Jos 16:5-8 | MHM | STEP | Joshua 16:5 – The Inheritance of Joseph’s Children This passage explains how the land was divided for the tribe of Ephraim, one of Joseph’s sons. The borders of Ephraim’s territory are described, but not all the details are clear to us today because the land has changed a lot over time. Some cities given to Ephraim were actually inside Manasseh’s land, showing cooperation between the two tribes since both were descendants of Joseph. The passage also points out that Ephraim did not remove all the Canaanites from their land, especially those in Gezer. This lack of faith and obedience would later cause problems. Many important places in Israel’s history were in this area, like Shiloh, Samaria, and places connected to Samuel and Deborah. In the prophets, the whole northern kingdom is often called “Ephraim.” v. 5–8 : The borders of Ephraim’s land are listed. On the south, Ephraim was separated from Benjamin and Dan, and on the north from Manasseh. The land reached from the Jordan River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west (Joshua 16:1, 5-8 ). The exact border is hard to understand now because the land has changed so much since Bible times. Cities and rivers have disappeared or changed course (Job 14:18 ). But the main purpose was to record the old borders for future generations, so no one would move them.

‏ Joshua 16:5-8

Joshua 16:5 – The Inheritance of Joseph’s Children

This passage explains how the land was divided for the tribe of Ephraim, one of Joseph’s sons. The borders of Ephraim’s territory are described, but not all the details are clear to us today because the land has changed a lot over time. Some cities given to Ephraim were actually inside Manasseh’s land, showing cooperation between the two tribes since both were descendants of Joseph. The passage also points out that Ephraim did not remove all the Canaanites from their land, especially those in Gezer. This lack of faith and obedience would later cause problems. Many important places in Israel’s history were in this area, like Shiloh, Samaria, and places connected to Samuel and Deborah. In the prophets, the whole northern kingdom is often called “Ephraim.”

v. 5–8: The borders of Ephraim’s land are listed. On the south, Ephraim was separated from Benjamin and Dan, and on the north from Manasseh. The land reached from the Jordan River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west (Joshua 16:1, 5-8 ^a). The exact border is hard to understand now because the land has changed so much since Bible times. Cities and rivers have disappeared or changed course (Job 14:18 ^b). But the main purpose was to record the old borders for future generations, so no one would move them.

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