Joshua 17

1 And the borders of the tribe of the children of Manasse, (for he [was] the first-born of Joseph, ) [assigned] to Machir the first-born of Manasse the father of Galaad, for he was a warrior, [were] in the land of Galaad and of Basan.

This was the allocation to the tribe of Manasseh, Joseph's firstborn son. Machir was Manasseh's firstborn son who was the father of Gilead. Because Machir had been an excellent fighter, Gilead and Bashan had already been allocated to him.

2 And there was [land] assigned to the other sons of Manasse according to their families; to the sons of Jezi, and to the sons of Kelez, and to the sons of Jeziel, and to the sons of Sychem, and to the sons of Symarim, and to the sons of Opher: these [are] the males according to their families.

The allocation was for the rest of the tribe of Manasseh, to the families of Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. These were the male descendants of Manasseh, the son of Joseph, by families.

3 And Salpaad the sons of Opher had no sons but daughters: and these [are] the names of the daughters of Salpaad; Maala, and Nua, and Egla, and Melcha, and Thersa.

But Zelophehad, son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, had no sons. He only had daughters, whose names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

4 And they stood before Eleazar the priest, and before Joshua, and before the rulers, saying, God gave a charge by the hand of Moses, to give us an inheritance in the midst of our brethren: so there was given to them by the command of the Lord an inheritance among the brethren of their father.

They approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the leaders, and told them, “The Lord ordered Moses to give us an allocation of land along with our brothers.” So Joshua allotted land to them along with their brothers, as the Lord had ordered.

5 And their lot fell [to them] from Anassa, and [to the] plain of Labec of the land of Galaad, which is beyond Jordan.

Consequently Manasseh received ten shares of land beside the land of Gilead and Bashan on the other side of the Jordan,

6 For the daughters of the sons of Manasse inherited a portion in the midst of their brethren, and the land of Galaad was assigned to the remainder of the sons of Manasse.

because the daughters of the tribe of Manasseh received an allocation along with the sons. (The land of Gilead had been allotted to the rest of the descendants of Manasseh).

7 And the borders of the sons of Manasse were Delanath, which is before the sons of Anath, and it proceeds to the borders [even] to Jamin and Jassib to the fountain of Thaphthoth.

The boundary of the tribe of Manasseh ran from Asher to Michmethath, near Shechem, then south to the spring of Tappuah.

8 It shall belong to Manasse, and Thapheth on the borders of Manasse [shall belong] to the sons of Ephraim.

The land around Tappuah was allocated to Manasseh, but the town of Tappuah, which was on the border of Manasseh's land, was allocated to Ephraim.

9 And the borders shall go down to the valley of Carana southward by the valley of Jariel, ([there is] a turpentine tree [belonging] to Ephraim between [that and] the city of Manasse: ) and the borders of Manasse [are] northward to the brook; and the sea shall be its termination.

From there the boundary ran down to the valley of Kenah. South of the valley some of the towns belonged to Ephraim among the towns of Manasseh. The boundary ran along the north side of the valley and ended at the sea.

10 Southward [the land belongs] to Ephraim, and northward to Manasse; and the sea shall be their cost; and northward they shall border upon Aseb, and eastward upon Issachar.

To the south the land belonged to Ephraim, and to the north, to Manasseh. The sea is the boundary. The boundary to the north was with Asher, and with Issachar to the east.

11 And Manasses shall have in [the portion of] Issachar and Aser Baethsan and their villages, and the inhabitants of Dor, and its villages, and the inhabitants of Mageddo, and its villages, and the third part of Mapheta, and its villages.

The following towns with their associated villages were allocated to Manasseh but lay within the land of Issachar and Asher: Beth-shan, Ibleam, Dor (on the coast), Endor, Taanach, and Megiddo.

12 And the sons of Manasse were not able to destroy these cities; and the Chananite began to dwell in that land.

But the descendants of Manasseh could not take possession of these towns because the Canaanites were determined to go on occupying the land.

13 And it came to pass that when the children of Israel were strong, they made the Chananites subject, but they did not utterly destroy them.

However, later on, when the Israelites grew strong enough, they made the Canaanites do forced labor—but they did not drive them out.

14 And the sons of Joseph answered Joshua, saying, Wherefore hast thou caused us to inherit one inheritance, and one line? whereas I am a great people, and God has blessed me.

Then the descendants of Joseph came to Joshua and asked him, “Why have you given us only one allocation—only one share of the land—when there's so many of us because the Lord has blessed us so much?”

15 And Joshua said to them, If thou be a great people, go up to the forest, and clear [the land] for thyself, If mount Ephraim be too little for thee.

Joshua told them, “If there's so many of you, if the hill country of Ephraim is too small for you, then go and clear ground for yourselves from the forest in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim.”

16 And they said, The mount of Ephraim does not please us, and the Chananite dwelling in it in Baethsan, and in its villages, [and] in the valley of Jezrael, has choice cavalry and iron.

The descendants of Joseph replied, “The hill country isn't big enough for us, but the Canaanites living in the lowlands have iron chariots, both those in Beth-shan and its villages, and those in the valley of Jezreel.”

17 And Joshua said to the sons of Joseph, If thou art a great people, and hast great strength, thou shalt not have [only] one inheritance.

Joshua said to the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, the descendants of Joseph, “Since you are so many, and you are so strong, you will be given more than just one share.

18 For thou shalt have the wood, for there is a wood, and thou shalt clear it, and [the land] shall be thine; even when thou shalt have utterly destroyed the Chananite, for he has chosen cavalry; yet thou art stronger than he.

You will be allocated the hill country in addition. Though it is forest, you will clear it and own it, from one end to the other. You will drive out the Canaanites, even though they have iron chariots, and even though they are strong.”