A. The land yet to be possessed 13:1-7

 

13:1 Joshua was probably in his 80s at this time.

13:2 The Philistines were not native Canaanite peoples. They had migrated to Canaan from the northwest. They had by this time displaced the Canaanites in the southwest portion of the Promised Land. Because the land they occupied was part of what God had promised Israel the Israelites were responsible to drive them out too. The Israelites were not successful in doing this. The Philistines increased in power and influence over the Israelites eventually becoming the major enemy of Israel during Saul's reign. At this time, however, they were a smaller, secondary target of the Israelites.

13:3-5 The "Shihor"is probably the brook of Egypt, the modern Wadi el Arish, that marked the southwestern boundary of the Promised Land. "Sidon"may represent the inhabitants of the Phoenician coast and of the Lebanon mountains.¹⁶²The land of the Gebalite (v. 5) refers to the city-state of Byblos.¹⁶³

13:6 God's promise to drive out all the remaining Canaanites depended on Israel's obedience to the Mosaic Covenant (1:6-7).¹⁶⁴

13:7 The land referred to here included all that God had promised west of the Jordan River.