The writer may have dealt with the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh together since Jacob had given Joseph the second largest blessing after Judah (Gen. 49). Moreover half the tribe of Manasseh had already received its inheritance, and the remaining half would have been small compared with the other tribes. These one and one-half tribes together formed a large group of Israelites. Their lot fell in central Canaan. Their territory consisted of two parts with Ephraim settling in the southern portion and Manasseh in the northern.
16:1-4 The writer described the whole territory of Joseph first.
16:5-10 The writer traced the borders of Ephraim's allotment here. Ephraim lay north of the area later given to Dan and Benjamin, and south of western Manasseh. The Ephraimites failed to drive out the inhabitants of Gezer (v. 10).
17:1-13 These verses describe the territory of the half tribe of Manasseh west of the Jordan and north of Ephraim. It extended north to the valley of Jezreel. The Manassehites also failed to exterminate all the Canaanites in their area (vv. 12-13).
17:14-18 The extent of the territory given these two tribes was not sufficient for them, in their opinion. Consequently they asked Joshua for more land. He dealt with them very diplomatically by complimenting and encouraging them (v. 18). Their complaint seems to have sprung from a spirit of carnality (cf. v. 16).175They did not share Caleb's spirit (14:6-15). Evidently they counted as their land only the parts that were then easily accessible to them. They discounted the forested areas that needed clearing and the parts dominated by the Perizzites and the Rephaim (v. 15). Joshua assured them that when they subdued their inheritance it would prove adequate for them (v. 18).
"The purpose of inserting this episode at the conclusion of the description of Joseph's portion may be to alert the reader to the fact that the promised land, if it is to be possessed, requires the activity of the tribes, who must not be deterred by the threats of Canaan's superior military force."176
The writer of the Book of Joshua noted carefully the failures of the tribes to drive the Canaanites out of their territories as well as their successes in doing so (e.g., Caleb). The extent of their occupation of their land depended on the extent of their ability to annihilate the Canaanites by God's power.
