Land Remaining to Be Possessed
Joshua 13:1-7
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Jos.13.1 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויהושע: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- זקן: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- בא: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- בימים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אליו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- אתה: PRON,2,m,sg
- זקנתה: NOUN,f,sg,abs,suff3fs
- באת: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
- בימים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- והארץ: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- נשארה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- הרבה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- מאד: ADV
- לרשתה: INF,qal,3,f,sg
Parallels
- Josh.23.1 (verbal): Uses the same wording about Joshua being old and stricken in years as the opening of a final address — echoes the leader’s advanced age motif.
- Josh.18.1 (structural): Describes that land still remained to be allotted (seven tribes without inheritance), directly paralleling the theme of unpossessed territory in Josh 13:1.
- Josh.24.29 (thematic): Records Joshua’s death after his long leadership, completing the narrative arc initiated by the statement of his old age and the unfinished conquest.
- Num.27.18-23 (allusion): God/leadership prepares for succession (Moses laying hands on Joshua) while an older leader transitions responsibility — parallels the context of an aged leader and ongoing task of possessing the land.
Alternative generated candidates
- Now Joshua was old, advanced in days. And the LORD said to him, “You are old, advanced in days, and very much land still remains to be possessed.”
- Now Joshua was old, advanced in days. And the LORD said to him, “You are old, advanced in days, and very much land still remains to be possessed.”
Jos.13.2 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- זאת: DEM,f,sg
- הארץ: NOUN,f,sg,def
- הנשארת: ADJ,f,sg,def
- כל: DET
- גלילות: NOUN,f,pl,cs
- הפלשתים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- וכל: CONJ+PRON,indef
- הגשורי: ADJ,m,sg,def
Parallels
- Josh.13.3-6 (verbal): Immediate parallel in the same pericope that enumerates the Philistine cities and districts (Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, Ekron) — expands on ‘the land of the Philistines’ mentioned in v.2.
- Judges 1:19 (thematic): Describes Israel's failure to drive out inhabitants of the plains (due to their iron chariots), explaining why certain territories remained under non‑Israelite control — thematically parallels the ‘remaining land’ in Josh 13:2.
- 1 Samuel 27:4 (thematic): Reports David dwelling in the Philistine city of Gath, illustrating Philistine territorial control and the continued significance of Philistine cities referenced in Joshua 13:2.
- 2 Samuel 3:3 (allusion): Names Maachah as the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; recalls Geshur as a distinct Aramean/neighboring polity — connects to the mention of ‘all the Geshurite’ territory in Josh 13:2.
Alternative generated candidates
- This is the land that remains: all the territory of the Philistines and all of Geshur,
- This is the land that remains: all the territories of the Philistines and all the land of Geshur.
Jos.13.3 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- מן: PREP
- השיחור: NOUN,m,sg,def
- אשר: PRON,rel
- על: PREP
- פני: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- מצרים: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- ועד: CONJ+PREP
- גבול: NOUN,m,sg,cs
- עקרון: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- צפונה: ADV
- לכנעני: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- תחשב: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg
- חמשת: NUM,card,construct
- סרני: NOUN,m,pl,cons
- פלשתים: NOUN,m,pl,cstr
- העזתי: NOUN,m,sg,def
- והאשדודי: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,def
- האשקלוני: NOUN,m,sg,def
- הגתי: NOUN,m,sg,def
- והעקרוני: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,def
- והעוים: CONJ+NOUN,m,pl,def
Parallels
- 1 Samuel 6:17 (verbal): Lists the five princes/lords of the Philistines (Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, Ekron), matching Joshua’s enumeration of Philistine cities and their rulers.
- Joshua 15:47 (structural): In the territorial description for Judah this verse names Gaza, Ashkelon and Ekron—overlapping the Philistine cities noted in Joshua 13:3 and showing their location within Israel’s border accounts.
- Deuteronomy 2:23 (verbal): Refers to the Avvim (Avvites) who dwelt as far as Gaza and were displaced—paralleling Joshua 13:3’s mention of the Avvites among peoples in the Philistine/sea-coast region.
- Amos 1:6–8 (thematic): A prophetic denunciation naming Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon and Ekron; thematically linked as the major Philistine city-states listed in Joshua 13:3 and subject to later prophetic judgment.
Alternative generated candidates
- from the Shihor that is before Egypt to the border of Ekron northward. Count as five lords of the Philistines: the Gazite, the Ashdodite, the Ashkelonite, the Gittite, the Ekronite, and the Avvites.
- From the Shihor that is before Egypt to the boundary of Ekron northward—reckoned as Canaanites are the five rulers of the Philistines: the Gazites, the Ashdodites, the Ashkelonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites—and the Avvites.
Jos.13.4 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- מתימן: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כל: DET
- ארץ: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- הכנעני: NOUN,m,sg,abs,def
- ומערה: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- אשר: PRON,rel
- לצידנים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- עד: PREP
- אפקה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- עד: PREP
- גבול: NOUN,m,sg,cs
- האמרי: NOUN,m,sg,def
Parallels
- Joshua 1:4 (structural): Both verses present the territorial boundaries of the land Israel is to possess; Joshua 1:4 gives a broad boundary formula (from Lebanon to the Euphrates and to the Great Sea) that parallels the boundary rhetoric in Josh 13:4.
- Numbers 34:3-5 (thematic): Numbers 34 provides the survey of the land's borders for Israel; its detailed boundary language and place‑names function as an earlier legal/topographical parallel to the regional delimitations in Josh 13:4.
- Deuteronomy 11:24 (thematic): Deuteronomy promises the extent of Israel's possession (‘from the wilderness to Lebanon…to the river, the river Euphrates’), echoing the theme of territorial limits and conquest reflected in Josh 13:4.
Alternative generated candidates
- From the south, all the land of the Canaanites and the district of the Sidonians as far as Aphek, to the border of the Amorite.
- From the south, all the land of the Canaanite and the land of the Sidonians, as far as Aphek, to the border of the Amorite.
Jos.13.5 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- והארץ: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- הגבלי: NOUN,m,sg,def
- וכל: CONJ+PRON,indef
- הלבנון: NOUN,m,sg,def
- מזרח: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- השמש: NOUN,f,sg,def
- מבעל: PREP+NOUN,prop,m,sg
- גד: NOUN,prop,m,sg
- תחת: PREP
- הר: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- חרמון: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עד: PREP
- לבוא: VERB,qal,inf
- חמת: NOUN,f,sg,cons
Parallels
- Josh.11:17 (verbal): Uses nearly identical language for the northern extent of the land — 'from Baal‑gad in the valley of Lebanon under Mount Hermon' — echoing the same geographic boundary as Josh 13:5.
- Num.34:8 (structural): Gives the prescribed northern border of the land of Canaan ('from the sea unto Lebo‑Hamath') and so parallels Josh 13:5’s description of the northern limits toward Hamath and Mount Hermon.
- Ezek.47:15 (thematic): In the prophetic re‑allocation of the land Ezekiel sets a northern boundary that reaches to Hamath, reflecting the same concern with Hamath/Mount Hermon as the extreme north of Israelite territory.
- Josh.12:1–6 (structural): Catalogues the kings and territories conquered east and west of the Jordan and summarizes the extent of Israel’s victories, relating to the territorial framework and northern limits invoked in Josh 13:5.
Alternative generated candidates
- And the land of Gilead, and all Lebanon eastward, from Baal-gad beneath Mount Hermon to the entrance of Hamath.
- And the land of the Gebalites and all Lebanon eastward—from Baal-gad beneath Mount Hermon to the entrance of Hamath.
Jos.13.6 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- כל: DET
- ישבי: NOUN,m,pl,cons
- ההר: NOUN,m,sg,def
- מן: PREP
- הלבנון: NOUN,m,sg,def
- עד: PREP
- משרפת: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- מים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- כל: DET
- צידנים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- אנכי: PRON,1,sg
- אורישם: VERB,qal,impf,1,sg
- מפני: PREP
- בני: NOUN,m,pl,construct
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- רק: PRT
- הפלה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- לישראל: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בנחלה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- כאשר: CONJ
- צויתיך: VERB,qal,perf,1,-,sg
Parallels
- Numbers 33:51-55 (allusion): God’s command to drive out the inhabitants of the land and dispossess them — closely parallels the divine assurance to remove the hill-country peoples before Israel.
- Deuteronomy 7:1-2 (thematic): Instruction to destroy the nations in Canaan and not make covenants with them; thematically parallel to the requirement to expel the Canaanite inhabitants.
- Numbers 26:55 (verbal): Specifies that the land is to be allotted to the Israelites by lot — directly parallels Joshua’s instruction to divide the land by lot.
- Judges 1:21 (structural): Reports that the Jebusites were not driven out of Jerusalem and lived among Benjamin — a narrative contrast to the promise/command in Joshua that the inhabitants be driven out.
Alternative generated candidates
- All the inhabitants of the hill country, from Lebanon to Misrephoth-maim, and all the Sidonians— I will dispossess them from before the people of Israel; only assign the land to Israel as an inheritance, as I commanded you.
- All the inhabitants of the hill country, from Lebanon to Misrephoth-maim—all the Sidonians—I will dispossess from before the people of Israel. Only allot the land as an inheritance to Israel, as I commanded you.
Jos.13.7 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ועתה: CONJ
- חלק: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- את: PRT,acc
- הארץ: NOUN,f,sg,def
- הזאת: DEM,f,sg,def
- בנחלה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- לתשעת: PREP+NUM,m,pl,const
- השבטים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- וחצי: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- השבט: NOUN,m,sg,def
- המנשה: NOUN,m,sg,def
Parallels
- Numbers 32:33 (verbal): Explicitly records that Moses gave land to Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh — closely paralleling Joshua’s instruction to divide the remaining land among the tribes and the half-tribe of Manasseh.
- Numbers 34:13-29 (structural): Commands given to Eleazar, Joshua and the tribal leaders to survey and divide the land by lot; parallels Joshua’s directive to allot the land as inheritances among the tribes.
- Deuteronomy 3:12-13 (thematic): Describes the giving of Gilead to Machir (Manasseh) and the eastern allotments — background for the special mention of the half-tribe of Manasseh in Joshua 13:7.
- Joshua 14:1 (structural): Records the formal distribution of inheritances by Eleazar, Joshua and the tribal leaders at Shiloh — a direct continuation/fulfillment of the division commanded in Joshua 13:7.
- Joshua 22:4 (thematic): Joshua’s charge to the eastern tribes (including the half-tribe of Manasseh) to return to their possessions east of Jordan after the conquests echoes the allotment and recognition of the half-tribe’s inheritance mentioned in Joshua 13:7.
Alternative generated candidates
- Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance to nine tribes and the half-tribe of Manasseh.
- Now divide this land as an inheritance to nine tribes and to the half‑tribe of Manasseh.
Now Joshua was old and advanced in years, and the LORD said to him, “You are old and advanced in years, and very much of the land still remains to be possessed.”
This is the land that remains: all the districts of the Philistines and all Geshur.
From the Shihor, which is before Egypt, to the border of Ekron northward—for the Canaanites—are reckoned the five princes of the Philistines: the Gazite, the Ashdodite, the Ashkelonite, the Gittite, and the Ekronite; and also the Avvites.
From the south: all the land of the Canaanites and the region that reaches toward Sidon, as far as Aphek, to the border of the Amorite. And the land of Geshur and all Lebanon, eastward toward the rising of the sun, from Baal‑gad beneath Mount Hermon to the entrance of Hamath.
All the inhabitants of the hill country, from Lebanon to Misrephoth‑maim—the Sidonians—I will dispossess from before the people of Israel; only divide the land as an inheritance to Israel, as I commanded you. Now therefore divide this land as an inheritance for nine tribes and the half‑tribe of Manasseh.