Глава 14

1–5. General grounds for the division of the land of Canaan among the nine and a half tribes of Israel. 6–15. Caleb's portion is Hebron. Joshua 14:1. This is what the children of Israel received as an inheritance in the land of Canaan, what Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun, and the leaders of the families of the tribes of the children of Israel, divided for them as an inheritance; Joshua 14:1–5. The biblical narrator prefaced the history of the division of the land of Canaan with an introduction in which he outlined the general grounds for this division, consisting of indicating who carried out this division, in what way and to whom. The division was carried out by the high priest Eleazar, Joshua the son of Nun, appointed by Moses, and the “leaders of the generations” (literally from the Hebrew “heads of the fathers of the tribes”) or the princes of the tribes (Num. 34:17–28). The division was made by “lot” (Num. 26:55–56) in accordance with the divine command, which required that when determining the size of the inheritance, the largeness or smallness of the tribe receiving the inheritance should be taken into account (Num. 26:53–56). The fulfillment of this requirement, when dividing the land by lot, inspires the idea that the lot indicated only the position of the inheritance that went to the tribe in a certain part of the land of Canaan, and its value was determined in accordance with the number of persons making up the tribe. The very method of casting lots (Joshua 18:6,19:1), not indicated anywhere in the holy books, consisted, according to the rabbis 128, in the fact that two vaginas (bowls or boxes) were placed, in one of which pieces of leather or tablets with the inscription of the tribes were placed, in the other - the same objects with the inscription of the parts of the land of Canaan to be divided, while taking out a sign with the name of the tribe was followed by drawing out a sign with the name of the region, which became the property of the tribe and, in accordance with its numbers, expanded or contracted, the entire West Jordanian country was divided between nine and a half tribes. To explain this, Joshua 14:3–4 states, firstly, that two and a half tribes had already received inheritance in the East Jordan country, but one tribe, due to its special purpose, did not receive an inheritance, and, secondly, that Joseph’s descendants formed two separate tribes. The word “therefore” in Joshua 14:4 does not find a correspondence either in the Hebrew text or in the Greco-Slavic translation. Joshua 14:5. As the Lord commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did when they divided the land into inheritances. Indicates divine command in Numbers 18:20,26:53–56. Joshua 14:6. The sons of Judah came to Gilgal to Jesus. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh, a Keniteite, said to him, “You know what the Lord spoke to Moses the man of God about me and about you at Kadesh-barnea; Caleb was the head of the clan in the tribe of Judah (Num. 13:4,7; 1 Chron. 2:9,18,42) and a prince in this tribe (Num. 34:18–19). He bore the nickname Kenezite, which was given to him in Numbers 32:12, not because he came from another people - the Kenezites (Gen. 15:19,36:11,15), for which there is no indication, but therefore, one must think that the name Kenaz, or the nickname Kenezite, was borne by one of his glorious ancestors, perhaps the ancestor of the clan of which he was the head and whose members bore that the same nickname (Josh. 15:17) or name (1 Chron. 4:15). The speech of Caleb, accompanied by other members of the tribe of Judah, asking for Mount Hebron to be given to him (Joshua 14:12), shows that the tribe of Judah, before others, felt the need for a permanent settlement of the conquered country; This also reflected the special location of this tribe to the southern part of Canaan. What the Lord said to Moses “about me and about you,” i.e. about Caleb and Joshua, found in Numbers 14:24,30. About Kadesh-Barnea - Joshua 10:41. Joshua 14:7. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to inspect the land, and I answered him with what was in my heart: “And he brought it to him,” i.e. Moses, in response to what was in my heart,” i.e. Caleb sincerely expressed the idea he had gained from his inspection of the land of Canaan, without fear of criticism for this from others who participated in this inspection, and without fear of the people's anger (Num. 14:10). Joshua 14:8. My brothers who walked with me made the hearts of the people timid, but I followed the Lord my God exactly; “My brothers”, i.e. other spies. Joshua's disagreement with them in his judgment about the land of Canaan was self-evident in Caleb's words addressed to himself and was too well known to those present to specifically point it out without arousing suspicions of currying favor with the Israeli leader. Joshua 14:9. and Moses swore that day and said: “The land on which your feet have walked will be an inheritance for you and your children forever, for you have faithfully followed the Lord my God”; Joshua 14:10. Now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, as He said; forty-five years had already passed from the time when the Lord spoke this word to Moses, and Israel walked in the wilderness; now, behold, I am eighty-five years old; Joshua 14:11. but now I am as strong as when Moses sent me: as much strength as I had then, so much now do I have to fight and go out and in; The divine command to give Caleb the land “on which his foot walked” was conveyed as hereditary property by Moses in Deut. 1:36. From the words of Caleb: “The Lord has kept me alive... for forty-five years already,” Blessed Theodoret concluded that the conquest of the land of Canaan lasted 7 years. “After God’s judgment,” he says, “pronounced over six hundred thousand,” of course in Kadesh according to Numbers 14, “the Jews spent thirty-eight years wandering in the desert, therefore there are still seven years left until they are forty-five.” 129 To explain this conclusion, is it possible to add an indication of Deut. 2:14, which says that 38 years have passed since leaving Kadesh-Barnea and crossing the Zared Valley on the way to Canaan. Seven years of war are counted in the words “and Israel walked in the wilderness” to the time of wandering, since even during their continuation the people did not yet have a real settled life. The words “going out and entering” mean the general life activity of a person (cf. Numbers 27:17, etc.). Joshua 14:12. therefore give me this mountain about which the Lord spoke that day; for you heard on that day that the sons of Anak [lived] there, and their cities were large and fortified; Perhaps the Lord [will] be with me, and I will drive them out, as the Lord has spoken. Under this mountain is meant the mountainous area in which Hebron is located; here the spies saw the Anakim of gigantic stature (Num. 13:23), who, despite the defeat inflicted on them by Joshua (Joshua 11:21), again took possession of this area. In the last words of his request, “perhaps” (in Hebrew “ulai” - “whether”), “The Lord [will] be with me,” Caleb, who hitherto exactly followed the Lord (Joshua 14:8–9), expresses, of course, not doubt about the feasibility of his intention to expel the Anakim, but the hope and desire to do this with God’s help. Joshua 14:13. Joshua blessed it, and gave it as an inheritance to Caleb the son of Jephunneh, [a Kenezite,] Hebron. “Jesus blessed him,” i.e. wished him God's help. Joshua 14:15. The name of Hebron was formerly Kiriath-arba, as one great man was called among the sons of Anak. And the earth calmed down from the war. For the former name of Hebron, see Explanatory Bible, vol. 1, p. 153. With the words “and the land calmed from war” again (Joshua 11:23) indicates the peaceful state of the land of Canaan, as favorable to its division between the Israeli people. Works of Blessed Theodoret, vol. 1, 283. You might be interested in: