Joshua 13:13

but the Israelites did not drive out the Geshurites or the Maacathites. So Geshur and Maacath dwell among the Israelites to this day.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Joshua's narrator records the territorial boundaries of the Transjordan conquest, noting which groups were removed and which were not. The account follows the description of Moses' defeat of Og's kingdom and precedes the allocation of land to the tribe of Levi.

The words — The text uses לֹא (Lo', "not") with הוֹרִישׁוּ (ho.Ri.shu, "they dispossessed") to state that the Israelites failed to remove the Geshurites and Maacathites. The phrase dwelling "to this day" (עַד־הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה) marks the ongoing, unresolved presence of these peoples.

The thread — This unconquered status is geographically noted in Joshua 13:11 and functionally echoed in Numbers 33:55 and Joshua 23:13, where remaining inhabitants are treated as a persistent condition. The text presents the situation as a factual record of incomplete conquest rather than a narrative of divine approval.

Why it lands — The verse demands recognition of historical reality over idealized conquest. It establishes a baseline of unresolved political tension that later biblical texts treat as a condition requiring covenantal resolution.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וְלֹ֤אve./Lo'and/ not הוֹרִ֙ישׁוּ֙ho.Ri.shuthey dispossessed בְּנֵ֣יbe.Nei[the] people of יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לYis.ra.'ElIsrael אֶת־'et-<obj.>הַגְּשׁוּרִ֖יha./ge.shu.Rithe/ Geshurite[s]וְאֶת־ve./'Etand/ <obj.>הַמַּעֲכָתִ֑יha./ma.'a.kha.Tithe/ Maacathite[s]וַיֵּ֨שֶׁבva/i.Ye.shevand/ it has dwelt גְּשׁ֤וּרge.ShurGeshur וּמַֽעֲכָת֙u./ma.'a.Khatand/ Maacah בְּקֶ֣רֶבbe./Ke.revin/ [the] midst of יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לYis.ra.'ElIsrael עַ֖ד'aduntil הַיּ֥וֹםhai./Yomthe/ day הַזֶּֽה׃ha./Zeh<the>/ this

King James Version

Nevertheless the children of Israel expelled not the Geshurites, nor the Maachathites: but the Geshurites and the Maachathites dwell among the Israelites until this day.

Cross-references

Numbers 33:55 But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land before you, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides; they will harass you in the land where you settle.
Joshua 13:11 also Gilead and the territory of the Geshurites and Maacathites, all of Mount Hermon, and all Bashan as far as Salecah—
Joshua 23:12 For if you turn away and cling to the rest of these nations that remain among you, and if you intermarry and associate with them,
Judges 2:1 Now the angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bochim and said, “I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I had promised to your fathers, and I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you,
2 Samuel 3:3 his second was Chileab, by Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel; his third was Absalom, the son of Maacah daughter of King Talmai of Geshur;
2 Samuel 13:37 Now Absalom fled and went to Talmai son of Ammihud, the king of Geshur. But David mourned for his son every day.

Places named

Geshur