J
O S H U A
CHAP. XVI.
It
is a pity that this and the following chapter should be separated, for both of
them give us the lot of the children of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, who,
next to Judah, were to have the post of honour, and therefore had the first
and best portion in the northern part of Canaan, as Judah now had in the
southern part. In this chapter we have, I. A general account of the lot of
these two tribes together, ver. 1-4. II. The borders of the lot of Ephraim in
particular, ver. 5-10. That of Manasseh following in the next chapter.
|
The
Lot
of Joseph.
|
B.
C. 1444.
|
|
|
1 And the lot of the
children of Joseph fell from Jordan by Jericho, unto the water of Jericho on
the east, to the wilderness that goeth up from Jericho throughout mount
Beth-el, 2 And goeth out from Beth-el to Luz, and passeth along
unto the borders of Archi to Ataroth, 3 And goeth down westward to
the coast of Japhleti, unto the coast of Beth-horon the nether, and to Gezer:
and the goings out thereof are at the sea. 4 So the children of
Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance.
Though Joseph was one of the younger sons of Jacob, yet he was his eldest by
his most just and best beloved wife Rachel, was himself his best beloved
son, and had been the greatest ornament and support of his family, kept it
from perishing in a time of famine, and had been the shepherd and stone of
Israel, and therefore his posterity were very much favoured by the lot.
Their portion lay in the very heart of the land of Canaan. It extended from
Jordan in the east (v. 1) to the sea, the Mediterranean Sea, in the
west, so that it took up the whole breadth of Canaan from side to side; and no
question the fruitfulness of the soil answered the blessings both of Jacob and
Moses, Gen. xlix. 25, 26, and Deut. xxxiii. 13, &c. The portions allotted
to Ephraim and Manasseh are not so particularly described as those of the
other tribes; we have only the limits and boundaries of them, not the
particular cities in them, as before we had the cities of Judah and afterwards
those of the other tribes. For this no reason can be assigned, unless we may
suppose that Joshua being himself of the children of Joseph they referred it
to him alone to distribute among them the several cities that lay within their
lot, and therefore did not bring in the names of their cities to the great
council of their princes who sat upon this affair, by which means it came to
pass that they were not inserted with the rest in the books.
|
The
Inheritance of Joseph's Children.
|
B.
C. 1444.
|
|
|
5 And the border of the
children of Ephraim according to their families was thus: even the
border of their inheritance on the east side was Ataroth-addar, unto Beth-horon
the upper; 6 And the border went out toward the sea to Michmethah
on the north side; and the border went about eastward unto Taanath-shiloh, and
passed by it on the east to Janohah; 7 And it went down from
Janohah to Ataroth, and to Naarath, and came to Jericho, and went out at
Jordan. 8 The border went out from Tappuah westward unto the river
Kanah; and the goings out thereof were at the sea. This is the
inheritance of the tribe of the children of Ephraim by their families.
9 And the separate cities for the children of Ephraim were among the
inheritance of the children of Manasseh, all the cities with their
villages. 10 And they drave not out the Canaanites that dwelt in
Gezer: but the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites unto this day, and serve
under tribute.
Here, 1. The border of the lot of Ephraim is set down, by which it was divided
on the south from Benjamin and Dan, who lay between it and Judah, and on the
north from Manasseh; for east and west it reached from Jordan to the great
sea. The learned, who aim to be exact in drawing the line according to the
directions here, find themselves very much at a loss, the description being
short and intricate. The report of those who in these latter ages have
travelled those countries will not serve to clear the difficulties, so vastly
unlike is it now to what it was then; not only cities have been so destroyed
as that no mark nor footstep of them remains, but brooks are dried up, rivers
alter their courses, and even the mountain falling cometh to nought, and
the rock is removed out of his place, Job xiv. 18. Unless I could hope to
solve the doubts that arise upon this draught of the border of Ephraim, it is
to no purpose to mention them: no doubt it was then perfectly understood, so
as that the first intention of recording it was effectually answered, which
was to notify the ancient landmarks, which posterity must by no means remove.
2. Some separate cities are spoken of, that lay not within these borders, at
least not if the line was drawn direct, but lay within the lot of Manasseh (v.
9), which might better be read, and there were separate cities for the
children of Ephraim among the inheritance of the children of Manasseh,
because it proved that Manasseh could spare them, and Ephraim had need of
them, and it might be hoped that no inconvenience would arise from this
mixture of these two tribes together, who were both the sons of Joseph, and
should love as brethren. And by this it appears that though, when the
tribes were numbered in the plains of Moab, Manasseh had got the start of
Ephraim in number, for Manasseh was then 52,000, and Ephraim but 32,000 (Num.
xxvi. 34, 37), yet by the time they were well settled in Canaan the hands were
crossed again, and the blessing of Moses was verified, Deut. xxxiii. 17, They
are the ten thousands of Ephraim and they are the thousands of Manasseh.
Families and kingdoms are diminished and increased, increased and diminished
again, as God pleases. 3. A brand is put upon the Ephraimites, that they did
not drive out the Canaanites from Gezer (v. 10), either through
carelessness or cowardice, either for want of faith in the promise of God,
that he would give them success if they would make a vigorous effort, or for
want of zeal for the command of God, which obliged them utterly to drive
out the Canaanites, and to make no peace with them. And, though they hoped
to satisfy the law by putting them under tribute, yet (as Calvin thinks) this
made the matter worse, for it shows that they spared them out of covetousness,
that they might be profited by their labours, and by dealing with them for
their tribute they were in danger of being infected with their idolatry; yet
some think that, when they brought them under tribute, they obliged them to
renounce their idols, and to observe the seven precepts of the sons of Noah;
and I should think so, but that we find in the sequel of the story that the
Israelites were so far from restraining idolatry in others that they soon fell
into it themselves. Many famous places were within this lot of the tribe of
Ephraim, though not mentioned here. In it were Ramah, Samuel's city (called in
the New Testament Arimathea, of which Joseph was, that took care of our
Saviour's burial), and Shiloh, where the tabernacle was first set up. Tirzah
also, the royal city of Jeroboam and his successors, and Deborah's palm-tree,
under which she judged Israel, were in this tribe. Samaria, built by Omri
after the burning of the royal palace of Tirzah, was in this tribe, and was
long the royal city of the kingdom of the ten tribes; not far from it were
Shechem, and the mountains Ebal and Gerizim, and Sychar, near which was
Jacob's well, where Christ talked with the woman of Samaria. We read much of
Mount Ephraim in the story of the Judges, and of a city called Ephraim,
it is probable in this tribe, to which Christ retired, John xi. 54. The whole
kingdom of the ten tribes is often, in the prophets, especially in Hosea,
called Ephraim.
Contents
|
Next
Section
