Concepts of Land in Numbers and Joshua

This study traces the literary development of texts related to the extent and organization of Israel's land in the books of Numbers and Joshua. The early stages of this development included the accounts of the conquest of Cisjordan in Joshua 10* and 11* and the conquest of Transjordan in Numbers 21*, while the later stages focused on the apportioning of the land to the Israelite tribes. Within these later stages, key developments included the apportioning of the land by lot, the appointing of cities of refuge, a shift from a scheme of 10 + 2 tribes to 9½ + 2½ tribes, and the appointing of Levitical cities.