Have you ever wondered why Judah and Joseph receive all the land listed as conquered? (If you look at chapter 18, verse 3, Joshua asks the other seven tribes, "How long will you put off going in to take possession of the land...?")
I used to wonder about that when I would pour over maps in my youth. But when you read more carefully, you discover that there was really no conquered land!
The combined forces of the twelve tribes only operated under Joshua for a few years to overthrow the military power of Canaan. That initial operation succeeded in overthrowing 31 kings as we saw in chapters 10-12. But at the end of that campaign, the only place on the western side of the Jordan where the people of Israel lived was the camp at Gilgal.
Most of the kings of Canaan are dead. A large number of the warriors were killed. But only a relatively small percentage of the Canaanites themselves were dead.
Cities that were captured were then left empty, while the army moved on to the next place. So, probably within a few days, those who had fled would return – hoping that Israel wouldn't come back…
There is still a lot of hard fighting ahead in order for Israel to take possession of their inheritance. Whosoever wishes to take possession of their inheritance may do so!
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