Old Testament · History

Joshua chapter 17

This was the land to the tribe of Manasseh, since he was Joseph’s . Makir, Manasseh’s firstborn and the father of , had received Gilead and because he was a warrior.So allotments were also given to the rest of the descendants of Manasseh, by their : the descendants of Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. These were the male descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph, listed by their clans.Now son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Makir, son of Manasseh, had no sons — only daughters. Their names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milkah, and Tirzah.They came before , before Joshua son of Nun, and before the leaders, and said, “Yahweh commanded Moses to give us an among our relatives.” So, following Yahweh’s command, they were given an inheritance among their father’s brothers.Manasseh’s share came to ten , in addition to the land of Gilead and Bashan on the other side of the Jordan,because the daughters of Manasseh received an inheritance alongside his sons. The land of Gilead belonged to the rest of the descendants of Manasseh.Manasseh’s boundary ran from Asher to Mikmetath, which is east of . Then the boundary went south to include the people living at .The land around Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but the town of Tappuah itself, on Manasseh’s border, belonged to the descendants of Ephraim.Then the boundary continued south to the . Some of the towns south of the ravine belonged to Ephraim among Manasseh’s towns. Manasseh’s boundary was along the north side of the ravine, ending at the .The land to the south belonged to Ephraim, and the land to the north belonged to Manasseh, with the sea as the western boundary. They touched Asher on the north and Issachar on the east.Within the territory of Issachar and Asher, Manasseh also held and its , Ibleam and its surrounding villages, the people of Dor and its surrounding villages, the people of En Dor and its surrounding villages, the people of Taanach and its surrounding villages, and the people of and its surrounding villages — the three hill regions.But the people of Manasseh couldn’t take control of these towns. The were determined to stay in that region.When the Israelites grew stronger, they forced the Canaanites into labor crews, but they never completely drove them out.The said to Joshua, “Why have you given us only one allotment, one portion as our inheritance? We’re a large people — Yahweh has all along.”Joshua replied, “If you’re such a large people, go up into the forest region and clear land for yourselves there, in the territory of the and — since Ephraim’s hill country is too small for you.”The descendants of Joseph replied, “The hill country isn’t enough for us. And all the Canaanites living in the valley floor have — both those in Beth Shan and its villages and those in the .”Then Joshua said to the — to Ephraim and Manasseh — “You are a large people with great strength. You won’t have just one allotment.The hill country will be yours too. Yes, it’s forest, but you’ll clear it, and it will be yours from one end to the other. You will the Canaanites, even though they have iron chariots and even though they are strong.”