Joshua 17:1-13

17:1 The tribe of Manasseh, Joseph’s firstborn son, was also allotted land. ¹  The descendants of Makir, Manasseh’s firstborn and the father of Gilead, received land, for they were warriors. ²  They were assigned Gilead and Bashan. ³  17:2 The rest of Manasseh’s descendants were also assigned land ⁴  by their clans, including the descendants of Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. These are the male descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph by their clans.

17:3 Now 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. 17:4 They went before Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the leaders and said, “The Lord told Moses to assign us land among our relatives.” ⁵  So Joshua ⁶  assigned them land among their uncles, as the Lord had commanded. ⁷  17:5 Manasseh was allotted ten shares of land, ⁸  in addition to the land of Gilead and Bashan east of the Jordan, 17:6 for the daughters of Manasseh were assigned land among his sons. The land of Gilead belonged to the rest of the descendants of Manasseh.

17:7 The border of Manasseh went ⁹  from Asher to Micmethath which is near ¹⁰  Shechem. It then went south toward those who live in Tappuah. 17:8 (The land of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but Tappuah, located on the border of Manasseh, belonged to the tribe of Ephraim.) 17:9 The border then descended southward to the Valley of Kanah. Ephraim was assigned cities there among the cities of Manasseh, ¹¹  but the border of Manasseh was north of the valley and ended at the sea. 17:10 Ephraim’s territory was to the south, and Manasseh’s to the north. The sea was Manasseh’s ¹²  western border and their territory ¹³  touched Asher on the north and Issachar on the east. 17:11 Within Issachar’s and Asher’s territory Manasseh was assigned Beth Shean, Ibleam, the residents of Dor, En Dor, the residents of Taanach, the residents of Megiddo, ¹⁴  the three of Napheth, ¹⁵  and the towns surrounding all these cities. ¹⁶  17:12 But the men ¹⁷  of Manasseh were unable to conquer these cities; the Canaanites managed ¹⁸  to remain in those areas. 17:13 Whenever the Israelites were strong militarily, they forced the Canaanites to do hard labor, but they never totally conquered them. ¹⁹ 

[17:1]  ¹ tn Heb “and the lot belonged to the tribe of Manasseh, for he was the firstborn of Joseph.”

[17:1]  ² tn Heb “to Makir, the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, for he was a man of war.”

[17:1]  ³ tn Heb “Gilead and Bashan belonged to him.”

[17:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “and it belonged to the sons of Manasseh who remained.”

[17:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “The Lord commanded Moses to assign to us an inheritance in the midst of our brothers.” Since Zelophehad had no sons, “brothers” must refer to their uncles, as the next sentence makes clear.

[17:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “he.” The referent is probably Joshua, although Eleazar is mentioned first in the preceding list.

[17:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “and he assigned to them in accordance with the mouth [i.e., command] of the Lord an inheritance in the midst of the brothers of their father.”

[17:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “and the allotted portions of Manasseh fell out ten.”

[17:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “was.”

[17:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in front of”; perhaps “east of.”

[17:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “these cities belonged to Ephraim in the midst of the cities of Manasseh.”

[17:10]  ¹² tn Heb “his”; the referent (Manasseh) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “they”; the referent (their territory) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:11]  ¹⁴ map For location see Map1 D4; Map2 C1; Map4 C2; Map5 F2; Map7 B1.

[17:11]  ¹⁵ tn Or “the third [is] Napheth”; or “Napheth-dor.” The meaning of the Hebrew phrase is uncertain.

[17:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Beth Shean and its surrounding towns, Ibleam and its surrounding towns, the residents of Dor and its surrounding towns, the residents of En Dor and its surrounding towns, the residents of Taanach and its surrounding towns, the residents of Megiddo and its surrounding towns, three of Nepheth.”

[17:12]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “sons”; “men” has been used in the translation because the context involves the conquest of cities; therefore, warriors (hence males) would be in view here.

[17:12]  ¹⁸ tn Or “were determined.”

[17:13]  ¹⁹ sn On the Israelites’ failure to conquer the Canaanites completely, see Judg 1:27-28.