Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joshua 13:33
But unto the tribe of Levi Moses gave not [any] inheritance: the LORD God of Israel [was] their inheritance, as he said unto them.
33. But unto the tribe of Levi ] See above, Jos 13:14, and comp. Num 18:20.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
But unto the tribe of Levi Moses gave not [any] inheritance,…. Neither on the other side Jordan, nor did he order them any in Canaan; but expressly declared they were to have no part in the division of it, though they were his own tribe; which shows him to be a disinterested man, that he faithfully observed the orders and instructions the Lord gave him:
the Lord God of Israel [was] their inheritance, as he said unto them; what was given to the Lord out of the sacrifices, and the tithes, and firstfruits, that were theirs; see Nu 18:20.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
REFLECTIONS
BEHOLD, my soul, in the advanced years of Joshua, how all things, and all persons in nature, tend to decay. Well may we exclaim with Zechariah, our fathers where are they, and the prophets do they live forever? But oh! how precious in the contemplation, thy Jesus, thy Joshua, ever liveth, and is the same yesterday, and today, and forever. Blessed Jesus! thou art the life-giving, the life-preserving, the life-rejoicing source of thy people! And because thou livest thou hast said they shall live also, and when heart shall faint and strength shall fail, thou wilt be the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Let me as Levi, have no portion with the Reubenites on this side Jordan. But may Jesus be my portion, God my Father, and the Holy Ghost my comforter and sanctifier. Give me, heavenly Lord, all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: pardon, mercy, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost here, and life forever in the world to come. Cause me in this sense to inherit all things, be thou my God, and make me thy adopted child in the Lord Jesus.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
“Handfuls of Purpose”
For All Gleaners
“The Lord God of Israel was their inheritance, as he said unto them.” Jos 13:33
This was spoken of the tribe of Levi in a peculiar sense the religious tribe of Israel. The kingdom of God has an outward and an inward aspect: it has a land to be conquered, and it has a doctrine to be received and obeyed. The idea of the text is that man may so live in God as to have no conscious need of outward things: and then the counterpart of the idea is that he who ascends to spiritual functions need have no fear with regard to the supply of physical necessities. God is not the portion of religious men in the sense of feeding themselves only with thought and consolation and promise; he is pledged so to act upon the impulses and consciences of other men as to see that every lawful necessity is abundantly supplied. Whilst the Levites were asking for God, God was asking for them, in the very sense of finding them bread and home and security. If we trusted God more we should receive more from God. If we will always persist in undertaking our own business, what wonder if God should leave us to ourselves and give us the reward of disappointment? “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Blessed is he who has God for a treasurer. It is more than folly to say that all this is impossible. We imagine that we must do so much ourselves, or God will do nothing for us; and that statement is so far true as to give the sophism which lies at the heart of it some hold upon the confidence of the least earnest thinkers. The text certainly suggests that God has appointed some men to be the spiritual teachers and guides of the world. We cannot get rid of the idea of spiritual ministry. It is right to disclaim all merely official dignity and importance, but infinitely beyond the merely official lies the grandly personal and real, which all men recognise with admiration, and many men honour with homage and generous support. When spiritual thinkers and workers give themselves wholly to the function assigned them of God, they will realise more perfectly God’s meaning when he says he has undertaken to be their inheritance; the meaning is not that they are to live upon fine thoughts and splendid conceptions, but that in addition to such thoughts and conceptions God himself will undertake to see that their house is watched and their table is supplied. “He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.” “God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love.” No man can work wholly and lovingly for God, and be neglected by him. “Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.”
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
Jos 13:33 But unto the tribe of Levi Moses gave not [any] inheritance: the LORD God of Israel [was] their inheritance, as he said unto them.
Ver. 33. The Lord was their inheritance.] See Jos 13:14 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
was. Literally “he (was)”.
as = according as. Compare Num 18:20.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
At Jos 13:14, as well as here, notice is taken, that to the tribe of Levi, “Moses gave no inheritance,” for so God had appointed. Num 18:20. If they had been appointed to a lot entire by themselves, Moses would have served them first, not because it was his own tribe, but because it was God’s, but they must be provided for in another manner; their habitation must be scattered in all the tribes, and their maintenance brought out of all the tribes, and God himself was the portion both of their inheritance and of their cup. Jos 18:7, Deu 10:9, Deu 18:1, Deu 18:2
Reciprocal: Num 26:62 – those that Deu 12:12 – General Jos 14:3 – but unto Eze 44:28 – I am their inheritance Heb 11:33 – through