Manasseh’s Western Inheritance 1 UST This is a description of the land that the Israelite leaders gave to the tribe of Manasseh, the descendants of the oldest son of Joseph. Manasseh’ s oldest son was Machir, and his grandson was Gilead. Their descendants were great soldiers, so Moses gave them land that they conquered in the regions of Gilead and Bashan. BSB BSB: Now this was the allotment for the tribe of Manasseh as Joseph’s firstborn son, namely for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh and father of the Gileadites, who had received Gilead and Bashan because Machir was a man of war.
2 UST The Israelite leaders gave land on the west side of the Jordan River to the other clans that were descendants of Manasseh. The were the clans of Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. Manasseh was a son of Joseph, and those were the names of his male descendants. BSB BSB: So this allotment was for the rest of the descendants of Manasseh—the clans of Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. These are the other male descendants of the clans of Manasseh son of Joseph.
3 UST There was a man whose name was Zelophehad. His father was Hepher, his grandfather was Gilead, his great- grandfather was Machir, and his great- great- grandfather was Manasseh. Zelphehad had no sons. He only had daughters. Their names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milkah, and Tirzah. BSB BSB: But Zelophehad son of Hepher (the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh) had no sons but only daughters. These are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.
4 UST These women went to speak with Eleazar the high priest, to Joshua, and to the other Israelite leaders. They told them,“We want you to give us some land just as you have given to the men in our tribe. Yahweh told Moses that he should give to us some land.” So Eleazar did what Yahweh had commanded. He gave some land to the daughters of Zelophehad, just as he had done for their uncles. BSB BSB: They approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the leaders, and said, “The LORD commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brothers.” So Joshua gave them an inheritance among their father’s brothers, in keeping with the command of the LORD.
5 UST 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 Bashan. BSB BSB: Thus ten shares fell to Manasseh, in addition to the land of Gilead and Bashan beyond the Jordan,
6 UST That was because the Israelite leaders gave land on the west side of the Jordan River to these female descendants of Manasseh, just as they had given to his male descendants The leaders had also given land in the region of Gilead to other descendants of Manasseh. BSB BSB: because the daughters of Manasseh received an inheritance among his sons. And the land of Gilead belonged to the rest of the sons of Manasseh.
7 UST The land that the leaders gave to the tribe of Manasseh was between the land where the tribe of Asher lives and the town of Mikmethath, which is near the city of Shechem. The border of this land extended south to the spring of Tappuah. BSB BSB: Now the border of Manasseh went from Asher to Michmethath near Shechem, then southward to include the inhabitants of En-tappuah.
8 UST 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 it belonged to the Ephraimites. BSB BSB: The region of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but Tappuah itself, on the border of Manasseh, belonged to Ephraim.
9 UST The border extended south to the brook of Kanah. All the cities south of that stream belonged to the tribe of Ephraim. The border of Manasseh was on the north side of the brook of Kanah. It extended to the Great Sea. BSB BSB: From there the border continued southward to the Brook of Kanah. There were cities belonging to Ephraim among the cities of Manasseh, but the border of Manasseh was on the north side of the brook and ended at the Sea.
10 UST The land to the south belonged to the tribe of Ephraim, and the land to the north belonged to the tribe of Manasseh. The Great 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. BSB BSB: Ephraim’s territory was to the south, and Manasseh’s was to the north, having the Sea as its border and adjoining Asher on the north and Issachar on the east.
11 UST But there were cities inside the territory of the tribes of Issachar and Asher that belonged to people from the tribe of Manasseh. So did the towns around these cities. These cities were Beth Shan, Ibleam, Dor, Endor, Taanach, and Megiddo. Those last three cities are in the hilly area around the city of Dor. BSB BSB: Within Issachar and Asher, Manasseh was assigned Beth-shean, Ibleam, Dor (that is, Naphath), Endor, Taanach, and Megiddo, each with their surrounding settlements.
12 UST The men of the tribe of Manasseh were not able to force the people who lived in those cities to leave. The Canaanite people resisted them and continued to live in their land. BSB BSB: But the descendants of Manasseh were unable to occupy these cities, because the Canaanites were determined to stay in this land.
13 UST When the people of Israel became strong enough, they forced those Canaanites to work for them as slaves. But they were not able to take their land away from them. BSB BSB: However, when the Israelites grew stronger, they put the Canaanites to forced labor; but they failed to drive them out completely.
14 UST Some representatives of the descendants of Joseph(that is, of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh) came to speak with Joshua. They told him,“Yahweh has blessed us by giving us many children. So you should have given us more than one small portion of land to live on.” BSB BSB: Then the sons of Joseph said to Joshua, “Why have you given us only one portion as an inheritance? We have many people, because the LORD has blessed us abundantly.”
15 UST Joshua replied to them,“As you say, there is probably not enough room for you in the hill country we have assigned you. But since you do have a lot of people, you can also occupy the land where the Perizzites and the Raphaites now live. You can go up to that forest area and cut down trees to clear fields where you can plant your crops.” BSB BSB: Joshua answered them, “If you have so many people that the hill country of Ephraim is too small for you, go to the forest and clear for yourself an area in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim.”
16 UST The representatives of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh answered,“The hill country is not big enough for us. But we cannot spread out into the plain because of the Canaanites who live there. The Canaanites in Beth Shan and the surrounding towns have chariots that have iron parts.” BSB BSB: “The hill country is not enough for us,” they replied, “and all the Canaanites who live in the valley have iron chariots, both in Beth-shean with its towns and in the Valley of Jezreel.”
17 UST Joshua replied further to these representatives of the descendants of Joseph, that is, of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. He told them,“Your people are indeed very numerous and very powerful. So I will give you some more land. BSB BSB: So Joshua said to the house of Joseph—to Ephraim and Manasseh—“You have many people and great strength. You shall not have just one allotment,
18 UST The hill country will also belong to you. You will have to cut down the trees in order to clear fields where you can plant crops. But all of that land will belong to you. I also believe that you will be able to force the Canaanites to leave the plain so you can live there. You will be able to do that even though they are strong and have chariots that have iron parts.” BSB BSB: because the hill country will be yours as well. It is a forest; clear it, and its farthest limits will be yours. Although the Canaanites have iron chariots and although they are strong, you can drive them out.”
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.