(17) even Rest from War. Or, the smooth their divisions by their tribes. mountain. B. C. 1445. a ch. 9. 3. (16) So Joshua took all that land, the hills, and all the south country, and all the land of Goshen, and the valley, and the plain, and the mountain of Israel, and the valley of the same; from the mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir, even unto Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon under mount Hermon: and all their kings he took, and smote them, and slew them. (18) Joshua made war a long time with all those kings. (19) There was not a city that made peace with the Num. 26. 53. children of Israel, save a the Hivites the inhabitants of Gibeon: all other they took in battle. (20) For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, that they Deut. 3. 6. should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favour, but that he might destroy them, as the LORD commanded Moses. And CHAPTER XII. (1) Now these are the kings of the land, which the children of Israel smote, and possessed their land on the other side Jordan toward the rising of the sun, from the river Arnon unto mount Hermon, and all the plain on the east (2) Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, and ruled from Aroer, which is upon the bank of the river Arnon, and from the middle of the river, and from half Gilead, even unto the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon; (3) and from the plain to the sea of Chinneroth on the east, and unto the sea of the plain, even the salt sea on the east, the way to Beth-jeshimoth; and from the south, under 3d Ashdothpisgah: (4) and the coast of Og king of Pisgah, or, the of Bashan, which was of the remnant of the giants, that dwelt at Ashtaroth and at Edrei, (5) and reigned in mount Hermon, and in Salcah, and in all c Num. 21. 2 Or, Teman. 24; 3 Or. The springs e (21) And at that time came Joshua, and cut off the Anakims from the mountains, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the mountains of Judah, and from all the mountains of Israel: Joshua destroyed them utterly d Deut. 3. 17 & 4. Bashan, unto the border of the Geshur with their cities. (22) There was none of the Anakims left in the land of the children of Israel: only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod, there remained. (23) So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD said unto Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto Israel according to 49. 13. 12. ites and the Maachathites, and half Gilead, the border of Sihon king of Heshbon. (6) Them did Moses the e Deut. 3. 11; ch. Servant of the LORD and the children of Israel smite: and Moses the servant of the LORD gave it for a possession unto the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and Deut. 3. 12; ch the half tribe of Manasseh. Num. 32. 29; 13. 8. neutral in the war. "The men of Jericho fought against you" (chap. xxiv. 11). (17) The mount Halak is marked as unknown in Conder's Biblical Gazetteer. But "the smooth hill which goeth up to Seir," may very possibly be the salt hill now called Khasur-Usdum, which has a glacier-like appearance, and forms a sufficiently striking object to be mentioned as a boundary-mark. Baal-gad has by some been identified with Baalhermon, afterwards Paneas, and Cæsarea Philippi. Others think it is still unknown. (18) A long time.-See Note on chap. xiv. 10. The war seems to have lasted seven years, a long time when compared with the desultory incursions and single campaigns which made up the greater part of ancient warfare, when there were no standing armies. (20) It was of the Lord to harden their hearts ... that he might destroy them.-Or rather to strengthen their heart-i.e., render them obstinate. These words go to prove what has been said elsewhere, that the conquest of Canaan was not intended to be a massacre of the unresisting inhabitants. (21) Anab is identified with Anâb, west of Debir. The death of Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the three THIRD DIVISION OF THE BOOK. SUMMARY OF THE CONQUERED TERRITORY. (a) According to kings. (2) Sihon king of the Amorites . . .-For a description of his territory see Deut. ii. 31-37. (4) Ôg king of Bashan.-See Deut. iii. 59. (6) Them did Moses the servant of the Lord...smite. The continuity of the work of Moses and Joshua should be noticed. The land which God gave to Israel is made up of two portions: (1) a territory on the east of Jordan conquered by Moses, and given by him to two and a half tribes, as the "portion of the law-giver;" (2) a territory on the west of Jordan, of larger extent, conquered by Joshua, and given to nine and a half tribes. But the conquest of Canaan is one enterprise, begun by Moses and finished Summary of the a JOSHUA, XII. b ch. 6. 2. c ch. 8. 29. d ch. 10. 23. e ch. 10. 33. (7) And these are the kings of the ja ch. 11. 17. country which Joshua and the children of Israel smote on this side Jordan on the west, from .Baal-gad in the valley of Lebanon even unto the mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir; which Joshua gave unto the tribes of Israel for a possession according to their divisions; (8) in the mountains, and in the valleys, and in the plains, and in the springs, and in the wilderness, and in the south country; the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: (9) the king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is beside Beth-el, one; (10) the king of Jerusalem, one; the ch. 10. 38. ch. 10. 29. h ch. 10. 28. 1 Or, Sharon. í ch. 11. 10. by Joshua. And the land of Israel is one country, though divided by Jordan into two portions. The analogy between the work of Moses and Joshua in this literal conquest, and the work of Moses and the true Joshua in respect of the inheritance of the Church of God, which was partly won before the passage of Jordan-i.e., before the death of Christ-but much more afterwards, is too plain to be overlooked. (7) And these are the kings of the country which Joshua . . . smote.-There are two kings reckoned to Moses, and thirty-one to Joshua; making a total of thirty-three. Yet the two slain by Moses are individually represented as far greater than any who are named in this book. And in the Psalms, in more than one place, we have "Sihon king of the Amorites, and Og the king of Bashan" expressed by name, and the rest only summarised, as "all the kingdoms of Canaan" (Pss. cxxxv. 11, 12 and cxxxvi. 19, 20.). unto the mount Halak. From Baal-gad -See chap. xi. 17. (9-24) These verses give a list of the thirty-one kings defeated by Joshua. The order of the conquest is followed. We have first the kings of Jericho and Ai; (2) the kings overcome in the southern campaign (chap. x.) from the king of Jerusalem (verse 10) to the king of Makkedah (verse 16). Among these, the kings of Geder, Hormah, Arad, and Adullam have not been previously mentioned in Joshua, nor is the capture of Jarmuth mentioned. The names Hormah and Arad both occur in Num. xxi. 1, 3, where the town of Arad is, after its destruction by Israel, called Hormah. As the cities of the king of Arad are mentioned in that place, it is possible that the Hormah and Arad of this chapter may both be of the number. Or they may be different places. It is also just possible that the capture of those cities may be mentioned in Num. xxi. by anticipation, and that the attack of Arad on Israel was not fully avenged until the conquest of Canaan by Joshua. (3) We next read of the kings conquered in the rest of the country, whose cities ranged from Bethel on the south to Hazor on the north. Of the capture of these cities we have no details, with the exception of Hazor (chap. xi. 10). And it should be carefully noticed how very few of them are in the centre of the country. The cities mentioned in verses 9-16 have all been Conquered Territory. king of Hebron, one; (11) the king of Jarmuth, one; the king of Lachish, one; (12) the king of Eglon, one; the king of Gezer, one; (13) the king of Debir, one; the king of Geder, one; (14) the king of Hormah, one; the king of Arad, one; (15) 9 the king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one; (16) h the king of Makkedah, one; the king of Beth-el, one; (17) the king of Tappuah, one; the king of Hepher, one; (18) the king of Aphek, one; the king of 1Lasharon, one; (19) the king of Madon, one; the king of Hazor, one; (20) the king of Shimron-meron, one; the king of Achshaph, one; (21) the king of Taanach, one; the king of Megiddo, one; (22) the mentioned before, with the exception of Geder, verse 13 (the Geder of chap. xv. 58), which is identified as Jedûr, in the Hebron mountains. (16-24) The town of Bethel, on the borders of Benjamin and Ephraim, which passed from the one tribe to the other (Josh. xviii. 22 and 1 Kings xii. 29), seems to mark the geographical transition in this list from the territory conquered in the southern campaign of Joshua, to that which he conquered in his northern campaign. (17) Tappuah.-There were two cities of this name -viz., one in Judah (chap. xv. 34) and one in Ephraim (chaps. xvi. 8 and xvii. 8). The latter is probably intended here. This town was on the borders of Ephraim and Manasseh, and nearly all the towns that follow, so far as identified, lie in a northerly direction. This confirms the opinion already expressed, that a large portion of the centre of Palestine was comparatively uncleared and unoccupied at the time of the conquest. Hepher is not identified, unless it could be the same as Gath-hepher or Gittah-hepher in Zebulun (chap. xix. 13). (18) Aphek is a name belonging to six different towns, according to Conder, who does not, however, profess to identify this one. Three of those which he does identify lie in the northern districts. Lasharon.—Rather, perhaps, Sharon (the first syllable seems to be the Hebrew prefix "to the "). Sharon, in every place (except one) where the name occurs in the Old Testament, has the definite article, and appears as Hassharon; and so in the critical text of Acts ix. 35, Assaron rather than Saron. It is the Sharon, or plain; and the king of Lasharon seems to mean the king of that district. Madon, Hazor, and Shimron-meron have been identified as northern towns in chap. xi. (20) Achshaph is thought to be El-Yasif, in the tribe of Asher. (21) Taanach is Tânah, in the territory of Issachar, but belonging to Manasseh (chap. xvii. 11). Megiddo, though famous in Old Testament history, is not yet identified with certainty, though it appears to survive in Mujedd'a, in the plain of Jezreel, near Beisan (Bethshan). (22) Kedesh is probably Kedesh-Naphtali, and survives in Kedes. There are two others, according to king of Kedesh, one; the king of Jok- ja Gen. 14. 1. CHAPTER XIII. (1) Now Joshua was old and stricken in years; and the LORD said unto him, Thou art old and stricken in years, and there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed. (2) This is the land that yet remaineth: all the borders of the Philistines, and all Geshuri, (3) from Sihor, which is before Egypt, even unto the borders of Ekron northward, which is counted to the Canaanite: five lords of the Philistines; the Gazathites, and the Ashdothites, the Eshkalonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites; also the Avites: (4) from the south, all the land of the b it. B. C. 1445. 2 of the Territory Canaanites, and Mearah that is beside the Sidonians, unto Aphek, to the borders of the Amorites: (5) and the land of the Giblites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrising, from Baal-gad 1 Heb., to possess under mount Hermon unto the entering into Hamath. (6) All the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon unto Misrephoth-maim, and all the Sidonians, them will I drive out from before the children of Israel: only divide thou it by lot unto the Israelites for an inheritance, as I have commanded thee. (7) Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance unto the nine tribes, and the half tribe of Manasseh, (8) with whom the Reubenites and the Gadites have received their inheritance, which Moses gave them, beyond Jordan eastward, even as Moses the servant of the LORD gave them; (9) from Aroer, that is upon the bank of the river Arnon, and the 2 Or, the cave. Num. 32. 33 22. 4. DESCRIPTION OF THE TERRITORY TO BE DIVIDED (verses 1-14). (b) According to its boundaries. (1) Joshua was old and stricken in years.Rather, he had aged, and was advanced in days. Old is too absolute a word. He did not live beyond a hundred and ten years (chap. xxiv. 29), and this was not a great age for the time. But in several instances the Hebrew word here employed is used not so much in respect of the number of years men lived, but rather in regard to the weakening of the vital powers. So it is said in Gen. xxvii., "Isaac was old," i.e., he had aged, for he lived forty-three years after that. So in regard to David, "the king was very old," i.e., much aged, in 1 Kings i. 15, for he could not have been more than seventy when he died. The hardships and anxieties of his life had aged him. So it was perhaps with Joshua. Moses was a signal exception; he had not aged at one hundred and twenty. But Jehovah constantly talked with Moses, and knew him face to face; and may we not say that that heavenly intercourse_even sustained the vital powers? The work of the Lord, though it be successfully carried on, as it was by Joshua, may wear men out by its very excitement. But personal intercourse with Him is like eating of the tree of life, and "in His presence is the fulness of joy.' In this personal intercourse Moses was more highly favoured than his successor, Joshua. وو (1, 7) There remaineth yet very much land to be possessed . . . Now therefore divide this land. The land had still to be inherited-i.e., not overrun, or conquered, as far as it could be said to be conquered by defeating the armies that took the field; all this was done already, but the land had not passed out of the hands of its actual possessors into the hands of Israel. It is remarkable that we have here a distinct order given to Joshua to divide to Israel land which was not yet conquered. In these verses several nations are named-viz., the Philistines, the Geshurites, the Avites, the Giblites, the Sidonians, besides anything more which may be included in the sometimes generic, and sometimes more specific, name of the Canaanites. Of these tribes, the Philistines and "all the Sidonians" (or Phoenicians) were certainly not yet conquered. Can we say that they were ever conquered at any period in the history of the kingdom of all Israel, except in so far as they were reduced to the condition of tributaries ? We may say, then, that while the list of kings in chap. xii. represents the territory in that aspect in which it was conquered, by the reduction of a number of fortified posts and strongholds, and the subjugation of all the principal rulers of the country, the description of its boundaries in chap. xiii. represents it as not yet conquered-viz., as still containing several nations whom the Israelites must dispossess when God gave them the opportunity and ordered them to drive them out. It is important to mark clearly the distinction between the work done by Joshua and the work left for Israel. Joshua overthrew the ruling powers of Palestine, destroyed the kingdoms, defeated the armies, and captured the fortresses to such an extent as to give Israel a firm foothold in the country. But he did not exterminate the population from every portion even of that territory which he distributed to the several tribes. And there were several nations-of whom the Philistines and Phoenicians were the chiefwhom he left entirely intact. The purpose of this is city that is in the midst of the river, and all the plain of Medeba unto Dibon; (10) and all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorites, which reigned in Heshbon, unto the border of the children of Ammon; (11) and Gilead, and the border of the Geshurites and Maachathites, and all mount Hermon, and all Bashan unto Salcah; (12) all the kingdom of Og in Bashan, which reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei, who remained of "the remnant of the giants: for these did Moses smite, and cast them out. (13) Nevertheless the children of Israel expelled not the Geshurites, nor the Maachathites: but the Geshurites and the Maachathites dwell among the a Deut. 3. 11; ch. among the People. Israelites until this day. (14) Only unto the tribe of Levi he gave none inheritance; the sacrifices of the LORD God of Israel made by fire are their inheritance, as he said unto them. (15) And Moses gave unto the tribe of the children of Reuben inheritance according to their families. (16) And their coast was from Aroer, that is on the bank of the river Arnon, and the city that is in the midst of the river, and places all the plain by Medeba; plash (17) Heshbon, house of and all her cities that Baal-meon. and explained in Judges ii. 20-23 and iii. 1-4. The work done by Joshua was thus distinctly limited. The work left for Israel was partly similar to that which Joshua had done, and partly different. It was the same when any great war broke out between Israel and the unconquered nations: for example, in the time of Deborah and Barak, or in the wars with the Philistines. But for the most part it was entirely different, and was the completion of the conquest of the land in detail throughout the several towns and villages. But how was this to be effected? Certainly not after the manner of the capture of Laish by the Danites, described in Judges (chap. xviii. 27), when they came unto a people that were at quiet and secure; and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and burnt the city with fire." The rules laid down in the law of Moses were to be the guiding principle for Israel, as also for Joshua. The seventh and twelfth chapters of Deuteronomy give them clearly, and they are these. (1) Utter extermination of the nations when Jehovah should deliver them up-i.e., not at the pleasure of Israel, but at the Divine decree. The signal for this extermination was generally a determined and obstinate attack on Israel. "It was of the Lord to harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle, that He might destroy them utterly" (chap. xi. 20). But while they "stood still in their strength" (chap. xi. 13) they were usually unmolested. (2) The destruction of all traces of idolatry in the conquered territory (Deut. xii. 1, 2: "In the land which the Lord God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it. ye shall utterly destroy all the places wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods .. overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and .. hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place." So also Deut. vii. 5, 25). All investigation of idolatrous practices and usages was forbidden (Deut. xii. 30). (3) No covenant or treaty was to be made between Israel and the nations of Canaan, and all intermarriage was prohibited. (Deut. vii. 2, 3; comp. Josh. xxiii. 12, 13.) Of these rules, the first entails responsibility, chiefly upon the leaders-as Joshua and his successors; the second and third, upon all the people. And on the observance or non-observance of the two latter rules of Baal, are in the plain; Dibon, and 1 Bamoth-baal, and Beth-baal-meon, (18) and Jahaza, and Kedemoth, and Mephaath, (19) and Kirjathaim, and Sibmah, and Zareth the completion of the conquest in detail very much depended. It is obvious that the persistent and general destruction of objects of Canaanitish worship, with the refusal to make treaties or intermarry, would tend to perpetuate a state of irritation in the minds of the Canaanites. Had these rules been faithfully observed, there would have been constant outbreaks of hostility, terminating in the further and more rapid extermination of the enemies of Israel, or else in their absolute submission to Israelitish law; and thus the entire conquest would have been completed in a comparatively short time. But, in fact, the second and third rules were constantly broken. Mixed marriages were common, and idolatry was maintained instead of being destroyed. Hence Israelites and Canaanites were mingled together, and it became impossible to carry out Rule 1; for one set of inhabitants could not be exterminated without inflicting serious injury upon the other. When we consider the above rules, it is impossible not to be struck with the wisdom of them when regarded as a means to the proposed end. We are also able to understand more clearly why so much stress was laid upon the necessity of adherence to the Book of the Law in Joshua's commission (chap. i. 6—8). The fact that these rules are not what human nature would be at all disposed to obey continuously and as a matter of set practice (have they ever been observed yet in any conquest recorded in history?) is worth noting, as a proof of the undesigned veracity of the story. It is a mark of thorough consistency between the law and the history of Israel. And if the authorship of Deuteronomy belonged to the late date which some claim for it, how could we account for the insertion of a law which was never kept, and could not be kept at the time when some suppose it was written ? From the days of Solomon and thenceforward, the relation of the remnant of the conquered Canaanites to Israel was fixed. The Phoenicians and Philistines maintained a separate national existence to the last. DESCRIPTION OF THE TERRITORY DISTRIBUTED BY MOSES ON THE EAST OF JORDAN (verses 15-33). (15) Reuben.-See also Num. xxxii. 33-42 and Deut. iii. 16, &c. The Tribes on JOSHUA, XIV. the East of Jordan. Jordan and his border, even unto the is the inheritance of the children of Gad after their families, the cities, and Pisgah, or, the their villages. 1 Or, Springs of hill. shahar in the mount of the valley, a Deut. 3. 17. (20) and Beth- peor, and al Ashdothpisgah, and Beth-jeshimoth, (21) and all the cities of the plain, and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, which reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses smote with the princes of Midian, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, which were dukes of Sihon, dwelling in the country. (22) Balaam also the son of Beor, the soothsayer, did the children of Israel slay with the sword among them that were slain by them. (23) And the border of the children of Reuben was Jordan, and the border thereof. This was the inheritance of the children of Reuben after their families, the cities and the villages thereof. 2 b Num. 31. 8. 2 Or, diviner. (24) And Moses gave inheritance unto Num. 32. 39. the tribe of Gad, even unto the children of Gad according to their families. (25) And their coast was Jazer, and all e Num. 18. 20. the cities of Gilead, and half the land & ch. 18. 7. of the children of Ammon, unto Aroer that is before Rabbah; (26) and from Heshbon unto Ramath - mizpeh, and Betonim; and from Mahanaim unto the border of Debir; (27) and in the valley, Beth-aram, and Beth-nimralı, and Succoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon, (21) The princes of Midian... which were dukes of Sihon, dwelling in the country.The conquest of the Midianites is recorded in Num. xxxi. The orders given were, "Avenge the Lord of Midian" (verse 3); "avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites" (verse 2), because they tempted Israel to idolatry and uncleanness. But this verse in Joshua supplies us with a further reason for hostilities between Midian and Israel. The Midianites were "dukes of Sihon," and a part of his government. Through them he appears to have exercised his dominion over the conquered territory which he had taken from Moab. This land Israel had now, in turn, taken from him. But in order to its complete subjugation, the removal of Sihon's dukes, the princes or kings of Midian, was also necessary. This was brought about in the manner described in Num. xxii.-xxv., and xxxi. The relation between Midian and Moab which is implied, but not explained in Numbers, is explained by the apparently casual remark in this place. It is another example of undesigned agreement between Joshua and the Pentateuch. Of the same kind is the allusion to Balaam, as (verse 22) the soothsayer, or diviner. In Numbers we do not read of anything but prophecy and counsel as coming from Balaam's lips; but it is abundantly evident, from hints scattered through the story, that he was a soothsayer, or diviner, as well as a prophet. The elders of Moab and Midian went to him with the reward of divination in their hands (Num. xxii. 7); “Neither is there any divination against Israel" (Num. xxiii. 23) : B.C. cir. 1444. (29) And Moses gave inheritance unto the half tribe of Manasseh: and this was the possession of the half tribe of the children of Manasseh by their families. (30) And their coast was from Mahanaim, all Bashan, all the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, and all the towns. of Jair, which are in Bashan, threescore cities: (31) and half Gilead, and Ashtaroth, and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan, were pertaining unto the children of Machir the son of Manasseh, even to the one half of the children of Machir by their families. (32) These are the countries which Moses did distribute for inheritance in the plains of Moab, on the other side Jordan, by Jericho, eastward. (33) d But unto the tribe of Levi Moses gave not any inheritance: the LORD God of Israel was their inheritance, as he said unto them. CHAPTER XIV.-(1) And these are the countries which the children of Israel |