Joshua 17

The tribe of Manasseh also received a share of land, because Manasseh was Joseph's oldest son. This is the account for Machir, Manasseh's oldest son and the father of Gilead. Machir had already been given Gilead and Bashan, because he was a fighting man.

1There was also a lot for the tribe of Manasseh; for he was the firstborn of Joseph; to wit, for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead: because he was a man of war, therefore he had Gilead and Bashan.

Note"Lot" means the share of land a tribe received, and also the method used to assign it: marked stones or sticks were drawn, a procedure Israel understood as leaving the decision to God rather than to human bargaining. Gilead and Bashan are regions east of the Jordan River, outside Canaan proper; Machir's descendants had already been settled there in Moses' lifetime, before the crossing into the land west of the river. "Gilead" works here both as a man's name and as the name of the territory his descendants held, Hebrew genealogies often use a single name for an ancestor, his clan, and the district that clan occupied.

2There was also a share for the rest of Manasseh's descendants, family by family: the families of Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. These were the other male descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph, listed by their families.

2There was also a lot for the rest of the children of Manasseh by 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 were the male children of Manasseh the son of Joseph by their families.

NoteIsrael's social structure ran tribe, then clan, then household. These six names are the clans of Manasseh who settled west of the Jordan; each name was a man in the genealogy and became the label for all his descendants and for the block of land they held.

3But Zelophehad son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, had no sons, only daughters. These are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

3But 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.

NoteZelophehad's daughters are named because of a legal case decided earlier, in Moses' time (Numbers 27 and 36). Land normally passed from father to son, and a man with no sons left no line to hold his allotment. The daughters petitioned Moses and were granted their father's share in their own right, on the condition that they marry within their own tribe so the land would not transfer to another tribe.

4They came to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua son of Nun, and to the leaders, and said, "The LORD commanded Moses to give us land of our own among our relatives." So, following the LORD's command, Joshua gave them land among their father's brothers.

4And they came near before Eleazar the priest, and before Joshua the son of Nun, and before the princes, saying, The LORD commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brethren. Therefore according to the commandment of the LORD he gave them an inheritance among the brethren of their father.

NoteEleazar was the son of Aaron and the chief priest of the period. "Inheritance" here does not mean property left at death; it is the permanent family holding assigned to each household, meant to stay in that family's hands across generations. "Among our relatives" means an allotment counted alongside the men's, not merely support from them.

5So ten portions of land fell to Manasseh, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan, which were on the other side of the Jordan River.

5And there fell ten portions to Manasseh, beside the land of Gilead and Bashan, which were on the other side Jordan;

NoteThe ten portions are the arithmetic of verses 2 and 3: five clans descended through sons (Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Shemida), plus five more counted through Zelophehad's five daughters in place of the clan of Hepher. "The other side of the Jordan" means the east side, the territory already held before Israel crossed the river.

6This was because the female descendants of Manasseh received land along with his male descendants. The land of Gilead belonged to the rest of Manasseh's sons.

6Because the daughters of Manasseh had an inheritance among his sons: and the rest of Manasseh’s sons had the land of Gilead.

7The border of Manasseh ran from Asher to Michmethath, which lies near Shechem. From there the border went south to the people living at En-tappuah.

7And the coast of Manasseh was from Asher to Michmethah, that lieth before Shechem; and the border went along on the right hand unto the inhabitants of Entappuah.

8The land around Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but the town of Tappuah itself, sitting on Manasseh's border, belonged to the people of Ephraim.

8Now Manasseh had the land of Tappuah: but Tappuah on the border of Manasseh belonged to the children of Ephraim;

9The border went down to the Kanah brook, along the south side of the brook. Some towns there belonged to Ephraim even though they stood among the towns of Manasseh. Manasseh's border ran along the north side of the brook and ended at the sea.

9And the coast descended unto the river Kanah, southward of the river: these cities of Ephraim are among the cities of Manasseh: the coast of Manasseh also was on the north side of the river, and the outgoings of it were at the sea:

Note"The sea" is the Mediterranean, which formed Israel's western coast; a border "ending at the sea" simply runs west until it reaches the coastline.

10The land to the south was Ephraim's, and the land to the north was Manasseh's, with the sea as its western edge. On the north Manasseh touched the land of Asher, and on the east it touched the land of Issachar.

10Southward it was Ephraim’s, and northward it was Manasseh’s, and the sea is his border; and they met together in Asher on the north, and in Issachar on the east.

11Inside the land of Issachar and Asher, Manasseh was given Beth-shean and its villages, Ibleam and its villages, the people of Dor and its villages, the people of Endor and its villages, the people of Taanach and its villages, and the people of Megiddo and its villages. These made up three regions.

11And Manasseh had in Issachar and in Asher Bethshean and her towns, and Ibleam and her towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, and the inhabitants of Endor and her towns, and the inhabitants of Taanach and her towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns, even three countries.

NoteThese towns sit on or around the plain of Jezreel, the broad flat corridor cutting across northern Canaan that carried the main trade and army routes. They were fortified and strategically valuable, which is part of why the next verse reports Manasseh unable to take them. The closing phrase translated "three regions" is obscure in the Hebrew; it may be a count of three districts, a reference to three hill slopes, or the place name Naphath attached to Dor, and translations differ.

12But the people of Manasseh could not drive out those who lived in those cities, because the Canaanites were set on staying in that land.

12Yet the children of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.

NoteThe Canaanites were the settled population of the land before Israel's arrival, city dwellers with walled towns, kings, and, as verse 16 notes, chariot forces that Israel lacked.

13Later, when the Israelites grew strong, they made the Canaanites work for them, but they did not drive them out completely.

13Yet it came to pass, when the children of Israel were waxen strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute, but did not utterly drive them out.

NotePutting a people "to tribute" meant conscripting them into forced-labor gangs for state building projects and farm work, a standard practice of ancient kingdoms toward a subject population. It was an alternative to driving them out, not a step toward it.

14The descendants of Joseph said to Joshua, "Why have you given us only one share of land to own? We are a large people, because the LORD has blessed us all this time."

14And the children of Joseph spake unto Joshua, saying, Why hast thou given me but one lot and one portion to inherit, seeing I am a great people, forasmuch as the LORD hath blessed me hitherto?

NoteJoseph himself had no tribe named for him; his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, each became a tribe, which is why the two speak here as one group. Their complaint is that between them they received a single allotment when their numbers warranted more.

15Joshua answered them, "If you are such a large people, go up into the forest country and clear land there for yourselves, in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim, since the hill country of Ephraim is too small for you."

15And Joshua answered them, If thou be a great people, then get thee up to the wood country, and cut down for thyself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the giants, if mount Ephraim be too narrow for thee.

NoteThe Perizzites were one of the pre-Israelite peoples of Canaan, associated with unwalled villages rather than fortified cities. "The Rephaim", rendered "giants" in the King James Version, were a people remembered in Israelite tradition as unusually tall and formidable, and their name attaches to several districts on both sides of the Jordan. The central hill country was forested at this period; clearing it by hand was hard, slow work, which is the point of Joshua's answer.

16The descendants of Joseph said, "The hill country is not enough for us. And all the Canaanites who live in the valley land have iron chariots, both those in Beth-shean and its villages and those in the Valley of Jezreel."

16And the children of Joseph said, The hill is not enough for us: and all the Canaanites that dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both they who are of Bethshean and her towns, and they who are of the valley of Jezreel.

NoteChariots were the heavy weapon of the age, effective on flat ground and useless on steep or wooded slopes, which is exactly why the Canaanites held the valleys and Israel held the hills. "Iron chariots" most likely means chariots fitted with iron parts, a technology Israel did not yet have. The Valley of Jezreel is the wide fertile plain running across the north of the country.

17Joshua said to the house of Joseph, that is, to Ephraim and Manasseh, "You are a large people, and you have great strength. You will not have only one share of land.

17And Joshua spake unto the house of Joseph, even to Ephraim and to Manasseh, saying, Thou art a great people, and hast great power: thou shalt not have one lot only:

18The hill country will be yours as well. It is forest, but you can clear it, and it will be yours out to its farthest edges. You will drive the Canaanites out, even though they have iron chariots and are strong."

18But the mountain shall be thine; for it is a wood, and thou shalt cut it down: and the outgoings of it shall be thine: for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they be strong.