Joshua 13:25

13:7-33 The land must be divided among the tribes. It is the will of God that every man should know his own, and not take that which is another's. The world must be governed, not by force, but right. Wherever our habitation is placed, and in whatever honest way our portion is assigned, we should consider them as allotted of God; we should be thankful for, and use them as such, while every prudent method should be used to prevent disputes about property, both at present and in future. Joshua must be herein a type of Christ, who has not only conquered the gates of hell for us, but has opened to us the gates of heaven, and having purchased the eternal inheritance for all believers, will put them in possession of it. Here is a general description of the country given to the two tribes and a half, by Moses. Israel must know their own, and keep to it; and may not, under pretence of their being God's peculiar people, encroach on their neighbours. Twice in this chapter it is noticed, that to the tribe of Levi Moses gave no inheritance: see Nu 18:20. Their maintenance must be brought out of all the tribes. The ministers of the Lord should show themselves indifferent about worldly interests, and the people should take care they want nothing suitable. And happy are those who have the Lord God of Israel for their inheritance, though little of this world falls to their lot.

And their coast was Jazer,.... Their southern coast; of Jazer, see Numbers 21:32 ; where it is called Jaazer, and is mentioned in Isaiah 16:8 ; and in Jeremiah 48:32 , where it is spoken of as a city of Moab, as it was in the days of those prophets: and all the cities of Gilead; which lay in those parts, for the whole was not given to this tribe, half of Gilead was given to the half tribe of Manasseh, Joshua 13:31, and half the land of the children of Ammon; not what then belonged to them, but what had been taken from them by the Amorites; and which Israel taking from them, had a right to retain, though they were forbid meddling with any of their land in present possession; see Deuteronomy 2:19 Judges 11:13, unto Aroer that is before Rabbath; Aroer was a city of Moab, situated on the river Arnon, Joshua 13:9; and stood over against Rabbath, a city of the Amorites, since called Philadelphia, the same that Joab took, 2 Samuel 12:26; though Reland thinks (n), that according to the situation of these cities another Aroer must be here meant, and which belonged to the Amorites. (n) Palestin. Illustrat. tom. 2. p. 583.

Joshua 13:25 . All the cities of Gilead — All the cities of eminence; all the cities properly so called, which lay in that part of Gilead; and thus what is here assured may well agree with Joshua 13:31 , where half the country of Gilead is said to be given to the Manassites, for there is no mention of any cities being there. Half the land of the children of Ammon — Not of that which was now theirs, for that the Israelites were forbidden to meddle with; but of that which was anciently theirs, till taken from them by the Amorites, from whom the Israelites took it. Aroer — The border between them and Moab. Rabbah — The chief city of the Ammonites.

24–28. The Possession of the Tribe of Gad 25 . their coast was Jazer ] or Jaazer . We first hear of it in possession of the Amorites, and as taken by Israel after Heshbon, and on their way from thence to Bashan ( Numbers 21:32 ). At present it is identified with Szîr , or Seir , nine Roman miles west of Ammân, and about 12 from Heshbon. For coast see above, Joshua 13:16 . all the cities of Gilead ] i.e. of the southern part of Gilead, which belonged to the kingdom of Sihon, for the other half, on the north of the Jabbok, which was governed by king Og, was allotted to the half tribe of Manasseh. half the land of the children of Ammon ] i.e. that portion of the land which had been taken from them by the Amorites under Sihon, for the Israelites were not allowed to attack the land of the Ammonites themselves ( Deuteronomy 2:19 ; Jdg 11:13 sq.). unto Aroer ] i.e. unto Aroer of Gad ( Numbers 32:34 ), not the Aroer near the Arnon (of Joshua 13:16 ), that is before Rabbah , the capital of the Ammonites, famous ( a ) in the history of Jephthah ( Jdg 11:33 ), and ( b ) in the history of David ( 2 Samuel 24:5 ).

All the cities of Gilead, i.e. all the cities of note and eminency; all cities properly so called, which it seems lay in that part of Gilead; and so this may well agree with Joshua 13:25 , where half the country of Gilead is said to be given to the Manassites; but there is no mention of any cities there. Half the land of the children of Ammon; not of that which now was theirs, for that they were forbidden to meddle with, Deu 2:9 , but of that which was anciently theirs, but taken from them by the Amorites, Numbers 21:26 , from whom the Israelites took it, Judges 11:15 . Unto Aroer, the border between them and Moab. Rabbah, the chief city of the Ammonites, 2 Samuel 11:1 12:26,27 .

8. With whom—Hebrew, "him." The antecedent is evidently to Manasseh, not, however, the half-tribe just mentioned, but the other half; for the historian, led, as it were, by the sound of the word, breaks off to describe the possessions beyond Jordan already assigned to Reuben, Gad, and the half of Manasseh (see on [190]Nu 32:1; [191]Nu 32:33; also see De 3:8-17). It may be proper to remark that it was wise to put these boundaries on record. In case of any misunderstanding or dispute arising about the exact limits of each district or property, an appeal could always be made to this authoritative document, and a full knowledge as well as grateful sense obtained of what they had received from God (Ps 16:5, 6).

All the cities of Gilead - i. e. of Gilead in the narrower sense, included in the territory of Sihon, and distinct from Bashan Deuteronomy 3:10 . Half the land of the children of Ammon - i. e. that half of the Ammonite territory which had been conquered by the Amorites. This, after the overthrow of Sihon, the Israelites took for their own. The land which the Ammonites still held in the days of Moses, the Israelites were not permitted to attack. Rabbah was a border fortress, the principal stronghold of the Ammonites Numbers 21:24, and the residence of their king. It was attacked and taken by Joab 2 Samuel 11; 12; 1 Chronicles 20:1, but appears in later times again as an Ammonitish city Jeremiah 49:3; Ezekiel 25:5; Amos 1:13-15. In the third century B.C. it received from Ptolemy Philadelplus the name of Philadelphia, and was in later times the seat of a Christian bishop; but has now for many centuries been in ruins, remarkable for their grandeur and extent.

Verse 25. - Aroer that is before Rabbah . A different Aroer to that mentioned in ver. 9. This was near (Hebrew, opposite to , the expression being equivalent to the French en face ) Rabbah, or the great city of the children of Ammon. Keil supposes that this territory had been taken from the Ammonites by Sihon, since the Israelites were not permitted to possess themselves of the land of the Ammonites ( Deuteronomy 2:19 ). For Rabbah, see 2 Samuel 11:1 ; 2 Samuel 12:26 . It is called Rabbath in Deuteronomy 3:11 . Joshua 13:25

Inheritance of the tribe of Gad. - This tribe received Jazer (probably es Szyr: see at Numbers 21:32 ) and "all the towns of Gilead," i.e., of the southern half of Gilead, which belonged to the kingdom of Sihon; for the northern half, which belonged to the kingdom of Og, was given to the Manassites ( Joshua 13:31 ), "and the half of the land of the sons of Ammon, to Aror before Rabbah," i.e., that portion of the land of the Ammonites between the Arnon and the Jabbok, which the Amorites under Sihon had taken from the Ammonites, namely, the land on the east of Gilead, on the western side of the upper Jabbok (Nahr Ammn: Deuteronomy 2:37 ; Deuteronomy 3:16 ; cf. Judges 11:13 ); for the land of the Ammonites, i.e., the land which they still held in the time of Moses, on the eastern side of Nahr Ammn, the Israelites were not allowed to attack ( Deuteronomy 2:19 ). Aror before Rabbah, i.e., Ammn (see Deuteronomy 3:11 ), is Aror of Gad, and must be distinguished from Aror of Reuben on the Arnon ( Joshua 13:16 ). It is only mentioned again in Judges 11:33 and 2 Samuel 24:5 , and was situated, according to 2 Sam., in the valley of Gad, that is to say, in a wady or valley through which Gesenius supposes an arm of the Jabbok to have flowed, and Thenius the Jabbok itself, though neither of them has sufficient ground for his conjecture.

It is also not to be identified with the ruin of Ayra to the south-west of Szalt, as this is not in a wady at all; but in all probability it is to be sought for to the north-east of Rabbah, in the Wady Nahr Ammn, on the side of the Kalat Zerka Gadda, the situation of which suits this verse and Judges 11:33 . - In Joshua 13:26 the extent of the territory of Gad is first of all described from north to south: viz., from Heshbon (see Joshua 13:17 ) to Ramath-mizpeh, or Ramoth in Gilead ( Joshua 20:8 ), probably on the site of the present Szalt (see at Deuteronomy 4:43 ), "and Betonim," probably the ruin of Batneh, on the mountains which bound the Ghor towards the east between the Wady Shaib and Wady Ajlun, in the same latitude as Szalt (V. de Velde, Mem. p. 298); and then, secondly, the northern boundary is described from west to east, "from Mahanaim to the territory of Lidbir." Mahanaim (double-camp: Genesis 32:2 ), which was given up by Gad to the Levites ( Joshua 21:30 ), in which Ishbosheth was proclaimed king ( 2 Samuel 2:8-9 ), and to which David fled from Absalom ( 2 Samuel 17:24 , 2 Samuel 17:27 ; 1 Kings 2:8 ), is not to be sought for, as Knobel supposes, in the ruins of Meysera, to the south of Jabbok, four hours and a half from Szalt, but was on the north of the Jabbok, since Jacob did not cross the ford of the Jabbok till after the angel had appeared to him at Mahanaim ( Genesis 32:3 , Genesis 32:23 ).