Joshua 13:24-28 meaning

Joshua 13:24-28 continues the description of the territory given to the eastern tribes.

Before the conquest, while the Israelites traveled toward Canaan on the west side of the Jordan River, the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh requested land east of the river. This land was ideal for raising livestock. Centuries later Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh would be the first tribes that were exiled by the Assyrian army invading from the east (1 Chronicles 5:26).

At first, Moses was reluctant to grant the request to these tribes. He was concerned it might discourage the other tribes from conquering the Promised Land. But the two-and-a-half tribes promised to help their brothers conquer Canaan before settling east of the Jordan. With this commitment, Moses agreed (Numbers 32). After Israel defeated King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan, Moses distributed their land to the eastern tribes (see Numbers 21:23-24, 33-35). The previous passage recorded the allotment for the tribe of Reuben (Joshua 13:15-23).

The current passage states that Moses also gave an inheritance to the tribe of Gad, to the sons of Gad (v 24). The tribe of Gad descended from Jacob's son, Gad. He was the seventh son of Jacob and Zilpah, his first wife’s maidservant (Genesis 35:26). Moses distributed the land to the sons of Gad according to their families (v 24).

The term translated as families is "mišpāḥâ" in Hebrew. It means more than just parents and children. It refers to a large extended family or clan (Joshua 7:14). It includes parents, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. Moses considered the size of Gad's tribe to give them a fair share. Thus, their territory was Jazer, all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the sons of Ammon (v 25).

Jazer formed the border of the sons of Ammon. The Ammonites descended from the incestuous union of Lot and his younger daughter (Genesis 19:36-38; Numbers 21:24). The area (Jazer) suited cattle grazing (Numbers 32:1). Gilead was a mountainous region lying between the Yarmuk and the Arnon rivers. It offered safety to the ancient Israelites. For example, Jacob fled from Laban to Gilead (Genesis 31:21). In Saul's time, some Israelites hid from the Philistines there (1 Samuel 13:7).

The Gadites received Jazer, most of Gilead, and half the land of the Ammonites. Their territory went as far as Aroer, which is before Rabbah (v 25). In short, they inherited a portion of the land of Gilead, in the center of the region. Aroer was near Rabbah, present-day Amman, Jordan. It is not the southern site mentioned in Joshua 13:9, 16. The Gadites' inheritance stretched from Heshbon as far as Ramath-mizpeh and Betonim, and from Mahanaim as far as the border of Debir (v 26).

Heshbon lay 50 miles east of Jerusalem and served as the capital of the kingdom of Sihon. Ramath-mizpeh was a border point east of the Jordan for the land of Jazer. Betonim (modern "Khirbet Batneh") was 16 miles northeast of Jericho. Mahanaim stood on the bank of the Jabbok in its lower course. Its name means "two camps." It was the place where Jacob rested on his return to Canaan (Genesis 32:2). Later, it became a Levitical city (Joshua 21:38). Debir was in eastern Gilead (see map).

Moreover, the land of the Gadites comprised four cities in the valley (Jordan Valley): Beth-haram, Beth-nimrah, Succoth, and Zaphon (v 27). According to Numbers, Beth-haram and Beth-nimrah were "fortified cities, with sheepfolds for sheep" (Numbers 32:36). Succoth was at the edge of the Jabbok Valley, while Zaphon was east of the Jordan River. It was the site where the elders of Gilead gathered to meet with Jephthah (Judges 12:1).

Finally, the territory of Gad included the rest of the kingdom of Sihon, king of Heshbon, with the Jordan as a border, as far as the lower end of the Sea of Chinnereth beyond the Jordan to the east (v 27). The Sea of Chinnereth is another name for the Sea of Galilee, which lies in the lower section of the Jordan Valley. It was in a range of mountains, about 60 miles north of Jerusalem.

This section concludes by stating that this was the inheritance of the sons of Gad, according to their families, the cities, and their villages (v 28). The Hebrew term translated as village here ("ḥāṣēr") refers to a permanent settlement without fortified walls. But such settlements were not mobile encampments either. Rather, they were part of the open fields (Leviticus 25:31). For the most part, they were composed of simple one-room houses. Moses kept his words. He gave a portion of land to the Gadites, as they had requested.

Gad's territory is full of places where Jacob/Israel traveled, where significant moments in his life and the history of the patriarchs took place. Mahanaim is where Jacob met the angels of God and said, "This is God's camp" (Genesis 32:2). Succoth is where he built shelters for his livestock after meeting Esau in peace (Genesis 33:17). The Jabbok river, where Jacob wrestled with God and received the name Israel, ran through this same region (Genesis 32:22-28). Centuries later, the tribe descended from Jacob's son received these very places as a lasting inheritance. The God who met Jacob there kept covenant with Jacob's children.