2 `This `is' the land that is left; all the circuits of the Philistines, and all Geshuri,
and Gilead, and the border of the Geshurite, and of the Maachathite, and all mount Hermon, and all Bashan unto Salcah;
And these `are' the nations which Jehovah left, to try Israel by them, all who have not known all the wars of Canaan;
And also, what `are' ye to Me, O Tyre and Zidon, And all circuits of Philistia? Recompence are ye rendering unto Me? And if ye are giving recompence to Me, Swiftly, hastily, I turn back your recompence on your head.
and the Pathrusim, and the Casluhim, (whence have come out Philistim,) and the Caphtorim.
I cast them not out from before thee in one year, lest the land be a desolation, and the beast of the field hath multiplied against thee; little `by' little I cast them out from before thee, till thou art fruitful, and hast inherited the land. `And I have set thy border from the Red Sea, even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness unto the River: for I give into your hand the inhabitants of the land, and thou hast cast them out from before thee;
then hath Jehovah dispossessed all these nations from before you, and ye have possessed nations, greater and mightier than you; every place on which the sole of your foot treadeth is yours; from the wilderness, and Lebanon, from the river, the river Phrat, even unto the farther sea is your border;
and the sons of Israel dispossessed not the Geshurite, and the Maachathite; and Geshur and Maachath dwell in the midst of Israel unto this day.
and his second `is' Chileab, of Abigail wife of Nabal the Carmelite, and the third `is' Absalom son of Maacah daughter of Talmai king of Geshur,
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Joshua 13
Commentary on Joshua 13 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 13
At this chapter begins the account of the dividing of the land of Canaan among the tribes of Israel by lot, a narrative not so entertaining and instructive as that of the conquest of it, and yet it is thought fit to be inserted in the sacred history, to illustrate the performance of the promise made to the fathers, that this land should be given to the seed of Jacob, to them and not to any other. The preserving of this distribution would be of great use to the Jewish nation, who were obliged by the law to keep up this first distribution, and not to transfer inheritances from tribe to tribe, Num. 36:9. It is likewise of use to us for the explaining of other scriptures: the learned know how much light the geographical description of a country gives to the history of it. And therefore we are not to skip over these chapters of hard names as useless and not to be regarded; where God has a mouth to speak and a hand to write we should find an ear to hear an eye to read; and God give us a heart to profit! In this chapter,
Jos 13:1-6
Here,
Jos 13:7-33
Here we have,