Joshua 13

Passage overview

Judges 13 is an account about the announcement of Samson’s birth, and it is the chapter that prepares for the appearance of a new deliverer within the overall structure of Judges. In this chapter, you can see the experience of Samson’s parents meeting God’s messenger, along with the fact that the people of Israel are again placed under the oppression of the Philistines. You can examine how the news of Samson’s birth and the message of hope that results from it unfold.

1verseNow Joshua was old and well advanced in years. The LORD said to him, “You are old and advanced in years, and there remains yet very much land to be possessed.

2verse“This is the land that still remains: all the regions of the Philistines, and all the Geshurites;

3versefrom the Shihor, which is before Egypt, even to the border of Ekron northward, which is counted as Canaanite; the five lords of the Philistines; the Gazites, and the Ashdodites, the Ashkelonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites; also the Avvim,

4verseon the south; all the land of the Canaanites, and Mearah that belongs to the Sidonians, to Aphek, to the border of the Amorites;

5verseand the land of the Gebalites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrise, from Baal Gad under Mount Hermon to the entrance of Hamath;

6verseall the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth Maim, even all the Sidonians. I will drive them out from before the children of Israel. Just allocate it to Israel for an inheritance, as I have commanded you.

7verseNow therefore divide this land for an inheritance to the nine tribes and the half-tribe of Manasseh.”

8verseWith him the Reubenites and the Gadites received their inheritance, which Moses gave them, beyond the Jordan eastward, even as Moses the servant of the LORD gave them:

9versefrom Aroer, that is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the valley, and all the plain of Medeba to Dibon;

10verseand all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, to the border of the children of Ammon;

11verseand Gilead, and the border of the Geshurites and Maacathites, and all Mount Hermon, and all Bashan to Salecah;

12verseall the kingdom of Og in Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei (who was left of the remnant of the Rephaim); for Moses attacked these, and drove them out.

13verseNevertheless the children of Israel didn’t drive out the Geshurites, nor the Maacathites: but Geshur and Maacath live within Israel to this day.

14verseOnly he gave no inheritance to the tribe of Levi. The offerings of the LORD, the God of Israel, made by fire are his inheritance, as he spoke to him.

15verseMoses gave to the tribe of the children of Reuben according to their families.

16verseTheir border was from Aroer, that is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the valley, and all the plain by Medeba;

17verseHeshbon, and all its cities that are in the plain; Dibon, Bamoth Baal, Beth Baal Meon,

18verseJahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath,

19verseKiriathaim, Sibmah, Zereth Shahar in the mount of the valley,

20verseBeth Peor, the slopes of Pisgah, Beth Jeshimoth,

21verseall the cities of the plain, and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses struck with the chiefs of Midian, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the princes of Sihon, who lived in the land.

22verseThe children of Israel also killed Balaam the son of Beor, the soothsayer, with the sword, among the rest of their slain.

23verseThe border of the children of Reuben was the bank of the Jordan. This was the inheritance of the children of Reuben according to their families, the cities and its villages.

24verseMoses gave to the tribe of Gad, to the children of Gad, according to their families.

25verseTheir border was Jazer, and all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the children of Ammon, to Aroer that is near Rabbah;

26verseand from Heshbon to Ramath Mizpeh, and Betonim; and from Mahanaim to the border of Debir;

27verseand in the valley, Beth Haram, Beth Nimrah, Succoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon, the Jordan’s bank, to the uttermost part of the sea of Chinnereth beyond the Jordan eastward.

28verseThis is the inheritance of the children of Gad according to their families, the cities and its villages.

29verseMoses gave an inheritance to the half-tribe of Manasseh. It was for the half-tribe of the children of Manasseh according to their families.

30verseTheir border was from Mahanaim, all Bashan, all the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, and all the villages of Jair, which are in Bashan, sixty cities.

31verseHalf Gilead, Ashtaroth, and Edrei, the cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan, were for the children of Machir the son of Manasseh, even for the half of the children of Machir according to their families.

32verseThese are the inheritances which Moses distributed in the plains of Moab, beyond the Jordan at Jericho, eastward.

33verseBut Moses gave no inheritance to the tribe of Levi. The LORD, the God of Israel, is their inheritance, as he spoke to them.

Structure and Flow

  • Verses 1–5: Israel does evil again, and God hands them over to the Philistines
  • Verses 6–14: The Lord’s messenger appears to Samson’s mother and foretells that she will bear a son, and that he will be a Nazirite
  • Verses 15–23: The parents host the Lord’s messenger, revealing an attitude of trust and reverence toward God’s plan
  • Verses 24–25: Samson is born, and the Spirit of the Lord comes upon him

Core Meaning

Within the repeated pattern of Judges (fall–discipline–cry out–deliverance), this chapter shows God’s sovereignty in preparing the deliverer in a special way. You can notice that from before Samson was born, he was set apart as a Nazirite and that God begins a plan for restoration without waiting for the people’s pleas. Samson’s birth symbolizes God’s grace and hope for Israel.

Interactions Between People

Samson’s parents—especially his mother—demonstrate obedience and reverence in their encounter with God’s messenger. Manoah (the father) asks questions about what he does not understand and seeks a more clear explanation, but ultimately he conforms to God’s will. This process shows an attitude of humility in response to human limitations and the mystery of God.

Meditation Points

  • Do you trust that God’s new plan can begin even in the difficulties and helplessness of your life?
  • Are you living by obeying God’s ‘setting apart’ and calling?

Apply It to Your Life

  • Let’s remember that God’s plan is already underway even when I cannot understand it.
  • Let’s be determined to respond sensitively to God’s voice and to live a set-apart life in everyday life.

As part of Coupang Partners activities, this post may earn a commission from qualifying purchases.