Joshua 17:1 ¶ There was also a lot for the tribe of Manasseh; for he was the firstborn of Joseph; to wit, for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead: because he was a man of war, therefore he had Gilead and Bashan. 2 There was also a lot for the rest of the children of Manasseh by their families; for the children of Abiezer, and for the children of Helek, and for the children of Asriel, and for the children of Shechem, and for the children of Hepher, and for the children of Shemida: these were the male children of Manasseh the son of Joseph by their families. 3 But Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, had no sons, but daughters: and these are the names of his daughters, Mahlah, and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 4 And they came near before Eleazar the priest, and before Joshua the son of Nun, and before the princes, saying, The LORD commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brethren. Therefore according to the commandment of the LORD he gave them an inheritance among the brethren of their father. 5 And there fell ten portions to Manasseh, beside the land of Gilead and Bashan, which were on the other side Jordan; 6 Because the daughters of Manasseh had an inheritance among his sons: and the rest of Manasseh’s sons had the land of Gilead.
Some verses that pertain to verse 1 in chapter 17 here are;
Genesis 41:51 And Joseph
called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me
forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.
Genesis 50:23 And Joseph
saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation: the children also of Machir the
son of Manasseh were brought up upon Joseph’s knees.
Numbers 26:29 Of the sons
of Manasseh: of Machir, the family of the Machirites: and Machir begat Gilead:
of Gilead come the family of the Gileadites.
This is a reference to the tribe, identifying it by its founders,
who are not still alive at this writing.
Commentators in the past have said that the descendants of Machir
and Gilead, the Gileadites received this possession because they were warlike
and brave, and possibly also because of their numbers being able to subdue and
occupy the land. The rest of the children of Manasseh did get an inheritance as
well.
See previous comments on this demand from the daughters;
themselves
together against the LORD in the company of Korah; but died in his own sin, and
had no sons. 4 Why should the name of
our father be done away from among his
family,
because he hath no son? Give unto us therefore a possession among the
brethren of our father. 5 And Moses
brought their cause before the LORD. 6
And the LORD spake
unto
Moses, saying, 7 The daughters of
Zelophehad speak right: thou shalt surely give them a possession of an
inheritance among their father’s brethren; and thou shalt cause
the
inheritance of their father to pass unto them. 8 And thou shalt speak unto the children of
Israel, saying, If a man die, and have no son, then ye shall cause his
inheritance to
pass
unto his daughter. 9 And if he have no
daughter, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his brethren. 10 And if he have no brethren, then ye shall
give his inheritance unto his father’s brethren. 11 And if his father have no brethren, then ye
shall give his inheritance unto his kinsman that is next to him of his family,
and he shall possess it: and it shall be unto the children of Israel a statute
of judgment, as the LORD commanded Moses.
Provision is
made for inheritance through daughters or other near relatives when there are
no sons to keep the inherited land within a tribe and in spite of the fact that
the father died in his own sin whatever that was although it was
certainly not in the rebellion of Korah. The complication we will learn in
chapter 36 is that if those daughters marry outside of their tribe the
inheritance goes with them to the other tribe as the heads of the tribes
understood the rule but God clarified that the inheritance was not to change
tribes and that a daughter must marry within her tribe. We’ll discuss this more
when we get to chapter 36.
Numbers 36:5 ¶ And Moses
commanded the children of Israel according to the word of the LORD, saying, The
tribe of the sons of Joseph hath said well. 6
This is the thing which the LORD doth command concerning the
daughters of Zelophehad, saying, Let them marry to whom they think best; only
to the family of the tribe of their father shall they marry. 7 So shall not the inheritance of the children
of Israel remove from tribe to tribe: for every one of the children of Israel
shall keep himself to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. 8 And every daughter, that possesseth an
inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel, shall be wife unto one of
the family of the tribe of her father, that the children of Israel may enjoy
every man the inheritance of his fathers. 9
Neither shall the inheritance remove from one tribe to another
tribe; but every one of the tribes of the children of Israel shall keep himself
to his own inheritance. 10 Even as the
LORD commanded Moses, so did the daughters of Zelophehad: 11 For Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah,
and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married unto their father’s
brothers’ sons: 12 And they were
married into the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their
inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father. 13 These are the commandments and the
judgments, which the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses unto the children of
Israel in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho.
The solution
to this problem is laid out by Moses. The daughters of Zelophehad can inherit
their father’s property but it must remain in the tribe to whom it belongs.”
Joshua 17:7 ¶ And the coast
of Manasseh was from Asher to Michmethah, that lieth before Shechem; and
the border went along on the right hand unto the inhabitants of Entappuah.
8 Now Manasseh had the land of
Tappuah: but Tappuah on the border of Manasseh belonged to the children
of Ephraim; 9 And the coast descended
unto the river Kanah, southward of the river: these cities of Ephraim are
among the cities of Manasseh: the coast of Manasseh also was on the
north side of the river, and the outgoings of it were at the sea: 10 Southward it was Ephraim’s, and
northward it was Manasseh’s, and the sea is his border; and they met
together in Asher on the north, and in Issachar on the east. 11 And Manasseh had in Issachar and in Asher
Bethshean and her towns, and Ibleam and her towns, and the inhabitants of Dor
and her towns, and the inhabitants of Endor and her towns, and the inhabitants
of Taanach and her towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns, even
three countries. 12 Yet the children of
Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities; but the
Canaanites would dwell in that land. 13
Yet it came to pass, when the children of Israel were waxen strong, that
they put the Canaanites to tribute; but did not utterly drive them out.
Notice the following;
Judges 1:27 Neither did
Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Bethshean and her towns, nor Taanach and
her towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, nor the inhabitants of
Ibleam and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns: but the
Canaanites would dwell in that land.
Here is the danger of these failures.
Exodus 23:32 Thou shalt
make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.
And it’s not just a spiritual danger but a political one as well
as in Deborah’s song.
Judges 5:19 The kings came
and fought, then fought the kings of Canaan in Taanach by the waters of
Megiddo; they took no gain of money.
Joshua 17:14 ¶ And the
children of Joseph spake unto Joshua, saying, Why hast thou given me but
one lot and one portion to inherit, seeing I am a great people,
forasmuch as the LORD hath blessed me hitherto? 15 And Joshua answered them, If thou be a
great people, then get thee up to the wood country, and cut down
for thyself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the giants, if mount
Ephraim be too narrow for thee. 16 And
the children of Joseph said, The hill is not enough for us: and all the
Canaanites that dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both
they who are of Bethshean and her towns, and they who are
of the valley of Jezreel. 17 And Joshua
spake unto the house of Joseph, even to Ephraim and to Manasseh, saying,
Thou art a great people, and hast great power: thou shalt not have one
lot only: 18 But the mountain
shall be thine; for it is a wood, and thou shalt cut it down: and the
outgoings of it shall be thine: for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though
they have iron chariots, and though they be strong.
The children of Joseph can refer to Manasseh and Ephraim.
Joshua 14:4 For the
children of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim: therefore they gave
no part unto the Levites in the land, save cities to dwell in, with their
suburbs for their cattle and for their substance.
Joshua 16:4 So the children
of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance.
Manasseh and Ephraim are complaining, boasting about their
greatness. Joshua gives them a fitting answer to chastise AND to encourage.
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