John Calvin Commentary Joshua 18

And the whole congregation of the children of Israel, etc. Here we have a narrative of the celebrated convention held in Shiloh, where they deliberated about casting the remaining lots. For although with pious zeal they had attempted casting lots, the proceeding had been interrupted, as if victory needed to precede the distribution which depended solely on God’s command.

Therefore, they assembled in Shiloh to determine what needed to be done in the future. And there is no doubt that Joshua summoned this meeting to rouse them from their lethargy.

For they did not come forward spontaneously with any proposal, but he began by rebuking them for being sluggish and remiss in entering on the inheritance God had bestowed on them. It is easy to infer from his speech that they had shown great eagerness at the beginning, but that they had not persevered.

And yet that obedience, which shortly after grew languid, was honored with the approval of the Holy Spirit. It should be observed that the people are blamed, not for neglecting to proceed with the lot, but for not occupying the inheritance divinely offered to them. And certainly, as the distribution by lot was a sign of confidence, so each district which fell to each was a sure and faithful pledge of future possession, for the Lord was not at all deceiving them in assigning to each his portion.

The word דפה, which I have translated “to cease,” also signifies to be remiss or feeble. He charges them, therefore, with shameful faintheartedness, because while the full time for routing the enemy had arrived, they by their delays delayed and suspended the effect of divine goodness. For had they been contented with the lot alone, and faithfully embraced the results which it gave, they would doubtless have been prompt and expeditious in carrying on the war; indeed, they would have hastened like conquerors to a triumph.

The ark is said to have been stationed at Shiloh, not only that the consultation might be more solemn and sacred, as held in the presence of God, but because it was a completely subdued place, and safe from all external violence and injury. For they needed to take special care to prevent its exposure to sudden assault. No doubt the hand of God would have been stretched out to ward off attacks of the enemy from any quarter; still, however, though God dwelled among them, they were to be regarded as its guardians and attendants.

But although a station for the ark was chosen then, it was not a permanent dwelling place, but only a temporary lodging. For it was not left to the will or votes of the people to fix the seat where God should dwell, but they needed to wait for the period so often referred to in the Law, when He was to establish the memorial of His name elsewhere. This was finally accomplished when Mount Zion was set apart for the Temple. For this reason it is said in the Psalm:

Our feet shall stand within your gates, O Jerusalem.
(Psalms 122:2)

These words indicate that up to that time the ark was journeying. Finally, the ruin and devastation of Shiloh showed that no rank or dignity can shield those who corrupt God’s blessings from His vengeance. Up to the death of Eli, God allowed His sacred name to be worshipped there; but when all religion was polluted by the impiety of the priests, and almost abolished by the ingratitude of the people, that spot became for posterity a striking example of punishment. Accordingly, Jeremiah tells the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who were proudly boasting of their Temple, to turn their eyes to that example. Speaking in the name of the Lord, he says:

Go now to my place which was in Shiloh, where I first set my name, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel. (Jeremiah 7:12)

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 and orders three surveyors to be appointed for each of the seven tribes, so that by the testimony 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 hostile country but also to trace it through all its various windings and turnings, so as not to leave a single corner unexamined, to calculate its length and breadth, and even make due allowance for its inequalities.

Every person whom they happened to meet must readily have suspected who they were and for what reason they had been employed on this expedition. In short, no free return lay open for them except through a thousand deaths. Assuredly, they would not have encountered so much danger from blind and irrational impulse, nor would Joshua have exposed them to such manifest danger, had they not been aware that all those nations, struck with terror from heaven, desired nothing so much as peace.

For although they hated the children of Israel, still, having been subdued by so many defeats, they did not dare to move a finger against them. Thus, the surveyors proceeded in safety as if through a peaceful territory, under the pretext either of trading or, at least, of making a harmless visit.

It is also possible that they arranged themselves in different parties and thus made the journey more secretly. It is certain, indeed, that there was only one source from which they could have derived all this courage and confidence: trusting under the shadow of the wings of the Almighty, and thus having no fear of blind and foolish men.

Hence the praise here bestowed on their ready will. For had they not been persuaded that the hands of those nations were tied up by supernal power, they would have had a just and honest cause for refusing.

And the men went and passed, etc. Here, not only is praise bestowed on the ready obedience by which their virtue shone forth conspicuously, but the Lord also 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 through subterranean burrows, they could scarcely have escaped innumerable dangers. But now, when they are taking notes of the cities and their sites, the fields, the varying features of the districts, and all the coasts, and return in safety to their countrymen without meeting any adverse occurrence, who can doubt that their life had been kept safe among a thousand deaths by a wonderful exertion of divine power?

It is therefore said emphatically that they returned to celebrate the grace of God, which is equivalent to saying that they were brought back by the hand of God. This made the people proceed more willingly to the casting of lots. For their minds would not yet have been thoroughly purged of their skepticism had they not perceived in that journey a signal display of divine favor, promising them that the final outcome would be according to their wish.

Therefore, Joshua is said to have divided according to the inheritance of each, as if he were sending them to enter into a peaceful possession, though the outcome depended on the divine presence, because it ought to have been enough for them that the entire undertaking was carried on by the authority of God, who never deceives His people, even when He seems to be leading them in perplexing ways. In what sense the ark of the covenant is called God, or the face of God, I have already explained in many passages.

In the allotment for Benjamin, nothing particularly deserving of notice occurs, except that a small tribe takes precedence over the others. I admit, indeed, that its borders were narrowed in proportion to its small numbers, because it obtained only twenty-six cities; but still, an honor was bestowed on it in the mere fact that it received its inheritance before more distinguished tribes. We may add that, in this way, they were joined and made neighbors to the other children of Joseph, with whom their relationship was closer. For they were placed in the middle, between the children of Ephraim and Manasseh on one side, and those of Judah on the other. They also had the distinguished honor of including Jerusalem in their inheritance, though they afterwards granted it by a kind of precarious tenure to the children of Judah as a royal residence.

It is strange, however, that having obtained such a quiet location, they did not live in peace and friendship with their neighbors. But we have the prophecy of Jacob: “Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf; in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.” (Genesis 49:27).

They must, therefore, have been by nature covetous and turbulent, or from some necessity not now known to us, they must have been driven to live by plunder.

Regarding the city of Luz, the other name is added ("the same is Bethel"), because only then did the name given by Jacob come into common use (Genesis 28:19). It was not far from Beth-Aven, whose name, as it was disgraceful and infamous, was transferred to Bethel itself after it was corrupted and polluted by impious superstitions.

It is probable that Ciriath-Baal was called Ciriath-Jeharim to remove the idol's name, which would have been a stain on its true piety. For it certainly would have been despicable and shameful for the lips of the people to be polluted by the name of a protector who was an enemy of the true God.