Joshua 17:14-18
17:14 a Joseph’s one portion is described in 16:1-4 b. The descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh received portions that, when combined, were larger than the allotment of any other tribe.17:15 c The Perizzites lived in Canaan when Israel’s conquest began.
• Rephaites: See study note on 12:4; see also Deut 2:10-11 d, 20-21 e; 3:11 f.
17:16 g As a result of the Canaanites’ iron chariots, Ephraim and Manasseh were restricted to the hill country in the early part of the settlement period (see study note on 11:4).
• The valley of Jezreel, a geological interruption of the hill country, separated Lower Galilee to the north from the hill country of Manasseh to the south. The Canaanites living in and near it and the valley of Beth-shan restricted Manasseh’s expansion and apparently Ephraim’s as well. Most of the towns named in 17:11 h were on the edges of these valleys.
Summary for Josh 17:17-18: 17:17-18 i Rather than rebuke the people for their fear, Joshua repeated his instructions to clear forest land for settlement. His promise that the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh would eventually drive out the Canaanites gave them a hope by which they could enlarge their faith and conquer their fear.
• Much of the hill country was forested, and Canaanite settlement was sparse there. If Ephraim and Manasseh had contented themselves with land already cleared, they would have had little room for settlement. With the introduction of iron technology at about this time, including iron axe heads, the people of these tribes could clear the virgin forests and open up new land for settlement. Joshua might have set an example by being the first to clear his own homestead at Timnath-serah (19:50 j), a forested region in the Ephraimite hill country.
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