Joshua 14:2

2 These nine and a half tribes received their grants of land by means of sacred lots, in accordance with the LORD ’s command through Moses.

Joshua 14:2 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 14:2

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 26:55 Numbers 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.

Joshua 14:2 In-Context

1 The remaining tribes of Israel received land in Canaan as allotted by Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the tribal leaders.

2 These nine and a half tribes received their grants of land by means of sacred lots, in accordance with the LORD ’s command through Moses.

3 Moses had already given a grant of land to the two and a half tribes on the east side of the Jordan River, but he had given the Levites no such allotment.

4 The descendants of Joseph had become two separate tribes—Manasseh and Ephraim. And the Levites were given no land at all, only towns to live in with surrounding pasturelands for their livestock and all their possessions.

5 So the land was distributed in strict accordance with the LORD ’s commands to Moses.