According
to its narrative, it appears that Joshua was the leader of Joseph
and Benjamin only, with whom indeed Issachar, Zebulon, Dan,
Naphtali, and Asher made common cause. But before his time the
tribe of Judah had already crossed the Jordan and effected a
lodgment in the territory which lay between the earlier seat of
the nation in the wilderness of Kadesh and its then settlement on
the plateau of Moab, forming in some degree a link of connection
between the two. It might be supposed that the tribe of Judah had
not taken the longer route to the eastward of the Dead Sea at
all, but had already at Kadesh broken off from the main body and
thence turned its steps directly northward. But the representation
actually given in Judges i., to the effect that it was from the
direction of the Jordan and not from that of the Negeb that they
came to take possession of their land, finds its confirmation
in the fact that the southern portion of their territory was
the last to come into their possession. The tradition is
unwavering that Hebron was taken not by Judah but by Caleb,
a family which stood in friendly relations with Israel, but had
no connexion with it by blood.
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