JOSHUA - CHAPTER 17
v1 Joshua gave part of the land west of the river Jordan to some families of the tribe of Manasseh. Manasseh was Joseph’s oldest son. Manasseh’s oldest son was Makir, father of Gilead. The family fought very bravely, so Joshua gave them Gilead and Bashan, east of the Jordan. v2 Joshua gave land west of the Jordan to all the other families of Manasseh. These were: Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher and Shemida. They were all sons of Manasseh, and heads of their families.
v3 Zelophehad, son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Makir, son of Manasseh, had no sons. He had only daughters. Their names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah. v4 They went to see Eleazar, the priest and Joshua, son of Nun and the leaders. They said, ‘The Lord told Moses to give part of the land to us. We must have land like the sons of other families.’ So Eleazar and Joshua gave land to them, like the other families. v5 That is why they gave to Manasseh 10 parts of the land as well as Gilead and Bashan. Gilead and Bashan are on the east side of the Jordan. v6 They gave land to these women from the tribe of Manasseh as well as to the men. They gave the land of Gilead to the rest of the families of Manasseh.
Commentary
Verse 1
Already Moses had given some land to Manasseh. This was on the east side of the river Jordan. Joshua has given some land west of the river Jordan to the tribe of Ephraim. Now Joshua gave some land to the rest of the tribe of Manasseh.
Zelophehad, one of the leaders of Manasseh, had no sons. He had 5 daughters. If a man had sons and daughters, only the sons could own land. This was the law. The 5 daughters had spoken earlier to Moses (Numbers 27:1-11). Moses asked God what he should do. God said that they could own their father’s property. Moses told this to the 5 daughters. They asked Joshua and Eleazar the priest for the land that Moses had promised to them. Joshua gave it to them.
Manasseh's Land
v7 Manasseh’s land was from Asher to Michmethath. This was east of Shechem. It went south to include En Tappuah. v8 Manasseh had the land near Tappuah. The town called Tappuah belonged to the sons of Ephraim. v9 The edge of Manasseh’s land went down to the little river of Kanah. The cities south of the river that belonged to Ephraim were in Manasseh’s land. The edge of Manasseh’s land was along the north side of the river to the sea. v10 Ephraim was south of the river. Manasseh was to the north. The sea was to the west of them both. Asher was north and west of them. Issachar was to the north and east. v11 Beth Shan and Ibleam and the towns that were near them belonged to Manasseh. They were in the lands of Issachar and Asher. Dor (by the sea), Endor, Taanach, Megiddo and the towns near them also belonged to Manasseh.
v12 But Manasseh’s people could not remove the people who lived in those cities. So the Canaanite people continued to live there. v13 Some of them continued to live there, even when the Israelites became strong. The Israelites made the Canaanites work for them.
Commentary
Verses 7-11
This is a list of the land that Joshua gave to Manasseh at the west of the river Jordan. The land included some of the land that Joshua gave to Ephraim. Some of the cities were in the land that Joshua gave (later) to Asher and Issachar. Sometimes God gives gifts to us that we must share with other people.
Verses 12-13
Like the other tribes, Manasseh did not defeat the Canaanites. This caused them a lot of trouble later.
About Ephraim and Manasseh
Manasseh was the first-born son of Joseph. Earlier, Jacob blessed the two sons of Joseph. He put his right hand on Ephraim (Genesis 48:12-20). This was to show that Ephraim would become greater than Manasseh. Often we read of similar cases in the Old Testament. Cain was older than Abel. God accepted Abel’s present. Ishmael was older than Isaac. God chose Isaac. Esau was older than Jacob. God chose Jacob.
v14 The tribes of Joseph asked Joshua, ‘Why have you given us only one part of the land to live in? The Lord has been good to us. There are very many of us.’ v15 Joshua said to them, ‘You can take more land if the hills of Ephraim are too small for you. You can do this if there are so many of you. Cut down trees in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim.’
v16 They replied, ‘The hills are not big enough for us. But the Canaanites in Beth Shan and its towns and in the valley of Jezreel have iron chariots.’ v17 Joshua said to the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, ‘There certainly are a lot of you. And you are very strong. I will give more than one part to you. v18 You will have the hills. They are full of trees, but you will cut them down. You will take the land from one end to the other. I know that the Canaanites are a strong people. They have iron chariots, but you can push the Canaanites out.’
Commentary
Verse 14
The tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh wanted more land. They believed that they should have more land. They asked Joshua for more land.
Verse 15
Joshua gave them a very wise answer. They could cut trees down. This would give them more land.
Verses 16-18
The two tribes said that even that was not enough. Also, the people who lived there were very strong. Joshua gave them the hills. He told the two tribes that they could defeat the people.
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