Joshua 13:13

Nevertheless the children of Israel expelled not the Geshurites, nor the Maachathites: but the Geshurites and the Maachathites dwell among the Israelites until this day.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

13:7-33 The land must be divided among the tribes. It is the will of God that every man should know his own, and not take that which is another's. The world must be governed, not by force, but right. Wherever our habitation is placed, and in whatever honest way our portion is assigned, we should consider them as allotted of God; we should be thankful for, and use them as such, while every prudent method should be used to prevent disputes about property, both at present and in future. Joshua must be herein a type of Christ, who has not only conquered the gates of hell for us, but has opened to us the gates of heaven, and having purchased the eternal inheritance for all believers, will put them in possession of it. Here is a general description of the country given to the two tribes and a half, by Moses. Israel must know their own, and keep to it; and may not, under pretence of their being God's peculiar people, encroach on their neighbours. Twice in this chapter it is noticed, that to the tribe of Levi Moses gave no inheritance: see Nu 18:20. Their maintenance must be brought out of all the tribes. The ministers of the Lord should show themselves indifferent about worldly interests, and the people should take care they want nothing suitable. And happy are those who have the Lord God of Israel for their inheritance, though little of this world falls to their lot. His providences will supply their wants, his consolations will support their souls, till they gain heavenly joy and everlasting pleasures.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The writer appends to the command of God Joshua 13:1-7 a statement that the other two tribes and a half had already had their inheritance marked out for them by Moses in the land east of Jordan. The boundaries of this territory as a whole are first set forth Joshua 13:8-14, and afterward the portions assigned within it to the two tribes and a half are severally described Joshua 13:15-33.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

8. With whom—Hebrew, "him." The antecedent is evidently to Manasseh, not, however, the half-tribe just mentioned, but the other half; for the historian, led, as it were, by the sound of the word, breaks off to describe the possessions beyond Jordan already assigned to Reuben, Gad, and the half of Manasseh (see on [190]Nu 32:1; [191]Nu 32:33; also see De 3:8-17). It may be proper to remark that it was wise to put these boundaries on record. In case of any misunderstanding or dispute arising about the exact limits of each district or property, an appeal could always be made to this authoritative document, and a full knowledge as well as grateful sense obtained of what they had received from God (Ps 16:5, 6).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

This seems added by way of anticipation and reflection upon the present Israelites; implying, that although Moses did and might permit them to remain, both because the land which he had conquered was more than enough for the Israelitish possessors, and because being intent upon their passage over Jordan into the land of Canaan, he would not delay them, by searching their enemies out of all their corners; yet they were in fault, in not going on and perfecting the work which was begun by Moses, and carried on so far by Joshua.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Nevertheless, the children of Israel expelled not the Geshurites, nor the Maachathites,.... Neither in the times of Moses, nor in the times of Joshua:

but the Geshurites and the Maachathites dwell among the Israelites until this day: in full possession of their cities unmolested; yea, in later times they became separate and distinct kingdoms; for we read both of the king of Geshur, and of the king of Maachah, 2 Samuel 3:3.

Geneva Study Bible

Nevertheless the children of Israel {d} expelled not the Geshurites, nor the Maachathites: but the Geshurites and the Maachathites dwell among the Israelites until this day.

(d) Because they had not destroyed all as God had commanded they that remainder were snares and pricks to hurt them, Nu 33:35 Jos 23:13 Jud 2:3.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

13. expelled not the Geshurites] “Valiant as was the contest long kept up against their enemies, Israel could not prevent two little kingdoms in the north-east from maintaining their independence within her own borders. One of these was the Aramean Maachah, probably extending to the sources of the Jordan; and the other belonged to the aborigines, and was called Geshur. These two little kingdoms are generally mentioned together, and they existed till after David’s time.” Ewald, p. 302.

Joshua 13:13

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Gilead is the whole country of that name on both sides of the Jabbok (see at Joshua 12:2 and Deuteronomy 3:10), the present Belka and Jebel Ajlun, for the description of which see the remarks at Numbers 32:1. "The territory of the Geshurites and Maachathites" is referred to in Joshua 12:5 as the boundary of the kingdom of Og, and in Deuteronomy 3:14 as the boundary of the land which was taken by Jair the Manassite; here it is included in the inheritance of the tribes on the other side of the Jordan, but it was never really taken possession of by the Israelites, and (according to Joshua 13:13) it had probably never been really subject to king Og. The other notices in Joshua 13:11 and Joshua 13:12 are the same as in Joshua 12:4-5.