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Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 18:4

Three men for each tribe - Probably meaning only three from each of the seven tribes who had not yet received their inheritance. It is likely that these twenty-one men were accompanied by a military guard, for without this they might have been easily cut off by straggling parties of the Canaanites. They shall - describe it - It is likely they were persons well acquainted with geography and mensuration, without which it would have been impossible for them to have divided the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 18:5

Judah shall abide - on the south , and the house of Joseph - on the north - Joshua does not mean that the tribe of Judah occupied the south, and the tribe of Ephraim and Manasseh the north of the promised land; this was not the fact: but being now at Shiloh, a considerable way in the territory of Ephraim, and not far from that of Judah, he speaks of them in relation to the place in which he then was. Calmet considers him as thus addressing the deputies: "Go and... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 18:7

The priesthood of the Lord is their inheritance - We have already seen that the priests and Levites had the sacrifices, oblations tithes, first-fruits, redemption-money of the firstborn, etc., for their inheritance; they had no landed possessions in Israel; the Lord was their portion. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 18:9

And described it in a book - This as far as I can recollect, is the first act of surveying on record. These men and their work differed widely from those who had searched the land in the time of Moses; they went only to discover the nature of the country, and the state of its inhabitants; but these went to take an actual geographical survey of it, in order to divide it among the tribes which had not yet received their portions. We may suppose that the country was exactly described... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 18:4

Verse 4 4.Give out from among you three men, etc Caleb and Joshua had already surveyed those regions, and the people had learned much by inquiry: Joshua, however, wishes the land to be divided as if according to actual survey (162) and orders three surveyors to be appointed for each of the seven tribes, in order that by the mouth of two or three persons every dispute may be settled. But nothing seems more incongruous than to send twenty-one men, who were not only to pass directly through a... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 18:9

Verse 9 9.And the men went and passed, etc Here not only is praise bestowed on the ready obedience by which their virtue shone forth conspicuous, but the Lord gives a signal manifestation of his favor by deigning to bestow remarkable success on pious Joshua and the zeal of the people. Had they crept along by subterranean burrows, they could scarcely have escaped innumerable dangers, but now, when they are taking notes of the cities and their sites, of the fields, the varying features of the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 18:1-28

Progress in the great work. The tribes gathered together at Shiloh, set up the common tabernacle for worship, and then proceeded, at Joshua's instance, to complete the division of the land. Several detached considerations may be derived from this chapter. I. THE DUTY OF A PUBLIC RECOGNITION OF GOD . The duty of public worship has been universally recognised in all religions, and is founded in a natural tendency of mankind. Philosophical sects, in which religious... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 18:2-3

Slackness. I. MUCH OF THE CHRISTIAN INHERITANCE IS NOT YET POSSESSED . (a) Christians do not enjoy on earth all the blessings which they might have; (b) greater blessings are reserved for heaven ( 1 John 3:2 ). II. IT IS OWING TO THE SLACKNESS OF MEN , AND NOT TO THE WILL OF GOD , THAT SO MUCH OF THE CHRISTIAN INHERITANCE IS NOT YET POSSESSED . Not God's will, but man's impenitence, delays his acceptance of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 18:3

How long are ye slack? This "slackness" (the translation is a literal one) in the arduous conflict against the powers of evil is not confined to Jews. The exhortation needs repeating to every generation, and not less to our own than any other, since the prevalence of an external decency and propriety blinds our eyes to the impiety and evil which still lurks amid us unsubdued. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 18:3

An exhortation to advance. In Joshua 13:1 we find an address delivered to Joshua by Jehovah, in which he was reminded how much remained to be done ere his work was finished, and his age forbade the belief that many years would intervene before his death. To the assembled tribes of Israel the exhortation of the text was consequently given. The tribes of Manasseh, Reuben, and Gad had received their inheritance on the east of the Jordan, Judah occupied the south of Palestine, and Ephraim a... read more

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