Joshua 17:1-6

Contemporary English Version

Manasseh's Land West of the Jordan River

17 ^1-6^(A) Manasseh was Joseph's oldest son, and Machir was Manasseh's oldest son. Machir had a son named Gilead, and some of his descendants had already received the regions of Gilead and Bashan because they were good warriors. The other clans of the Manasseh tribe descended from Gilead's sons Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. The following is a description of the land they received.

Hepher's son Zelophehad did not have any sons, but he did have five daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. One day the clans that were descendants of Zelophehad's five daughters went to the priest Eleazar, Joshua, and the leaders of Israel. The people of these clans said, “The Lord told Moses to give us land just as he gave land to our relatives.”^[a]

Joshua followed the Lord's instructions and gave land to these five clans, as he had given land to the five clans that had descended from Hepher's brothers.^[b] So Manasseh's land west of the Jordan River was divided into ten parts.

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Footnotes

17.1-6 The Lord told Moses … relatives: See Numbers 27.1-11; 36.1-12.
17.1-6 the clans that were descendants of Zelophehad's five daughters … Hepher's brothers: Or “Zelophehad's five daughters went to the priest Eleazar, Joshua, and the leaders of Israel. The five sisters said, ‘The Lord told Moses to give us land just as he gave land to our relatives.’ Joshua followed the Lord's instructions and gave land to these five sisters, as he had given land to Hepher's brothers.”