Deuteronomy 19
Joshua 19 records the process by which the Israelites receive and are allotted land by lot for the remaining tribes after they have settled in Canaan. In this chapter, we see, one after another, scenes in which six tribes—Simeon, Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Dan—draw lots and receive their assigned inheritances. It then provides detailed descriptions of the boundaries of each tribe’s allotted land and lists the major towns within that territory. Finally, it shows how Joshua himself receives the inheritance of the town he requested—Timnath-serah (Timnath-serah)—as the land distribution is brought to completion.
1verseWhen the LORD your God cuts off the nations whose land the LORD your God gives you, and you succeed them and dwell in their cities and in their houses,
2verseyou shall set apart three cities for yourselves in the middle of your land, which the LORD your God gives you to possess.
3verseYou shall prepare the way, and divide the borders of your land which the LORD your God causes you to inherit into three parts, that every man slayer may flee there.
4verseThis is the case of the man slayer who shall flee there and live: Whoever kills his neighbor unintentionally, and didn’t hate him in time past—
5verseas when a man goes into the forest with his neighbor to chop wood and his hand swings the ax to cut down the tree, and the head slips from the handle and hits his neighbor so that he dies—he shall flee to one of these cities and live.
6verseOtherwise, the avenger of blood might pursue the man slayer while hot anger is in his heart and overtake him, because the way is long, and strike him mortally, even though he was not worthy of death, because he didn’t hate him in time past.
7verseTherefore I command you to set apart three cities for yourselves.
8verseIf the LORD your God enlarges your border, as he has sworn to your fathers, and gives you all the land which he promised to give to your fathers;
9verseand if you keep all this commandment to do it, which I command you today, to love the LORD your God, and to walk ever in his ways, then you shall add three cities more for yourselves, in addition to these three.
10verseThis is so that innocent blood will not be shed in the middle of your land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance, leaving blood guilt on you.
11verseBut if any man hates his neighbor, lies in wait for him, rises up against him, strikes him mortally so that he dies, and he flees into one of these cities;
12versethen the elders of his city shall send and bring him there, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die.
13verseYour eye shall not pity him, but you shall purge the innocent blood from Israel that it may go well with you.
14verseYou shall not remove your neighbor’s landmark, which they of old time have set, in your inheritance which you shall inherit, in the land that the LORD your God gives you to possess.
15verseOne witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin that he sins. At the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall a matter be established.
16verseIf an unrighteous witness rises up against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing,
17versethen both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges who shall be in those days;
18verseand the judges shall make diligent inquisition; and behold, if the witness is a false witness, and has testified falsely against his brother,
19versethen you shall do to him as he had thought to do to his brother. So you shall remove the evil from among you.
20verseThose who remain shall hear, and fear, and will never again commit any such evil among you.
21verseYour eyes shall not pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
Summary of Key Content
- Distribution by tribe: Simeon, Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Dan receive their inheritances in sequence. A special situation also appears in which Simeon takes part of Judah’s allotment, and Dan does not completely take over the originally assigned area; instead, Dan captures Leshem (later called Dan) and makes it their inheritance.
- Joshua’s inheritance: The leader Joshua receives his inheritance at the end and settles in the land that God has allowed, just like all the other people of Israel. Even though his inheritance reflects a leader who dedicated himself for the sake of the entire community, it also indicates that he went through the distribution process in God’s way.
- Completion of the distribution: The final verse of chapter 19 states that the priest Eleazar and Joshua, along with the chiefs of the tribes, completed the distribution at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting in Shiloh. This proclaims that God’s covenant regarding the promised land after the Exodus was carried out in a practical, real way.
Meditation Points
- Through the fact that God gives each tribe and individual an allotment appropriate to them, we can learn to trust that God leads each person to what they need in a good way.
- We can also reflect on the importance of each tribe waiting until it receives its land, obeying in an orderly manner, and accepting the portion assigned to them.
Applying It to Me
- Let me recognize that my life, my role, and even my environment are also within God’s plan and care.
- Rather than comparing myself to others, this can become an opportunity to renew my resolve to be thankful and responsible for the place and situation that have been given to me.
As part of Coupang Partners activities, this post may earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
