Joshua 16-17

Lexham English Bible

The Allotment of Ephraim and Manasseh

16 The allotment of the descendants^[a] of Joseph went from the Jordan by Jericho, at the waters of Jericho to the east, into the wilderness, going up from Jericho into the hill country to Bethel; ² it continues from Bethel to Luz, and it passes along to the territory of the Arkites^[b] at Ataroth. ³ Then it goes down, to the west, to the territory of the Japhletites,^[c] up to the territory of Lower Beth-horon, then to Gezer, and it ends^[d] at the sea.

⁴ And the descendants^[e] of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, received their inheritance. ⁵ This was the border of the descendants^[f] of Ephraim according to their families: the border of their inheritance to the east was Ataroth Addar, up to Upper Beth-horon. ⁶ The border continues to the sea; from Micmethath to the north, the border turns to the east to Taanath Shiloh, and it passes along it from the east to Janoah. ⁷ Then it goes down from Janoah to Ataroth and to Naarah; it touches Jericho and ends at the Jordan; ⁸ from Tappuah the border goes to the west, to the wadi^[g] of Kanah, and it ends^[h] at the sea. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants^[i] of Ephraim according to their families, ⁹ with the cities that were set apart for the descendants^[j] of Ephraim in the midst of the inheritance of the descendants^[k] of Manasseh, all the cities and their villages. ¹⁰ But they did not drive out the Canananites^[l] who were dwelling in Gezer, and so the Canaanites^[m] live in the midst of Ephraim to this day, but they became forced laborers.

The Allotment of the Other Half-Tribe of Manasseh

17 Then the allotment was made for the tribe of Manasseh, because he was the firstborn of Joseph. To Makir, the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, were allotted^[n] Gilead and Bashan, because he was a warrior.^{[o] 2} An allotment was made for the remaining descendants^[p] of Manasseh, according to their families: For the children of Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida—these were the male descendants^[q] of Manasseh son of Joseph according to their families.

³ But Zelophehad son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Makir, son of Manasseh, had no sons, only daughters. These are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. ⁴ They came before Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the leaders, saying, “Yahweh commanded Moses to give an inheritance to us among our kinsmen.”^[r] Therefore, according to the command of Yahweh^[s] he gave them an inheritance among the kinsmen^[t] of their father. ⁵ Thus ten shares fell to Manasseh, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan, which is beyond the Jordan, ⁶ because the daughters of Manasseh received an inheritance among his sons. And the land of Gilead was allotted to the remaining descendants^[u] of Manasseh. ⁷ The border of Manasseh was from Asher to Micmethath, which is opposite Shechem;^[v] then the border goes to the south, to the inhabitants of En Tappuah. ⁸ The land of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh,^[w] but Tuppuah on the border of Manasseh belonged to the descendants of Ephraim.^{[x] 9} Then the border goes down to the wadi^[y] of Kanah to the south of the wadi. These cities belong to Ephraim among the cities of Manasseh. The border of Manasseh is north of the wadi, and it ends^[z] at the sea. ¹⁰ The south is Ephraim’s, and the north is Manasseh’s; the sea is their^[aa] border; Asher touches the north and on the east Issachar. ¹¹ In Issachar and Asher, Manasseh had Beth-shean and its villages, Ibleam and its villages, the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, the inhabitants of En-dor and its villages, the inhabitants of Taanach and its villages, the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages; the third is Napheth. ¹² But the descendants^[ab] of Manasseh were not able to take possession of these towns; the Canaanites^[ac] were determined to live in this land. ¹³ And it happened, when the Israelites^[ad] grew strong, they put the Canaanites^[ae] to forced labor but never drove them out completely.

The Tribes of Joseph Object

¹⁴ The descendants^[af] of Joseph spoke with Joshua, saying, “Why have you given us^[ag] one allotment and one share as an inheritance? We are many people, which Yahweh has blessed.” ¹⁵ And Joshua said to them, “If you are many people, go up to the forest and clear a place there for yourselves in the land of the Perizzites^[ah] and Rephaim, since the hill country of Ephraim is too narrow for you.” ¹⁶ And the descendants^[ai] of Joseph said, “The hill country is not enough for us, and all of the Canaanites^[aj] living in the land of the valley have chariots^[ak] of iron, those in Beth-shean and its villages, and those in the Jezreel Valley.” ¹⁷ And Joshua said to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and Manasseh, “You are many people and have great power; you will not have one allotment only; ¹⁸ the hill country will be yours. Even though it is a forest, you will clear it, and it will be yours to its farthest borders. You will drive out the Canaanites,^[al] even though they have iron chariots and are strong.”