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The Land That Remained Unconquered

13 Now Joshua had grown old and had advanced in years. So the Lord said to him, “You have grown old and advanced in years, but very much land remains to be taken as your possession.

“This is the land that remains:

All the districts of the Philistines and all of the Geshurites, from the Shihor, which is east of Egypt, to the border of Ekron on the north. (This is reckoned as belonging to the Canaanites, but includes the five serens[a] of the Philistines, the serens of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron, as well as the Avvites on the south.)

All the land of the Canaanites, and Me’arah,[b] which belongs to the Sidonians, as far as Aphek, up to the border of the Amorites.

The land of the Gebalites,[c] and all of Lebanon toward the rising of the sun, from Baal Gad below Mount Hermon up to the entry to Hamath, all the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth Maim, and all the Sidonians.

“I myself will drive them out as the people of Israel advance. So assign the land to Israel as their possession by lot, just as I have commanded you. Now apportion this land as an inheritance for nine of the tribes and one of the half tribes of Manasseh.”

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Footnotes

  1. Joshua 13:3 The word seren is a special word used only of the rulers of the five Philistine city states. It seems to be a Philistine term. It may be related to the Greek word tyrant, an autocratic ruler of a city state. Seren is apparently a title like pharaoh or czar, which is applied to one specific class of rulers. Since this is a unique title, the EHV uses the transliteration seren rather than the traditional rendering lord.
  2. Joshua 13:4 Or perhaps from Arah. The meaning and location of this place name are uncertain.
  3. Joshua 13:5 The city of Gebal is also called Byblos. This Greek version of the name is the more common name of the city in English.