Jos 17 | EE | STEP | Joshua gave part of the land west of the river Jordan to some families of the tribe of Manasseh. Manasseh was Joseph’s oldest son. Manasseh’s oldest son was Makir, father of Gilead. He had fought very bravely, so Joshua gave him Gilead and Bashan, east of the Jordan.

Joshua 17

West Manasseh

1 Joshua gave part of the land west of the river Jordan to some families of the tribe of Manasseh. Manasseh was Joseph’s oldest son. Manasseh’s oldest son was Makir, father of Gilead. He had fought very bravely, so Joshua gave him Gilead and Bashan, east of the Jordan. 2 He gave land west of the Jordan to all the other families of Manasseh. These were: Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher and Shemida. They were all sons of Manasseh, and heads of their families. 3 Zelophehad, son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Makir, son of Manasseh, had no sons. He had only daughters. Their names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah. 4 They went to see Eleazar, the priest and Joshua, son of Nun and the leaders. They said, ‘The LORD told Moses to give us part of the land. We must have land like the sons of other families.’ So, Eleazar and Joshua gave them land, like the other families. 5 That is why they gave Manasseh 10 parts of the land as well as Gilead and Bashan on the east side of the Jordan. 6 They gave some daughters of Manasseh land as well as his sons. They gave the land of Gilead to the rest of the families of Manasseh.

7 The edge of the land of Manasseh was from Asher to Michmethath east of Shechem. It went south to include En Tappuah. 8 Manasseh had the land near Tappuah, but the town of Tappuah belonged to the sons of Ephraim. 9 The edge of Manasseh’s land went down to the little river of Kanah. The cities south of the river that belonged to Ephraim were in Manasseh’s land. The edge of Manasseh’s land was along the north side of the river to the sea. 10 Ephraim was south of the river, and Manasseh to the north. The sea was to the west of them both. Asher was north and west of them, and Issachar to the north and east. 11 Beth Shan and Ibleam and the towns near them that belonged to Manasseh were in the lands of Issachar and Asher. Dor (by the sea), Endor, Taanach, Megiddo and the towns near them also belonged to Manasseh. 12 But the people of Manasseh could not push out the people who lived in those cities. So the Canaanite people went on living there. 13 Some of them continued to live there, even when the people of Israel became strong. But the Israelites made the Canaanites work for them.

Joseph’s sons ask for more land

14 Joseph’s sons asked Joshua, ‘Why have you given us only one part of the land to live in? The LORD has been good to us, and there are very many of us.’

15 Joshua said to them, ‘If there are so many of you, and the hills of Ephraim are too small for you, take more land. Cut down trees in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim.’

16 They replied, ‘The hills are not big enough for us. But the Canaanites in Beth Shan and its towns and in the valley of Jezreel have iron chariots.’

17 Joshua said to the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, ‘There certainly are a lot of you. And you are very strong. I will give you more than one part. 18 You will have the hills. They are full of trees, but you will cut them down. You will take the land from one end to the other. I know that the Canaanites are a strong people. They have iron chariots, but you will push the Canaanites out.’