The three biggest tribes — Judah, Ephraim, Manasseh — get their land in these chapters, and tucked into the boundary lists are four small scenes that carry the weight. A daughter asks her father for springs of water. A refrain keeps repeating: could not drive them out. Five sisters come to claim a promise. And the tribe of Joseph complains its portion is too small, and gets an answer it does not want to hear.
A study in Joshua 15-17 · Arthur Baldwin · StandUp4Jesus.Org · 8 min read
Give Me A Blessing; Give Me Also Springs Of Water
“Give me a blessing; for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And he gave her the upper springs, and the nether springs.”
Joshua 15:19
Achsah is Caleb’s daughter, and she has his nerve. Given dry land in the Negev as a dowry, she goes straight to her father and asks for water too — and he gives her both the upper and the lower springs. It is a small domestic moment dropped into a survey document, and it rhymes with her father’s “give me this mountain.” The family trait is asking boldly of the one who has more to give.
Could Not Drive Them Out
“As for the Jebusites the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not drive them out: but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem unto this day.”
Joshua 15:63
The phrase recurs like a stain: Judah “could not drive out” the Jebusites; Ephraim let the Canaanites of Gezer stay “and serve under tribute” (16:10); Manasseh “could not drive out” the valley cities and settled for forced labour instead (17:12-13). “Could not” often meant “did not press” — the same God who felled Jericho’s wall was still on offer. Every tribe that left an enemy in place was leaving a snare for its grandchildren; the book of Judges is the bill coming due.
The LORD Commanded Moses To Give Us An Inheritance
“And they came near before Eleazar the priest, and before Joshua the son of Nun, and before the princes, saying, The LORD commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brethren. Therefore according to the commandment of the LORD he gave them an inheritance among the brethren of their father.”
Joshua 17:4
The five daughters of Zelophehad had no brother, and years earlier they had gone to Moses and won a ruling that daughters could inherit (Numbers 27). Now they come to Joshua and simply hold him to it — the LORD commanded — and they get the land. A promise made to five landless women in the wilderness is honoured to the letter once Israel is home. God’s word does not lapse with a change of leadership.
Get Thee Up To The Wood Country
“And Joshua answered them, If thou be a great people, then get thee up to the wood country, and cut down for thyself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the giants, if mount Ephraim be too narrow for thee… thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they be strong.”
Joshua 17:15, 18
The Joseph tribes protest: one lot is not enough for so great a people. Joshua turns the argument around — if you are that great, then clear the forest and take on the chariots. Their reply gives them away: “the hill is not enough for us… the Canaanites… have chariots of iron” (verse 16). The real shortage was not land but nerve. Caleb wanted the giants; Joseph wanted a bigger allotment of ground already safe.
“Their reply showed the real cause of complaint. They lacked faith and courage to drive out the Canaanites… had the Ephraimites possessed the courage and faith of Caleb, no enemy could have stood before them.”
Ellen G. White · Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 514
