To Joshua, with Eleazar the high priest, and the heads of the tribes, the distribution of the land was committed, the location of each tribe being determined by lot. Moses himself had fixed the bounds of the country as it was to be divided among the tribes when they should come in possession of Canaan, and had appointed a prince from each tribe to attend to the distribution. The tribe of Levi, being devoted to the sanctuary service, was not counted in this allotment; but forty-eight cities in different parts of the country were assigned the Levites as their inheritance.

Josua, ypperstepræsten Eleazar og overhovederne for stammernes fædrenehuse skulle udskifte landet, og de enkelte stammers besiddelser blev fordelt ved lodkastning. Moses havde selv bestemt, hvor grænserne skulle gå, når landet blev delt mellem stammerne efter Kanaans indtagelse, og han havde også udvalgt et overhoved fra hver stamme til at bistå med udskiftningen af landet. Levis stamme, der var knyttet til arbejdet ved helligdommen, deltog ikke i denne lodtrækning, men den fik tildelt 48 byer i forskellige dele af landet som arvelod.