Contradictions and Paradoxes in Joshua 18:9

Check out Contradictions Catalog of Joshua 18:9 for the comprehensive list of verses that contradicts Joshua 18:9. Some key contradictions and paradoxes are described below.

According to the author of the book, Joshua, the men traveled through the land and wrote down details about the cities, dividing the land into seven parts, and then returned to Joshua where the people of Israel were camped at Shiloh. This was done to help decide which part of the land would belong to each of the seven groups of Israel.

Joshua 18:9: And the men went and passed through the land, and described it by cities into seven parts in a book, and came [again] to Joshua to the host at Shiloh.

Contradiction with Numbers 33:53

This verse commands the Israelites to possess the land by driving out all the inhabitants, while Joshua 18:9 documents the Israelites mapping the land rather than immediately driving out its inhabitants.

Numbers 33:53: And ye shall dispossess [the inhabitants] of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it.

Contradiction with Judges 1:27-28

These verses recount that some tribes of Israel did not fully drive out the inhabitants of their territories, contrasting with the organized division of land depicted in Joshua 18:9.

Judges 1:27-28: Neither did Manasseh drive out [the inhabitants of] Bethshean and her towns, nor Taanach and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns: but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.

Contradiction with Joshua 13:1

This verse states that much land remains to be possessed, while Joshua 18:9 suggests a systematic allotment of land as though it had all been accounted for.

Joshua 13:1: Now Joshua was old [and] stricken in years; and the LORD said unto him, Thou art old [and] stricken in years, and there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed. [to...: Heb. to possess it]

Contradiction with Joshua 23:4

Suggests that the borders of the land are given by God, in contrast to Joshua 18:9 which focuses on human effort to survey and document the land.

Joshua 23:4: Behold, I have divided unto you by lot these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, even unto the great sea westward. [westward: Heb. at the sunset]
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