Commentary - Joshua 13:15-23

Bird's-eye view

This passage, at first glance, appears to be little more than a dry, dusty real estate record from the ancient world. We have a list of towns and borders, names that are difficult to pronounce, and a brief historical note about a battle that happened forty years prior. But to read it this way is to miss the point entirely. This is not a deed filed at the county courthouse; it is a record of God's staggering faithfulness. For centuries, God had promised a particular people a particular land. Now, after their deliverance from Egypt, their wandering in the wilderness, and the beginnings of the conquest, God, through His appointed leaders, is handing out the title deeds. This is covenant fulfillment in dirt, rock, and riverbeds. Every town name, every boundary marker, is a stone of remembrance, a testimony that God keeps His Word. The inheritance of Reuben, one of the Transjordan tribes, is detailed here as a concrete, tangible reality. God doesn't promise ethereal spiritual fluff; He gives cities and plains, slopes and villages. The passage also serves as a stark reminder of the cost of that inheritance. It was won through holy war, a war that saw the defeat of powerful kings like Sihon and the execution of the corrupt prophet Balaam. The inheritance is a gift, but it is a gift that had to be fought for, and it is a gift that dispossessed the wicked. This is a pattern of how God's kingdom always advances: by grace, through conflict, resulting in a tangible place for His people to dwell.

The specificity of the geography is intentional. This is not "once upon a time in a land far, far away." This is Aroer on the Arnon, Heshbon on the plain, the slopes of Pisgah. These are real places. God's redemptive work is not a myth; it is rooted in history and geography. And for Reuben, this specific allotment was their stewardship, their place to live out the covenant. The inclusion of Balaam's death is also significant. He was the one who could not curse Israel with his mouth, but who taught their enemies how to make them stumble through seduction and idolatry. His end, being killed "with the sword," demonstrates that God's justice eventually catches up to those who seek to corrupt His people. The inheritance is not just about receiving land; it is about purging the land of evil influences. This chapter is therefore a powerful illustration of God's faithfulness, the reality of His promises, the necessity of judgment, and the tangible nature of our covenant inheritance in Christ, which is far greater than any plot of land east of the Jordan.

Outline

Context In Joshua

Joshua 13 marks a major transition in the book. The first twelve chapters are primarily concerned with the conquest of the land west of the Jordan. It is a story of great victories at Jericho, Ai, and against the southern and northern coalitions of Canaanite kings. Chapter 12 provides a summary list of the defeated kings. Now, in chapter 13, the tone shifts from conquest to allocation. The Lord tells an aging Joshua that while much land remains to be possessed, the time has come to divide the inheritance among the tribes. This chapter begins the process of allotment, starting not with the tribes west of the Jordan, but by formally recognizing the inheritance of the two and a half tribes, Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, who had already received their portion from Moses on the east side of the river. This section (13:15-33) serves as a flashback and a confirmation. It reminds the reader that the settlement of the Transjordan was a legitimate part of God's plan, sanctioned by Moses, and it sets the stage for the casting of lots for the remaining nine and a half tribes, which will occupy the subsequent chapters. It establishes a pattern: God conquers, and then God distributes. Victory is followed by settlement. The promises of God are not left hanging in the air; they are mapped onto the ground.

Key Issues

Inheritance by the Sword

We moderns tend to get squeamish about the idea of a "holy war," and we often spiritualize the concept of inheritance. We like our religion to be abstract, internal, and tidy. But the Bible will have none of it. The covenant God makes with His people is an all-of-life covenant, which means it involves bodies, dirt, food, and borders. The inheritance given to Reuben was not a warm feeling in their hearts. It was a collection of cities, fields, and river valleys that had belonged to someone else.

This inheritance was received on the basis of God's promise and as a result of God's power in battle. The text explicitly reminds us that this was the kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites, "whom Moses struck." God gave the victory, but Israel had to swing the sword. This is the constant pattern of the Christian life. God gives us the victory over sin, but we are the ones who must mortify the deeds of the flesh. God promises to build His church, but He sends us out to make disciples. Grace is not an excuse for passivity; it is the fuel for strenuous effort. The land was a gift, but it was a gift that came at the end of a spear. And the inclusion of Balaam's death among the slain is a crucial detail. Balaam was an agent of spiritual corruption. His death signifies that possessing the inheritance requires not only defeating the external, military enemies, but also purging the internal, spiritual corruption. You cannot settle peacefully in God's land while tolerating those who would lead you into idolatry and sexual immorality. The sword that took the land from Sihon is the same sword that executed the prophet of Baal-peor. It is the sword of the Lord, which brings both conquest and purification.

Verse by Verse Commentary

15 So Moses gave an inheritance to the tribe of the sons of Reuben according to their families.

The account begins by establishing the authority behind this land grant. It was not Joshua's idea, nor was it a land grab by the Reubenites. This was an action taken by Moses himself, God's appointed leader. This legitimizes the settlement east of the Jordan. Though geographically separate from the other tribes, they are not spiritually separate. Their inheritance is just as valid. The phrase "according to their families" is also important. This was not a collectivist state where the land was held by the government. The inheritance was granted to the tribe, but it was then subdivided and distributed clan by clan, family by family. God's covenant deals with us corporately, as a people, but it also provides for individual households. The promise is to you and to your children.

16 And their territory was from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, with the city which is in the middle of the valley and all the plain by Medeba;

Here the surveying begins. God is not vague. His promises have coordinates. The southern border is established at the Arnon gorge, a deep canyon that was a natural and defensible boundary. The mention of specific, known locations like Aroer and Medeba grounds the promise in concrete reality. This is not a mythical story; it is history. God's people were given a real place on the map. This specificity demonstrates God's meticulous care for His people. He doesn't just throw a continent at them and say "have at it." He marks out their boundaries. He knows their address. Just as He knows the number of hairs on our head, He knows the borders of our inheritance.

17-20 Heshbon, and all its cities which are on the plain: Dibon and Bamoth-baal and Beth-baal-meon, and Jahaz and Kedemoth and Mephaath, and Kiriathaim and Sibmah and Zereth-shahar on the hill of the valley, and Beth-peor and the slopes of Pisgah and Beth-jeshimoth,

This is not just a list of names to be skimmed over. Each of these names represented a real place, a home for families, a center of commerce, a place of worship. Heshbon was the capital city of Sihon, the Amorite king. Its capture was a major victory. Now it belongs to Reuben. Notice the names Bamoth-baal ("high places of Baal") and Beth-baal-meon ("house of Baal's dwelling") and Beth-peor ("house of Peor," another name for Baal). The Reubenites are inheriting places that were formerly centers of pagan idolatry. This is a picture of redemption. God takes the strongholds of the enemy and turns them into dwelling places for His saints. The slopes of Pisgah are also mentioned, the very mountain range from which Moses viewed the promised land before he died. The inheritance is given in the shadow of that great moment in redemptive history.

21 even all the cities of the plain and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites who reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses struck with the leaders of Midian, Evi and Rekem and Zur and Hur and Reba, the princes of Sihon, who lived in the land.

The text summarizes the extent of the inheritance by reminding us of its origin. This was not empty land; it was a conquered kingdom. The victory over Sihon was a foundational event for Israel, recounted many times in the Old Testament (e.g., Ps. 136:19). The text also adds a detail not found in the original account in Numbers 21. It connects the defeat of Sihon with the defeat of the leaders of Midian, who were allied with him. This links the military conquest with the subsequent events at Baal-peor, where the Midianites, on Balaam's advice, seduced Israel into idolatry (Numbers 25). The victory was comprehensive. It was not just over the Amorite king, but also over his pagan allies who sought Israel's spiritual destruction.

22 The sons of Israel also killed Balaam the son of Beor, the diviner, with the sword among the rest of their slain.

This verse is inserted here almost as a parenthetical, but it is a theologically crucial one. Balaam is the poster child for corrupt, mercenary religion. Hired to curse Israel, he was providentially prevented from doing so. But his heart was still wicked, and he found another way to attack God's people: by counseling the Midianites to use their women to lead Israelite men into sexual immorality and idolatry. This was a direct assault on the covenant. His death "with the sword" shows that he was not treated as a non-combatant. He was an enemy combatant in a spiritual war, and he received a soldier's death. His fate is a solemn warning. God's judgment on those who lead His people astray is certain and severe. You cannot possess your inheritance while tolerating the prophets of Baal.

23 And the border of the sons of Reuben was the Jordan. This was the inheritance of the sons of Reuben according to their families, the cities and their villages.

The western border is defined simply as the Jordan River. This great river would separate them from the other nine and a half tribes. The summary statement reiterates the main point: this was their God-given, Moses-apportioned inheritance. It was a complete package, including not just the major fortified "cities" but also the unwalled "villages" and the surrounding farmland. It was everything a people needed to live and flourish. The promise was not partial; it was comprehensive. God's provision for His people is never halfway. He gives them all they need for life and godliness.

Application

It is easy for us, as New Covenant believers, to read a passage like this and think it has little to do with us. We are not looking for a plot of land in the Middle East. But the principles here are eternally relevant. First, God's promises are real and tangible. Our inheritance in Christ is not a wispy, ethereal concept. It is a "new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells" (2 Pet 3:13). It is a real city, the New Jerusalem, with foundations and gates. The concrete nature of Reuben's inheritance should give us confidence in the concrete nature of our own future inheritance.

Second, our inheritance is a gift won through conflict. Christ, our greater Joshua, has conquered sin, death, and the devil. He won the victory on the cross. But we are called to participate in that victory by fighting the good fight of faith. We must take possession of the promises by putting sin to death in our lives and by advancing the gospel in the world. The Christian life is not a passive waiting game; it is an active conquest, fueled by grace.

Finally, we must deal decisively with the Balaams in our midst. The New Testament warns us repeatedly against false teachers who, like Balaam, promote greed and sexual immorality for their own gain (2 Pet 2:15; Jude 1:11; Rev 2:14). The church cannot be apathetic about doctrinal and moral corruption. To enjoy our inheritance in Christ, we must purge the leaven of wickedness from the camp. We must use the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, to expose and refute error. The same God who gave Reuben a list of cities is the God who commands us to be holy, for He is holy. His faithfulness in giving the gift is the very foundation of His demand that we be faithful in how we live in it.