Joshua 18:2-10

THE FURTHER SURVEY AND DIVISION OF THE LAND, Joshua 18:2-10.

[We are not to understand that this survey consisted of an exact geographical measurement of the land, nor that it was made with a view to define the precise boundaries of the remaining tribes. It was to gain a fuller information on the topography of the country and the qualities of the different sections. See note on Joshua 18:4. Hence the objection of some, that the Canaanites still remaining in the land would not have allowed twenty-one men to pass through and measure their districts, is of no force. These men passed through the land, and took a list of the cities, arranging them into seven groups or parts, (Joshua 18:9,) and thus prepared the way for casting lots for them at Shiloh. Whether they were at all molested in taking this survey is not said.]