwest to El Arish, thus occupying a middle position, both topographically and physically, between the rich soil of central Canaan and the sandy wastes of that great and terrible wilderness. The south differs from the hill country of Judah to the north of it, not merely so much in being pastoral instead of cultivated, for its whole extent yields proof of very extensive though not universal cultivation in former times; nor in its being less hilly, for it has but few plains of any extent; but in its deep ravines, torn and rent by winter torrents, “the streams of the south” of Ps 126 : 4. These torrents, quite dry in summer, cut down steep cliffs into narrow gullies by their violence in winter. On the west side they drain toward the Arish and Philistia, on the east toward the Dead Sea, none running south into Paran or the Wilderness. The wide central expanse is now a sort of upland wilderness, a series of rolling hills, with scanty herbage more abundant on their northern slopes, but without a tree or a bush more than three feet high. The words of Dr. Robinson, about Zephath or Hormah, may be applied to every city of the Negeb :—“Once, as we judged upon the spot, this must have been a city of not less than 10,000 or 12,000 inhabitants. Now it is a perfect field of ruins, a scene of unutterable desolation, across which the passing stranger can with difficulty find his way.” A mighty spell seems to rest upon the cities of the south. We turn to the word of prophecy, and we read, “The cities of the south (Negeb) shall be shut up, and none shall open them : Judah shall be carried away captive, all of it : it shall be wholly carried away captive” (Jer. 13 : 19).

The second physical division of the allotment of Joshua was the Shephelah, or low country, translated generally in our version as “the valley” (Josh. 15 : 33), and sometimes “the plain.” It comprises the low lying flat country, whether desert or corn-growing, which intervenes between the central backbone of hills extending from north to south and the sea. The expression, though equally applicable to all the coast plains of Palestine, is generally confined to those of Philistia and Sharon, which are limited northward by the bold projecting spur of Carmel ; while the next plain, that of Acre, is similarly cut off by the precipitous Ladder of Tyre from the Plain of Phœnicia. This region in the allotment of the tribes fell principally to Judah, in the south of whose portion were several towns assigned to Simeon ; while the northern part, better known as the Plain of Sharon, was the rich but narrow heritage of Dan. Practically, however, the more important and valuable part of this vast corn-plain was never conquered till after the monarchy, and remained in the possession of the Philistines, who were often the terror and the scourge of Israel. There is no natural boundary line between Philistia and Sharon. The plain stretches with scarce an undulation, but with very varying depth inland, from the southern frontiers of the Desert of Gaza to the foot of Carmel. The descent from the Negeb, or south land, to the low country is gentle and insensible on its southern limit, but much more steep and clearly defined from the hill country of Judah on the east. From the low country of the coast we now turn eastward to the third physical division of the territory of Judah, recognized constantly in Holy Writ as “the mountains,” or the “Hill country.” The line of demarcation between it and “the south country” is very easily recognized, though they blend into each other. The great pasture district of the south melts into the hill country a few miles to the south of Hebron. The northern part of the “Negeb” presents the appearance of a long series of gently-rolling downs, wide shallow valleys, and broad rounded ridges. But a few hours before reaching Hebron the valleys become narrower and steeper, the hill tops are sharper, the ridges are full of caves, natural or artificial—the dwellings of the Horites, or Cave-men, in olden times ; and when we reach Debir we can fully understand the petition of Achsah to her father Caleb : “Give me a blessing ; for thou hast given me a south land : give me also springs of water” (Ju. 1 : 15), as we see the springs gushing forth from the rocky side of the valley, and feel we are no longer in a “south land.” Here the ruins of the cities of Judah begin to crowd upon us. Almost every hill-top is marked by the groups of deserted dwellings—not grass-grown, like those of the south, but with walls and narrow streets, bare and barren. Every name recalls some incident in the life of the Bethlehemite—Jattir, Lebaoth, Eshtemoa, Maon, Carmel, Ziph—scarcely altered in the Arabic vernacular from the old Hebrew. The register of Joshua (verses 21-62) gives thirty-eight cities in the hill country of Judah, divided into five topographical groups ; and even among these are omitted some of future distinction, as Bethlehem and Tekoa. But it is impossible to wander among these hills without perceiving that the expression, “her towns,” applied in the enumeration to many of the cities, was no mere figure of speech. The groups of ruins, “the desolate heaps” of Judah, far outnumber any catalogue of her cities that has come down to us. There are no streams, but many springs, and wells innumerable.

The hill country culminates at Hebron, but it slopes very little either east or west, forming throughout its whole extent a rugged plateau from Philistia to the Dead Sea ; and its deep dells, or wadys, are scarcely seen till we are upon them. They run for the most part east and west from the central ridge, and add immensely to the natural strength of the district, every nook of which is almost a natural fortress, independently of the cities whose ruins crown every brow, where once “the Lion of Judah” crouched secure. The wells are sunk in hill and vale alike; and all the hill-sides, ribbed with their parallel lines of terrace, once covered with gardens, vineyards, and fig-trees, attest the indefatigable industry no less than the dense population of its ancient inhabitants. But the position of the towns and the character of the ruins are so constantly alike, that it is in vain to attempt separate descriptions for each, save in very few instances. Tristram.

The Wilderness is the district stretching along the western shore of the Dead Sea in which David took refuge for some time when pursued by Saul; it is a dreary waste of bare hills cut up by innumerable water-courses, uncultivated, and bearing no traces of former occupation. Wilson.

The tribe of Joseph had the centre of the land across from Jordan to the Mediterranean. Ephraim lay north of Judah; but between them were the districts afterward allotted to Benjamin and Dan. Besides the sacred valley of Shechem, it included some of the finest parts of Palestine, the mountains of Ephraim, and the great and fertile maritime plain of Sharon, proverbial for its roses. P. S.—16 : 1-4. The descendants of Joseph received two shares of the inheritance. As closely allied tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh received each many towns situated in the territory of the other. C. G. B.—The central hill country of Palestine is often spoken of as “Mount Ephraim,” an expression which comprises all the hilly region from within a few miles north of Jerusalem at Bethel, as far as the Plain of Esdraelon, including, therefore, the whole of the west allotment of Manasseh. Mount Ephraim was to the northern country what the hill country of Judah was to the southern—the backbone, centre, and strength of the nation. Like the hill country of Judah, and unlike the possessions of the northern tribes by Esdraelon, or the western ones by the coast, it was inaccessible to invaders, who were not prepared for the risks of mountain defiles and the storming of hill forts. Its military topography is such, that it is defensible at every turn, and nothing but a panic could disorganize the defence of such a region. Thus the tribe of Manasseh was charged by the High Priest “to keep the passages of the hill country, for by them there was an entrance into Judea; and it was easy to stop them that would come up, because the passage was strait for two men at the most” (Judith 4 : 7). Tristram.

Shechem, famous in the days of Abraham and Jacob, and which Joshua may be said to have made the civil capital of the country, was situated in the tribe of Ephraim. So was Shiloh, the first ecclesiastical capital, where the ark was solemnly placed, at the end of Joshua’s wars. So also was Samaria, which became, under Omri, the capital of the kingdom of the ten tribes. Joshua himself was a man of Ephraim, and must have given no small importance to the tribe. Gideon, one of the most noble of the judges, with his seventy princely brothers, was a native of the adjacent tribe of Manasseh. “The mountain,” or mountainous part, “of Ephraim,” was frequently the rallying-place for the nation, where the appointed deliverers raised the standard of resistance to their oppressors. Deborah, though herself apparently of the northern tribes, dwelt between Ramah and Bethel, in Mount Ephraim; Tola of Issachar judged Israel in Shamir, in the same mount; Samuel was of Ramah. W. G. B.—Of the southern tribes, the most powerful was Judah; of the northern, Ephraim; whence originated a jealousy between the two, which broke out early, and laid the foundation of that fatal schism which took place on the death of Solomon, by the revolt of the ten tribes under Jeroboam an Ephraimite. Hales.

17 : 2. In 16 : 1 the revision reads, “And the lot for the children of Joseph went out from the Jordan,” etc., connecting the verb with the locality, whereas the meaning is that “the lot came out [from the urn or receptacle of the lots] for the children of Joseph,” etc. So in the second verse of this seventeenth chapter the revision reads, “And the lot was for the rest of Manasseh,” as if this was a new statement in addition to what preceded, whereas it is a mere resumption of what has gone before. The Appendix therefore reads, “So the lot was for the rest,” etc. Chambers.

17 : 12. The children of Manasseh could not drive out. They could not drive them out through want of faith in God, and of zeal to perform his commands. Here the fountain of all the evils which afterward befell the Israelites begins to be opened, in that, either through sloth or covetousness or distrust of God’s power, they did not attempt to drive out those people that were stronger than ordinary; or through want of faith in God, failed in the attempt. Patrick.—The Canaanites would dwell in that land. Heb. “willed to dwell.” A very remarkable expression, indicative of the obstinate determination of the Canaanites to retain possession of the country, and carrying with it a severe reflection upon the supineness, cowardice, and unbelief of the Israelites. Bush.

13. They put the Canaanites to tribute.** Herein they offended against the Divine command (De. 20 : 16, 17), by which they were peremptorily directed to destroy the Canaanites when they were able. In thus putting them to tribute, they were probably influenced by motives of indolence and gain. Patrick.—This early degree of sloth and worldly-mindedness, afterward displayed in other instances, laid the foundation of all the ensuing calamities which befell the people. Pyle.—Any conformity to the heathen around, or tolerance of heathenism, any decay of the spirit in which they had entered the land, would result not only in weakness, but in the triumph of the enemy. And so it was intended of the Lord. The lesson of all this is obvious and important. To us also has our Joshua given entrance into Canaan, and victory over our enemies—the world, the flesh, and the devil. We have present possession of the land. But we do not yet hold all its cities, nor are our enemies exterminated. It needs on our part constant faith; there must be no compromise with the enemy, no tolerance of his spirit, no cessation of our warfare. Only that which at first gave us the land can complete and consolidate our possession of it. A. E.

Complaint of Ephraim and Manasseh.

14-18. The children of Joseph, that is, the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, complain to Joshua of the narrowness of their allotment, which was increased by the Canaanites still retaining so large a portion of it. Joshua, though a descendant himself of Joseph, remained perfectly impartial; and told them they must enlarge the country by their valor, by driving out their enemies from the woody and mountainous parts, and thus making them habitable for themselves. Pyle.—One lot and one only should they have in the general apportionment. If they wanted more they must conquer it for themselves. They grounded their claim on being “a great people,” having “great power.” Well, then, let them prove it by great deeds. There was room enough for them in “the wood country;” let them get them up there and clear away the forest, and drive out the Perizzites and the giants, if Mount Ephraim were too narrow for them. So they might obtain a second portion, and not have “one lot only.” E. V.

Many wish for larger possessions, who do not cultivate and make the best of what they have, think they should have more talents given them, who do not trade with those with which they are intrusted. Most people’s poverty is the effect of their idleness; would they dig, they need not beg. He bids them fight for more (verses 17, 18), when they pleaded that they could not come at the wood-lands he spoke of, because in the valley between them and it there were Canaanites whom they durst not enter the lists with. “Never fear them,” said Joshua, “thou hast God on thy side, and thou shalt drive out the Canaanites if thou wilt set about it in good earnest, though they have iron chariots.” We straiten ourselves by apprehending the difficulties in the way of our enlargement to be greater than they are. H.

The attitude of the children of Joseph throughout the history of the twelve tribes is in precise accordance with the hint given here. They were proud of their numerical preponderance over the remaining tribes. Thus they, and they only, ventured to remonstrate with Joshua about the inadequacy of the portion allotted to them. Such a sensitiveness was likely to degenerate into insolence when the authority of the great leader was removed. And the history of Gideon and of Jephthah shows that this was actually the case. Here, again, we have a sign of that deep undercurrent of consistency which underlies our history, and is a guarantee of its authenticity. Lias.

These tribes had plenty of power, plenty of stalwart men to clear the waste or conquer their enemies; but they had not moral force to match. They want to dominate, without paying the price of lordship in daring and willingness to encounter difficulty and hardship. Glover.—For the Church, too, conquest is the condition of security and of continuance. Pressed on every hand by a hostile world, it must be ever in an attitude of active defence and advance. Every new generation needs to be won afresh for Jesus Christ. The Church cannot even hold its own without ever fresh conquests. De P.

THE TABERNACLE (“Tent of Meeting”) SET UP AT SHILOH.

When the two great tribes of Judah and Joseph had been located, the one taking the south and the other the middle portion of the country, there seems to have been a pause in the work of distribution. We have no direct statement of the reason, nor are we told how long the interval was between the dividing of the land to the two tribes at Gilgal and the dividing of the land to the seven tribes at Shiloh. Crosby.

18:1. And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled at Shiloh. This was the first assembly or diet of the people, held for important consultation; therefore the expression is not, “the children of Israel,” but “the whole congregation of the children of Israel.” The encampment was moved from Gilgal to Shiloh, and the tabernacle set up. C. G. B. (See maps, pp. 86, 110.)

The situation of Shiloh was central to the whole country, and probably this fact determined its selection. The able-bodied men of the nation being required three times a year to leave their homes and journey to the place of the sanctuary, for the celebration of the national religious festivals, convenience of location became an important consideration. Shiloh was in the midst of the hills of Ephraim, about half way between Bethel on the south and Shechem on the north. It continued the religious capital for three hundred years, or until the time of old Eli and young Samuel, when the Ark of the Covenant was captured by the Philistines. N. C. B.—Shiloh was situated in the tribe of Ephraim, in the very centre of Canaan, about twenty miles north of Jerusalem. It was therefore the most convenient location for all the tribes, and as Joshua was himself of the tribe of Ephraim, he, as chief magistrate of the nation, would always have a ready access to the sanctuary when the God of Israel was to be consulted. -Bush.—The central position of Shiloh was combined with a rare degree of seclusion. Standing in the very heart of the land, a little to the “east of the highway that goeth up from Bethel to Shechem,” Shiloh, on its gentle eminence, yet surrounded by loftier hills, was shut out from the world. A labyrinth of valleys leads up to it and off from it, so intricate as to render the services of a guide quite indispensable to the modern traveller. N. C. B. (Sec. 232.)

The ruined village Seilún is the site of Shiloh, where the Ark first rested after the capture of Ai and Jericho, and where Joshua divided the newly-conquered land of Canaan among the twelve tribes. The position of Shiloh is accurately defined in the Book of Judges (21:19) to be on the north of Bethel, on the south of Lebonah, and on the east of the highway that goeth from Bethel to Shechem. There is very little to mark the site now but ruins and a curious excavation in the rock in the side of the hill. In a little valley about half a mile from the ruins are the spring and well of Shiloh, where the daughters of Shiloh came out to dance at their periodical festival (Ju. 21). Tent Work.

INHERITANCE OF SEVEN TRIBES: BENJAMIN, SIMEON, ZEBULUN, ISSACHAR, ASHER, NAPHTALI, AND DAN.

18:2-10. Twenty-one delegated commissioners survey the remaining land and divide it into seven portions. By Lot Joshua assigns a portion to each of the seven tribes.

Joshua solemnly admonished the assembled people as to their “slackness” in taking possession of the land which Jehovah had given them. To terminate further jealousies, he asked the people to choose three representatives from each of the seven tribes whose inheritance had not yet been allotted. These were to “go through the land and describe it,” that is, to make a general estimate and valuation, rather than an accurate survey, “with reference to their inheritance,” that is, in view of their inheriting the land. After their return to Shiloh these twenty-one delegates were to divide the land into seven portions, when the lot would assign to each tribe the place of its inheritance. A. E.—The surveying party, instead of mapping out the country by its natural boundaries (rivers or mountain ranges) or by lines of latitude and longitude, described it by cities and their adjacent villages. The whole was thus divided into seven parts, and these parts assigned to the seven tribes by lot. As Judah and Ephraim were found to have a disproportionate share, Benjamin’s allotment was taken from theirs, and also the allotment for Simeon was cut from the southwestern portion of Judah. H. C.

Inheritance of Benjamin.

11. Between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph (33:12). The prediction of Moses in regard to the lot of Benjamin was remarkably fulfilled. Bush.—The warlike little band of Benjamites, which had marched in the desert side by side with the mighty sons of Joseph, was not parted from them in the new settlement. It hung on the outskirts of Ephraim. Thus a group was formed in the centre of Palestine, firmly compacted of the descendants of Rachel, cut off on the north by the broad plain of Esdraelon. Stanley.

The territory assigned to Benjamin lay immediately to the north of Judah. In its general features it resembled Judah, but it was greatly less in extent. Notwithstanding its narrow limits, it was the scene of many great events. It was “little Benjamin” that furnished the first royal “ruler” to the nation of Israel. Gibeah, Saul’s capital, lay within its borders, as did also Jerusalem, emphatically and almost imperishably, “the holy city.” Here, too, at first at least (for afterward it belonged to the kingdom of the ten tribes), was Bethel, where Jacob had his wonderful vision, and from whose heights Abraham got one of his first views of the Land of Promise. The Mount of Olives was in the tribe of Benjamin, and so were nearly all those places in and around Jerusalem which have been crowned with undying fame. Thus, though little, in one sense, among the tribes of Israel, Benjamin, in real interest and greatness, rivalled them all. It was not the least of its glories that Paul, the great Apostle of the Gentiles, was a member of this tribe, and could describe himself as “an Hebrew of the Hebrews, of the tribe of Benjamin.” W. G. B.

In the description of the lots of Judah and Benjamin, an account is given both of the limits by which they were bounded and of the cities contained in them. In that of Ephraim and Manasseh the boundaries are given, but not the cities. In this chapter Simeon and Dan are described by their cities only, and not by their borders, because they were small and the former lay within the limits of another tribe. The rest have both their borders described, and their cities named. Bush.

19:1-9. The Inheritance of Simeon. This was included within the limits of Judah, and is elsewhere seldom or never spoken of as a distinct district. In this arrangement the providence of God is to be especially noted, as Jacob, in the spirit of prophecy, had foretold that Simeon and Levi should be “divided in Jacob,” and “scattered in Israel.” This was accordingly most literally fulfilled in the manner in which these tribes were now disposed of. Levi was “scattered” throughout all the land not having received any distinct inheritance, but only certain “cities to dwell in;” and Simeon, as we here learn, was “divided” or dispersed over the territories of Judah instead of having one of their own. This arrangement brought them into confederacy with the tribe of Judah (Jn. 1:3), and afterward was the occasion of the adherence of many of this tribe to the house of David at the time of the revolt of the ten tribes. Bush.

10-39. The four tribes of Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, and Naphtali obtain contiguous portions in the north of Palestine, as they were allied in birth, and as they marched through the desert.

The forests of Lebanon, the fertility of the plain of Esdraelon, the port of Accho, figure in the blessings pronounced upon them. But, with the exception of the transient splendor of the days of Barak and of Gideon, they hardly affect the general fortunes of the nation. Stanley.

To Zebulun was allotted the hill country bordering on the great plain of Esdraelon from the sea-coast to the Sea of Galilee. Issachar received for his inheritance the fertile plain of Esdraelon, with the beautiful valley of Jezreel; here, on the highway of the armies of Egypt and Assyria, the great battle-field of Palestine, he was to lead a nomad life, dwelling “in tents,” but at the same time he was equally with Zebulun to suck of the abundance of the seas and of treasures hid in the sand. To Asher was assigned the sea-coast from Carmel to Sidon, with the plain of Phœnicia and the low hills on its western border—one of the richest tracts in Palestine, well fulfilling the promise made in the blessing of Jacob, that his “bread” should be “fat,” and that he should yield “royal dainties;” and in that of Moses, that he should be “blessed with children,” and “dip his feet in oil,” and that his “shoes” should be “iron and brass.” To Naphtali fell the broad elevated tract lying between Asher and the Jordan, which may still be described in the words of Josephus as “universally rich and fruitful, and full of the plantations of trees of all sorts, insomuch that it invites the most slothful to take pains in its cultivation by its fruitfulness”—a land in which Naphtali was to be “satisfied with favor, and full with the blessing of the Lord.” Wilson.

Phœnicia was never conquered, and no one can help being struck by the peculiar relations that existed between the Israelites and their northern neighbors. In Ju. 1:31, we are told that Asher did not drive out “the inhabitants of Accho, nor of Zidon, Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, nor of Rehob;” and in verse 32, that the Asherites “dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land.” Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Bethshemesh and Beth-anath, but “he dwelt among the Canaanites;” nevertheless, the inhabitants of these towns became tributaries to him, and in the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, whose husband was “a man of Tyre, a worker in brass” (1 K. 7:14), we have an indication that mixed marriages were not uncommon. There is no trace of any great war between the Israelites and the Phœnicians, and it is not unlikely that a considerable portion of the northern tribes settled down as fellow-citizens among the people of Tyre, Sidon, and other Phœnician cities. Wilson.—It was to Zarephath, one of the towns of Phœnicia, that Elijah was sent, in the time of a great famine, to bring life and sustenance to the Syro-phœnician widow and her son; and it was somewhere within the borders of this territory that another Syro-phœnician woman once came, seeking a greater prophet than Elijah, and, after a memorable exhibition of faith, went home rejoicing, her afflicted daughter having been made whole. W. G. B.

40-48. The last of the tribes that received its due was Dan, the smallest of all, at times overlooked, and in the last catalogue of the tribes that appears in the Sacred Volume (Rev.), dropped out altogether. It was squeezed into the narrow strip between the mountains and the sea, in the plain already occupied by the expelled races. Sanley.—Dan, though commander of one of the four squadrons of the camp of Israel in the wilderness, that which brought up the rear, yet was last provided for in Canaan, and his lot fell in the southern part of Canaan, between Judah on the east and the land of the Philistines on the west; Ephraim on the north and Simeon on the south. H.

47. The meaning is that the Danites, being closely pressed upon by their powerful neighbors the Philistines, were forced in considerable numbers to abandon their allotted possessions. In consequence of having their original portion thus wrested out of their hands, they were induced to seek another in a distant quarter of the land, and made an inroad accordingly upon Leshem, lying at the foot of Mount Lebanon and near the sources of the river Jordan. This event, which occurred some time after the death of Joshua, and is more fully recorded (Jn. 18:1-29), is touched upon here both to complete what is said of the inheritance of the Danites, and to intimate how it happened that a part of the tribe were afterward found inhabiting a district of the country so remote from their original possessions. This addition to the narrative was perhaps made by Phineas. Bush.—The children of Dan fought against, and took Leshem, a city not far from Jordan, called Laish in the Book of Judges; in aftertimes Cæsarea Philippi. They dwelt therein, or remained in undisturbed possession of it, and gave it the name of Dan; all this was done after Joshua’s death, and is related more largely in the Book of Judges (ch. 18). Shuckford.

To the tribe of Judah there fell a country abounding with vines and pasture grounds (Gen. 49:11), to that of Ashur, one plenteous in oil, iron and brass (De. 33:24), to that of Naphtali, one extending from the west to the south of Judea (De. 30:23), to that of Benjamin, one in which the temple was afterward built (De. 33:12), to that of Zebulun, a country abounding in seaports (Gen. 49:13), to those of Ephraim and Manasseh, countries renowned for their precious fruits (De. 33:14), and to those of Simeon and Levi no particular countries at all, forasmuch as the former had a portion with Judah, and the latter was dispersed through the several tribes. Since, therefore, each particular lot answered so exactly to each prediction, we are supplied with the most indisputable proof that there was divine inspiration in these predictions, and divine direction in the distribution of the lots. Stackhouse.

The ultimate location of all the tribes in their own cities and territory was an event of profound significance, worthy to be long remembered. A great people, four hundred years oppressed in Egypt, forty years wandering homeless in the deserts of Arabia, full seven years up to this date in the conquest of Canaan, and therefore unsettled—in a state of war, living in camp: but now they fold up their tents and make their permanent homes in cities already built; in houses constructed, not to say, furnished ready to their hand. Around them are lands under tillage, fruit trees in bearing condition, everything prepared for living with all the comforts of Oriental life. H. C.

The division of the land was carried out, so that not merely the limits of the tribal territories were fixed, but inside these also the districts of the families. Thus the life of tribe and family remained the basis of civil society. This certainly fostered a disposition to maintain the interests of the tribes at the cost of the national cause, in times when there was no powerful central authority, and every one did what seemed right to him; but it also insured the propagation of the faith and customs of the fathers within the family circle, when declensions began to grow frequent. Thus the “good land” was won, where, on the basis of a life of husbandry requiring regular industry, the people were to be matured for the fulfilment of their destiny in quiet and retirement. O.

Lowman has given three different estimates of the extent of territory occupied by the twelve tribes; the mean between the two extremes approaches probably the nearest to the truth. According to this computation, the Jewish dominion, at the time of the division, was 180 miles long by 130 wide, and contained 14,976,000 acres. “This quantity of land will divide to 600,000 men, about 2½ acres in property, with a remainder of 1,976,000 acres for the Levitical cities, the princes of tribes, the heads of families, and other public uses.” Assuming this estate of 21½ acres assigned to each household, of course a larger proportion of pasture must have been given to those tribes who subsisted on their herds and flocks, than of arable to those who lived by tillage; the portions of the latter, therefore, must be considerably reduced. On the other hand, the extraordinary fertility of the whole country must be taken into the account. No part was waste; very little was occupied by unprofitable wood; the more fertile hills were cultivated in artificial terraces, others were hung with orchards of fruit-trees; the more rocky and barren districts were covered with vineyards. Even in the present day, the wars and misgovernment of ages have not exhausted the natural richness of the soil. Galilee, says Malté Brun, would be a paradise were it inhabited by an industrious people, under an enlightened government. No land could be less dependent on foreign importation; it bore within itself everything that could be necessary for the subsistence and comfort of a simple agricultural people. The climate was healthy, the seasons regular; the former rains, which fell about October, after the vintage, prepared the ground for the seed; the latter, which prevailed during March and the beginning of April, made it grow rapidly. Directly the rains ceased, the grain ripened with still greater rapidity, and was gathered in before the end of May. The summer months were dry and very hot, but the nights cool and refreshed by copious dews. In September, the vintage was gathered. Grain of all kinds, wheat, barley, millet, zea, and other sorts, grew in abundance; the wheat commonly yielded thirty for one. Besides the vine and the olive, the almond, the date, figs of many kinds, the orange, the pomegranate, and many other fruit-trees, flourished in the greatest luxuriance. With a country under a delicious climate, where the corn-fields, the pastures, the vineyards, and olive-grounds vied with each other in fertility; perfect freedom and equality; a mild and parental government, the administration of justice by local authorities according to a written law; national festivals tending to promote national union;—had the people duly appreciated the blessings attached to the strict and permanent observance of their constitution, poets might have found their golden age in the plains of Galilee and the valleys of Judea.

The assignment of the different estates seems to have been left to the local government of each tribe. Certain distinguished persons, as Joshua and Caleb, received grants of land larger than ordinary; but the whole land was subject to the common law of property. The great principle of this law was the inalienability of estates. Houses in walled towns might be sold in perpetuity, if unredeemed within the year; land only for a limited period. At the Jubilee, every estate reverted, without repurchase, to the original proprietor. Even during this period it might be redeemed, should the proprietor become rich enough, at the value which the estate would produce during the years unelapsed before the jubilee. This remarkable agrarian law secured the political equality of the people, and anticipated all the mischiefs so fatal to the early republics of Greece and Italy, the appropriation of the whole territory of the state by a rich and powerful landed oligarchy, with the consequent convulsions of the community from the deadly struggle between the patrician and plebeian orders. In the Hebrew state, the improvident individual might reduce himself and his family to penury or servitude, but he could not perpetuate a race of slaves or paupers. Every fifty years God, the King and Lord of the soil, as it were resumed the whole territory, and granted it back in the same portions to the descendants of the original possessors. It is curious to observe in this earliest practical Utopia the realization of Machiavelli’s great maxim, the constant renovation of the state according to the first principles of its constitution. Milman.

On the conquest of Canaan, it was divided into twelve parts, which were assigned by lot to the different tribes. Thus the Hebrew state was a confederacy of twelve small provinces, like the Swiss cantons. The territory of each was then subdivided, so that a portion of land was assigned to every family. This gave to every man a fixed and permanent home. Each tribe was marched to its new possession, every family entered on its humble estate, and Israel began its national existence. This determined the occupations of the people. By planting every father of a family upon a plot of ground which he was to cultivate, Moses formed a nation of farmers—the best citizens for a free Commonwealth. The miracle was as great as if immense hordes of wandering Bedaween were instantly transformed into quiet husbandmen. Agriculture, keeping all the inhabitants at home, promotes patriotism and attachment to the national religion. Farmers are the strength of a state, for they are generally both peaceful citizens and brave warriors. A small state is never so invincible as when all its citizens are independent freeholders. Then every man has an interest rooted in the soil. He fights for his country because he fights for his home. At the beginning the Hebrew state presented the remarkable spectacle of two millions and a half of people, all equal in rank, and very nearly so in condition. This fact is the more surprising when contrasted with the monstrous inequalities which prevailed in other Oriental countries. Indeed, a parallel to this it would not be possible to find in the most democratic modern state. Field.

It cannot be disputed that the Israelites, after having been enslaved for centuries in Egypt, escaped by their unaided efforts from the strongest government in the world, crossed the sea, lived long in the peninsula of Sinai, and suddenly acquiring a warlike character, scattered the powerful armies of the confederate princes that opposed their entrance into Canaan. It cannot be disputed that they set up a remarkable civil and religious polity with laws and rites of a unique character, and that their whole institutions, civil and sacred, which lasted fifteen hundred years, sprang out of their history as it is recorded by Moses and Joshua. Can these facts be accounted for without the supernatural? Is it not true that of all things incredulity is the most credulous, and rationalism the most irrational? W. G. B.

CALEB’S REQUEST FOR THE INHERITANCE PROMISED BY MOSES; JOSHUA’S GIFT IN FULFILMENT; CALEB’S CONQUEST OF HEBRON AND DEBIR; ACHSAH’S PETITION GRANTED BY CALEB. INHERITANCE OF JOSHUA. CITIES OF REFUGE ASSIGNED. THIRTEEN PRIESTLY CITIES. FORTY-EIGHT CITIES OF LEVITES. CONCLUDING STATEMENT.