Bible Commentary

Joshua 14:1-5

Matthew Henry on Joshua 14:1-5

Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · Matthew Henry · CC0 1.0 Universal

The Israelites must occupy the new conquests. Canaan would have been subdued in vain, if it had not been inhabited. Yet every man might not go and settle where he pleased. God shall choose our inheritance for us.

Let us survey our heritage of present mercy, our prospect for the land of promise, eternal in the heavens. Is God any respecter of persons? Is it not better that our place, as to earthly good or sorrow, should be determined by the infinite wisdom of our heavenly Father, than by our own ignorance?

Should not those for whom the great mystery of godliness was exhibited, those whose redemption was purchased by Jesus Christ, thankfully refer their earthly concerns to his appointment?

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commentaryThe Distribution of Canaan. (b. c. 1444.)THE DISTRIBUTION OF CANAAN. (B. C. 1444.) The historian, having in the foregoing chapter given an account of the disposal of the countries on the other side Jordan, now comes to tell us what they did with the countries…Matthew HenrycommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 14:1Peasant proprietorship. The land of Canaan is divided not amongst nobility and gentry, but amongst the people. Each family has its little farm—probably averaging about ten acres. Divided equally amongst the people, the…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 14:1-15EXPOSITIONJoseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 14:1Tribes. The word here for "tribes," in connection with the word "fathers," is the one which implies genealogical descent (see note on Joshua 13:29). Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fa…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 14:1-5The allotment of the tribes. This record of the division of the land among the tribes is suggestive of principles that are capable of a wider and more general application, and also of one that is narrower and more indiv…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 14:2By lot was their inheritance. The commentators, following the Rabbis, have amused themselves by speculations how the lot was taken. The question is of no great practical importance; but no doubt the contrivance was a ve…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 14:2Inheritance by lot. While the trans-Jordanic tribes chose their own inheritance, the nine-and-a-half tribes submitted to the distribution by lot, and thus signified their desire to have their possession chosen for them…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 14:4For the children of Joseph were two tribes (see Genesis 48:5): therefore they gave. There is no "therefore" In the original. The passage is a simple repetition of what we find in Joshua 13:14, Joshua 13:33, and is added…Joseph S. Exell and contributors