Joshua 17

1 And then came the lot for the tribe of Menasseh; for he was the first-born of Joseph: to wit, for Machir the first-born of Menasseh, the father of Gil'ad; because he was a man of war, therefore he obtained Gil'ad and Bashan.

[This is a list of] the land that was allotted to the tribe of Manasseh. Manasseh’s oldest son was Makir and his grandson was Gilead. Makir’s descendants were great warriors, so the lands in the Gilead and Bashan regions were allotted to their clan.

2 There was also a lot for the rest of the children of Menasseh after their families; for the children of Abi'ezer, and for the children of Chelek, and for the children of Assriel, and for the children of Shechem, and for the children of Chepher, and for the children of Shemida': these were the male children of Menasseh the son of Joseph after their families.

Land was also allotted to the other clans of the tribe of Manasseh: The clans of Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida.

3 But Zelophchad, the son of Chepher, the son of Gil'ad, the son of Machir, the son of Menasseh, had no sons, but only daughters, and these are the names of his daughters, Machlah, and No'ah, Choglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

Hepher’s son Zelophehad had no sons, but he had five daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

4 And they came near before Elazar the priest, and before Joshua the son of Nun, and before the princes, saying, The Lord commanded Moses to give unto us an inheritance among our brethren. And he gave them, according to the order of the Lord, an inheritance among the brethren of their father.

They went to Eleazar the Supreme Priest, and to Joshua and to the other Israeli leaders. They said, “[We want you to give us some land, because] Yahweh told Moses that he should give to us some land, just like you gave to the men.” So Eleazar did what Yahweh had commanded, and he allotted to them some land, just like he allotted to their uncles.

5 And there fell ten portions of Menasseh, beside the lands of Gil'ad and Bashan, which were on the other side of the Jordan;

So the tribe of Manasseh eventually had ten sections [of land west of the Jordan River] and [two sections, ] Gilead and Bashan, on the east side of the Jordan [River].

6 Because the daughters of Menasseh obtained an inheritance among his sons: and the land of Gil'ad belonged to the rest of the sons of Manasseh.

So those female descendants of Manasseh also were allotted land [on the west side of the river] just like the men were allotted. The other parts of the Gilead area were allotted to the male descendants of Manasseh.

7 And the boundary of Menasseh was from Asher to Michmethath, that lieth before Shechem; and the boundary went along on the right hand unto the inhabitants of 'En-tappuach.

The land allotted to the tribe of Manasseh was between the land where the tribe of Asher lives and Michmethath [town], near Shechem [city]. The border extended south to the Tappuah Spring.

8 To Menasseh belonged the land of Tappuach; but Tappuach on the borders of Menasseh belonged to the children of Ephraim;

The land near the Tappuah area belonged to the tribe of Manasseh, but the town of Tappuah, which was at the border of the land that was allotted to the tribe of Manasseh, was allotted to the tribe of Ephraim.

9 And the boundary descended unto the brook Kanah, southward of the brook; these cities belonging to Ephraim are in the midst of the cities of Menasseh; and the boundary of Menasseh was on the north side of the river, and its terminations were toward the sea:

The border [of the land allotted to the tribe of Manasseh] extended south to Kanah Gorge. From there it extended [west] along the north side of the gorge and ended at the [Mediterranean] Sea.

10 Southward it was Ephraim's, and northward it was Menasseh's, and the sea was [there] his boundary; and on Asher they touched on the north, and on Issachar on the east.

The land on the south side of the gorge belonged to the tribe of Ephraim, and the land on the north side belonged to the tribe of Manasseh. The western border of the land allotted to the tribe of Manasseh was the [Mediterranean] Sea. To the north, the border of their land extended from the land allotted to the tribe of Asher [at the northwest] to the land allotted to the tribe of Issachar [at the northeast.]

11 And to Menasseh belonged in Issachar and in Asher Beth-shean and its towns, and Yible'am and its towns, together with the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, and the inhabitants of 'En-dor and its towns, and the inhabitants of Ta'anach and its towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns, namely the three districts.

But there are cities inside the area allotted to the tribes of Issachar and Asher. Those cities, along with their surrounding villages, were allotted to people from the tribe of Manasseh. These cities are Beth-Shan, Ibleam, Dor (which is also named Naphoth-Dor, ) Endor, Taanach, and Megiddo.

12 Yet the children of Menasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of these cities; but the Canaanites succeeded to dwell in this land;

The men of the tribe of Manasseh were not able to force the people who lived in those cities to leave, so the people of the Canaan people-group continued to live in those cities.

13 Yet it came to pass, when the children of Israel were become strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute; but they did not drive them out.

But [years later] when the Israelis became better [warriors], they forced the Canaan people-group to work for them as slaves, although they did not force them to leave the land.

14 And the children of Joseph spoke unto Joshua, saying, Why hast thou given me but one lot and one portion as an inheritance, seeing I am a numerous people, to which extent the Lord hath hitherto blessed me?

The people of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh said to Joshua, “You allotted to us only one area of land, but there are a lot of us. Yahweh has blessed us very much [with the result that our tribe has grown very large]. So why did you give us only a small part of the land [RHQ]?”

15 And Joshua said unto them, If thou art a numerous people, then get thee up to the wood country, and cut down [a space] for thyself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the Rephaim, if the mountain of Ephraim be too narrow for thee.

Joshua replied to them, “[I agree that] you do not have enough land in the hilly area of the tribe of Ephraim. So, since you have a lot of people, I will allot more land to you, in the hilly region. But you will have to [cut down the trees] in the forest [and] make a place for yourselves in the land where the Periz and Repha people-groups live.”

16 And the children of Joseph said, The mountain will not be enough for us; and chariots of iron are belonging to all the Canaanites that dwell in the land of the valley, to those who are at Beth-shean and its towns, and to those who are in the valley of Yizre'el.

The people of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh replied, “It is true that the land in the hilly area is not big enough for us, but the Canaan people-group who live in the lowlands, in Beth-Shan and the surrounding villages in that area, and in the Jezreel Valley, have iron chariots, [so we will not be able to defeat them]!”

17 And Joshua said unto the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and to Menasseh, as followeth, Thou art a numerous people, and hast great power; thou shalt not have one lot only;

Joshua replied to them, “Your tribe is very numerous and very powerful. So I will allot more land for you in the hilly area,

18 But the mountain shall be thine; it is indeed a wood, yet thou canst cut it down; and the terminations of it shall be thine; for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, though they be strong.

but you will have to cut down the trees in order to make a place for you to live. [It is true that] the Canaan people-group are strong and have iron chariots, but you will be able to force them to leave that valley.”