“Now Joshua was old and well stricken in years; and the LORD said unto him:
You are old and well stricken in years, and there remains yet very much land to
be possessed… Only unto the tribe of Levi he gave no inheritance; the offerings
of the LORD, the God of Israel, made by fire are his inheritance, as He spoke unto
him.”
According to Abravanel, Joshua 13, again, teaches that Joshua intended to illustrate similarities
between him and Moses, his mentor. To begin with, consider their respective military
accomplishments. Namely, despite Moses’ wildly impressive wins over Sihon and Og,
nonetheless, some work had gone unfinished. Regarding Moses, Joshua records, “Nevertheless
the Children of Israel drove not out the Geshurites, nor the Maacathites…”
Though military work on the east bank needed some work, this had not stopped Moses from
apportioning out liberated lands to the three tribes. “And Moses gave unto the tribe of the
Children of Reuben according to their families…” Joshua’s path followed his Moses’ precedent,
meaning that he portioned out liberated territories, though the job had been unfinished. “And
the LORD said unto him…and there remains yet very much land to be possessed…This is the
land that yet remains: all the regions of the Philistines, and all the Geshurites…” Hence, we
read: “And these are the inheritances which the Children of Israel took in the land of Canaan,
which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers; houses of the
tribes of the Children of Israel, distributed unto them.”
For Abravanel, Joshua 13 suggests another likeness between mentor and disciple. It has to do
with the way Moses and Joshua approached settling the Levites and setting aside their living
arrangements. As the Torah lays out, Levites were meant to receive territorial concessions from
the other tribes in order to set up home. These areas are known as Levitical cities, and they dot
Canaan’s map. Importantly, Levitical cities were also designated on the east bank of the Jordan
River. However, Moses had not established Levitical cities within Rueben’s, Gad’s, and
Manasseh’s territories. “Only unto the tribe of Levi he gave no inheritance; the offerings of the
LORD, the God of Israel, made by fire are his inheritance, as He spoke unto him.” Not only had
Moses not earmarked Levitical cities on the east bank, but he also had not set aside farmland
and vineyards for them. So, too, with Joshua. He had not settled Levites in the west bank.
Though apportioning lands to the tribes, he had not addressed the housing/agricultural needs
of the Levites, leaving them to be the last tribe to receive their fair due.
Abravanel ventures a rationale for putting Levites last. Recall, Levites had been tasked with
caring for and transporting the holy ark, which held the written covenant. Given the Levites’
responsibility for and association with the holy ark, it fits that they should share the ark’s fate.
That is, the Levites would not be settled in their cities as long as the ark had not been placed in
its home. Only after the holy ark had found its home in Shiloh, and after the tribes settled their
territories, had Levites been given a green light to set up house and garden.