Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance unto the nine tribes, and the half tribe of Manasseh,
Joshua balked at dividing land not yet conquered, but God corrected him: take what lies before you now and trust the rest will follow when your numbers require it. Property divided by law and equity, not force, secures the inheritance for your children; what is seized by arms alone is soon lost again, but what God grants cannot be shaken.
AI summary
Commenting on Joshua 13:7-33
Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance,.... Having the command and authority of God for it, he was to set about it at once, with all diligence and application: unto the nine tribes: of Judah, Simeon, Benjamin, Dan, Ephraim, Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, and Naphtali, in which order they are placed, when the Lord gave to Moses the names of the men that should divide...
The nine tribes, and the half tribe of Manasseh - The other half tribe of Manasseh, and the two tribes of Reuben and Gad, had got their inheritance on the other side of Jordan, in the land formerly belonging to Og king of Bashan, and Sihon king of the Amorites.