Old age. The most active servant of God may be overtaken by old ago before he has completed what he believes to be the task of his life. This fact suggests various reflections. I. THE GREATNESS OF DUTY AND THE LIMITS OF TIME TOGETHER URGE UPON US THE NEED FOR DILIGENT SERVICE . II. IN GOD 'S SIGHT THAT LIVE IS FINISHED WHICH HAS ACCOMPLISHED ALL WITHIN ITS POWER . Life is long enough for all that God requires of us. We... read more
This is the land which yet remaineth . The powerful league of the Philistines, as well as the tribes near them, remained unsubdued. In the north, likewise, the neighbourhood of Sidon, and the territory of Coele, Syria, which lay between Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, was as yet in the hands of the enemy. Rabbis Kimchi and Solomon Jarchi translate by "borders." Masius suggests the French marque, and the modern German grenze. All the borders of the Philistines. Literally, all the circles... read more
The land allotted, though not yet secured. "There remaineth yet very much land to be possessed." "Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance"—form a somewhat strange pair of precepts. It seems as if Joshua was dividing what he had not got; and as if Israel were casting lots rather for perils than property. It is not quite so extreme as this. The point in the conquest was reached when nowhere was there a resistance needing a nation in arms to quell it. The several tribes were each... read more
From Sihor. This word, which has the article in Hebrew, is literally the black river. This has been thought to be the Nile, known to both Greeks and Latins by that title. The Greeks called it μέλας . So Virgil says of it, " AE gyptum nigra foecundat arena." The Vulgate has "a fluvio turbido qui irrigat AE gyptum." The LXX . translates by ἀοίκητος . The phrase which is "before" ( עַל־פְנֵי ) Egypt seems to exclude the idea of the Nile, since the Nile flowed through the... read more
Joshua is bidden to allot the whole of the promised land among the twelve tribes in faith that God would perfect in due time that expulsion of the Canaanites which Joshua himself could not carry further (see Joshua 11:23). read more
This and Joshua 13:3 name the still unconquered districts in the southern half of the land, Joshua 13:4-6 those in the north.Geshuri - A district on the south of Philistia, the inhabitants of which are again named in 1 Samuel 27:8; but are not to be confounded with the land of the Geshurites mentioned in Joshua 13:13; Joshua 12:5. read more
Sihor is derived from a root signifying “to be black,” and is suitable enough as an appellative of the Nile Isaiah 23:3. Here it most probably stands for “the river of Egypt” (Numbers 34:3 note), the modern “Wady el Arish”.Ekron (“Akir”) lay on the northern boundary of Judah Joshua 15:11, and was actually conquered by the men of that tribe Judges 1:18, though assigned in the allotment of the land to Dan Joshua 19:43. It seems to have fallen again into the hands of the Philistines in the days of... read more
Joshua 13:1. Now Joshua was old To what age Joshua was advanced we cannot determine, because we do not know how old he was when the Israelites came out of Egypt. Some think he was three and forty at that time, and then he was fourscore and three when they came into Canaan. And now, it may be gathered from probable conjectures, that he wanted not much of a hundred. And, in this declining age, he could not hope to live to conquer what remained of the land unsubdued, and therefore he was to go... read more
Joshua 13:2-3. This is the land that yet remaineth Unconquered by thee, and to be conquered by the Israelites, if they behave themselves aright. All Geshuri A people in the north-east of Canaan, as the Philistines were on the south-west. Which is counted to the Canaanite That is, which, though now possessed by the Philistines, who drove out the Canaanites, the old inhabitants of it, Deuteronomy 2:23; Amos 9:7; yet it is a part of the land of Canaan, and therefore belongs to the... read more
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The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 13:1
Life ending and the work not done. The rest of the land from war, then ( Joshua 12:23 ), was not that of final and completed victory. It was only a temporary truce. The whole land was not yet in the possession of Israel, but enough of it was subdued to prove God's absolute sovereignty over it. And now rest is needful to review the field and secure the ends that have been so far gained. Joshua is too old any longer to carry on the strife, but there is a work that he can do, and which must... read more