Editing Book of Joshua (section)

==== Division of the land (chapters 13–22) ====
[[File:The map of the Holy Land by Marino Sanudo (drawn in 1320).jpg|thumb|Map of the [[Holy Land]], [[Pietro Vesconte]], 1321, showing the allotments of the tribes of Israel. Described by [[Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld]] as "the first non-Ptolemaic map of a definite country."<ref name="Nordenskiöld1889">{{cite book| first =Adolf Erik | last = Nordenskiöld | via = Google books |title= Facsimile-atlas to the Early History of Cartography: With Reproductions of the Most Important Maps Printed in the XV and XVI Centuries|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=i-IMSQAACAAJ|year=1889 |publisher= Kraus |pages=51, 64}}</ref>]]
[[File:1759 map Holy Land and 12 Tribes.jpg|thumb|right|1759 map of the tribal allotments of Israel]]
Having described how the Israelites and Joshua have carried out the first of their God's commands, the narrative now turns to the second: to "put the people in possession of the land." Joshua is "old, advanced (or stricken) in years" by this time.<ref>Joshua 13:1</ref>

This land distribution is a "covenantal land grant": [[Yahweh]], as king, is issuing each [[Twelve Tribes of Israel|tribe]] its territory.<ref name= Younger />{{rp |183}} The "[[Cities of Refuge]]" and [[Levitical city|Levitical cities]] are attached to the end, since it is necessary for the tribes to receive their grants before they allocate parts of it to others. The Transjordanian tribes are dismissed, affirming their loyalty to Yahweh.

The book reaffirms Moses' allocation of land east of the Jordan to the tribes of [[Tribe of Reuben|Reuben]] and [[Tribe of Gad|Gad]] and the half-tribe of [[Tribe of Manasseh|Manasseh]],<ref>Joshua 13:8–32; cf. {{bibleverse ||Numbers|32:1–42|NKJV}}</ref> and then describes how Joshua divided the newly conquered land of [[Canaan]] into parcels, and assigned them to the tribes by [[Land lottery|lot]].<ref>{{cite book |last1= Hirsch |first1=Emil G. |title= Jewish Encyclopedia|date= 1906 |chapter-url= http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/8907-joshua-book-of |chapter= Joshua, Book of}}</ref> Joshua 14:1 also makes reference to the role of [[Eleazar]] the priest (ahead of Joshua) in the distribution process.<ref>{{cite book|last1= Maclear |first1=G. F.|title= Joshua 14 in The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges| year =1897|publisher= Cambridge University Press | via = BibleHub|url= http://biblehub.com/commentaries/cambridge/joshua/14.htm}}</ref> The description serves a theological function to show how the [[Promised Land|promise of the land]] was realized in the biblical narrative; its origins are unclear, but the descriptions may reflect geographical relations among the places named.<ref>{{cite book |  last = Dorsey | first = David A. | title= The Roads and Highways of Ancient Israel | publisher= Johns Hopkins University Press | year= 1991 | isbn= 978-0-8018-3898-9}}</ref>{{rp |5}}

The wording of Joshua 18:1–4 suggests that the tribes of Reuben, Gad, [[Tribe of Judah|Judah]], [[Tribe of Ephraim|Ephraim]] and Manasseh received their land allocation some time before the "remaining seven tribes",<ref>{{bibleverse||Joshua|18:1–4|NKJV}}</ref> and a 21-member expedition set out to survey the remainder of the land with a view to organising the allocation to the tribes of [[Tribe of Simeon|Simeon]], [[Tribe of Benjamin|Benjamin]], [[Tribe of Asher|Asher]], [[Tribe of Naphtali|Naphtali]], [[Tribe of Zebulun|Zebulun]], [[Tribe of Issachar|Issachar]] and [[Tribe of Dan|Dan]]. Subsequently, 48 [[Levitical city|cities]] with their surrounding lands were allocated to the [[Tribe of Levi]].<ref>{{bibleverse ||Joshua|21:1–41|NKJV}}, cf. {{bibleverse ||Numbers|35:7|NKJV}}</ref>

Omitted in the [[Masoretic Text]], but present in the [[Septuagint]], is a statement that:
{{Blockquote | Joshua completed the division of the land in its boundaries, and the children gave a portion to Joshua, by the commandment of the Lord. They gave to him the city for which he asked, [[Timnath-heres|Thamnath Sarach]] gave they him in Mount Ephraim, and Joshua built the city, and dwelt in it. And Joshua took the stone knives with which he had [[Circumcision|circumcised]] the children of Israel, which were in the way in the wilderness, and he placed them in Tamnath Sarach.<ref>{{cite book |title= Pulpit Commentary | chapter = Joshua 21 | year =1919|publisher=  Bible Hub |chapter-url= http://biblehub.com/commentaries/pulpit/joshua/21.htm |editor2-last =Exell  |editor2-first= Joseph S. |editor1-last =Spence-Jones |editor1-first= HDM}}</ref>}}

By the end of chapter 21, the narrative records that the fulfilment of God's promise of land, rest and supremacy over the enemies of the Israelites was complete.<ref>Joshua 21:43–45</ref> The tribes to whom Moses had granted land east of the Jordan are authorized to return home to [[Gilead]] (here used in the widest sense for the whole [[Transjordan in the Bible|Transjordan]] district),<ref>{{cite book |last1= Barnes |first1=Albert |title= Notes on the Bible: Joshua 22 | year = 1834 |publisher= Bible Hub |url= http://biblehub.com/commentaries/barnes/joshua/22.htm}}</ref> having faithfully 'kept the charge'<ref>Joshua 22:3, [[Revised Version|English Revised Version]]</ref> of supporting the tribes occupying Canaan.  They are granted "riches... with very much livestock, with [[silver]], with [[gold]], with [[bronze]], with [[iron]], and with very much clothing" as a reward.<ref>Joshua 22:1–9</ref>