On which side of the Jordan were the kingdoms discussed in verses 1-6?

What was the name of the first king, and what was his kingdom?

What was the name of the second king, and what was his kingdom? (vs. 4)

Who had conquered these two kingdoms? What tribes were their lands given to?

Starting at verse 7, where is the geographical location of the kingdoms listed below it?

What are some of the geographical features listed in verse 8?

How many conquered kings are listed between verses 9-24?

Look at a Biblical map of these regions at that time, and compare with a modern map. What countries are these places in now? What are the names of some of the places that are mentioned (i.e. The Arnon River, Mount Hermon, Sea of Chinneroth, etc)

(13:1) What message did the Lord have for Joshua?

What land was yet to be possessed?

How did the Lord command Joshua to divide this land? (vs. 7)

What other two tribes (besides half of Manasseh) received land east of the Jordan River?

What kingdom’s land did they inherit, which Moses had already defeated and cast out?

What peoples did the children of Israel fail to drive out then?

Which tribe did not receive inheritance land? What was their inheritance instead?

What was Reuben’s territory?

What other kingdom, in that territory, had Moses defeated?

What was Gad’s territory?

What was half of the tribe of Manasseh’s territory?

Thought Questions

Much of the Old Testament, at least the books of Kings and Chronicles, are taken up with lists of unknown place names and people. Why are these lists part of Holy Scripture that has been handed down to us today? Is it only because they are mixed in with the stories, or is there anything we can gain from the presence of these lists today? 

What is happening in this land today? 

After Joshua had conquered all of those kingdoms, why did the Lord say that there was still much land to be possessed? Is there a difference between conquering most of the original possessors of the land and actually moving in? Can we make a spiritual application to this in our lives? See Luke 11:24-26.

In the beginning of chapter 13, the Lord lists the nations that the Israelites had not yet fully overcome. Did they ever manage to do so? See Judges 2:1-3 and 3:1-6. What was the result?

Why do you think the Israelites had not fully performed their task of eradicating the people God had told them to? In their case, do you think it was compassion to the people?

With all the horror stories of genocide in our more modern world, what do you feel about the concept of God telling the Israelites to eradicate the native people groups of the land? Knowing what we know of the big picture (and the results), do you see God’s wisdom? How would you explain this to someone who thinks it is unfair?

What were some of the people like who God has had to eradicate? (See Genesis 19:1-9)

How do these stories compare to the stories of genocide that we know of more recently? Did God give specific instructions and reasons for them, or were they humanly devised?

My prayer is:

That, for a spiritual application, I would be bold to eradicate the evil influences ruling my life, and not only so, but replace them with influences that will draw me closer to God and His will;

To be able to understand what I can of the difficult questions of history in the Bible and how God’s perfect character has worked in them, and to be able to explain the best that I can;

But to also acknowledge that I can never truly understand every difficult work of God.