Sunday Morning Bible Study 05/16/2010

Inheritance of Judah and Joseph

Joshua 15, 16, & 17
I. Observation
A. Context
1. Who are the people in this passage? What do we know about them?
a. Judah: _________________________________________________________________________
b. Ephriam & Manasseh:_____________________________________________________________
c. Othniel: ________________________________________________________________________
2. When does this passage take place? Where do the events of this passage take place?
a. When: As in previous passage, land was divided after majority of the battles had taken place.
b. Where: Judah’s possession was in the south, west of the Jordan, Joseph’s tribes were north of this.
B. Summary of Events
1. Inheritance of Judah (Joshua 15)
a. Boundaries
i. Southern Boundary (v. 2-4)
ii. Eastern Boundary (v. 5)
iii. Northern Boundary (v. 5-11)
iv. Western Boundary (v. 12)
b. Caleb’s inheritance within Judah (v. 13-19)
i. Caleb’s conquest of the Anakites (v. 13-14)
ii. Caleb promises daughter’s hand to whomever captured Kiriath Sepher (v. 15-16)
(a) Othniel, son of Kenaz, did (v. 17) – later became 1st judge (Jud 3:9-11)
iii. Caleb gives land and springs to his daughter (v. 18-19)
c. Inheritance of Judah, listed by clan (v. 21-62)
i. Southernmost towns in the Negev: 29 (v. 21-32)
ii. Towns of the western foothills: 39+ (v. 33-47)
iii. Towns of the hill country: 38 (v. 48-60)
iv. Towns in the desert: 6 (v. 61-62)
d. Judah was unable to dislodge the Jebusites from Jerusalem (v. 63)
2. Inheritance of Joseph (Joshua 16-17)
a. Boundaries (16:1-4)
b. Inheritance of Ephraim (16:5-10)
i. Failure to dislodge the Canaanites in Gezer (16:10)
c. Inheritance of Manasseh (17:1-15)
i. Makirites excluded; already had inheritance east of the Jordan (v. 1-2)
(a) Zelophehad’s daughters included in Makirite inheritance (v. 3-6)
ii. Boundaries of Manasseh (v. 7-10)
iii. Towns of Manasseh in Issachar & Asher, couldn’t dislodge Canaanites (v. 11-13)
d. Tribe of Joseph unsatisfied (17:14-18)
i. Tribes of Joseph complain about not having enough land (v. 14)
ii. Joshua tells them to clear more land from Perizzites & Rephaites (v. 15)
iii. People continue to complain, fear of Canaanites’ chariots (v. 16)
iv. Joshua tells them to clear the land if they want it, despite chariots (v. 17-18)
C. Observation Questions
1. What is mentioned in each section as the tribes having in common? (15:63; 16:10; 17:11)
______________________________________________________________________________________
II. Discussion Questions
1. What characteristics about chapter 15 (Judah’s possession) stand out to you?
______________________________________________________________________________________
2. What do you notice about the possessions of Joshua in Chapters 16-17?
______________________________________________________________________________________
3. What is the source of the dissatisfaction within the tribe of Judah? Was this valid? Explain.
______________________________________________________________________________________
4. Do we see the glory of God anywhere in this passage? Where? How? What is the result?
______________________________________________________________________________________
III. Application
1. Family name was important culturally at this time. You were known as much, if not more, by your family
name as your individual name. Today, we should seek to be known by the name of our family Head, Jesus
Christ, and understand that we represent his name to those around us. Are you representing him well?
Teacher: Johnny Hughes (living2serve@gmail.com) MYA 2.0 is a ministry of Metropolitan Baptist Church, OKC, OK (http://www.mbcokc.org)