And these are the countries which the children of Israel inherited in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel, distributed for inheritance to them.
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לYis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
inherited
נָחֲל֥וּna.cha.Lu
H5157
to inherit (as a (figurative) mode of descent) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
land
בְּאֶ֣רֶץbe.'E.retz
H776
the earth (at large · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
Canaan
כְּנָ֑עַןke.Na.'an
H3667
Kenaan · proper noun, a place name
Eleazar
אֶלְעָזָ֤ר'el.'a.Zar
H499
Elazar · proper noun, a man's name
priest
הַכֹּהֵן֙ha.ko.Hen
H3548
literally one officiating · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Joshua
וִיהוֹשֻׁ֣עַvi.ho.Shu.a'
H3091
Jehoshua (i.e. Joshua) · conjunction + proper noun, a man's name
son
בִּןbin-
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct
Nun
נ֔וּןNun
H5126
Nun or Non · proper noun, a man's name
heads
וְרָאשֵׁ֛יve.ra.Shei
H7218
the head (as most easily shaken) · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct
fathers
אֲב֥וֹת'a.Vot
H1
father · noun, common feminine plural construct
tribes
הַמַּטּ֖וֹתha.ma.Tot
H4294
a branch (as extending) · definite article + noun, common feminine plural absolute
children
לִבְנֵ֥יliv.Nei
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵֽלYis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
inheritance
נִֽחֲל֜וּni.cha.Lu
H5157
to inherit (as a (figurative) mode of descent) · verb, piel perfect, 3rd person common plural
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Numbers 34:17-29 These are the names of the men which shall divide the land unto you: Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Joshua 14:1-5
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 in the land of Canaan. They were not conquered to be left desert, a habitation for dragons, and a court for owls, Isa 34:13. No, the Israelites that had hitherto been closely encamped in a body, and the greatest part of them such as never knew any other way of living, must now disperse themselves to replenish these new conquests. It is said of the earth, God created it not in vain; he formed it to be inhabited, Isa 45:18. Canaan would have been subdued in vain if it had not been inhabited. Yet every man might not go a…
Eleazar the priest, etc. - Eleazar, as being the minister of God in sacred things is mentioned first. Joshua, as having the supreme command in all things civil, is mentioned next. And the Heads or Princes of the twelve tribes, who in all things acted under Joshua, are mentioned last. These heads or princes were twelve, Joshua and Eleazar included; and the reader may find their names in Num 34:19-28. It is worthy of remark that no prince was taken from the tribes of Reuben and Gad, because these had already received their inheritance on the other side of Jordan, and therefore could not be interested in this division.
John Gill on Joshua 14:1
And these are the countries which the children of Israel inherited in the land of Canaan,.... Of which an exact account is given in the following chapters, particularly in the Joshua 15:1,
which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel, distributed for an inheritance unto them; namely, ten princes, one of each tribe, who, with Eleazar and Joshua, were appointed of the Lord by name to do this business, even seven years ago, before their entrance into the land of Canaan, Numbers 34:17.
John Calvin on Joshua 14:1-3
And these are the countries, etc He now proceeds to the land of Canaan, from which nine tribes and a half were to obtain their lots. And he will immediately break off the thread of the narrative, as we shall see. Yet the transition is seasonably made from that region whose situation was different, to let the reader know that the discourse was to be concerning the land of Canaan, which was to be divided by lot. We have said that Joshua and Eleazar not only divided what the Israelites had already acquired, but trusting in the promise of God, confidently included whatever he had promised to his people, just as if they had been in actual possession of it. We shall see, indeed, that the division…
The Church Fathers
Let us learn from the law, which describes for us of necessity the division of the land, said to have been made first through Moses and secondly also through Jesus — not that we should keep both, but that, learning the meaning of each, we may hold only that one which is handed down by Jesus our Lord. Now that land which is "beyond the Jordan" Moses distributed; but this one, which is the "holy land" and the "good land," "Jesus and the princes of the tribes of Israel" distributed. You see, then, that when that true inheritance of the "holy land" begins to be distributed by the Savior, the "princes of the tribes" also of the true and spiritual "Israel" will be taken up. And whom do we suppose to be the "princes" of our tribes, or the princes of the church, if not the holy Apostles, to whom the Savior says: "you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel"? Yet there is taken up for the division a priest as well, who is the hidden and mystical word of God; for so it says that "Jesus and Eleazar" came together to divide the land.
The whole account of the land of Judah and of the tribes is typical of the church in heaven. Let us read Joshua, the son of Nun, or the concluding portions of Ezekiel, and we shall see that the historical division of the land as related by the one finds a counterpart in the spiritual and heavenly promises of the other. What is the meaning of the seven and eight steps in the description of the temple? Or again, what significance attaches to the fact that in the Psalter, after being taught the mystic alphabet by the one hundred and eighteenth psalm we arrive by fifteen steps at the point where we can sing: "Behold, now bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord: you who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God." Why did two tribes and a half dwell on the other side of Jordan, a district abounding in cattle, while the remaining nine tribes and a half either drove out the old inhabitants from their possessions or dwelled with them? Why did the tribe of Levi receive no portion in the land but have the Lord for its portion? And how is it that of the priests and Levites, themselves, the high priest alone entered the Holy of Holies where were the cherubim and the mercy seat? Why did the other priests wear linen raiment only, and not have their clothing of wrought gold, blue, scarlet, purple and fine cloth? The priests and Levites of the lower order took care of the oxen and carts; those of the higher order carried the ark of the Lord on their shoulders. If you do away with the gradations of the tabernacle, the temple, the church, if, to use a common military phrase, all upon the right hand are to be "up to the same standard," bishops are to no purpose, priests in vain, deacons useless. Why do virgins persevere? Widows toil? Why do married women practice continence? Let us all sin, and when once we have repented, we shall be on the same footing as the apostles.
Dictionary and topics
Caleb — A dog. (1.) One of the three sons of Hezron of the tribe of Judah. He is also called Chelubai (1 Chr. 2:9). His descendants are enumerated (18-20, 42-49). (2.) A “son of Hur, the firstborn of…
Eleazar — God has helped. (1.) The third son of Aaron (Ex. 6:23). His wife, a daughter of Putiel, bore him Phinehas (Ex. 6:25). After the death of Nadab and Abihu (Lev. 10:12; Num. 3:4) he was appointed to the…
Patriarch — A name employed in the New Testament with reference to Abraham (Heb. 7:4), the sons of Jacob (Acts 7:8, 9), and to David (2:29). This name is generally applied to the progenitors of families or…
Holy Land · Allotment of, specified — Allotment of, specified
Jews, The · Settled in Canaan — Settled in Canaan
Tribes Of Israel, The · Canaan divided amongst nine and a half of, by lot — Canaan divided amongst nine and a half of, by lot
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Joshua 14:1 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
The allotment of land to the tribes on the west side of the Jordan describes what God intended for each tribe to possess. • The narrator frames this section with the assignment of land to Caleb at the beginning (14:6-15) and to Joshua at the end (19:49-51). Only Caleb and Joshua had expressed faith in God that Israel could conquer the land (Num 13:30; 14:6-9).
14:1 Eleazar . . . Joshua . . . and the tribal leaders supervised the distribution of the land to ensure that the process was honest and just.
Rashi on Joshua 14:1
That were apportioned to them. They caused them to inherit [their portions].
Just as those who receive the law — which is a "shadow" of that true law — serve "the shadow and copy of the heavenly things," so those who divide the inheritance of the land in Judaea follow "the copy and shadow" of the heavenly division. The truth, therefore, was in the heavens, but the "shadow and copy" of the truth was on the earth. And so long as this "shadow" stood firm on the earth, there was an earthly Jerusalem, there was a temple, there was an altar, there was also a visible cult, there were high priests and priests, there stood also the cities and villages of Judaea and all these things which are now recited as described in this book. But when, at the coming of our Savior, God descending from the heavens, "the truth arose from the earth, and righteousness looked down from heaven," the "shadow and copies" fell. For Jerusalem fell, the temple fell, the altar was taken away, so that now there is no place, either "on Mount Gerizim or in Jerusalem," where one ought to worship, but "the true worshippers, who worship the Father, worship in spirit and in truth." Thus, then, when the truth was present, "the type and shadow" ceased; and when that temple was present, which was fashioned in the womb of the virgin by "the Spirit of God and the power of the Most High," the temple built of stones was demolished. The high priest "of the good things to come" was present, and the high priests "of bulls and goats" ceased. "The Lamb of God came, who takes away the sin of the world," and the lamb taken from the flocks and slaughtered to no purpose through so many ages came to an end. Therefore, if all these things which had been given to the men of former times in a shadow ceased when the truth was present and standing by, it followed without doubt that, once the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven had been laid open, the earthly inheritance too should cease. And the reason why all these things should come to an end is this: "that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world become subject to God," lest perhaps some from the unbelieving people should take occasions for their unbelief and, holding the "shadows" handed down to them from ancient times — whether of the temple or the altar or the high priests or the priests — should seem to themselves, while the state of the ancient cult remained, to be transgressing the order of religion if they should pass over to…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
