The MacArthur Study Bible, NKJV

by John MacArthur

  Josh. 10:13

  The Northern Campaign

  10:24 feet on the necks. This gesture 1) symbolized victory and 2) promised assurance of future conquest (v. 25).

  10:40–43 A summary of Joshua’s southern campaign (cf. 9:1—10:43).

  10:42 Tribute belongs to the Lord for all the victories, as “in everything give thanks” (1 Thess. 5:18).

  Joshua 11

  11:1 Hazor. A city 5 mi. SW of Lake Huleh, 10 mi. N of the Sea of Galilee. King Jabin led a coalition of kings from several city-states in Galilee and to the W against Joshua, whose victory reports in the S had spread northward.

  11:2 south…in the lowland. This refers to the deep rift of the Jordan River valley to the S of the Lake of Chinneroth (12:3), later called the Sea of Galilee. Chinneroth was probably a town not far N of the lake. The lowland or foothills are an area somewhat W of the Jordan, toward the Mediterranean Sea. Here also is the plain of Sharon and the heights of Dor, i.e., foothills extending to Mt. Carmel, nearer the Mediterranean coast and Dor, a seaport city.

  11:5 Merom. These copious springs a few mi. SW of Lake Huleh, about 13 mi. N from the Lake of Chinneroth, which provided the northern armies a rendezvous point.

  11:6 hamstring. They cut the large sinew or ligament at the back of the hock on the rear leg, which crippled the horses, making them useless.

  11:8 Greater Sidon. A city on the Phoenician coast, N of Hazor. “Greater” may refer to surrounding areas along with the city itself. Misrephoth. This location lay W of Hazor and also on the Mediterranean.

  Josh. 11:9

  Division of Land Among the Twelve Tribes

  In the second half of the book of Joshua, the land conquered in the first half of the book is divided among the tribes of Israel.

  11:12–15 A summary of Joshua’s northern campaign (11:1–15).

  11:16, 17 Joshua took all this land. The sweeping conquest covered much of Palestine. mountain country. In the S, in Judah. South. South of the Dead Sea. Goshen. Probably the land between Gaza and Gibeon. lowland. Or foothills; refers to an area between the Mediterranean coastal plain and the hills of Judah. Jordan plain. The rift valley running S of the Dead Sea all the way to the Red Sea’s Gulf of Aqabah. The hill country of Israel is distinct from that in 11:16, lying in the northern part of Palestine. The conquest reached from Mt. Halak, about 6 mi. S of the Dead Sea, to Mt. Hermon about 40 mi. NE from the Lake of Chinneroth.

  11:18 war a long time. The conquest took approximately 7 years—ca. 1405–1398 B.C. (cf. 14:10). Only Gibeon submitted without a fight (v. 19).

  11:20 it was of the LORD to harden their hearts. God turned the Canaanites’ hearts to fight in order that Israel might be His judging instrument to destroy them. They were willfully guilty of rejecting the true God with consequent great wickedness, and were as unfit to remain in the Land as vomit spewed out of the mouth (Lev. 18:24, 25).

  11:21 Anakim. Enemies who dwelt in the southern area which Joshua had defeated. They descended from Anak (“long-necked”), and were related to the giants who made Israel’s spies feel small as grasshoppers by comparison (Num. 13:28–33). Compare also Deut. 2:10, 11, 21. Their territory was later given to Caleb as a reward for his loyalty (14:6–15).

  11:22 Anakim…Gath. Some of them remained in Philistine territory, most notably those who preceded Goliath (cf. 1 Sam. 17:4).

  11:23 the whole land. Here is a key verse for the book which sums up 11:16–22. How does this relate to 13:1, where God tells Joshua that he did not take the whole land? It may mean that the major battles had been fought and supremacy demonstrated, even if further incidents would occur and not every last pocket of potential resistance had yet been rooted out.

  Joshua 12

  12:1–24 the kings…defeated. The actual list of 31 kings conquered (v. 24) follows and fills out the summary of “the whole land” in 11:16, 17, 23. The roster shows the kings whom “Moses defeated” E of the Jordan earlier (vv. 1–6; cf. Num. 21; Deut. 2:24—3:17); then those whom Joshua conquered W of the Jordan—a summary (7, 8); central kings (9); southern kings (10–16); and northern kings (17–24).

  12:24 The conquest of all these kings, covering areas up and down the “whole land” (11:23), was due to the Lord’s faithful help, which fulfilled His Word. God promised the Land in His covenant with Abraham (Gen. 12:7), and reaffirmed that He would give success in conquest (Josh. 1:3, 6).

  Joshua 13

  13:1 Joshua was old. By this time he was about 95, in comparison to Caleb’s 85 years (14:10). In 23:1, he was 110 and near death (24:29).

  13:1, 2 very much land. Some land had not yet actually been occupied by the Israelites through the previous general victories. Pockets or areas in 13:2–6 still lay untouched by specific invasion and occupation (see note on 11:23). When Joshua allotted areas to individuals and tribes, they bore the challenge to drive out lingering resisters; if not, they would disobey God’s mandate to be resolute in conquest (Deut. 11:22, 23). Failure to do this thoroughly is a sad theme in Judg. 1.

  13:3 Sihor. Probably related to the Nile (Is. 23:3; Jer. 2:18), and possibly a name for that river or an eastern tributary of it. The name could also refer to a seasonal rain trough which runs to the Mediterranean, the Wadi-el-Arish in the desert S of Palestine, NE of Egypt.

  13:7 divide this land. God commanded Joshua to devise allotments within boundaries for inheritances as He had prepared for earlier (Num. 32–34). Joshua announced divisions made clear by lot to tribes E of the Jordan (13:8–33), tribes W of the Jordan (Josh. 14–19), Caleb (14:6–15; cf. 15:13–19), his own area (19:49–51), cities of refuge (20:1–9), and Levite towns (21).

  13:22 Israel also killed…Balaam. This Israelite slaying of the infamous false prophet occurred at an unidentified point during the conquest (cf. Num. 21–25; 31:16; Josh. 24:9, 10; 2 Pet. 2:15, 16; Jude 11; Rev. 2:14).

  13:33 to…Levi…no inheritance. God did not give this tribe a normal allotment of land. This suited His choice of Levites for the special ministry of the tabernacle service. Their inheritance consisted in this unique role to share His holy ministrations (18:7). God did assign them cities and adjacent lands (14:4; Num. 35:2, 4, 5), scattered at 48 places (21:41) throughout all the tribes. This made these religious servants accessible to all the people (cf. chap. 21).

  Joshua 14

  14:1 the land of Canaan. The name for the land W of the Jordan.

  14:5 so the children of Israel did. They obeyed in some things, but not in all (see note on 13:1, 2).

  14:6–9 Caleb. This passage reviews what is also recounted in Num. 13, 14. This includes a celebration of God’s faithfulness (vv. 7–11), and Caleb’s specific inheritance (vv. 12–15). Later, he conquered the area (15:13, 14) and conferred blessing on Othniel and his daughter (15:15–19).

  14:10 eighty-five years old. Given 1) that Caleb was 40 at Kadesh Barnea and 2) that the Israelites had wandered in the wilderness 38 years, then the conquering of the Land took 7 years (ca. 1405–1398 B.C.), Caleb was now 85 years old.

  14:12–14 Based on His promise (v. 9), God granted Caleb’s desire for Hebron because of his faithfulness to believe that God would give the Land to the Israelites as He promised.

  14:15 Anakim. See 15:13; see note on 11:21.

  Joshua 15

  15:1–12 the lot of…Judah. The tribe’s southern boundary (v. 1) ran from the lower tip of the Salt or Dead Sea in a sweep through the desert over to the Wadi, the Brook of Egypt (see note on 13:3), and along it to the Mediterranean. The eastern limit (v. 5) ran the length of the Salt Sea itself. On the N, it extended from the N end of the Salt Sea by various lines working to the Mediterranean (vv. 5–11). The Mediterranean coastline served as the western border (v. 12).

  15:17 Othniel. A conqueror like Caleb, who was his father-in-law, he would later be a judge in Israel (Judg. 3:9–11).

  15:18, 19 Caleb’s daughter sought blessing and exercised real faith for it—like father, like daughter.

  15:20–62 the inheritance of…Judah.
Judah’s cities are grouped in 4 areas: S (vv. 20–32); lowland or foothills over near the Mediterranean (vv. 33–47); hilly central region (vv. 48–60); Judean wilderness dropping eastward down to the Dead Sea (vv. 61, 62).

  15:63 Jebusites. The inhabitants of Jerusalem were descendants from the third son of Canaan (Gen. 10:15, 16; 15:21). Joshua killed their king who had joined a pact against Gibeon (Josh. 10). Israelites called the area “Jebus” until David ordered Joab and his soldiers to capture the city (2 Sam. 5:6, 7) and made it his capital. Judges 1:8, 21 show that the Israelites conquered Jebus and burned it, but the Jebusites later regained control until David’s day. Melchizedek had been a very early king (Gen. 14), a believer in the true God, when the site was “Salem” (cf. Ps. 76:2, “Salem” is “Jerusalem”).

  Josh. 15:63

  The Cities of Refuge

  Joshua 16

  16:1–4 children of Joseph. Joseph’s territory was double as it was given to his sons Manasseh and Ephraim, who had inheritances stretching over a good portion of the central area in the Promised Land.

  16:5–9 border of…Ephraim. The description is of the land N of Judah’s territory, from the Jordan W to the Mediterranean Sea. There was the inclusion of some cities in the territory of Manasseh, since Ephraim’s land was small compared to its population.

  16:10 Ephraim did not drive the Canaanites from their area. This is the first mention of the fatal policy of neglecting to exterminate the idolaters (cf. Deut. 20:16).

  Joshua 17

  17:1–18 Manasseh. The other half-tribe of Manasseh, distinct from the half in 16:4, received its portion of the split inheritance W of the Jordan to the N and E near the Lake of Chinneroth (Galilee).

  17:3–6 Zelophehad. In Manasseh’s tribe, this man had no sons as heirs, but his 5 daughters received the inheritance. God led Moses to give this right to women (Num. 27:1–11, cited in v. 4).

  17:12–18 children of Manasseh. Tribesmen of Manasseh complained that Joshua did not allot them land sufficient to their numbers and that the Canaanites were too tough for them to drive out altogether. He permitted them extra land in forested hills that they could clear. Joshua told them that they could drive out the Canaanites for God had promised to be with them in victory against chariots (Deut. 20:1).

  Joshua 18

  18:1 Shiloh. Israel as a whole, having had their camp first at Gilgal (4:20; 5:9), converged to Shiloh for worship at the tabernacle. Shiloh, about 9 mi. N of Bethel and 20 mi. N of Jerusalem, remained the center of spiritual attention, as in Judg. 18:31 and 1 Sam. 1:3. Due to Israel’s sin, God would later let the Philistines devastate Israel at Shiloh and capture the ark (1 Sam. 4:10, 17), and He would later use Shiloh as an example of judgment (Jer. 7:12).

  18:8, 10. Seven tribes were yet to receive land (v. 2). Joshua obtained from their 21 surveyor scouts (vv. 2–4) descriptions of the 7 areas of land, then cast lots to decide the choices. The High-Priest Eleazar served him, seeking God’s will by casting lots (19:51). This was not some act of mere chance, but a means God used to reveal His will (see note on Prov. 16:33).

  18:11–28 the lot of…Benjamin. This inheritance lay between Judah’s and Ephraim’s, and embraced Jerusalem (v. 28).

  Joshua 19

  19:1–9 Simeon. This area was a southern portion of Judah’s territory, since that allotment was more than Judah needed (v. 9).

  19:10–16 Zebulun. This allotment lay W of the Lake of Chinneroth (Sea of Galilee) and ran to the Mediterranean Sea.

  19:17–23 Issachar. The area basically ran just below the Sea of Galilee from the Jordan W over to Mt. Tabor, circling SW almost to Megiddo, N of Manasseh’s portion.

  19:24–31 Asher. This territory was a long, broad strip flanking the Mediterranean on the W, then Naphtali’s and Zebulun’s claims on the E, running S to Manasseh’s. It reached from Mt. Carmel in the S to the area of Tyre in the N.

  19:32–39 Naphtali. This region took in a long stretch of land with a border at the northern edge of all the Israelite inheritances, a line on the W dividing it from Asher, southward to follow Zebulun’s northern border. Then it struck eastward toward the Sea of Galilee with land to the W alongside that sea and down to Issachar’s claim, over to the Jordan River. The eastern line ran northward, including the city of Hazor and also Dan, then swung N of Dan. Jesus’ Galilean ministry would take place largely in this area (Is. 9:1, 2; Matt. 4:13–17).

  19:33 terebinth tree. This was an oak tree (or an oak forest if taken in a collective sense, as the word possibly means in Gen. 12:6) near Kedesh and NW of the waters at Merom. According to Judg. 4:11, it was the site where Jael killed Sisera with a hammer and tent peg (4:21).

  19:40–48 Dan. The tribal allotment was a narrow, roughly U-shaped strip just N of Judah’s claim and S of Ephraim’s. The Mediterranean coast lay on the western arm of the “U.” Joppa was on the coast near the N end. Later the Danites, failing to possess their original claim (Judg. 1:34–36), migrated northeastward to a territory by Laish or Leshem (Josh. 19:47). They conquered this area N of the Sea of Galilee and Hazor, and renamed it Dan (Josh. 19:47, 48; Judg. 18:27–29).

  19:49, 50 Joshua received his own inheritance from the children of Israel, an area he preferred in the hills of his tribe, Ephraim (Num. 13:8). He built a city, Timnath Serah, about 16 mi. SW of Shechem. His inheritance was an intrinsic part of God’s promise to him, as was also Caleb’s inheritance (Num. 14:30).

  Joshua 20

  20:2–9 cities of refuge. Moses had spoken God’s Word to name 6 cities in Israel as refuge centers. A person who inadvertently killed another could flee to the nearest of these for protection (cf. Num. 35:9–34). Three lay W of the Jordan, and 3 lay to the E, each reachable in a day for those in its area. The slayer could flee there to escape pursuit by a family member seeking to exact private justice. Authorities at the refuge protected him and escorted him to a trial. If found innocent, he was guarded at the refuge until the death of the current High-Priest, a kind of statute of limitations (Josh. 20:6). He could then return home. If found guilty of murder, he suffered due punishment.

  Joshua 21

  21:1–3 cities to dwell in. God had given Moses His direction to provide 48 cities for the Levites, dotted throughout Israel’s tribal allotments (Num. 35:1–8). Six were to be the cities of refuge (Num. 35:6).

  21:3–42 the children of Israel gave to the Levites. These 48 cities (v. 41) are for various branches of the Levite people to live in and have pasture for their livestock (v. 42). People of the other tribes donated the areas, each site giving the Levites a vantage point from which to minister spiritually to the people nearby. In fairness, larger tribes devoted more land, smaller ones less (Num. 35:8). Only the Kohathites were priests, with other branches of Levites assisting in various roles of ritual worship and manual labors.

  21:4 Kohathites. Under God’s guiding wisdom, these received 13 city areas in the vicinity of Jerusalem or at a reasonable distance within allotments of Judah, Benjamin, and Simeon. This would give them access to carry out priestly functions where God would later have the ark moved and the temple situated (2 Sam. 6).

  21:43–45 So the LORD gave to Israel all the land. This sums up God’s fulfillment of His covenant promise to give Abraham’s people the Land (Gen. 12:7; Josh. 1:2, 5–9). God also kept His Word in giving the people rest (Deut. 12:9, 10). In a valid sense, the Canaanites were in check, under military conquest as God had pledged (Josh. 1:5), not posing an immediate threat. Not every enemy had been driven out, however, leaving some to stir up trouble later. But, God’s people failed to exercise their responsibility and possess their land to the full degree in various areas.

  Joshua 22

  22:1 Reubenites…Gadites…Manasseh. The tribes from E of the Jordan had helped their people conquer the land W of the river. Now they were ready to go back to their families to the E.

  22:4 Moses…gave you. Clearance from Moses and Joshua for these tribes to possess land E of the Jordan was of God (v. 9; 24:8; Num. 32:30–33).

/>   22:10–34 an altar…by the Jordan. The special altar built by the 2½ tribes near the river, though well-meant, aroused suspicions among western tribes. They feared rebellion against the Shiloh altar that served all the tribes in unity. When challenged, men of the eastern tribes explained their motives to follow the true God, be in unity with the rest of Israel, and not be regarded as outsiders. The explanation met with other Israelites’ approval.

  Joshua 23

  23:1 Joshua was old. A long time had passed since he led the conquest ca. 1405–1398 B.C.; Joshua had grown very old, and was 110 when he died (24:29), ca. 1385–1383 B.C. (see note on 13:1).

  23:5 the LORD…will expel them. God was ready to help His people drive the remaining Canaanites out so that they could possess their claims more fully. Such moves needed to be gradual (Deut. 7:22), but determined, in obedience to God.

  23:7, 8 The dangers from being incomplete about possessing all the Land included that of intermingling with the godless, as in marriages (v. 12), and committing to their gods, thus drifting from worshiping the true God. The Canaanites would become snares, traps, scourges, and thorns, causing Israelites to eventually lose the Land (vv. 13, 15–16).

  23:15, 16 This actually occurred 800 years later, when Babylon exiled the Israelites ca. 605–586 B.C. (cf. 2 Kin. 24–25).

  Joshua 24

  24:1–25 It was time for worship and thanksgiving for all God had done leading up to and including the conquest of Canaan.

  24:1–5 Joshua reviewed the history recorded in Gen. 11 to Ex. 15.

  24:2 the River. The Euphrates, where Abraham’s family had lived. It is clear here that God’s calling of Abraham out to Himself was also a call out of idolatry, as He does with others (cf. 1 Thess. 1:9).