[Par-navi] Yehoshua - chapters 13 thru 19

[Menachem Leibtag]

The TSC series on Sefer Yehoshua is dedicated in
 memory of Max and Eli Podolski z"l.

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     THE TANACH STUDY CENTER [http://www.tanach.org]
          In Memory of Rabbi Abraham Leibtag
     Shiurim in Chumash & Navi by Menachem Leibtag
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            Yehoshua - chapters  13->19

    The 'nachala'  section - From Gilgal to Shiloh

     Chapters 13-19 in Sefer Yehoshua are rarely studied, and
for a very good reason - their minute detail of geographic
borders and lists of cities from thousands of years ago,
doesn't appear to carry much relevance.  In the following
shiur, we won't make those details any more exciting -
however, we will find significance in the manner of their
presentation; that may also help us appreciate events taking
place in Israel today!

INTRODUCTION
     Once Yehoshua's united army had defeated the major armies
of Eretz Canaan, as described in chapters six thru twelve; it
was now time for each tribe to 'finish the job' and settle
their assigned territories.  As we will see, some of the
tribes immediately rose to this challenge, and did an
excellent job of settling their "nachala", while the other
tribes were far less successful.
     Before we begin our discussion of 'what went wrong', we
begin our shiur with an overview of what transpires in these
seven chapters.

KIBUSH vs. NACHALA
     As we explained in our previous shiurim, Sefer Yehoshua
neatly divides into two distinct sections:
     1) Chapters 1-12: KIBUSH - Military conquest of the Land
     2) Chapters 13-22: NACHALA - The inheritance of each tribe.

     Therefore, chapter 13 begins the "nachala" section, which
will focus on how each tribe settled (or didn't settle) its
assigned portion.
  The internal order of this section is very logical.  Chapter
13 begins with the conquests by GAD, REUVEN, and HALF OF
MENASHE, for the simple reason that they were first to inherit
their land, even before Bnei Yisrael had crossed the Jordan
(see Bamidbar Chapter 32).
     Chapters 14 and 15 describe how the tribe of YEHUDAH,
encouraged by their leader Kalev, took the initiative and
quickly completed their conquest of the entire area that
became known as the Judean Hills.  Two entire chapters in
Sefer Yehoshua are dedicated to the details of that conquest
and the names of the settlements that they established.
     Similarly, Chapters 16 and 17 describe how the tribes of
EFRAIM & MENASHE undertook a serious effort to conquer their
inheritance in the hills of Samaria, even though they were not
as successful as Yehudah.
     In contrast to these five tribes who actively took the
initiative,  Sefer Yehoshua dedicates much less detail to the
remaining seven tribes who were far less successful.  Chapter
18 describes how Yehoshua gathers these seven tribes in Shiloh
to encourage them to make a greater effort (see 18:1-5), and
the remainder of that chapter and chapter 19 describe the
borders that these remaining seven tribes were expected to
inherit
  One could suggest that via this manner of presentation,
Sefer Yehoshua is teaching us an important lesson, congruent
with the overall theme of the book - that God helped those
(tribes) who helped themselves!  Said differently, even though
God had promised to assist Bnei Yisrael in their conquest of
the land, His intention was for each tribe to take an
initiative to be worthy of divine assistance (see 1:3).
Therefore, those tribes that remained passive remained with
minimal portions.

WHAT WENT WRONG
     At first glance, it is rather hard to fathom why the
tribes would be so reluctant to settle the land that
Yehoshua's joint army had just conquered.  However, when one
considers the realities of their situation - their behavior is
quite easy to understand.
     Let's consider how Bnei Yisrael have been living for the
past forty years in the desert.   For most of the adult
population, the only existence they have known has been a
rather passive 'camp-style' environment, with the Mishkan at
the center of their camp.
     During those forty years, God had provided for their food
and water (and clothing / see Devarim 8:1-8).  Most of the
time, they remained in the same campsite for many years (e.g.
see Devarim 1:46).
  Recently, the entire nation had crossed the Jordan River and
set up camp in the Jordan Valley in a site called Gilgal.
Even though there was no more 'manna', water was now provided
by the Jordan River, and grain grew in the bountiful fields of
Jordan valley.  [See Yehoshua 5:10-12.]  Every once in a
while, the men went out to battle - to conquer the hills and
valleys of the land of Canaan; but for the families living in
Gilgal, daily life was really not that much different than it
had been in the desert for the last forty years.

WHY LEAVE GILGAL?
     Now that the conquest was complete, Yehoshua encouraged
all the tribes to leave Gilgal, i.e. to take their women and
children on a trek into the mountain land - to establish new
settlements. However, to do so was 'easier said than done'.
     Anyone who has visited the Jordan Valley readily
understands why.  Picture yourself living in this relatively
secure environment, with no immediate danger to your
livelihood. To the west, you see a massive mountain range,
beyond which your elders inform you is a 'land flowing with
milk & honey'.  But you also know that there are many other
nations who once lived in that land (and apparently many still
remained, or quickly returned).  So, are you going to leave
the neighbors and friends you've grown up and lived with for
the last forty years, and travel out into the unknown - or you
going to 'pass up the opportunity' and stay put in Gilgal?
The same choice that most people would make today, was the
same choice that most of the people made back then.  The
majority of the nation stayed in Gilgal.
     This also explains why the first wave of successful
military campaigns did not necessarily lead to a complete
conquest.  If settlement did not commence as soon as those
battles were won, the opportunity of total conquest was lost.
Those battles (described in chapters ten and eleven) explain
why Bnei Yisrael were no longer under the threat of immediate
destruction from the joint armies of the nations of Canaan;
but they do not describe the complete settlement of the land
that was captured.  That remained a very difficult challenge.
     The tribe of Judah was different, but of course their
"nachala" was not very far away from Gilgal, and Yehoshua's
military campaign in the Judean hills was quite complete.
However, it is quite easy to understand why the inheritance of
the rest of the country was off to such a poor start.  The
people were 'only human'.

THE 'SHILO PLAN'
     This background can help us appreciate the transition
that takes place in Yehoshua chapter 18.
  Note how chapter 18 opens by relating almost
'parenthetically' how Yehoshua transferred the Mishkan from
Gilgal to the city of Shilo, before it begins its primary
topic of describing the "nachalot" of the remaining seven
tribes.
  However, that small detail, as we shall now explain, relates
directly to the primary theme of the entire chapter.
  To ascertain why Yehoshua had gathered the entire nation at
Shilo is obvious from the opening statement of his speech:
  "And Yehoshua said to Bnei Yisrael - 'ad matai atem MITRAPIM
  (for how long will you remain LAZY), and not conquer the
  land that God has given you...'" (18:3)

  Note how harshly Yehoshua rebukes these seven tribes who had
yet to take their nachala (see 18:3-7).  Clearly, Yehoshua
distinguishes between the five tribes (Reuven, Gad, Yehuda,
Efraim, and Menashe) who had taken initiative and conquered
their territories and the seven remaining tribes who had
failed to do so (Binyamin, Yisachar, Zevulun, Dan, Naftali,
Asher, and Shimon).  He gathers them to encourage these
remaining tribes to take a more active role towards securing
their nachalot.  Immediately after this rebuke, Yehoshua
divides the remaining land among these seven tribes, assigning
each a specific portion that they needed to survey and conquer
(see 18:4-10).
     However, this does not explain why Yehoshua moved the
Mishkan to SHILO specifically at this time.  We will now
attempt to explain how these two events - moving the Mishkan
and rebuking the tribes - are thematically connected.

A NEW INCENTIVE
     As we explained above, from the time that Bnei Yisrael
had crossed the Jordan, Gilgal had served as the national
center.  Not only was the Mishkan immediately set up in
Gilgal, but that site also continued to serve as the 'national
center' during the seven years of Yehoshua's conquest (see
4:19; 5:9-10; 9:6; and 10:9,43).  However, according to Sefer
Devarim, it is very clear that Gilgal was never meant to
remain the permanent resting place of the Mishkan.  Upon the
completion of their conquest of the land, Bnei Yisrael were
supposed to establish a more permanent site for the BET
HA'MIKDASH - referred to in Chumash as "ha'makom asher yivchar
Hashem l'shaken shmo sham" (see Devarim 12:4-12).   It appears
that Yehoshua's conquest was not yet considered complete
enough to warrant the building of this permanent MIKDASH.
     So why did Yehoshua move the Mishkan to Shilo?
  If the time was not yet ripe to move it to its permanent
destination, why didn't he simply leave it in Gilgal?
     Based on our above discussion, we can suggest the
following explanation: Yehoshua faced a dilemma.  On the one
hand, the time had certainly not come for building the
permanent Mikdash - for the "nachala" was far from complete.
Paradoxically, though, it may very well be that one of the
primary reasons WHY the nachala was not complete was BECAUSE
the Mishkan remained in Gilgal! Let's explain:
     Recall that for the past forty some years Bnei Yisrael
had dwelled in the desert in tents, in a camp formation
surrounding the Mishkan.  After the primary conquest (KIBUSH)
was complete and there was no longer an immediate danger of
war from the nations of Canaan, the tribes were left with two
options:

(1)  to LEAVE Gilgal, and establish new settlements in their
various assigned nachalot, or,

(2)  to STAY in Gilgal and continue the life style that they
had grown accustomed to during the past forty years in the
desert.

     As we have explained, five tribes took the initiative and
established their nachalot (option #1), however the remaining
seven tribes opted to stay in Gilgal (option #2).  This, as we
have explained, was not what they were supposed to do.
Therefore, to encourage these remaining tribes to settle their
nachalot, Yehoshua devised the 'Shilo Plan'.  By moving the
Mishkan to Shilo, Yehoshua hoped to accomplish three things:
  
  (a)  to disperse the temporary campsite in Gilgal by taking
  away its primary attraction - the Mishkan.

  (b)  to establish Shilo, a town located at the center of the
  densely forested mountain range of Har Ephraim, as the new
  national center.  This would encourage the settlement of
  this difficult area by the tribe of Ephraim (see 17:14-18)
  and strengthen Bnei Yisrael's overall position in the
  mountain range of Eretz Canaan.

  (c)  to encourage the other tribes to leave Gilgal and
  establish their own nachalot.

     This explains why Yehoshua not only moved the Mishkan to
Shilo specifically at this time, but also why he gathered
together all the tribes and demanded that they write down
their respective borders and commence with the conquest of
those areas (see once again 18:1-10).  These were not two
unrelated events, but rather two components of one operation.
     To a certain extent, the 'Shilo Plan' was quite
successful.  Shilo established itself as the new national
center, replacing Gilgal; and the remaining tribes began to
inherit their own nachalot.  However, as we will later learn
in the beginning of Sefer Shoftim, this second phase of the
conquest remained rather incomplete.  Furthermore, from the
minimal mention of Shilo in Sefer Shoftim, it appears that
Shilo never really developed as the powerful religious center
that Yehoshua had hoped it would become.
  [Note its lone mention and context in 19:18 and 21:19-23, as
  well as how corrupt the site had become by I Shmuel Chapters
  1-4.]

     Moving the center to Shilo was a bold move, reflecting
wise leadership; nonetheless - it remains unclear if the
damage created by placing the Mishkan in a new center so far
away from daily access, was worth the price that Bnei Yisrael
paid in their attraction to other gods, which immediately
became a problem as soon as each tribe moved to their new
areas, and encountered new cultures.  (See Sefer Shoftim
chapters one and two.)

  In our next shiur, we will continue our study with a
discussion of the special significance of the nachala of the
tribe of Binyamin, as described in chapter 18.