Josh 13.1-33 tells us that God tells Joshua that part of the land of Canaan remained unconquered. Jdges 3.1-2 gives us more insight into this, however, as to why not all of the land was conquered. It says, “Now these are the nations which the Lord left, to test Israel by them, that is, all who had not experienced any of the wars of Canaan; only in order that the generations of the sons of Israel might be taught war, those who had not experienced it formerly.” This is what is called “Moreshet Karav” or the “heritage of war. This is spiritual warfare (Num 4.3; Psa 144.1; Exo 15.3). Yeshua had defeated all our enemies, too, but they are not destroyed yet because the Lord wants to teach us warfare.
v 1…Now Joshua was old (how old we do not know, but he did live to be 110) and advanced in years when the Lord said to him, “You are old and advanced in years, and very much of the land remains to be possessed (Judges 3.1-2 tells why).
v 2…This is the land that remains: all the regions of the Philistines (on the shores of the Mediterranean) and all those of the Geshurites (in Syria-2 Sam 15.8);
v 3…from the Shihor, which is before Egypt (the Nile-Jer 2.18), even as far as the border of Ekron (near the NIle, southwest Canaan) to the north (part of it); it is counted as Canaanite); the five lords of the Philistines; the Gazite, the Ashdodite, the Ashkelonite, the Gittite, the Ekronite and the Avvite (those remaining after the Philistines drove the rest out);
v 4…to the south, all the land of the Canaanite and Mearah that belongs to the Sidonians, as far as Aphek to the border of the Amorites;
v 5…and the land of the Gebalite and all of Lebanon, toward the east, from Baal-gad below Mount Hermon as far as Lebo-hamath (the northern border of the land).
v 6…All the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon as far as Misrephoth-maim, all the Sidonians, I will drive them out from before the sons of Israel; only allot it to Israel for an inheritance as I have commanded you (the whole land; that which has been captured and that which has not).
v 7…Now therefore apportion this land for an inheritance to the nine tribes, and the half-tribe of Manasseh (on the west side; see Num 32.33 notes for the meaning of “half-tribe”).
v 8…With the other half-tribe (on the east side), the Reubenites and the Gadites received their inheritance which Moses gave them beyond the Jordan to the east, just as Moses the servant of the Lord gave to them;
v 9…from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, with the city which is in the middle of the valley (Aroer), and all the plain of Medeba, as far as Dibon,
v 10…and all the cities of Sihon the king of the Amorites who reigned in Heshbon, as far as the border of the sons of Ammon (which is the Jabbok River);
v 11…and Gilead, and the territory of the Geshurites and Maacathites, and all Mount Hermon, and all Bashan as far as Saleca,
v 12…all the kingdom of Og in Bashan who reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei, he alone was left of the remnant of the Rephaim, for Moses struck them and dispossessed them
v 13…But the sons of Israel did not possess the Geshurites and the Maacathites, for Geshur and Maacath live among Israel until this day (in possession of their cities-2 Sam 3.3).
v 14…Only the tribe of Levi he did not give an inheritance; the offerings by fire to the Lord (to Yehovah), the God of Israel, are their inheritance, as he spoke to them.
v 15…So Moses gave an inheritance to the tribe of the sons of Reuben according to their families.
v 16…And their territory was from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, with the city which is in the middle of the valley (Josh 13.9-Aroer was lying on both sides of the bank) and all the plain of Medeba;
v 17…Heshbon and all its cities which are on the plain: Dibon and Bamoth-baal (high place of Baal) and Beth-baal-meon,
v 18…and Jahaz and Kedemoth and Mephaath (to shine);
v 19…and Kiriathaim (double) and Sibmah (spice fragrance) and Zereph-shahar on the hill of the valley;
v 20…and Baal-peor and the slopes of Pisgah and Beth-jeshimoth;
v 21…even all the cities of the plain and all the kingdom of Sihon the king of the Amorites who reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses struck with the chiefs of Midian, Evi and Rekem and Zur and Hur and Reba, the princes of Sihon, who lived in the land.
v 22…The sons of Israel also killed Balaam the son of Beor, the diviner, with the sword among the rest of their slain (at the same time as the princes of MIdian were slain; Balaam may have returned to Midian to receive his payments after they heard that the counsel he gave them had worked; but received his just reward).
v 23…And the border of the sons of Reuben was the Jordan. This was the inheritance of the sons of Reuben according to their families, the cities and their villages.
v 24…Moses also gave an inheritance to the tribe of Gad, to the sons of Gad, according to their families.
v 25…And their territory was Jazer and all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the sons of Ammon, as far as Aroer which is before Rabbah;
v 26…and from Heshbon as far as Rabbah-mispeh (watchtower height) and Betonim and from Mahanaim (two camps) as far as the border of Debir (word);
v 27…and in the valley of Beth-haram and Beth-nimrah and Succoth (booths) and Zaphon (north); the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon, with the Jordan as the border, as far as the lower end of the Sea of Chinnereth beyond the Jordan to the east.
v 28…This is the inheritance of the sons of Gad according to their families, the cities and their villages.
v 29…Moses also gave an inheritance to the half-tribe (two sections of the eight) of Manasseh (Num 32.33 notes); and it was for the half-tribe of the sons of Manasseh according to their families
v 30…And their territory was from Mahanaim, all Bashan, all the kingdom of Og the king of Bashan; and all the towns of Jair (enlighten), which are in Bashan, sixty cities;
v 31…also half of Gilead with Ashtaroth and Edrei, the cities of the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, were for the sons of Machir the son of Manasseh, for half of the sons of Machir according to their families.
v 32…These are the territories which Moses appointed for an inheritance in the plains of Moab, beyond the JOrdan at Jericho to the east.
v 33…But to the tribe of Levi, Moses did not give an inheritance; the Lord (Yehovah), the God of Israel, is their inheritance, as he had promised to them (the sacrifices, tithes and first-fruits were theirs-Num 18.20-21).
Josh 14.1-15 continues with the countries divided to the sons of Israel in Canaan and Caleb’s inheritance in Judah at Hebron.
v 1…These are the territories which the sons of Israel inherited in the land of Canaan which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun and the heads of the households of the tribes of the sons of Israel apportioned to them for an inheritance,
v 3…by the lot (which was done to prevent any quarrels or strifes, because they believed it was the Lord who was behind it) of their inheritance as the Lord commanded through Moses, for the nine tribes and the half-tribe (see Num 32.33 notes).
v 3…For Moses had given the inheritance of the two tribes (Reuben and Gad) and the half-tribe (two sections) beyond the Jordan, but he did not give an inheritance to the Levites among them.
v 4…For the sons of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim, and they did not give a portion to the Levites in the kand, except cities to live in, with their pasture lands for their livestock and for their property (Reuben forfeited his birthright and it was given to Joseph, who had a double portion; Levi did not have a portion, so the tribes were kept at twelve).
v 5…Thus the sons of Israel did just as the Lord had commanded Moses, and they divided the land.
v 6…Then the sons of Judah (some chief men) drew near to Joshua in Gilgal, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know the word which the Lord spoke to Moses the man of God concerning you and me in Kadesh Barnea (Wadi Rum today).
v 7…I was forty years old (Caleb is 85 years old now-v 10) when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land, and I brought back to him as it was in my heart (a sincere, honest report).
v 8…Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt (with fear with a bad report); but I followed the Lord my God fully (by believing what the Lord had said that they could take the land, with Joshua, and did not side with the majority).
v 9…So Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden (not the whole land of Canaan, but particularly Hebron-Num 13.22) shall be an inheritance for you and to your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God fully (in his report).’
v 10…And now behold, the Lord has let me live, just as he spoke, these 45 years, from the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, when Israel walked in the wilderness; and now behold, I am eighty-five years old today.
v 11…I am still as strong today as I was in the day Moses sent me; as my strength was then, so my strength is now for war and for going out and for coming in (to govern or rule over any civil affairs that should be given to him).
v 12…Now then, give me this hill country (mountain country of Judah) about which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day that the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities (Hebron, Debir and Anab); perhaps the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out as the Lord has spoken.”
v 13…So Joshua blessed him (wishing him success in his attempt to drive the Anakims out and possess their country), and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance.
v 14…Therefore, Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite until this day, because he followed the Lord God of Israel fully (some people believe that Caleb was a non-Jew and linked it with “Kenizzite” in Gen 15.19. For this view see the article, “Caleb the Goy” by Richard “Aharon” Chamberlain at Petah Tikvah.com. Others believe that he was a Hebrew leader from the tribe of Judah in Num 13.6, and in 1 Chr 4.1-15 he is listed as a son of Judah. For this view see the article called, “Caleb the Gentile” by Avram Yehoshua at Seed of Abraham.net).
v 15…Now the name of Hebron was formerly called Kiriath-arba (city of the four); for Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim. Then the land had rest from war.
As we move into Josh 15, we are going to find a very interesting portion of Scripture that will give us some insight on David and how he was possibly given revelation into where the Temple and the altar would later be built. We are going to expand on those verses before we get to Josh 15 so we can have a better understanding of what is happening, and we are going to look into a book called, “The Aryeh Kaplan Anthology II” p. 63-71 by Aryeh Kaplan to get a better insight into the conquest of the land, the significance of the boundaries, and the search for the site of the Temple and the Altar. We present this view for your consideration.
Kaplan writes, “Moses did not live to enter the Promised Land; his disciple Joshua led the Israelites in the occupation. Even though Joshua knew that Jerusalem would be the chosen city, he did not reveal this to any of the tribes. This would have to wait until the permanent royal line was chosen, which did not occur until the time of David. The first city in the Promised Land that the Israelites conquered was Jericho. ALmost as soon as they entered the land, Joshua put aside the choicest fields near Jericho, later to be traded to the tribes in whose territory the chosen city would fall. This choice field was selected before the land was divided among the tribes; as territory common to them all, it was given over to the children of Moses’ father-in-law Jethro for safe keeping (Sifri on Num 10.32, Deut 12.5, 33.12; Rashi on NUm 10.32, Tosafot, Bava Kama 82b, s.v.”Ve Ain’).
The Torah itself prescribes this as the method through which Jerusalem should be chosen. In one place it states that the chosen place will be “from all your tribes” (Deut 12.5. Elsewhere, however, the Torah states that it will be “in one of your tribes” (ibid.12.13). The Torah is speaking of the place of sacrifice-the altar-and initially, when the land was first divided, it would be in the portion of just one of the tribes, Benjamin. Then, however, it would be exchanged for the fields of Jericho, so that ultimately it would belong to all the tribes. Thus, when Jerusalem was eventually chosen and consecrated, it became the common property of all the tribes of Israel, As one place common to all, it haad a strong effect in uniting the tribes.
It is in the book of Joshua that the first actual mention of Jerusalem occurs in the Bible. Here we see that Adoni-zedek, king of Jerusalem, was involved in a battle with Joshua’s forces and is defeated. It is significant to note the resemblance of the name Adoni-zedek to Malchi-zedek, the title given to Shem when he became king of Jerusalem. This is because Jerusalem itself was called “Tzedek”-righteousness-as discussed earlier, and Adoni-zedek means “Lord of Tzedek.” It was during the battle with Adoni-zedek and his confederates that the Bible tells us the sun stood still for Joshua, aiding him in winning this battle.
The book of Joshua describes Adoni-zedek as an AMorite king, so it appears that it was under the Amorites that the two parts of Jerusalem were united. As discussed earlier, the western part of Jerusalem was called Jeru (Yeru), while the eastern part was known as Salem (Shalem). When the AMorite kings consolidated the two parts of the city, they also combined the names, calling the place Jerusalem.
From certain traditions, it appears the the Jebusites, who had made Jerusalem their capital, had left some fifteen years before Joshua’s conquest, and were replaced by the Philistine descendants of Abimelech. The Philistines lived in Salem, the eastern district of Jerusalem, while the Hittite descendants of Ephron lived in the western half. By the time of Joshua’s conquest, Jerusalem had already been united by the Amorite kings, and had been fortified and surrounded by a single wall. After Joshua defeated the Amorites, it appears that Jerusalem again became divided into two districts.
Although Joshua defeated the king of Jerusalem, he did not make any attempt to conquer the city itself. This was because it was still protected by two covenants made by Abraham, one to Abimelech and the Philistines, and the other to Ephron and the Hittites. These ancient tribes were to have an important effect in giving Jerusalem special status.
Joshua then divided the land among the twelve tribes, according to a lottery and by the Urim and Thummim. Looking at the border of Judah’s portion, we see that it runs right through Jerusalem: “The border went up by the valley of Ben-Hinnom, to the shoulder of the Jebusite from the south-this is Jerusalem-and the boundary went to the top pf the mountain which overlooks the valley of HInnom to the west (Josh 15.8). The mountain mentioned here is the Temple Mount, so we see that the boundary cuts right through the Temple area in Jerusalem. In describing the boundary of Benjamin, where the border runs from west to east, the scripture states, “The boundary descended to the edge of the mountain that overlooks the valley of Ben-HInnom, to the shoulder of the Jebusite to the south (Josh 18.16).
For the most part, the portion of the tribe of Benjamin was north of that of Judah. In Jerusalem, however, the boundary took a sharp turn southward, cutting the Temple area in half, with the western side in Benjamin’s portion, and the eastern side in that of Judah. When the Temple was later built, the Hall of the Sanhedrin was in the portion of Judah, while the Altar and the Holy of Holies were in that of Benjamin.”
“The eastern part of Jerusalem, occupied by the Philistines, thus fell into the portion of Judah. Because of Abraham’s treaty with Abimelech and the Philistines, the tribe of Judah could not drive them out, and the scripture thus states, ‘The sons of Judah could not drive out the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem’ (Josh 15.63). It was not until after the last descendants of Abimelech died after the time of Joshua that the tribe of Judah was able to conquer its portion of the city: ‘The children of Judah fought against Jerusalem and took it, smiting it with the sword and setting the city on fire’ (Judges 1.8).”
“The western part of Jerusalem, which belonged to Benjamin, was inhabited by the Hittite descendants of Ephron, who had made a covenant with Abraham when the cave of Machpelah was purchased. Just as the sale of Machpelah had been permanent, so was this covenant, so the Benjaminites could not drive the Hittites out of their portion of Jerusalem. It is thus written, ‘The children of Benjamin could not drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem’ (Judges 1.21). As mentioned earlier, whatever people lived in Jerusalem at the time were called Jebusites, whether they were Philistines or Hittites. Somewhat later, we still find that Jerusalem was not inhabited by Jews, since a Levite said of it, ‘We will not turn aside into a city of a foreigner, which is not of the children of Israel’ (Judges 9.12). We thus see that the original tribes who lived in Jerusalem, the only ones who remained at the time of its conquest were the Hittite and the Amorite, the Philistines having arrived later. This is what the prophet Ezekiel meant when he said of Jerusalem, ‘Your father was an Amorite, and your mother was a Hittite’ (Ezek 16.3,45).”
“No further mention of Jerusalem is found until David’s famous battle, where he defeated the Philistine warrior Goliath. Here the scripture states, “David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem’ (1 Sam 17.54). No reason is given; it is certain that David did not know yet that Jerusalem would be the chosen city. It appears, however, that the verse stresses that Goliath was ‘the Philistine’ to teach that David brought his head to Jerusalem to indicate that Abraham’s covenant with the Philistines was no longer in force, since the Philistines had been the ones to initiate the war against the Israelites. Although the treaty had been breached in the time of Judah’s conquest of Jerusalem, and had been dishonored by the Philistines during their battles with Samson, the bringing of Goliath’s head to Jerusalem was a concrete symbol that the covenant was no longer in force.”
“Even though the place for the Temple ultimately had to be revealed prophetically, there was still an obligation for the one designated to found the royal line to attempt to find it logically. All his life, David sought this sacred place, and we thus find in Psalms 132.2-5: ‘David swore to God, made a vow to the Mighty One of Jacob: I will not come in a tent as my house, I will not climb into my made bed, I will not allow my eyes to sleep, I will not let my eyelids rest, until I find the place of God, the dwelling of the Mighty One of Jacob.’ David called God ‘the Mighty One of Jacob’ in this psalm. This alludes to the fact that the place he sought was that of the Holy of Holies, which had been revealed to Jacob.”
Saul was king over Israel at this time, and being jealous of David, he sought to kill him. David escaped to Ramah, where he stayed with the prophet Samuel. Earlier, Samuel had already anointed David as the future king, but there was still the requirement that the king find the place of the Altar. David and Samuel carefully went over all the traditions in order to ascertain logically the precise spot. Although Samuel was the greatest prophet of the time and guided David so that the latter would find the promised place.”
“They knew the tradition that the Sanhedrin would have to be in the portion of Judah, near the Altar and the Holy of Holies was to be in the portion of Benjamin. It was therefore obvious that they would have to search along the border between Judah and Benjamin. They also knew that it would have to be the highest place on this border, since with regard to the Sanhedrin the Torah states, ‘You shall rise and go up to the place that the Lord your God shall choose’ (Deut 17.8). Samuel also knew that the secret of the chosen place had to be revealed to Joshua, so they carefully looked at the description of the border between Judah and Benjamin as described in the book of Joshua. Here they saw that the border ‘went upward’ as far as the ‘mountain overlooking the valley of Ben-Hinnom’ (Josh 15.8), which is the highest place on the border. It was thus ascertained that the mountain upon which the Temple would be built was in Jerusalem, and all that was needed now was to determine the precise place of the Altar.”
“Saul was later killed in battle and at the age of thirty, David was crowned king of his tribe Judah in Hebron. There he remained for seven years until the time became ripe for him to take Jerusalem. There was a tradition that the one who would conquer the chosen city would inherit the royal house of Israel for all time. David had already determined the place, and before he went forth to Jerusalem, he was anointed by all Israel as king.”
“By force, David occupied the eastern half of Jerusalem, where the Philistines originally lived, and which had earlier been captured and destroyed by the tribe of Judah. Since the place of the Altar could not be tainted by blood, he did not attack the western half in the portion of Benjamin, but he did remove the monuments containing Abraham’s treaty, which had been erected by the Hittite sons of Ephron. This was enough to indicate that David was in control of the city and thus established himself in the hereditary role of king. David also reunited the two parts of the city and built a wall around it.”
“There was no state of war between David and the Hittites; we later find that the Israelites dwelt together with them in peace. David’s conquest of the Philistine portion of Jerusalem, however, was seen as an act of war, and soon after this we find that they began to wage war against David in the valley of Rephaim, which was to the south of Jerusalem. After all these wars, David finally brought the Ark of God to Jerusalem, knowing that it was the chosen city. He set aside a special place for the Ark, as we find, ‘They brought the Ark of God and set it in its place; in the midst of the tent that David had made for it’ (2 Sam 6.17). A place for the Altar had not yet been determined, however, and they still sacrificed in Gibeon, outside of Jerusalem. Whenever David acquired gold or precious things in his conquests, he brought them to Jerusalem to be dedicated to the House of God that would be built there.
The commandment to build the Temple became an obligation as soon as peace was attained by the king. Such peace was attained in the time of David. The final step was the revelation of the place of the altar. God became angry with David and tempted him to count the Israelites, bringing on them a terrible plague. David prayed to God for forgiveness. He saw an angel standing on the threshing floor of Arnon the Jebusite. The Prophet Gad then told David, “Go raise an altar to God on the threshing floor of Arnon the Jebusite (2 Sam 24.18)”, and David did so, bringing offerings to God as an atonement. The place of the altar was revealed to David.”
For a study of the footnotes to this portion we have quoted, we refer you to the section, “Dedication” on p. 100-103 of the book.
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