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In Joshua 17
● resist, as the allotting and the naming of people and places rolls on, thinking that you are in the midst of a graduation ceremony for a large suburban high school or for a university, and instead think of the importance of precision, thoroughness, and particularity,
● notice how distinctions are made for a “man of war” (), “daughters” (3-6), and a people that is “numerous” (14, 15, 17),
● understand that the descendants of the man of war were perhaps best suited for a frontier region in need of protection from encroachers,
● understand that the five sisters without brothers (3) could appeal for portions to Eleazar and Joshua on the authority of words Moses had received from God (4),
● understand that the claim of more land because of being numerous (14) is met by the challenge to claim and clear forest land (15, 18), as well as to drive out the Canaanites,
● notice the at least partial dread felt about the Canaanites occupying the land rested on the knowledge that those people have chariots with iron wheels (16, 18), and
● notice that the iron-wheeled people of the plain, those pesky Canaanites, “persisted in dwelling in the land” (12) and were not “utterly” (13) driven out, showing a pattern that is as regular as the allotting.
Thank you,

Randy Tumlinson