20 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Joshua 17 This chapter gives an account of the lot that fell to the half tribe of Manasseh, to the male children of Manasseh, and to the daughters of Zelophehad, Joshua 17:1; and describes the coast of that lot, Joshua 17:7; and relates the request of the sons of Joseph, to have their lot enlarged, which was granted, Joshua 17:14.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
There was also a lot for the tribe of Manasseh,.... As well as for the tribe of Ephraim: for he [was] the firstborn of Joseph; and therefore ought to have his part and share in the lot of the children of Joseph, though Ephraim was preferred before him in the blessing of Jacob. Some think this is given as a reason why he had a double portion, one...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
The half tribe of Manasseh comes next to be provided for; and here we have, I. The families of that tribe that were to be portioned, ver. 1-6. II. The country that fell to their lot, ver. 7-13. III. The joint request of the two tribes that descended from Joseph, for the enlargement of their lot, and Joshua's answer to that request, ver. 14-18. The...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
There was also [a lot] for the rest of the children of Manasseh by their families,.... For such that had no part in Gilead and Bashan on the other side Jordan, even for the other half tribe, whose families are particularly mentioned, as follows: for the children of Abiezer; who is called Jeezer in Numbers 26:30; and was a son of Gilead, the son of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, had no sons, but daughters,.... The descent of this man is particularly given, to show the truth and reality of it, upon which his daughters made their request, and that granted and now claimed: and these [are] the names of his daughters, Mahlah, and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they came near before Eleazar the priest, and before Joshua the son of Nun, and before the princes,.... The ten princes, who, with Eleazar and Joshua, were appointed to divide the land, Numbers 34:17; and were now met together for that purpose, Joshua 14:1; saying, the Lord commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brethren; those of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And there fell ten portions to Manasseh, beside the land of Gilead and Bashan, which [were] on the other side Jordan,.... The lot which fell to the half tribe of Manasseh was divided into ten parts: according to the Jewish writers, the six families before mentioned had six parts, and the daughters of Zelophehad had four parts; one on the account...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Because the daughters of Manasseh had an inheritance among his sons,.... Which occasioned such a number of portions; the daughters of Zelophehad are meant, who descended from Manasseh: and the rest of Manasseh, some had the land of Gilead; that is, those besides the six families before expressed, namely, the two families of the Machirites and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the coast of Manasseh was from Asher,.... Not from the border of the tribe of Asher, as Kimchi, in which he is followed by Vatablus; for that was at too great a distance; but a city of the tribe of Manasseh; and in Jerom's (l) time a village of this name was shown fifteen miles from Neapolis or Shechem, as you go from thence to Scythopolis,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
[Now] Manasseh had the land of Tappuah,.... The whole territory that went by that name, from a city of note in it, next mentioned; all the fields and villages in it belonged to the tribe of Manasseh: but Tappuah on the border of Manasseh [belonged] to the children of Ephraim; and was one of those separate cities they had among the inheritance of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the coast descended unto the river Kanah, southward of the river,.... The same mentioned in the account of the coast of Ephraim, Joshua 16:8; which was north of that river, as Manasseh was to the south of it: these cities of Ephraim [are] among the cities of Manasseh; that is, the cities before mentioned, Asher, Michmethah, Entappuah, and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Southward [it was] Ephraim's, and northward [it was] Manasseh's,.... As Ephraim lay to the south of Manasseh, Manasseh lay to the north of Ephraim: and the sea is his border; the Mediterranean sea was their boundary on the west: and they met together in Asher on the north; that is, on the northwest towards the Mediterranean sea, as, at Mount...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Manasseh had in Issachar, and in Asher, Bethshean, and her towns,.... As Ephraim had cities in Manasseh, so had Manasseh cities in these two tribes, which in some parts bordered on it, before described, even the cities following, and the first that is named is Bethshean: this lay in the tribe of Issachar, and was the uttermost border of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Yet the children of Manasseh could not drive out [the inhabitants] of these cities,.... Mentioned in Joshua 17:11; they had not strength at first to do it, or either were negligent and slothful, and suffered them to dwell among them, and did not take the advantage they might have done; and afterwards it was too late, they became too strong and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Yet it came to pass, when the children of Israel were waxed strong,.... Increased in numbers, and became superior to the Canaanites, not only those of the tribe of Manasseh, but of the other tribes also: that they put the Canaanites to tribute; they did not take away their lives, as they were commanded to do, but made them tributaries to them,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the children of Joseph spake unto Joshua,.... Which some understand of the children of Manasseh only; and, indeed, the complaint and arguments used, as well as some circumstances in the account, best agree with them; yet certain it is, that the children of Ephraim accompanied the children of Manasseh, and were present at this interview, as...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Joshua answered them,.... By retorting their own argument upon them: if thou [be] a great people; which he does not deny, as they were for numbers and power: [then] get thee up to the wood [country]; which was near them, and within their borders, and lay on hills and mountains, perhaps the mountains of Gilboa, and therefore are bid to go up:...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the children of Joseph said, the hill is not enough for us,.... Meaning either Mount Ephraim, and all included in it; or it may be rather the wood country on the hills and mountains they were bid to go up to; signifying, that if they could gain that out of the hands of the Perizzites and giants, and clear it of the wood, and make it habitable,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Joshua spake unto the house of Joseph, [even] to Ephraim and to Manasseh,.... From whence it is clear that some of both were present; and they being brethren, and their interests united, and their cities intermixed, it would be to their mutual advantage to have an enlargement; which the tribe of Manasseh wanted more especially, more of their...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But the mountains shall be thine,.... Or "for" (s) it shall be thine; thou shalt get the possession of it, though attended with difficulties that seem insuperable: for, or "if, though" (t) it [is] a wood; the habitation of the Perizzites, and giants, and so dangerous to go un to it, and full of trees, and so seems unprofitable and useless: and...