The Tanakh Podcast

The Tribes of Joseph complain: "You haven't given us enough land"
Joshua tells them: This is your choice. Either clear the forests, or confront the enemy in the valley. The land is there; you have to make a decision which challenge that you will confront.
There are no free lunches, no miracles. If you want to possess Israel, it is an uphill struggle. This is a chapter of tough choices.

The Tribes who actively stake a claim for their tribal lands are Yehuda, Ephraim and Menashe - Yehuda and Yoseph.
In this podcast we explore the role of Yehuda and Yoseph as perennial leaders of the Jewish people, from the days of Jacob, Rachel and Leah, through the split of the kingdom (after King Solomon) to Messianic times.

As the opening verse of our chapter indicates, the tribal portions (Nechalot) were assigned by a lottery.
But let's look at Bamidbar 26:53-33 where we are instructed to calculate the tribal portions by the size of the tribal population.
Is this a calculation or a random lottery? And ... how did the tribes determine where they were to be situated geographically?

Caleb steps forward and demands the city of Hebron from Joshua.
In this chapter, we return to the Spy episode when Caleb and Joshua both returned with a good report.
But these are very different leaders.
Caleb is fierce, independent and headstrong. His leadership of the tribe of Judah will ensure that this is the first tribe to settle in their  territory.

Chapter 13 lists the tribal portions of Reuven, Gad and Menashe on the East bank of the Jordan river.
But is this land part of the land of Israel? The text of Sefer Yehoshua is somewhat ambivalent about this region, a negativity with roots in the Torah.