Joshua 17:13

Throughout the period of the judges and beyond, the Israelites gradually grew stronger and the Canaanite people weaker. After the time of Joshua, the Israelites forced the Canaanites to work as slaves.

Eventually, the Canaanites became part of the nation of Israel, contributing to Israel worshiping their false gods. This idolatry ultimately led to the Israelites losing the land.

All the towns mentioned here except Endor were important, but the military strength of the Canaanites prevented the tribe of Manasseh from inhabiting them for a time.

As with the tribe of Ephraim, Manasseh’s territory was defined by a general description of its borders.

Joseph had two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim (Genesis 41:50–52). Half of those descended from Manasseh received their inheritance east of the Jordan River. The tribe of Ephraim and the rest of Manasseh's tribe now received their land. This made the total number of land portions twelve, fulfilling Jacob's blessing to Joseph (Genesis 49:22–26). Like Judah in the south, Joseph’s tribes led from their central position in the north.

• The allotment of land to the tribes on the west side of the Jordan describes what God intended for each tribe to possess.

• The one narrating the story begins this section with Caleb receiving land and ends with Joshua receiving land (14:6–15; 19:49–51). Only Caleb and Joshua had shown faith in God that Israel could conquer the land (Numbers 13:30; 14:6–9).

• As he had promised, God brought Israel into the land. Joshua then focused on dividing the land among Israel's tribes.

• The tribal allowances made the covenant of the Israelites with God real. It showed the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Since God owned the land, giving it to the tribes was a gift. God gave them the land to live in and guided its distribution.

• In these lists of tribal allowances, the author describes some borders in great detail, allowing them to be mapped. With others, they are less plainly defined.