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Joshua 13

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1 And Joshua is old, entering into days, and Jehovah saith unto him, `Thou hast become aged, thou hast entered into days; as to the land, very much hath been left to possess.

2 `This [is] the land that is left; all the circuits of the Philistines, and all Geshuri,

3 from Sihor which [is] on the front of Egypt, and unto the border of Ekron northward, to the Canaanite it is reckoned, five princes of the Philistines, the Gazathite, and the Ashdothite, the Eshkalonite, the Gittite, and the Ekronite, also the Avim.

4 `From the south, all the land of the Canaanite, and Mearah, which [is] to the Sidonians, unto Aphek, unto the border of the Amorite;

5 and the land of the Giblite, and all Lebanon, at the sun-rising, from Baal-Gad under mount Hermon, unto the going in to Hamath:

6 all the inhabitants of the hill-country, from Lebanon unto Misrephoth-Maim, all the Sidonians: I -- I dispossess them before the sons of Israel; only, cause it to fall to Israel for an inheritance, as I have commanded thee.

7 `And now, apportion this land for an inheritance to the nine tribes, and the half of the tribe of Manasseh,' --

8 with it the Reubenite, and the Gadite, have received their inheritance, which Moses hath given to them beyond the Jordan eastward, as Moses servant of Jehovah hath given to them;

9 from Aroer, which [is] on the edge of the brook Arnon, and the city which [is] in the midst of the brook, and all the plain of Medeba unto Dihon,

10 and all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorite, who reigned in Heshbon, unto the border of the Bene-Ammon,

11 and Gilead, and the border of the Geshurite, and of the Maachathite, and all mount Hermon, and all Bashan unto Salcah;

12 all the kingdom of Og in Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei; he was left of the remnant of the Rephaim, and Moses doth smite them, and dispossess them;

13 and the sons of Israel dispossessed not the Geshurite, and the Maachathite; and Geshur and Maachath dwell in the midst of Israel unto this day.

14 Only, to the tribe of Levi he hath not given an inheritance; fire-offerings of Jehovah, God of Israel, is its inheritance, as He hath spoken to it.

15 And Moses giveth to the tribe of the sons of Reuben, for their families;

16 and the border is to them from Aroer, which [is] on the edge of the brook Arnon, and the city which [is] in the midst of the brook, and all the plain by Medeba,

17 Heshbon, and all its cities which [are] in the plain, Dibon, and Bamoth-Baal, and Beth-Baal-Meon,

18 and Jahazah, and Kedemoth, and Mephaath,

19 and Kirjathaim, and Sibmah, and Zareth-Shahar, in the mount of the valley,

20 and Beth-Peor, and the springs of Pisgah, and Beth-Jeshimoth,

21 and all the cities of the plain, and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorite, who reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses smote, with the princes of Midian, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, princes of Sihon, inhabitants of the land.

22 And Balaam, son of Beor, the diviner, have the sons of Israel slain with the sword, among their wounded ones.

23 And the border of the sons of Reuben is the Jordan, and [its] border; this [is] the inheritance of the sons of Reuben, for their families, the cities and their villages.

24 And Moses giveth to the tribe of Gad, to the sons of Gad, for their families;

25 and the border is to them Jazer, and all the cities of Gilead, and the half of the land of the Bene-Ammon, unto Aroer which [is] on the front of Rabbah,

26 and from Heshbon unto Ramath-Mispeh, and Betonim, and from Mahanaim unto the border of Debir,

27 and in the valley, Beth-Aram, and Beth-Nimrah, and Succoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon, the Jordan and [its] border, unto the extremity of the sea of Chinnereth, beyond the Jordan, eastward.

28 This [is] the inheritance of the sons of Gad, for their families, the cities and their villages.

29 And Moses giveth to the half of the tribe of Manasseh; and it is to the half of the tribe of the sons of Manasseh, for their families.

30 And their border is from Mahanaim, all Bashan, all the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, and all the small towns of Jair, which [are] in Bashan, sixty cities;

31 and the half of Gilead, and Ashteroth, and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan, [are] to the sons of Machir, son of Manasseh, to the half of the sons of Machir, for their families.

32 These [are] they whom Moses caused to inherit in the plains of Moab, beyond the Jordan, [by] Jericho, eastward;

33 and to the tribe of Levi Moses gave not an inheritance; Jehovah, God of Israel, Himself [is] their inheritance, as He hath spoken to them.

   

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Exploring the Meaning of Joshua 13

Napsal(a) New Christian Bible Study Staff, Julian Duckworth

Joshua 13: The start of the tribal territory allocations.

Now that Israel had conquered the land of Canaan, the Lord commanded Joshua to divide the land between the twelve tribes. The next seven chapters tell how the the land of Canaan was divided (see Swedenborg’s work, Arcana Caelestia 1413, to read more about the spiritual meaning).

Chapter 13 deals with the territories given to the tribes of Reuben, Gad and one half of Manasseh, all of which are on the other side of the river Jordan. Reuben was given the southern lands; Gad was given the extensive middle region, much of which is an area called Gilead; and half the tribe of Manasseh received the northern land which is on the other side of the Jordan.

It is also worth noting that the first few verses say much of the land remained to be conquered. However, at the end of chapter 11, we read that Joshua took the whole land as the Lord had commanded Moses.

This may seem contradictory, but spiritually it fits very well. In our regeneration, we aim to conquer our self-centred nature, and allow the Lord to rule us with his truth. This is spiritually ‘conquering the whole land’. But even so, our natural thoughts and desires sometimes rise up to trouble us, and these times are like the parts of the land that remain to be conquered. This is why we must recognize our complete dependence on the Lord (Arcana Caelestia 8326).

The Lord giving land as inheritance to each of the twelve tribes represents the way that He gives us our spiritual life. As we do the work of spiritual ‘conquering’ - living by our purpose to serve the Lord - we feel more and more that we can use our understanding of God and His Word in our actions every day.

The twelve tribes stand for the whole spectrum of what spiritual life involves, and each tribe relates to a specific quality of our spiritual living (Arcana Caelestia 3858). For example, we need to be discerning, positive, respectful of others, and so on. Each tribe has a sizeable area of the land, and is part of the integrity of the whole nation.

The territories given to Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh are not part of Canaan, but they are linked to it. These areas represent our outward life: the way we work, live, rest, and relate with other people. This is the ‘casing’ of our spiritual life, and it is essential.

The tribe of Reuben – the eldest son of Jacob – stands for our initial need to see the truths from the Lord in the Word. By ‘seeing’ we mean meeting them, looking carefully, being attentive, coming to understand what they ask of us, and realising how important they are. It is not a vague impression that the Lord’s teachings are important, but a real first step for us (Arcana Caelestia 3866).

The tribe of Gad stands for our ability to see that knowledge and truth need to be used to perform good works. Gad’s name means ‘a troop,’ calling to mind soldiers marching in formation to go and sort things out properly. This is something we can apply to ourselves and to the world around us. We just need to watch that it doesn’t get too heavy-handed (See Swedenborg’s work, Apocalypse Explained 435[7]).

The tribe of Manasseh represents the spiritual good which supports our will to live a life which is just, fair and honourable because it is based on God. In fact, Manasseh – which means ‘forgetfulness’ – stands for our need to remember that ‘my will’ is really ‘the Lord’s will for me’. Our will needs to be focused on outward life and also inwardly open to the Lord, which is why half of Manasseh has land beyond the Jordan and half has land within Canaan (Arcana Caelestia 5353).

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Arcana Coelestia # 5353

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5353. 'And all my father's house' means the removal of hereditary evils. This is clear from the meaning of 'father's house' here as hereditary evils. In the internal sense 'house' means a person, more particularly his mind, either his rational mind or his natural mind. But specifically the will part there is meant, consequently good or evil since either of these can exist as an attribute of the will, see 710, 2233, 2234, 3128, 4973, 4982, 5023. This being so, 'father's house' here means hereditary evils. The essential nature meant by 'Manasseh' is contained in these words and in those immediately before them. In the original language Manasseh means forgetfulness, and so in the internal sense a removal is meant. That is to say, a removal of evils, both those of one's own doing and those which are hereditary; for once those evils have been removed a new area of will arises. This new will comes into being through an inflow of good from the Lord. Such an inflow of good from the Lord takes place constantly with a person, but evils exist there - both those of his own doing and those which he has inherited - which hinder and stand in the way of the reception of it. But once these have been removed a new area of will comes into being. Its coming into being at this time is clearly evident with those who suffer misfortunes, tribulations, or illnesses. During these experiences self-love and love of the world from which all evils spring are removed, and then a person entertains thoughts about God and about the neighbour that are good, and also desires his neighbour's welfare. It is similar with temptations, which are spiritual forms of distress and therefore inward experiences of tribulation and of despair. These experiences serve primarily to remove evils, and after these have been removed heavenly good from the Lord enters in, from which a new area of will is formed in the natural, which in the representative sense is 'Manasseh'.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.