When people blessed each other it conveyed a desire for God’s best to befall them (Genesis 47:10; Judges 5:24; Nehemiah 11:2; Proverbs 30:11). Joshua is thus sending the tribes back to their lands with a wish that the Lord might look after them and work things for their good (see Numbers 6:24–26). His blessing has the nature of a parting farewell (see Genesis 31:55; Genesis 47:10; 2 Samuel 13:25; 2 Samuel 19:39).1
6 So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents.