Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary

Adam Clarke Commentary

The nine tribes, and the half tribe of Manasseh - The other half tribe of Manasseh, and the two tribes of Reuben and Gad, had got their inheritance on the other side of Jordan, in the land formerly belonging to Og king of Bashan, and Sihon king of the Amorites.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance,.... Having the command and authority of God for it, he was to set about it at once, with all diligence and application:

unto the nine tribes: of Judah, Simeon, Benjamin, Dan, Ephraim, Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, and Naphtali, in which order they are placed, when the Lord gave to Moses the names of the men that should divide the land under Eleazar and Joshua, Numbers 34:16,

and the half tribe of Manasseh; that half which had no inheritance on the other side Jordan, and for which a prince of the children of Joseph was appointed to divide, Numbers 34:23.

Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary

It is remarkable that this land of Canaan is called an inheritance, because ages before it was given to Abraham. Genesis 12:7. But yet Israel obtained it by conquest. Doth not this resemble the everlasting inheritance? Jesus and his blessings are the gift of God; but yet Jesus hath purchased, and sought for our salvation with his blood. Reader! it is perfectly plain and intelligible, how our mercies are our Father's free gift, and yet obtained for us by the work of the Lord Jesus. So thought the Apostle, and so hath he explained it, when he saith, in whom (that is in Jesus) we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins: but all that is according to the riches of his grace; that is the Father's grace, to the praise of the glory of whose grace it is, that he hath made us accepted in the beloved. For the admitting Jesus as our surety, makes it a matter of grace and a free gift, while the accomplishment of redemption, is by the conquests of the Lord Jesus in his victories, like Joshua, over all the obstructions to Canaan. Ephesians 1:6-7.

John Trapp Complete Commentary

Joshua 13:7 Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance unto the nine tribes, and the half tribe of Manasseh,

Ver. 7. Now therefore divide this land.] Even those parts thereof also that are yet unsubdued; for it is theirs, but so as they must win it before they wear it. Sic petitur caelum. The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence.

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

The Command to Divide the Land (Joshua 13:7).

Joshua 13:7

‘Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance for the nine tribes and the half tribe of Manasseh.’

“This land” is the whole land of Canaan not just the part mentioned above. God has now turned from the land yet to be possessed to the whole land. It was to be divided between all but the two and a half tribes Beyond Jordan. The inheritance was under the covenant. It was a fruit of the covenant promises, reminding them that it was a gift from God.

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable

The land referred to here included all that God had promised west of the Jordan River.

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments

Joshua 13:7. Now, therefore, divide this land — Both that which was conquered and that which remained unconquered was to be divided, that every tribe might know what belonged to them by God’s gift, and be encouraged to attempt the conquest of it when they were able; might be preserved from entering into any covenant or society with those who kept their inheritance from them; and likewise with a view to hinder the unconquered people from joining their forces together to recover their country, the Israelites inhabiting the cities and fields that lay between them.

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

Manasseh. The Septuagint adds, "from the Jordan to the Great Sea westward thou shalt give it: the Great Sea shall be the boundary; and to the two tribes, and to the half tribe of Manasseh".

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Unabridged

Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance unto the nine tribes, and the half tribe of Manasseh, No JFB commentary on this verse.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Numbers 26:53-56; 33:54; 32:2-14; Ezekiel 47:13-23; 48:23-29