Joseph’s Inheritance
Joshua 16 – 17
Joshua 16 – 17
Joshua 16 – 17. In this chapter, we have the inheritance given to the children of Joseph, which consisted of two tribes: Ephraim and Manasseh. Half the tribe of Manasseh had already received their portion east of the Jordan, but the other half still needed to receive their inheritance on the west side. In accordance with Jacob placing his right hand on the younger Ephraim (Gen. 48:12-22), Joshua assigns Ephraim’s portion first.
The Overall Portion of the Children of Joseph (16:1-4)
CHAPTER 16
1 And the lot came forth for the children of Joseph from the Jordan of Jericho as far as the waters of Jericho eastwards, to the wilderness which goes up from Jericho to the hill-country of Bethel. 2 And the border went from Bethel to Luz, and passed to the border of the Archites to Ataroth, 3 and went down westward to the border of the Japhletites, as far as the border of the lower Beth-horon, and to Gezer; and ended at the sea. 4 And the children of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance.
vv.1-4 The Lot of the Children of Joseph. The children Joseph would receive a wonderful portion of land within Canaan. It ran long the Jordan to the east, from Jericho and Bethel on the south up to the region of Galilee to the north, and reaching to the Mediterranean on the west.
The Portion of Ephraim (16:5-10)
5 And the border of the children of Ephraim was according to their families; the border of their inheritance eastwards was Ataroth-Addar as far as the upper Beth-horon; 6 and the border went forth westwards to Micmethath on the north; and the border turned eastwards to Taanath-Shiloh, and passed by it eastwards to Janohah, 7 and went down from Janohah to Ataroth and Naarath, and touched upon Jericho, and went out to the Jordan. 8 From Tappuah the border went westwards to the torrent Kanah, and ended at the sea. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Ephraim according to their families, 9 with the cities that were set apart for the children of Ephraim in the midst of the inheritance of the children of Manasseh, all the cities and their hamlets.
vv.5-9 The Border of Ephraim. The border of Ephraim is distinctly given. It just “touched” Jericho on the south east, ran against the Jordan on the east, reached the Mediterranean on the west, and shared its entire northern border with Manasseh. It is noted that there there were cities within Manasseh that belonged to Ephraim, showing that there was some overlap between the two tribes of Joseph. It may be that Jericho, the scene of Israel’s first conquest, was shared by Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin. Beth-horon was the site of Israel’s great victory over the Amorites, where the Lord hurled down hailstones upon them (Joshua 10:10-11). Later we will find that Joshua himself received an inheritance within the tribe of Ephraim.
10 But they did not dispossess the Canaanites that dwelt at Gezer; and the Canaanites dwell in the midst of Ephraim to this day, and serve under tribute.
v.10 Ephraim’s Failure. In spite of a wonderful inheritance, Ephraim demonstrated a failure of faith in that they did not dispossess the Canaanites in Gezer. At the end of the previous chapter, we learned the Judah was unable to drive out the Jebusites (Josh. 15:63). Judah lacked strength and courage, but Ephraim was worse. There is no indication of an attempt to drive out the Canaanites in Gezer. The Canaanites were instead allowed to remain in that area and pay tribute: a source of revenue for Ephraim. Gezer was an important trade city, and it was later given to the Levites along with three other Ephraimite cities. Gezer was finally cleansed of Canaanites by Pharaoh, who burned the city and give it as a present to his daughter, Solomon’s wife (1 Kings 9:16).
The Division of Manasseh (17:1-6)
CHAPTER 17
1 And the lot came to the tribe of Manasseh (for he was the firstborn of Joseph), to Machir, the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, for he was a man of war, and he had Gilead and Bashan.
v.1 East Manasseh. Next we have the portion of the half tribe of Manasseh that settled in the land to the east of Jordan. The firstborn son of Manasseh was Machir, known as “a man of war”, and he possessed the region formerly under the control of Og, king of Bashan, whom Moses killed at the final approach to the land of Canaan. The land became known as Gilead, after his son who dwelt there. We find that all of the named sons of Gilead settled to the west of Jordan, but there were likely other descendants (perhaps younger children or children through concubines) who settled the region of Gilead.
2 There was also a portion for the rest of the children of Manasseh according to their families: for the children of Abiezer, and for the children of Helek, and for the children of Asriel, and for the children of Shechem, and for the children of Hepher, and for the children of Shemida: these are the children of Manasseh, the son of Joseph, the males, according to their families.
v.2 The Families of West Manasseh. Second, we come to the portion for the sons of Gilead (called sons of Manasseh, but really grandsons through Gilead, Num. 26:29-32). Asriel is listed with the sons of Gilead, but elsewhere we find he was another son of Manasseh through a concubine (1 Chron. 7:14). It is possible that Gilead had both an uncle and a son named Asriel. They were given a wonderful portion to dwell in to the west of Jordan.
3 And Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, had no sons, but daughters; and these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 4 And they came near before Eleazar the priest, and before Joshua the son of Nun, and before the princes, saying, Jehovah commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brethren. And he gave them according to the commandment of Jehovah an inheritance among the brethren of their father. 5 And there fell ten portions to Manasseh, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan, which are beyond the Jordan. 6 For the daughters of Manasseh received an inheritance among his sons; and the rest of Manasseh’s sons had the land of Gilead.
vv.3-6 The Daughters of Zelophehad. The case of Zelophehad, the great-great-grandson of Manasseh comes before us. Zelophehad had five daughters and no sons. This interesting case came before Moses and Eleazar in the wilderness, and Lord showed Moses at that time what should be done. The problem was that, without sons, Zelophehad would have no inheritance to his posterity. The Lord answered Moses that when a man died without sons his inheritance should pass to his daughters. Here, at the time of the dividing of the land, we see this carried out: the “daughters of Manasseh received an inheritance among his sons”. The request of these daughters is a remarkable testimony to their faith in valuing the inheritance. They did not want the sins of the previous generation to somehow prevent them from getting their blessing. May we value our spiritual inheritance with the same earnest desire!
The Portion of Manasseh (17:7-13)
7 And the territory of Manasseh was from Asher to Micmethath, which is before Shechem, and the border went on the right hand toward the inhabitants of En-Tappuah. 8 Manasseh had the land of Tappuah; but Tappuah on the border of Manasseh belonged to the children of Ephraim. 9 And the border descended to the torrent Kanah, south of the torrent. These cities were Ephraim’s among the cities of Manasseh. And the territory of Manasseh was on the north side of the torrent, and ended at the sea. 10 Southward it was Ephraim’s, and northward it was Manasseh’s, and the sea was his border. And they touched upon Asher on the north, and upon Issachar on the east. 11 And Manasseh had in Issachar and in Asher, Beth-shean and its dependent villages, and Ibleam and its dependent villages, and the inhabitants of Dor and its dependent villages, and the inhabitants of En-Dor and its dependent villages, and the inhabitants of Taanach and its dependent villages, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its dependent villages, the three hilly regions.
vv.7-11 The Border of West Manasseh. Manasseh had a large piece of the land, extending from a shared border with Ephraim on the south about the river Jarkon. The border on the west was the Mediterranean Sea, and the Jordan on the east. The tribes of Zebulon, Asher, and Issachar were to the north. There were a number of cities in Issachar and Asher that belonged to Manasseh, showing that the border to the north was somewhat blurred. Of not is En-Dor, where Saul would later visit the witch and be visited by Samuel. West Manasseh’s topography ranges from fertile coastal plains and the strategic Jezreel Valley to rugged central highlands and the deep Jordan Valley, making it one of the most geographically diverse tribal regions in Israel.
12 But the children of Manasseh could not dispossess the inhabitants of those cities; and the Canaanites would dwell in that land. 13 And it came to pass when the children of Israel were become strong, that they made the Canaanites tributary; but they did not utterly dispossess them.
vv.12-13 The Failure of Manasseh. The failure of Manasseh is recorded: they “could not dispossess the inhabitants of those cities; and the Canaanites would dwell in that land”. It would seem that this especially refers to the northern cities just mentioned, laying in the Jezreel valley running east to west across the northern part of Manasseh. They were unable, but it was for no lack of strength on God’s part. Had they looked to the Lord, they could have easily dispossessed the Canaanites. Instead being troubled by the presence of the Canaanites, Manasseh used them to their own advantage, putting them to tribute, though it was in disobedience to the Word of God.
The Complaint of Manasseh and Ephraim (17:14-18)
14 And the children of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, Why hast thou given me as inheritance one lot and one portion, seeing I am a great people, forasmuch as Jehovah has blessed me hitherto? 15 And Joshua said unto them, If thou art a great people, then get thee up to the wood, and cut down for thyself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the giants, if the hill-country of Ephraim is too narrow for thee. 16 And the children of Joseph said, The hill-country will not be enough for us; and all the Canaanites that dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, those that are of Beth-shean and its dependent villages, and those that are in the valley of Jizreel. 17 And Joshua spoke to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and to Manasseh, saying, Thou art a great people, and hast great power: thou shalt not have one lot only, 18 but the hill-country shall be thine, as it is a wood, thou shalt cut it down, and its outgoings shall be thine; for thou shalt dispossess the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots; for they are powerful.
vv.14-18 The Complaint of Joseph and its Answer. Both the tribes of Joseph had been unfaithful in driving out the Canaanite, and next we find the unfaithful begin to complain. The tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh combined to possess about one third of the total land area of Israel, yet they were convinced that it was not enough. Joshua answers them on their own ground: “If thou art a great people, then get thee up to the wood, etc.” Their response showed that they wanted more land, but did not want to deal with the chariots of iron belonging to the Canaanites. In the end, Joshua refused to change his original answer, or give in to Manasseh’s boastful laziness.
