John Gill Commentary Joshua 14

And these [are the countries] which the children of Israel
inherited in the land of Canaan
Of which an exact account is given in the following chapters, particularly in the (Joshua 15:1–19:51) ;

which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of
the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel, distributed for an
inheritance unto them ;
namely, ten princes, one of each tribe, who, with Eleazar and Joshua, were appointed of the Lord by name to do this business, even seven years ago, before their entrance into the land of Canaan, (Numbers 34:17–29) .

By lot [was] their inheritance
Every tribe had its part and portion assigned to it, by the casting of lots; which was done to prevent any future quarrels, animosities and strifes among the tribes, the disposition being of the Lord; and to show the exact agreement between the lot and the divine predictions by Jacob and Moses; and to make it appear that the division of the land was not owing to the private combination of the above men, and their private settlement of it; but to the providence of God, the directors of the lot; their chief business was to see that the lot was executed in a faithful manner, and that every tribe had its allotment according to it. In this Canaan was a type of the heavenly inheritance, which the saints obtain by lot, in and through Christ, the antitypical Joshua, (Ephesians 1:11) ;

as the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses ,
(Numbers 26:55Numbers 26:56) ;

for the nine tribes, and [for] the half tribe ;
see (Joshua 13:7) ; the reason why this number of them is particularly mentioned follows.

And Moses had given the inheritance of two tribes, and an half
tribe, on the other side Jordan
The two tribes of Gad and Reuben, and the half tribe of Manasseh, whose inheritance is described in (Joshua 13:8–33):

but unto the Levites he gave none inheritance among them ;
this is frequently observed, that it might be taken notice of, to show the disinterestedness of Moses in this affair, Levi being his own tribe; and to recommend the care of the Levites to the other tribes, according to the provision God had made for them.

For the children of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and
Ephraim
For the birthright being forfeited by Reuben, was given to Joseph, who had the double portion, the privilege of the firstborn; by which means the number of the twelve tribes was kept up in the division of the land, though that of Levi had no share in it; and which is also a reason why they had none, that Joseph's two sons might be reckoned two tribes:

therefore they gave no part unto the Levites in the land ;
to make way for the sons of Joseph to have the double portion:

save cities to dwell [in] ;
and that only, for they might not sell them, as other Israelites could theirs:

with their suburbs, for their cattle, and for their substance ;
the Targum is, "for all their beasts, and for their cattle;" that is, for convenient places to put them into, and for pasturage for, them; which Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret of their larger and lesser cattle, their herds and their flocks, their oxen and sheep.

As the Lord commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did ,
&c.] Particularly with respect to the division of the land, and making provision for the Levites; this they did by their heads and representatives, the high priest and chief ruler, and the princes of the several tribes:

and they divided the land ;
met about it, and began to take measures in order to do it; they prepared for it, though as yet it was not actually done, and previous to it was the following incident.