Joshua 17

1 And the lot for the tribe of Manasseh was, for, he, was the firstborn of Joseph, —as for Machir, the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, because, he, was a man of war, therefore had he Gilead 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 So the lot pertained to the rest of the sons of Manasseh, by their families, to the sons of Abiezer, and to the sons of Helek, and to the sons of Asriel, and to the sons of Shechem, and to the sons of Hepher, and to the sons of Shemida, —these, were the sons of Manasseh, son of Joseph, even the male descendants, by 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, Zelophehad, son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, had no sons, but only daughters, —and, these, are the names of his daughters, Mahlah and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

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

4 And they had come near, before Eleazar the priest, and before Joshua son of Nun, and before the princes, saying, Yahweh, commanded Moses, to give us an inheritance in the midst of our brethren, —And he had given them, according to the bidding of Yahweh, an inheritance, in the midst of 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 Thus there fell ten portions to Manasseh, —besides the land of Gilead, and Bashan, which is beyond 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 Manasseh, received an inheritance in the midst of his sons, —and, the land of Gilead, became the possession of the sons of Manasseh that remained.

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 So then the boundary of Manasseh was from Asher, Michmethath, which faceth Shechem, —and the boundary goeth along unto the right hand, unto the inhabitants of En-tappuah.

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 Manasseh, had the land of Tappuah, —but, Tappuah itself, towards the boundary of Manasseh, pertained unto the sons 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 goeth down to the ravine of Kanah, southward of the ravine, these cities, belong to Ephraim, in the midst of the cities of Manasseh, —but, the boundary of Manasseh, was on the north side of the ravine, and the extensions thereof were to 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, pertaineth to Ephraim, and, northward, to Manasseh, and the sea was the boundary thereof, —and they touch, Asher, on the north, and 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 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 En-dor and her towns, and the inhabitants of Taanach and her towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo, and her towns—the three heights,

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 The sons of Manasseh, however, could not dispossess these cities, —but the Canaanites were determined to remain 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 but, when the sons of Israel had waxed strong, they put the Canaanites under tribute, —though they, dispossessed, them not.

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 Then spake the sons of Joseph unto Joshua, saying, —Why hast thou given me, as an inheritance, but one lot and one portion, seeing that, I, am a numerous people, because hitherto hath Yahweh 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, a numerous people, thou art, get thee up to the forest, and cut down for thyself there, in the land of the Perizzites and of the Rephaim, —seeing that, too narrow for thee, is the hill country of Ephraim.

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 sons of Joseph said, The hill country is not enough for us, —and there are, chariots of iron, among all the Canaanites that dwell in the land of the valley, belonging both to them in Bethshean, and her towns, and to them in the valley of Jezreel.

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 made answer unto the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and to Manasseh, saying, —A numerous people, thou art, and, great vigour, thou hast, 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 for, the hill country, shall be thine, in that, a forest, it is, therefore canst thou cut it down, and thine shall be the extensions thereof, —for thou shalt dispossess the Canaanites, though, chariots of iron, they have, and though, strong, they are.

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.”