According to the word of the Lord,.... Or mouth of the Lord; either according to the oracle of Urim and Thummim, which Eleazar consulted on this occasion; or according to what the Lord had said to Moses, at the same time that Hebron was ordered to Caleb, Jos 14:6; andthey gave him the city which he asked, [even] Timnathserah in Mount Ephraim; he chose a place in his own tribe, for he was of the tribe of Ephraim; and it seems that what he chose was none of the best of places; for Paula, as Jerom relates, when she travelled into those parts, wondered that the distributor of the possessions of the children of Israel should choose such a rough and mountainous place for himself; of its situation, see Jos 24:30;and he built the city, and dwelt therein; he rebuilt it, and fitted it for his own habitation, and for those that belonged to him.
(Timnathserah means "an abundant portion" or "a place in the sun". Joshua great reward was in seeing the promises of God fulfilled before his very eyes Jos 21:45 and the children of Israel serving the Lord's during his lifetime Jos 24:31.
Joshua may have received but a small inheritance in the promised land but this was just an earnest of his future glorious inheritance in eternity. The saints of God have the best portion saved for the last Joh 2:10 whereas the worldling has his best portion now; his worst is yet to come.
Editor.) Epitaph. Paulae, fol. 59.