Chapter 13 of Sefer Yehoshua is a chapter of transition: from here on we move from the accounts of the conquest to the division of the land. The chapter opens with the words of Hashem to Yehoshua, who had grown old while the land was not yet fully conquered, continues with a detailed description of "the land that remained" in the south, the west, and the north, and moves on to detail the inheritances of the two and a half tribes who had already received their portions east of the Yarden from Moshe Rabbeinu. The chapter concludes with two pesukim about the tribe of Levi, which has no inheritance, and we will examine these at length following the Malbim.
וִיהוֹשֻׁעַ זָקֵן בָּא בַּיָּמִים וַיֹּאמֶר יְהֹוָה אֵלָיו אַתָּה זָקַנְתָּה בָּאתָ בַיָּמִים וְהָאָרֶץ נִשְׁאֲרָה הַרְבֵּה מְאֹד לְרִשְׁתָּהּ׃ - Now Yehoshua was old and advanced in years, and Hashem said to him: You have grown old and advanced in years, and very much of the land remains to be possessed.
The Holy One, blessed be He, says to Yehoshua: you are already old, but you have not finished the task. Very much of the land remains to be possessed. Chazal have already taught us, as we saw earlier, that Yehoshua was slow in conquering the land because he thought that as long as he did not finish the conquest he would not die, and we already explained his reasoning and calculation in this matter.
Here the wording is remarkably precise. We already saw in the Malbim that there is a difference between "nishar" (remained) and "notar" (was left over): "notar" is what is left over on its own, without intention, whereas "nishar" is what a person leaves over deliberately. Therefore it does not say here "the land was left over" (notar), meaning I did all I could and what was left over remained by itself, but rather "the land nishara" - as if it was left over by Yehoshua, with the intention of conquering it slowly. And as we saw, this cost him a shortening of his days: instead of dying at a hundred and twenty, he died at a hundred and ten.
זֹאת הָאָרֶץ הַנִּשְׁאָרֶת כׇּל־גְּלִילוֹת הַפְּלִשְׁתִּים וְכׇל־הַגְּשׁוּרִי׃ מִן־הַשִּׁיחוֹר אֲשֶׁר עַל־פְּנֵי מִצְרַיִם וְעַד גְּבוּל עֶקְרוֹן צָפוֹנָה לַכְּנַעֲנִי תֵּחָשֵׁב חֲמֵשֶׁת סַרְנֵי פְלִשְׁתִּים הָעַזָּתִי וְהָאַשְׁדּוֹדִי הָאֶשְׁקְלוֹנִי הַגִּתִּי וְהָעֶקְרוֹנִי וְהָעַוִּים׃ - This is the land that remains: all the districts of the Pelishtim and all of the Geshuri. From the Shichor, which is before Mitzrayim, to the border of Ekron on the north, is reckoned to the Canaanites: the five lords of the Pelishtim, the Azzite, the Ashdodite, the Ashkelonite, the Gittite, and the Ekronite, and the Avvim.
The verse describes all that remained, and it begins with the southern side, moving from east to west, from the direction of the Dead Sea toward the Mediterranean Sea. Notice that all these names are familiar to us to this day: Azza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gat, Ekron. Many of the names that were fixed and renewed in our own days are based on the accepted names of those places in the past.
And these are the problematic places to this day, the very ones that were problematic then as well. The Pelishtim, of whom we will see throughout the following books how time and again they are struck and return, struck again and come back once more. Of them it is said, "and they shall be as thorns in your eyes and as pricks in your sides" - they will trouble you constantly. And it turns out that we brought this trouble upon ourselves by not hurrying to conquer them. Here the reference is to the entire southern flank, all of which remained.
מִתֵּימָן כׇּל־אֶרֶץ הַכְּנַעֲנִי וּמְעָרָה אֲשֶׁר לַצִּידֹנִים עַד־אֲפֵקָה עַד גְּבוּל הָאֱמֹרִי׃ - From the south, all the land of the Canaanites, and the cave that belongs to the Tzidonim, up to Afeka, up to the border of the Emori.
"From the south" (mi-teiman) means from the southern side. And as for "the cave that belongs to the Tzidonim" - I have not seen an explanation of what that cave is. It may be that the reference is to a particular cave that was well known in their time, and it does not seem that the intent is to a place named "Me'ara" (cave). In this verse the text describes the line from south to north along the western flank.
וְהָאָרֶץ הַגִּבְלִי וְכׇל־הַלְּבָנוֹן מִזְרַח הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ מִבַּעַל גָּד תַּחַת הַר־חֶרְמוֹן עַד לְבוֹא חֲמָת׃ - And the land of the Giblites, and all the Lebanon, toward the sunrise, from Baal Gad below Mount Chermon until the approach to Chamat.
Now the verse moves to describe the northern side, from the east toward the west. "And the land of the Giblites, and all the Lebanon" - here we are in the northern side, and there lies Lebanon. Earlier we were in the southern side, in the area of Aza, and here it describes that in the north too we had not conquered everything. "Until the approach to Chamat," and Chamat is located in the northwestern side, that is, closer to the sea.
כׇּל־יֹשְׁבֵי הָהָר מִן־הַלְּבָנוֹן עַד־מִשְׂרְפֹת מַיִם כׇּל־צִידֹנִים אָנֹכִי אוֹרִישֵׁם מִפְּנֵי בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל רַק הַפִּלֶהָ לְיִשְׂרָאֵל בְּנַחֲלָה כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוִּיתִיךָ׃ - All the inhabitants of the hill country from the Lebanon until Misrefot Mayim, all the Tzidonians: I will drive them out before Bnei Yisrael; only apportion it to Yisrael as an inheritance, as I have commanded you.
"Misrefot Mayim" - we have already explained that these were the places to which they would draw out the water of the sea, let it dry, and afterward scrape off the salt that remained following the drying. In this way they would produce sea salt. The places were called "Misrefot Mayim," because the water there is as though burned and evaporated. "All the Tzidonians" means the land of Tzidon.
Hashem says to Yehoshua: I will drive them out before Bnei Yisrael, and you only apportion it to Yisrael as an inheritance. The Malbim notes the change in wording precisely: above, in chapter 12, it said "and Yehoshua gave it to the tribes of Yisrael as a yerushah (possession)," and here it says "nachalah (inheritance)." What is the difference? "Yerushah" describes the emptying of ownership, something passing from the domain of one person to the domain of another. "Nachalah" is what a person bequeaths to his descendants.
Therefore above, when it spoke of what they had already conquered, the Torah used the language of yerushah, since there is no matter of children here - we are not the children of the Canaanite, rather Hashem drives out the Canaanite and gives to us, an emptying of ownership from domain to domain. And there it could not yet say that he apportioned it as a nachalah, since they had not yet cast lots, and without lots it is impossible to determine who is the inheritor and who is the bequeather for the coming generations.
And here it is the opposite: since he had not yet conquered, it cannot be called yerushah, for the domain had not yet been emptied into your possession, and about this Hashem says "I will drive them out" - the emptying of the domain I will do, and this will be in the future. So what then? "Only apportion it as a nachalah" - that each one should know his inheritance, the portion that he will bequeath to his children. And this is "as I have commanded you," as it said above "you shall give this people their inheritance," and the command did not include that he should drive out the Canaanite, but only that he should divide to each one his portion.
וְעַתָּה חַלֵּק אֶת־הָאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת בְּנַחֲלָה לְתִשְׁעַת הַשְּׁבָטִים וַחֲצִי הַשֵּׁבֶט הַמְנַשֶּׁה׃ עִמּוֹ הָראוּבֵנִי וְהַגָּדִי לָקְחוּ נַחֲלָתָם אֲשֶׁר נָתַן לָהֶם מֹשֶׁה בְּעֵבֶר הַיַּרְדֵּן מִזְרָחָה כַּאֲשֶׁר נָתַן לָהֶם מֹשֶׁה עֶבֶד יְהֹוָה׃ - And now, divide this land as an inheritance to the nine tribes and the half tribe of Menasheh. With it the Reuveni and the Gadi took their inheritance, which Moshe gave them beyond the Yarden eastward, as Moshe the servant of Hashem gave them.
Now you shall divide the land as an inheritance to the nine tribes, that is, determine what each one is to receive. The Reuveni and the Gadi already took their inheritance that Moshe gave them beyond the Yarden eastward, in the land of Sichon and Og, and this portion did not need to be divided anew. And "with it" means with the other half tribe of Menasheh, whose portion too is there beyond the eastern Yarden. They took their inheritance as Moshe had already divided for them, and the matter was not divided anew by Yehoshua, rather the original division remained.
מֵעֲרוֹעֵר אֲשֶׁר עַל־שְׂפַת־נַחַל אַרְנוֹן וְהָעִיר אֲשֶׁר בְּתוֹךְ־הַנַּחַל וְכׇל־הַמִּישֹׁר מֵידְבָא עַד־דִּיבוֹן׃ - From Aroer, which is on the bank of the wadi Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the wadi, and all the plain from Medeba to Dibon.
Rashi explains that here the verse lists all the land beyond the Yarden in a general way, and afterward it will detail the borders of each and every tribe that Moshe gave, to this tribe and to that tribe.
כׇּל־מַמְלְכוּת עוֹג בַּבָּשָׁן אֲשֶׁר־מָלַךְ בְּעַשְׁתָּרוֹת וּבְאֶדְרֶעִי הוּא נִשְׁאַר מִיֶּתֶר הָרְפָאִים וַיַּכֵּם מֹשֶׁה וַיֹּרִשֵׁם׃ - The whole kingdom of Og in the Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei; he remained from the remnant of the Rephaim, and Moshe struck them and drove them out.
"He remained from the remnant of the Rephaim" - from which Rephaim? Rashi says: from those Rephaim whom Kedorlaomer and the kings with him struck, as it is written, "and they struck the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim." Those who remained of them are the ones whom Moshe Rabbeinu struck and dispossessed.
וְלֹא הוֹרִישׁוּ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת־הַגְּשׁוּרִי וְאֶת־הַמַּעֲכָתִי וַיֵּשֶׁב גְּשׁוּר וּמַעֲכָת בְּקֶרֶב יִשְׂרָאֵל עַד הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה׃ רַק לְשֵׁבֶט הַלֵּוִי לֹא נָתַן נַחֲלָה אִשֵּׁי יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל הוּא נַחֲלָתוֹ כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר־לוֹ׃ - But the children of Israel did not drive out the Geshuri and the Maachati, and Geshur and Maachath dwelt in the midst of Israel until this day. Only to the tribe of Levi He gave no inheritance; the fire offerings of Hashem, the God of Israel, are his inheritance, as He spoke to him.
The only tribe that did not receive an inheritance is the tribe of Levi, and "the fire offerings of Hashem, the God of Israel, are his inheritance" - this refers to the consecrated portions of the altar, for after the part fit for offering was offered on the altar, what remained is his portion. And this is "as He spoke to him," just as Hashem told Moshe that this would be the portion of the Leviim.
The Leviim certainly received cities to dwell in, but these are not inheritances. An inheritance means a place where a person works his field and passes it down to his children, whereas here it is only cities for their dwelling. Occupying themselves with worldly matters was not their task; rather, "for the lips of the priest shall guard knowledge, and they shall seek Torah from his mouth, for he is a messenger of Hashem of hosts." Their task was to engage in Torah, as the Rambam writes concerning the tribe of Levi, and their livelihood is placed upon the public: the terumot and the tithes and the priestly and levitical gifts. And about this the Rambam says at the end of Hilchot Yovel, that not only the tribe of Levi, but anyone whose spirit and understanding move him, and who casts off from himself the many calculations, has become sanctified as holy of holies, and he is like the tribe of Levi, as is well known.
וַיִּתֵּן מֹשֶׁה לְמַטֵּה בְנֵי־רְאוּבֵן לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָם׃ - And Moshe gave to the tribe of the children of Reuven according to their families.
The Metzudat David says: Moshe Rabbeinu did not give them the inheritance as a whole for them to divide among themselves; rather, he himself divided portion by portion for each family, and this is "according to their families."
וְכֹל עָרֵי הַמִּישֹׁר וְכׇל־מַמְלְכוּת סִיחוֹן מֶלֶךְ הָאֱמֹרִי אֲשֶׁר מָלַךְ בְּחֶשְׁבּוֹן אֲשֶׁר הִכָּה מֹשֶׁה אֹתוֹ וְאֶת־נְשִׂיאֵי מִדְיָן אֶת־אֱוִי וְאֶת־רֶקֶם וְאֶת־צוּר וְאֶת־חוּר וְאֶת־רֶבַע נְסִיכֵי סִיחוֹן יֹשְׁבֵי הָאָרֶץ׃ - And all the cities of the plain, and the whole kingdom of Sichon king of the Emori, who reigned in Cheshbon, whom Moshe struck, together with the princes of Midian, Evi and Rekem and Tzur and Chur and Reva, the vassals of Sichon who dwelt in the land.
These five kings, who are the five kings of Midian, are called here "the princes of Sichon." The Radak explains that during the time when Sichon and the Emori dwelt in the land, before Israel subdued them, these men were the leaders of the land under Sichon's rule, for Midian was under his dominion. Therefore do not be surprised that Scripture describes them both as kings of Midian and as princes of Sichon.
וְאֶת־בִּלְעָם בֶּן־בְּעוֹר הַקּוֹסֵם הָרְגוּ בְנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל בַּחֶרֶב אֶל־חַלְלֵיהֶם׃ - And Bilam son of Beor the soothsayer the children of Israel killed with the sword, among the rest of their slain.
Why does Scripture emphasize "the soothsayer"? The Radak says: to inform us that he was not a prophet but a soothsayer, and his prophecy was only for the moment. That is, he had a temporary prophecy that he received from Hashem for the sake of Israel, but do not think that he was a prophet in his essence. He was a caster of spells, one who performs all sorts of acts that astonish people and bring them to believe in his powers, a kind of sorcerer. The Radak adds another possibility: it was for the honor of Israel that the angel of Hashem came to him to speak those prophecies. The two possibilities can certainly complement one another.
The Radak asks: how did they find Bilam there? After all, it is written "and he went and returned to his place." Chazal say: he returned to collect his payment for the advice he gave Moav and Midian, to send out their beautiful daughters so that Israel would stray after them and Hashem's wrath would be upon them. He went to receive his wages, and when he came to collect them they seized him and punished him. When he saw that his advice had succeeded, he went to Moav and Midian to seek his payment from them.
An important point must be stressed: whoever examines the verses will find that nowhere is it stated explicitly that Bilam advised leading Israel to sin through the daughters of Midian. There it is written "come, I will advise you what this people will do to your people at the end of days," and afterward it is written that the daughters of Midian went and led Israel to sin, but it does not say that he gave this advice. It was Chazal who revealed to us that this was his counsel: the God of these people hates immorality. When he saw that he could not subdue them by way of a curse, he said: let us subdue them by way of sin.
And what is "among the rest of their slain"? The Radak explains: with their slain, and there are many like it. In the Torah it is written "upon their slain," and "upon" too sometimes means "with," as in "and the men came upon the women," meaning with the women, and there are other such examples.
The Radak brings a midrash: the kings of Midian were performing sorcery together with Bilam and flying through the air to escape the sword of Israel. When Pinchas showed them the tzitz, upon which is written "holy to Hashem," all their forces of impurity and defilement were nullified and they fell among their slain: the slain lay below and they fell upon them. Chazal further say regarding "upon their slain," that they carried out upon Bilam the four court-imposed death penalties: Pinchas killed him with the sword, and the moment he fell there was stoning, and so on, in short all four court-imposed death penalties were performed upon him, in addition to his being counted among the slain.
וַיְהִי גְּבוּל בְּנֵי רְאוּבֵן הַיַּרְדֵּן וּגְבוּל זֹאת נַחֲלַת בְּנֵי־רְאוּבֵן לְמִשְׁפְּחוֹתָם הֶעָרִים וְחַצְרֵיהֶן׃ - And the border of the children of Reuven was the Jordan and its border. This is the inheritance of the children of Reuven according to their families, the cities and their villages.
The children of Reuven dwell on the eastern side of the Jordan, and where does their land end? At the Jordan, for from there onward begins the western side of the Jordan, which is the portion of the other tribes. The Metzudat David says: "and its border" means that the cities adjacent to the Jordan were also considered part of Reuven's border.
וַיִּתֵּן מֹשֶׁה לְמַטֵּה־גָד לִבְנֵי־גָד לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָם׃ - And Moshe gave to the tribe of Gad, to the children of Gad according to their families.
אֵלֶּה אֲשֶׁר־נִחַל מֹשֶׁה בְּעַרְבוֹת מוֹאָב מֵעֵבֶר לְיַרְדֵּן יְרִיחוֹ מִזְרָחָה׃ - These are the inheritances that Moshe apportioned in the plains of Moav, across the Yarden from Yericho, to the east.
The verse enumerates the boundaries of Gad: Yazer and the cities of Gilad, half the land of the children of Amon, from Cheshbon to Ramat HaMitzpeh, and in the valley Beit HaRam, Beit Nimra, Sukkot, and Tzafon up to the edge of the Sea of Kinneret. It also enumerates the boundaries of half the tribe of Menashe: from Machanayim all of Bashan, the entire kingdom of Og, and all the villages of Yair in Bashan, sixty cities, and half of Gilad, and Ashtarot and Edre'i for the children of Machir son of Menashe. This is what we saw earlier, that Moshe Rabbeinu did not merely give the two and a half tribes the eastern side of the Yarden, but actually apportioned it to their families, a detailed division. This is the meaning of "These are the inheritances that Moshe apportioned in the plains of Moav": according to all the detail we have seen.
וּלְשֵׁבֶט הַלֵּוִי לֹא־נָתַן מֹשֶׁה נַחֲלָה יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל הוּא נַחֲלָתָם כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר לָהֶם׃ - And to the tribe of Levi Moshe gave no inheritance; Hashem, the God of Israel, is their inheritance, as He spoke to them.
He already mentioned this earlier in verse 14: "Only to the tribe of Levi he gave no inheritance; the fire offerings of Hashem, the God of Israel, are his inheritance." Why does he return and mention it again here? The Malbim raises a further difficulty: there it says "the fire offerings of Hashem are his inheritance," and here it says "Hashem is their inheritance." What is the meaning of the change?
The Malbim explains that this is understood based on what is written in the Torah: "The Kohanim, the Leviim, shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel; the fire offerings of Hashem and His inheritance they shall eat," and afterward, "He shall have no inheritance among his brothers; Hashem is his inheritance." Follow along and you will see that there too the statement is doubled: first "portion and inheritance" and they shall eat the fire offerings of Hashem, and afterward "inheritance" alone and Hashem is his inheritance. Why? Because there are two aspects being discussed.
The first aspect: they have no portion in the land. At the time when the Land of Israel is divided by lot, the other tribes each receive a portion, and the tribe of Levi does not receive a portion like them. Regarding this it says "he has no portion or inheritance with his brothers," meaning they do not take part in the division of the land. The reason: in exchange for a portion in the land, they are given the fire offerings of Hashem, the gifts of the Kehunah and Leviyah. The other tribes have fields, which they work and from which they earn a living, while the tribe of Levi has no fields to work, and therefore their livelihood comes from the gifts of the Kehunah and Leviyah.
The second aspect: even though they were given cities to dwell in along with their open lands, and this was an inheritance for them that they passed down to their children, nevertheless this inheritance is not "among his brothers." That is, cities were not set aside for them at the time of the division itself. It was not the case that the moment a given tribe's lot fell in its place, the Levite cities were immediately set aside from it. Rather, only after they finished apportioning to all the tribes did Israel give them from their inheritance: a city in this tribe and a city in that tribe. Each tribe, in the next stage, allotted cities to the tribe of Levi.
The Leviim have no concentrated inheritance, and one cannot point to a single place and say that this is their dwelling place; rather, they were dispersed. This dispersion had several purposes. One: so that they would take in the killers. All the Levite cities took in accidental killers, forty two cities, and therefore a broad dispersion was needed, so that the accidental killer could quickly reach a city of refuge from every direction before the blood avenger overtook him.
A further matter: the very fact that the Leviim dwelt among all the tribes made them something like a lighthouse. When one wants to strengthen a place, the first thing done is to establish a kollel there, a place of Torah. There is a nucleus, and from there the place grows and strengthens, and afterward they establish Talmud Torah schools and Torah classes and so on. The Leviim were planted and dispersed throughout all the cities of Israel.
And one more matter: the gifts of the Kehunah and Leviyah. Every place had a Levite city near it, and to there the gifts would be brought. Had everything been concentrated in one place, who would travel to the ends of the land to give terumot and ma'asrot? But since the Kohanim and Leviim were dispersed throughout the Levite cities, there was accessibility, and each person could give in the city near him to the Kohanim who were there.
We have spoken about this in the past in the derashot on the parshiyot, and I will say it briefly: The Holy One, blessed be He, wanted every single member of Israel to have merit and a portion in the Torah, and this portion is acquired by being a partner in supporting the Levi, who serves Hashem and studies the Torah, so that the entire nation gains merit.
In his time, they told Rav Shach that Menachem Begin wanted to give full funding to the yeshivot, to make them completely equal to the universities. Rav Shach said he would not agree under any circumstances, no more than fifty percent. They asked him why, and he answered: What right do we have to detract from the portion of all the Jews who until now have merited a share in Torah by taking from their pockets and giving their tithes? What right do we have to prevent them from this? If we had funds of our own, these people would lose their merit. That is one thing.
And a second thing Rav Shach said: Right now we are under a government that gives, but tomorrow another government will arise that will shut off the faucets. And if for ten years we do not maintain contact with donors and everything comes from the power of the government, we will suddenly find ourselves facing a broken trough - no donors, no connections, and the reality would be very hard for the Torah world. And indeed, just as Rav Shach foresaw, so it happened: There was a good period, and afterward they cut everything they could and there was a very difficult period. And it was fortunate that ties with the donors had not been severed, and there was still an open door with them, because the Torah world had never been fully funded.
This is what the Malbim says: Only after they divided the land among all the tribes did each tribe give and grant from its own portion a place for the settlement of the Leviim. And what is the reason? Because "Hashem is his inheritance." It is like a terumah to Hashem, that each tribe raises up and dedicates from its own portion: The tribe received such and such an inheritance, and from its portion it gives a share for the needs of the Leviim, and this is considered a separation that the tribe sets aside. Therefore one must wait until after the division, for only after they divide can the tribe raise up from its portion and give.
For this reason, too, Moshe Rabbeinu did not set aside the cities of the Leviim in his lifetime from the inheritance of the children of Gad and the children of Reuven, and only Yehoshua set them aside after the completion of the division, for first they must receive, and only afterward is the terumah separated from their portion.
With this, the two pesukim are reconciled. Above, in pasuk 14, after mentioning in general terms the conquest of Moshe and even before the specific division of the children of Gad and the children of Reuven, the verse comes to say that Moshe did not allot to the tribe of Levi as a tribe in its own right. For there was room to argue: The Land of Israel indeed was not divided to the tribe of Levi, but the far side of the Yarden is not part of the Land of Israel, and perhaps there is no prohibition against giving it to them there. To this the verse says: "The fire offerings of Hashem are his inheritance" - they have no portion of their own in the land at all, neither in the eastern part nor in the western, and their sustenance is from the fire offerings of Hashem.
On the contrary, their portion they must receive from the nation of Israel. The point was that Israel would set aside from their own portion, in order to gain merit and become partners in the merit of the Leviim, in the offering of the korbanot and in the study of Torah. Therefore it needed to be done as an independent separation after they received their portion, and then they would separate and give to the Kohanim and Leviim cities within their land and their region. And here, in the final pasuk, after mentioning the specific division of each and every tribe, the verse comes to say that even afterward Moshe did not give an inheritance to the tribe of Levi, that is, he did not set aside the cities of the Leviim in his lifetime, because "Hashem is their inheritance," and the matter must be given as a terumah to Hashem - and terumah is separated only after you have received. Therefore they waited until the end of the division, and only then did they set aside the cities of the Leviim.
Chapter 13 opens with a gentle rebuke to Yehoshua: The land "remained" intentionally and did not "remain over" on its own, and the delaying of the conquest cost him a shortening of his days. The verse enumerates the land that remained in the south by the Pelishtim, in the west, and in the north, and teaches us the difference between yerushah, which is the emptying out of dominion and will be in Hashem's hands, and nachalah, which is a division for the generations that is placed upon Yehoshua. From there the chapter moves on to detail the inheritances of Reuven, Gad, and half of Menashe who inherited from the hand of Moshe, and within this are mentioned the kings of Midyan, the princes of Sichon, and Bilaam the sorcerer who came to take the reward for his advice and was paid back for it. The chapter concludes with two pesukim about the tribe of Levi: It has no portion in the land like the other tribes because the fire offerings of Hashem are its inheritance, and the cities of the Leviim are given only after the division, as a terumah to Hashem that each tribe raises up from its portion - so that every member of Israel will be a partner in the merit of Torah and the service.