Chapter xx., belonging to the Predaction, has certain points of

contact with Deut. xix. which, it is very important to observe, are wanting in the Septuagint; and xxi. 43-45 closes D's account of the division, and in the Septuagint contains matter most of which is now given by P in xix. 49 seq. Two narratives describe the dismissal of the trans-Jordanic tribes after their co-operation in the conquest, viz. xxii. 1-6 (D), and xxii. 9 seq. (P); cf. above, on xiii. 8 seq. P, with the description of the erection of the altar (v. 34, Gilead?; cf. Gen. xxxi. 47 seq.), is apparently a late re-writing of some now obscure incident to emphasize the unity of worship. P's account of the distribution of land among the _nine and a half_ tribes by Eleazar and Joshua (from xiv. 1-5 to xix. 51) appears to have been on the lines laid down in Num. xxxiv. (P). The scene, according to xviii. 1, is Shiloh, and this verse, which does not belong to the context, should apparently precede P's narrative in xiv. 1. But of the occupation of _Shiloh_, the famous Ephraimite sanctuary and the seat of the ark, we have no information. The older source, however, presupposes that Judah and the two Joseph tribes have acquired their territory; the remaining seven are blamed for their indifference (xviii. 2-10, see above), and receive their lot conjointly at the camp at Shiloh. But if the location is an attempt to harmonize with xviii. 1, _Gilgal_ should probably be restored. The section xviii. 2-10 is followed by xxi. 43 seq. (above), and may have been preceded originally by xiii. 1, 7 (where read: inheritance for the _seven_ tribes); in its present form it appears to be due to D. Another account of the exploits of Judah and Joseph can be traced here and there; e.g. in xiv. 6-15 (where Caleb receives Hebron as his inheritance and the "land had rest from war"), and xvii. 14-18 (where Joseph receives an additional lot); but where these traditions have not been worked into later narratives, they exist only in fragmentary form and are chiefly recognizable by their standpoint. They are characterized by the view that the conquest was only a partial one, and one which was neither the work of a single man nor at his instigation, but due entirely to individual or tribal achievements. This view can be traced in xiii. 13, xv. 63 (cf. the parallel Judges i. 21 in contrast to v. 8), xvi. 10 (Judges i. 29), xvii. 11-13 (Judges i. 27 seq.), and in the references to separate tribal or family exploits: xv. 13-19, xix. 47 (cf. Judges i. 34 seq., xviii.).

Two closing addresses are ascribed to Joshua, one an exhortation similar to the homilies in secondary portions of Deuteronomy (xxiii.; cf. Moses in Deut. xxviii. seq., and Samuel's last address in 1 Sam. xii.), which virtually excludes the other (xxiv.), where Joshua assembles the tribes at Shechem (Shiloh, in the Septuagint) and passes under review the history of Israel from the days of heathenism (before Abraham was brought into Canaan) down through the oppression in Egypt, the exodus, the conquest in East Jordan and the occupation of Canaan. A few otherwise unknown details are to be found (xxiv. 2, 11 seq. 14). The address (which is extremely important for its representation of the religious conditions) is made the occasion for a solemn covenant whereby the people agree to cleave to Yahweh alone. This is commemorated by the erection of a stone under the oak by the sanctuary of Yahweh (for the tree with its sacred pillar, see Gen. xxxv. 4; Judges ix. 6). The people are then dismissed, and the book closes in ordinary narrative style with the death of Joshua and his burial in his inheritance at Timnath-serah in Mt Ephraim (cf. xix. 49 seq.); the burial of Joseph in Shechem; and the death and burial of Eleazar the son of Aaron in the "hill of Phinehas."