John Calvin Commentary Joshua 14:1

"And these are the inheritances which the children of Israel took in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers` [houses] of the tribes of the children of Israel, distributed unto them," — Joshua 14:1 (ASV)

And these are the countries, etc. He now proceeds to the land of Canaan, from which nine tribes and a half were to obtain their lots. He will immediately break off the thread of the narrative, as we will see.

Yet the transition is appropriately made from that region, whose situation was different, to inform the reader that the discussion was to concern the land of Canaan, which was to be divided by lot.

We have said that Joshua and Eleazar not only divided what the Israelites had already acquired but, trusting in the promise of God, confidently included whatever he had promised to his people, just as if they had been in actual possession of it.

We will see, indeed, that the division was not made complete all at once; but when the first lot turned up in favor of Judah, the portions of the others were left in hope.

Here a difficult question arises. How can it be said that the distribution of the land was made by Joshua, Eleazar, and the princes, if lots were cast? For the lot is not regulated by human opinion, will, or authority.

Should anyone answer that they took charge and prevented any fraud from being committed, the difficulty is not removed; indeed, this evasion will be refuted from the context.

Therefore, it should be known that they were not selected simply to divide the land by lot, but also afterwards to enlarge or restrict the boundaries of the tribes by giving to each its proper proportion. That this business could not be accomplished by a lot alone is very clear.

For while, according to human ideas, nothing is more random than the result of a lot, it was not known whether God might choose to place the half-tribe of Manasseh where the tribe of Judah obtained its settlement, or whether Zebulun might not occupy the place of Ephraim. Therefore, they were not at liberty at the outset to proceed further than to divide the land into ten districts or provinces.

In this way, however, the space belonging to each would remain indefinite. For had an option been given to each, some would have chosen to establish themselves in the center, others would have preferred a quiet locality, while others would have been guided in their choice by the fertility of the soil, or the climate and beauty of the scenery.

But the lot placed the tribe of Judah, as it were, at the head, while it sent that of Zebulun away to the seashore, placed the tribe of Benjamin adjacent to that of Judah, and removed that of Ephraim to a greater distance. In short, the effect of the lot was that ten divisions were established, extending from Egypt towards Syria, and from the northern region to the Mediterranean Sea, making some neighbors to the Egyptians, and giving to others maritime positions, to others hilly districts, and to others intervening valleys.

This being understood, the remaining task for the rulers of the people was to define the boundaries on all sides in accordance with the rules of equity. It remained, therefore, for them to calculate how many thousand souls there were in every tribe, and to assign more or less space to each, according to the greatness or the smallness of their numbers.

For in accordance with the divine command, a proper proportion was to be observed: a larger or smaller district was to be assigned according to the numbers determined by the census that was taken (Numbers 26).

It was likewise left to the judgment of the princes to shape the territories, regulating the length and breadth as circumstances might require.

It is also necessary to remember what is said in Numbers 26: that the ten who are here called heads of families were appointed to carry out this task, not by human choice, but by the voice of God.

Thus, each tribe had its own overseers to prevent either fraud or violence from being committed.

Consequently, it would have been impious to have any suspicion of those who had been nominated by God. This is how Joshua can be said to have distributed the land, even though it was portioned out by lot.