יהושע, פרק כ״ד, פסוק י״ג

The journey of the Israelites, guided by God's providence from the time of the Patriarchs through their ultimate redemption, culminates in their arrival in a fully developed land. Instead of facing the overwhelming task of building settlements from the ground up, they entered a region with established cities and infrastructure ready for immediate use [ביאור שטיינזלץ].

This reality raises a natural question. Why would God choose to give the Israelites a territory that had already been settled and cultivated by other nations, thereby exposing them to accusations of taking someone else's land? Providing an empty, uninhabited territory might have avoided such conflicts entirely. However, the sequence of events reveals a deliberate divine plan. God first gave the land to other nations and subsequently transferred it to the Israelites. This process serves a profound purpose. It clearly establishes that the entire earth belongs to God, and He alone determines its inhabitants. Furthermore, it allowed the Israelites to receive a complete, finished gift, inheriting the hard work of other nations without having to endure the exhausting labor of building a civilization themselves [אלשיך].

Naturally, the Israelites still needed to engage in regular agricultural work, such as planting their annual grain harvests. Yet, a special focus is placed on their acquisition of vineyards and olive groves. Unlike seasonal crops, these specific trees demand intense physical effort and a very long waiting period before they yield anything of value. By receiving these orchards completely mature, the Israelites were spared years of difficult labor [אלשיך]. They were granted the immediate benefit of consuming the rich produce of trees that had been carefully planted and tended by the previous inhabitants [מצודת דוד].