יהושע, פרק י״ט, פסוק נ׳

The monumental task of dividing the land concludes with the nation's leader receiving his personal inheritance. Rather than claiming a grand estate, Joshua chose a small city located within the territory of his own tribe, Ephraim. After receiving this land, he built up the city and settled there with his family [ביאור שטיינזלץ].

The granting of this specific city was not a simple administrative decision; it required direct approval from God. The primary approach among commentators is that this divine confirmation was received either through prophecy or by consulting the Urim and Thummim [מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ, מלבי״ם].

Direct divine intervention was necessary for this allocation for several complementary reasons. From a moral standpoint, it served as clear proof that the land distribution was completely free of favoritism. By demonstrating that even the highest leader needed a direct command from God to claim his inheritance, it assured the people that the entire process was just and transparent [רלב״ג].

On a practical level, both Joshua and Caleb had been excluded from the general lottery used to divide the land. Because the detailed, individual distribution of property had not yet taken place, Joshua could not simply receive his inheritance ahead of schedule without explicit instruction from God. Furthermore, Joshua had asked for a specific location. A targeted request cannot be fulfilled through a random lottery system. Therefore, just as Caleb received Hebron based on his own request before the general lottery, Joshua’s request for a particular city could only be granted through God's direct authorization [מלבי״ם].