Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joshua 19:51
These [are] the inheritances, which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel, divided for an inheritance by lot in Shiloh before the LORD, at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. So they made an end of dividing the country.
Verse 51. At the door of the tabernacle] All the inheritances were determined by lot, and this was cast before the Lord – every thing was done in his immediate presence, as under his eye; hence there was no murmuring, each having received his inheritance as from the hand of God himself, though some of them thought they must have additional territory, because of the great increase of their families.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
51. These are the inheritancesThisverse is the formal close of the section which narrates the historyof the land distribution; and to stamp it with due importance, thenames of the commissioners are repeated, as well as the spot where somemorable a transaction took place.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
These [are] the inheritances which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun,…. The one the high priest, and the other the chief governor of the nation:
and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel; the princes appointed for this service, whose names are given
Nu 34:18; the inheritances before described in the preceding chapters by their boundaries and cities, these the said persons
divided for an inheritance by lot in Shiloh; and so has particular reference to the seven lots drawn there for seven of the tribes, by which their inheritances were assigned to them: and this was done
before the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation; see
Jos 18:1;
so they made an end of dividing the country; though it was not as yet wholly subdued.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Closing formula to the account of the distribution of the land, which refers primarily to Jos 18:1., as the expression “ in Shiloh ” shows, but which also includes Josh 14-17.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
51. They made an end of dividing the country But after the division and allotment it remained to designate the cities of refuge and the Levitical cities. An account of this is given in the next two chapters.]
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘ These are the inheritances which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel, distributed for inheritance by lot in Shiloh before YHWH, at the door of the Tent of Meeting. So they made an end of dividing the land.’
This summarises Jos 18:1 to Jos 19:51 (see Jos 14:1; Jos 18:1). Eleazar was ‘the Priest’ at the central sanctuary, here called the Tent of Meeting, who was responsible for the use of Urim and Thummim and for casting lots before YHWH. Joshua was the Servant of Yahweh, successor to the great Moses. The heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel were princes from each tribe appointed for this service, whose names are given in Num 34:18-29. It was their responsibility to arrange the distribution of the inheritances of the tribes.
This distribution took place before YHWH by lot at the door of the Tent of Meeting (the Tabernacle), beyond which the princes could not go, and which was now sited at Shiloh, see Jos 18:1. Previously it had been at Gilgal (Jos 14:2 with Jos 14:6).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Ver. 51. So they made an end of dividing the country Notwithstanding all the particulars of this division recorded in the present and foregoing chapters, it is impossible at this time to draw out a perfectly exact map of the land of Canaan, and the limits of each tribe. The country has undergone too many revolutions, and passed through too many hands, to allow us the gratification of describing the position of most of the places of which Joshua chiefly has preserved any account. The territories of the ten tribes, especially, cannot but be unknown in many respects; for, on the return of the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin from Babylon, they who came back found themselves hardly sufficient for re-peopling the single country of Judea; and it even required consideration how to afford Jerusalem a sufficient number of inhabitants: Nehemiah 11. Thus it was the furthest from their thoughts to take any account of the provinces which the other ten tribes had been obliged to quit; and, the country being seized on by foreign nations, it became every day more difficult to mark out the precise limits of the land which had been possessed by each tribe. See Walton’s Prolegom. and Shuckford’s Connection, vol. 3: p. 417.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
With this verse is ended the ‘ relation of the division of the land. All was done in Shiloh before the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle. So at the last day before Jesus, the Shiloh himself, will be gathered all nations. And he will divide to the people their inheritance according to their lots. Dearest Lord! In that grand, decisive day, let it be found that thou art the portion of mine inheritance; and of my cup; thou maintainest my lot. Psa 16:5 .
REFLECTIONS
STILL, my soul, in beholding Israel’s resting places, and their several portions of an earthly Canaan, do thou follow on to know the Lord, and the power of his might, that thou mayest arrive at that heavenly rest which remaineth for the people of God. I see here, in the draught of Israel’s bounds, extensive plains, lofty mountains, verdant lawns, and wells of water. But what are these to the tree of life, to the mountain of God, and to the river of the living Spirit, whose streams make glad the city of my God! Here in Jesus’ righteousness I view mountains of myrrh, and hills of frankincense; mountains dropping with new wine. And what endears these ravishing views of all my covenant right, made over to me not as an earthly Canaan, but an everlasting inheritance; not subject to the interruption of foes, but eternally secured in the gift of God my Father, the purchase of my Redeemer ‘ s blood, and sealed to my soul by the Holy Ghost; I behold the whole, as given to me with a love that is perfectly unchangeable, and coming in a way which makes the whole doubly sweet, as centered in the Person of Jesus! Dearest Lord! do thou as the Joshua of Israel, take up thy settlement in our midst. Take to thee the Timnath-serah of my very soul, and form thyself there the hope of eternal glory.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Shiloh. See note on 18. i.
tabernacle = tent. See App-40.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
These are: Jos 14:1, Num 34:17-29, Psa 47:3, Psa 47:4, Mat 20:23, Mat 25:34, Joh 14:2, Joh 14:3, Joh 17:2, Heb 4:8, Heb 4:9
in Shiloh: Jos 18:1, Jos 18:10, Gen 49:10, Jdg 21:19, Jdg 21:21, 1Sa 1:3, Psa 78:60, Jer 7:12-14
Reciprocal: Exo 6:14 – the heads Num 34:29 – General Jos 11:23 – according to their Jos 12:7 – Joshua gave Jos 21:1 – the heads Psa 78:55 – divided
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jos 19:51. These are the inheritances, &c. Upon the whole of this division of the land, it deserves our remarking, that the lot fell to the several tribes just as Jacob and Moses had foretold. And this division served to keep up the distinction of tribes, which was to continue till the coming of the Messiah. And we may observe further, that God had expressly named, some years before, as we find by Num 34:17-29, the very persons who should divide the land unto the children of Israel, and expressly described the bounds how far every way the land reached which was to be divided by them.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The conclusion of the allotment 19:51
Israel’s leaders completed this division of the land at Shiloh, the new location of the tabernacle.
"The gift of the land brought blessings not only to the nation as a whole and to the individual tribes. It also brought blessing to the faithful leader. God commanded Israel to reward the individual for his faithfulness. Thus the Deuteronomic understanding of blessing and curse is expressed not only on the corporate, but also on the individual level. This, too, stands as a source of encouragement to Israel through the years as many of her people become dispersed from the main body of the people of God." [Note: Butler, p. 208.]
Readers of this section of the text (chs. 14-19) notice that the writer gave much more space to the first tribes he described and progressively less attention to the remaining tribes. There seem to be several reasons for this. First, he gave the tribes of Judah and Joseph special attention because Judah and Joseph received Jacob’s blessing and birthright respectively. This made them the preeminent tribes among the others. Second, Judah and Joseph therefore became more significant in the history of Israel as the nation matured, so the historical importance of their territories was greater than that of less influential tribes. Benjamin likewise became quite important, and this is probably a reason the writer gave this territory some attention. Third, the writer clearly did not intend that the listing of tribal boundaries and towns should be complete. His record of the allotment that each tribe received, considering all the tribes together, seems intended more to stress the faithfulness of God in giving Israel what He had promised. This purpose is especially clear in the listing of Simeon’s towns. Similarly, Moses chose only selected laws to record in Exodus through Deuteronomy to make certain impressions on the reader, not that these were the only laws that God gave His people.