Day 83: the cities of refuge

The rest of the land is parcelled up and handed out. How does it make you feel? Me, I feel awkward reading this.
The lot of Zebulun
Joshua 19:10-16
The lot of Issachar
Joshua 19:17-23
The lot of Asher
Joshua 19:24-31
The lot of Naphtali
Joshua 19:32-39
The lot of Dan
Joshua 19:40-48
Joshua’s portion
Joshua 19:49-51
The cities of refuge
Joshua 20; 1-9
No inheritance for the Levites
Joshua 13:14,33
Cities allotted to the Levites out of other tribes’ inheritance
Joshua 21:1-42, 1 Chronicles 6:54-81


It all sounds very calm and orderly as you read it on the page, and it’s possible to forget that this is a record of conquest, and that there were losers as well as winners.
In post-colonial Britain, it’s uncomfortable reading this. We were responsible for just this sort of activity in large swathes of Africa, and even now, if you see a straight line on a map of the world, it’s highly likely that a British man drew it.
With the benefit of hindsight, we can see the damage we did.
On the other hand, this sort of fighting over good territory has always happened. No doubt the Canaanites who were living in the land before Israel arrived had  displaced someone else, and they in turn had done the same to others. There is nothing new under the sun.