Which tribe did joshua belong to

In bc the tribe of Ephraim led the 10 northern tribes in a successful revolt against the south and established the Kingdom of Israel, with Jeroboam I, an Ephraimite, as king. The seventh king of Israel, Ahab reigned c. Joshua took all these royal cities and their kings and put them to the sword. Yet Israel did not burn any of the cities built on their mounds—except Hazor, which Joshua burned. David was a mighty king of Israel who not only conquered and retook Jerusalem but also brought the Ark of the Covenant to the city.

Thanks for contributing an answer to Christianity Stack Exchange! First, we'll examine its basic structure and content, and second, we'll explore its original meaning.

Let's turn first to the structure and content of this part of Joshua. The record of Israel's specific tribal allotments, in —, can be confusing. It contains long lists of peoples, regions, cities, towns and villages, interspersed with a number of brief stories and quick asides.

To grasp the main ideas in all of this variety, it helps to see that it divides into two main parts: the tribal allotments Moses directed in Transjordan, in , and a much larger record of the tribal allotments that Joshua directed in Cisjordan in — The record of tribal allotments in Transjordan is rather short. It begins with the tribe of Reuben in The tribe of Gad appears in verses And the half-tribe of Manasseh's allotment in Transjordan follows in verses Then, our author closed this section, as he did the preceding section, by mentioning the special inheritance of the tribe of Levi in verses 32, Because the tribe of Levi was chosen as the tribe that served and executed the service of the priesthood for the entire nation of Israel, the tribe did not receive any land inheritance.

It's said in Joshua 13 that God was their inheritance. Because of this, the tribe of Levi was excluded from the allotments among the twelve tribes of Israel, and the portion the tribe of Levi received was the offerings that were made by the Israelites — the gifts and tithes given by the entire nation of Israel.

Henryk Turkanik, translation]. In these verses, the author of Joshua carefully delineated which portions of lands to the east of the Jordan were allotted to Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. From a large-scale perspective, these allotments may seem clear enough, but for these tribes, the divisions were not as straightforward. Overlapping territories and disagreements over borders made our author explain in some detail to whom specific regions, and even towns and villages, belonged.

When modern Christians read chapters 13—22 in the book of Joshua, they encounter something that does not really capture our imagination, and that is these long lists of boundaries for this tribe and that tribe, and this tribe had these cities and those tribes had those cities, and so on and so on it goes. In fact, sometimes when people read these as modern people, they look at it and say, "What in the world does this have to do with religion?

It was to be their permanent inheritance, something that they were to hold onto and was to actually be the orientation, their homeland, their piece of the homeland for the entire nation of Israel. Richard L. Pratt, Jr. Following this, our author gave a much longer record of the specific tribal allotments Joshua made in Cisjordan.

These materials divide into six main sections. They begin in with a brief opening summary of Joshua's actions and how they reflected what Moses had already done in Transjordan. This section also notes more than once that Joshua's assignments of inheritances in Cisjordan were in accordance with the will of God. In balance with this first portion, the record of allotments in Cisjordan ends with a closing summary in Our author explained in that all the tribes "took possession of [their lands], and they settled there.

In Joshua 13—22, we find the realization of God's covenant promises to Israel, because in those chapters we find the land apportionment to the various of the twelve tribes.

And particularly noteworthy is , that not one of God's promises had failed, pointing the reader back to what God had promised to Abraham, to give him a place, to make him a people, and to be present among his people. And when the land is fully apportioned, we now see Israel resting in the Promised Land that God had promised Abraham long ago, starting back in Genesis Mike Glodo].

Four main sections stand between these two bookends. They begin with Judah, Israel's most prominent tribe, in — According to these verses, Judah received a very large inheritance, stretching southward to the Negev and toward the boundary of Edom. To the west, the border reached the land of Philistia and extended along the coast of the Mediterranean as far as the Wadi of Egypt.

It reached northward along the Mediterranean coast slightly north of Jerusalem — or "Jebus" as it was called at the time — and to the east as far as the Dead Sea. It's understandable why our author placed Judah's allotment first in this list and highlighted how much Judah had received. According to Genesis , Judah was destined to be the royal tribe of Israel. Our author highlighted the honor given to Judah, first, by providing a short narrative about the lands given to the prominent Judahite warrior, Caleb.

Then, he went on to mention by name some towns and villages in Judah's territory — far more than he listed for any other tribe. After the record of Judah's southern allotment in Cisjordan, we find a second lengthy record, the prominent allotments given to the tribes of Joseph's sons, Ephraim and Manasseh in chapters 16, Ephraim and Manasseh received a great deal of land in the northern regions of Canaan.

These territories were among the most fertile in all of the Promised Land. In addition to this, you'll recall that half of the tribe of Manasseh had already been given land to the east of the Jordan. It's no wonder that these tribes received the honor of possessing such a large and rich portion of Israel's inheritance. As Genesis 48, 49 explain, Ephraim and Manasseh were Joseph's sons. And Joseph was greatly honored because he was so faithful to God in Egypt. He replaced Reuben as Jacob's firstborn and received the firstborn's double inheritance through his two sons.

So, Ephraim and Manasseh are Joseph's sons. They're not sons of Jacob — Jacob being the man who got his name changed to Israel — and Jacob had these twelve sons. One of them, Joseph, was sold as a slave in Egypt. And then another, Levi, he was sort of withdrawn from the count of the twelve when the Lord decided to take for himself the tribe of Levi instead of all the firstborn of the people of Israel… And then the blessing of Jacob, he went to bless the sons of Joseph, and he articulated his blessing over Ephraim and Manasseh, and it's as though those two take the place in the numbering of Levi and Joseph.

And so, when they go to divide up the land, apportion the land among the twelve tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh each receive an allotment of land, a tribal inheritance… And then, Joseph is represented in his sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. James M. Chapter 16 begins with a brief overview of all of Joseph's lands in Cisjordan, and then gives specific details about the tribe of Ephraim.

Following this, in chapter 17, the narrative moves to the tribe of Manasseh, including the story of Zelophehad's daughters' land inheritance from Numbers And this section concludes with Joshua's explanation of why Ephraim and Manasseh received more land due to their large numbers. The prominence given to the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh is striking because these tribes caused all sorts of troubles by the time our book was written. But our author indicated that, despite this history, Israel should acknowledge how God had honored the tribes of Joseph.

After dealing with the land allotments to the prominent tribes of Judah, Ephraim and Manasseh, our author turned to the minor tribes in chapters 18, He began in with a narrative of how Joshua called for representatives of each tribe to survey these lands. And he closed in with a story indicating that the tribes approved of these arrangements because they gave Joshua his own special family inheritance.

Between these opening and closing narratives, our author recorded the allotments for Israel's minor tribes of Benjamin, Simeon, Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Dan. Although these tribes received inheritances, they didn't receive nearly as much as Judah, Ephraim and Manasseh.

And, in later times, these lesser tribes had difficulties maintaining their lands. Our author himself mentioned in that the inheritance of Simeon was actually "in the midst of Judah's inheritance," a fact that eventually led to the assimilation of Simeon into Judah. And he also noted in that "the territory of the people of Dan was lost to them" — a story we read in Judges Knowing that these and other instabilities troubled the minor tribes, our author wrote to insure that his audience acknowledged these allotments.

Joshua's allotments in Cisjordan also include a record of the tribe of Levi in chapters 20, The author of Joshua began his record of the tribe of Levi by naming the cities of refuge in According to Exodus and Deuteronomy , these cities offered protection for those who committed unintentional homicide until Israel's courts could determine their guilt or innocence. Following this, in chapter 21, our author listed the Levitical cities in general, following Moses' instructions in Numbers The cities of refuge and other Levitical cities were scattered throughout the territories of other tribes in the land of Israel.

This made it possible for the Levites to lead every tribe in God's service. Unfortunately, these allotments were easily forgotten in times of trouble. But the author of Joshua insisted that his audience must remember them because the service of the Levites was so crucial to the well-being of the nation. With the structure and content of these specific tribal allotments in mind, we should briefly summarize the original meaning of these chapters.

Modern audiences often have difficulty appreciating the geographical details that the author of Joshua included in these chapters. But his call wasn't just for Israel to secure their initial national inheritance. He also called them to recognize the specific status and differences God had established for each tribe so that they could move forward in furthering the spread of God's kingdom. In his usual style, our author wove his five recurring themes into his record of Israel's specific tribal allotments.

In the first place, he stressed the divine authority that directed the distribution of lands among the tribes. In his record of allotments in Transjordan, our author remarked four times — in , 15, 24 and 29 — that these were the divisions of lands that Moses, God's divinely-authorized leader, had given them.

Our author also indicated the divine authority behind the tribal allotments in Cisjordan. In his opening summary, in , he wrote that "Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the heads of … the tribes" established the divisions of the land. He made the same point in his record of Ephraim and Manasseh in And we see this again in his discussion of the minor tribes in , and in his treatment of the tribe of Levi in In addition to this, our author introduced the inheritance of the tribe of Levi in in his customary way, saying, "Then the Lord said to Joshua…" The implications for anyone in the original audience were clear enough.

Dissatisfaction with these specific tribal allotments amounted to dissatisfaction with what God had directed. In the second place, as the author of Joshua dealt with Israel's specific tribal allotments, he also emphasized that these divisions were based on God's covenant. The author repeatedly referred to the portions of land allotted to the tribes as their "inheritance," using the Hebrew word, nachalah.

As we mentioned before, this term was closely tied to God's covenants with Abraham and Moses. In , he called the Transjordan lands Israel's "inheritances. He also spoke of Judah's land as an "inheritance" in , 13, and He did the same with Ephraim and Manasseh in and seven more times.

And he called the minor tribes' allotments an "inheritance" some seventeen times. And in his last account of the tribe of Levi, in , he spoke of how each tribe gave towns and pasturelands to the Levites from their "inheritance. And if anyone neglected them, they neglected the sacred promise of God to his people as their covenant Lord. In the third place, in his report of Israel's specific tribal allotments, the author of Joshua also stressed obedience to the standard of Moses' law.

This emphasis is most clearly seen in his treatment of Cisjordan. His opening summary states, in , that Joshua acted "as the Lord had commanded by the hand of Moses. Our author's appeal to the standard of Moses' law in these chapters called all generations of Israel to observe these divisions of the land. To violate them was to bring the curses of God on his people. To observe them was to bring his blessings. In the fourth place, these chapters also acknowledge that Israel's specific tribal allotments were confirmed by God's supernatural power.

The record of allocations in Transjordan mentions the miraculous defeat of King Sihon in , And we read of Balaam's killing in , and of the victory over Og in Bashan in All of these events recalled God's supernatural activity in Transjordan. In addition, our author's record of allotments in Cisjordan repeatedly refers to casting lots to indicate God's supernatural involvement. As passages like Numbers and Proverbs explain, casting lots was one of the ways God supernaturally revealed his will to Israel.

The opening summary of Cisjordan mentions casting lots in And casting lots appears in the allotments to the minor tribes some eleven times. Israel also cast lots for the inheritance of the tribe of Levi in , Our author's purpose for these repeated notices of God's supernatural involvement is not difficult to discern. Members of the original audience may have been tempted to deviate from these tribal allotments.

But time and again our author demonstrated that these allotments were not to be violated because God himself established them. It is interesting in Joshua that they actually cast lots to see who got what land, and I think this shows that it was in God's hands, that there wasn't going to be any inequality, even with Joshua choosing who gets what, but it's God's giving this to them. And by casting lots it is pointing to the significance that, again, this is God and his people, and God's giving this to his people in fairness.

And there is this idea, I think, that needs to be understood, that God will uphold the property rights of these people, and inheritance is very important for them. And it's interesting also that this land will not go… no one can lose this land forever , that if they even sell off their land there comes a point where there's a Jubilee where the land has to be returned. And so, all of this is tied to the fact that this is their inheritance from God, that this is their right given by God, and God is upholding these boundaries and that no one, not even a king, can come along and say, "This isn't your land.

In the fifth place, like earlier chapters in the book, these chapters on Israel's specific tribal allotments also stress the inclusion of all Israel. We can see this emphasis in the way the record of allotments in Transjordan specifies lands for each tribe to the east of the Jordan.

The record of allotments in Cisjordan does the same. It not only reports what was given to the tribes of Judah, Ephraim and Manasseh, but also what was given to the minor tribes.

And beyond this, it even specifies the cities devoted to the tribe of Levi. Our author's detailed attention to all of the tribes of Israel reinforced his firm belief that all Israel must reside in the Promised Land. By the time our book was written, some tribes had been absorbed by others.

Other tribes had lost territories to enemies here and there. And by the time the Assyrians destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel and the Babylonians conquered Judah, only a remnant of the people of God remained in their tribal inheritances.

But our author insisted on an ideal for which every Israelite should strive. All of Israel was to have its rightful portion of the Promised Land. We've examined how the book of Joshua deals with Israel's tribal inheritances by reviewing the initial boundaries of their inheritance and the specific allotments to particular tribes. Now, let's turn to the third major step in our lesson: Israel's national unity.

Time and again through the centuries the tribes of Israel divided and turned against each other. And our author knew that Israel could not move forward in expanding God's kingdom unless the tribes stood together as one people.

To address this issue, our author closed this division of his book with a time when severe conflict threatened the national unity of Israel in Joshua's day. As we've seen a number of times, the book of Joshua repeatedly draws attention to a major, natural divide that existed between the tribes of Israel in Transjordan and Cisjordan.

This geographical division was problematic in Joshua's day because it nearly led to a war between the tribes on either side of the Jordan. So, as our author closed the second division on Israel's tribal inheritances, he recalled how Joshua led the tribes in Transjordan and Cisjordan to remain united.

These events illustrated how his original audience should resolve similar tensions in their own day. We'll follow our same pattern as we explore Israel's national unity by looking first at the structure and content of this section, and then at its original meaning.

Consider first the structure and content of this chapter. Upon returning from their mission, the spies unanimously praise the land; ten of them, however, add that it will be impossible to conquer, and that it in fact "eats its inhabitants.

Because the Jews believed the report of the ten libelous spies, God waits forty years before leading the Israelites into the land; by that point, the entire generation that believed the bad reports about Canaan has dies with the exception of Joshua and Caleb. It is also during the episode of the spies that Hosea's name is changed to Joshua.

According to midrashic sources, Moses foresaw the disaster that would occur when the spies returned, and gave his apprentice moral support by adding the name of God to his name, changing Hosea "saves" into Joshua "God saves". As Moses's death draws near, Joshua is chosen to be his successor. The Pentateuch ends with the Israelites on the verge of crossing the Jordan into the land of Canaan , and the first book of the Prophets , which is named after Joshua , picks up where the Torah left off.

Immediately, Joshua demonstrates a duality within his character that was missing from that of Moses. While Moses was primarily a spiritual leader, who acted as an intermediary between God and the Jews, Joshua was a capable military commander as well as a religious leader. By capturing the city of Jericho , and, eventually, the rest of the land of Canaan , Joshua shows that his leadership is different from that of Moses.

Indeed, his new role reflects the new reality that the Israelites encounter in their new homeland: In the desert, where their needs were provided for by God in a steady flow of miracles, a purely spiritual leader was sufficient. Now, with their destiny in their own hands, the Jews need a more practical, physically capable leader.

Of course, the book of Joshua emphasizes the role that God played in the leader's victories. In the account of one battle in Joshua 10 , for example, the Torah reports that as evening approached, the Jews were winning and wanted to finish the battle, so that their enemy would have no chance to regroup.

Thus, God caused the sun to stand still, allowing the Jews to finish the battle and avoid having to fight another one. The battle of Jericho , the Israelites' first, is won by surrounding the walls of the city and walking around them, causing them to miraculously collapse.