The Book of Joshua

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- Chapter 17 -

This is a list of the land that was allotted to the tribe of Manasseh. Manasseh’s oldest son was Makir, and his grandson was Gilead. Their descendants were assigned the lands in the regions of Gilead and Bashan, in honor of Makir, who had been a great soldier.

Land was also allotted to the other clans in the tribe of Manasseh: The clans of Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. These had been the names of Manasseh’s male descendants (he himself had been a son of Joseph). Assignments of land were made for each clan.

Now Zelophehad son of Hepher, a descendant of Gilead, who had been the son of Makir and grandson of Manasseh, had no sons. He had only daughters, and their names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milkah, and Tirzah.

These women went to Eleazar (the leader of all the priests), and to Joshua and the other Israelite leaders. They said, “We want you to give us some land, because Yahweh told Moses that he should give to us some land, just as you have given to the men in our tribe.” So Eleazar did what Yahweh had commanded: He assigned some land to them, just as he had done for their uncles.

So the tribe of Manasseh eventually had ten sections of land west of the Jordan River and two sections on the east side of the Jordan River in Gilead.

And these women in the tribe of Manasseh also were assigned land on the west side of the river just like the men. The other parts of Gilead were assigned to the rest of the people of Manasseh.

The land assigned to the tribe of Manasseh was between the land where the tribe of Asher lives and Mikmethath, near Shechem. The border extended south to the spring of Tappuah.

The land near the city of Tappuah belonged to the tribe of Manasseh. But Tappuah itself was on the border with the tribe of Ephraim and in fact belonged to the Ephraimites.

The border extended down south to the brook of Kanah, and all the cities south of that stream belonged to Manasseh. The border of Manasseh was on the north side of the brook of Kanah; it extended to the Mediterranean Sea.

The land to the south belong to Ephraim and the land to the north belonged to the tribe of Manasseh; the Mediterranean Sea was Manasseh’s border. The tribe of Asher was on the north side of the boundary, while the tribe of Issachar was to the east.

But there were cities inside the territory assigned to the tribes of Issachar and Asher, that, along with their surrounding villages, were in fact assigned to people from the tribe of Manasseh. These cities were Beth Shan, Ibleam, Dor, Endor, Taanach, and Megiddo (and the third city in the list is Napheth).

The men of the tribe of Manasseh were not able to force the people who lived in those cities to leave, so the Canaanite people continued to live in their land.

When the people of Israel grew strong they forced those Canaanites to work for them as slaves but they were not able to take their land away from them.

The descendants of Joseph (that is, the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh) said to Joshua, “You have assigned to us only one area of land, but we have a great number of people in our tribes. In every way Yahweh has blessed us, so why did you give us only a small portion of land to live on?”

Joshua replied to them, “Since you have a lot of people, go up and cut down the trees in the forest and make a place for your crops and for yourselves to live in the land of the Perizzites and the Raphaim. This is what you must do, since the hill country is too cramped for you to live there.”

The people of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh replied, “The hill country is not big enough for us. But we cannot spread out into the plain because of the Canaanites who live on it. The Canaanites in Beth Shan and the surrounding villages have chariots with iron wheels.”

Joshua replied to the house of Joseph, that is, to Ephraim and Manasseh; he said, “Your people are indeed very numerous and very powerful. So I will make one more assignment of land for you:

the hill country will belong to you, too. You will have to cut down the trees in order to make it your own, and to make a place for you to live. You will drive out the Canaanites, even though they are strong and have chariots with iron wheels.”

This was the lot for the tribe of Manasseh, for he was the firstborn of Joseph. As for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, because he was a man of war, therefore he had Gilead and Bashan.

So this was for the rest of the children of Manasseh according to their families: for the children of Abiezer, for the children of Helek, for the children of Asriel, for the children of Shechem, for the children of Hepher, and for the children of Shemida. These were the male children of Manasseh the son of Joseph according to their families.

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

They came to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the princes, saying, “The LORD commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brothers.” Therefore according to the commandment of the LORD he gave them an inheritance among the brothers of their father.

Ten parts fell to Manasseh, in addition to the land of Gilead and Bashan, which is beyond the Jordan;

because the daughters of Manasseh had an inheritance among his sons. The land of Gilead belonged to the rest of the sons of Manasseh.

The border of Manasseh was from Asher to Michmethath, which is before Shechem. The border went along to the right hand, to the inhabitants of En Tappuah.

The land of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh; but Tappuah on the border of Manasseh belonged to the children of Ephraim.

The border went down to the brook of Kanah, southward of the brook. These cities belonged to Ephraim among the cities of Manasseh. The border of Manasseh was on the north side of the brook, and ended at the sea.

Southward it was Ephraim’s, and northward it was Manasseh’s, and the sea was his border. They reached to Asher on the north, and to Issachar on the east.

Manasseh had three heights in Issachar, in Asher Beth Shean and its towns, and Ibleam and its towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, and the inhabitants of Endor and its towns, and the inhabitants of Taanach and its towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns.

Yet the children of Manasseh couldn’t drive out the inhabitants of those cities; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.

When the children of Israel had grown strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, and didn’t utterly drive them out.

The children of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, “Why have you given me just one lot and one part for an inheritance, since we are a numerous people, because the LORD has blessed us so far?”

Joshua said to them, “If you are a numerous people, go up to the forest, and clear land for yourself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the Rephaim, since the hill country of Ephraim is too narrow for you.”

The children of Joseph said, “The hill country is not enough for us. All the Canaanites who dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both those who are in Beth Shean and its towns, and those who are in the valley of Jezreel.”

Joshua spoke to the house of Joseph, that is, to Ephraim and to Manasseh, saying, “You are a numerous people, and have great power. You shall not have one lot only;

but the hill country shall be yours. Although it is a forest, you shall cut it down, and it’s farthest extent shall be yours; for you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have chariots of iron, and though they are strong.”