Joshua 16:1

Joshua 16 and Joshua 17 outline the territory of Joseph's two sons Ephraim and Manasseh. They had been officially adopted by Jacob as his own sons, endowing them with status equal in every way to the remainder of the Twelve Patriarchs. By this maneuver, Jacob gave the "double portion," one of the prerogatives of the birthright to Joseph, the oldest son of his favorite (and only lawful) wife Rachel. That, of course, would have made Thirteen Patriarchs instead of Twelve Patriarchs, but Levi did not inherit with the others because "The Lord was his portion."

All of the scholars speak of the uncertainty, confusion, and inadequate nature of the instructions here given. Surely, when compared with the detailed account of all those cities conveyed to Judah, this seems to fall far short. Matthew Henry complained that, "For this, no reason can be assigned."[1] However, we believe the reason lies in the fact that God, who must be understood as the author here, had no particular interest in ANY of the tribes except that of Judah, through whom the Messiah would eventually be delivered to mankind. The record here is merely to show that ALL the tribes received their inheritance as God had promised, but that they failed to drive out the pagan influence that eventually ruined them.

Many witnesses of the confusion and uncertainty attending these descriptions might be cited: "The border of Joseph is very slightly traced out."[2] "It is by no means easy to define the boundaries of the tribes."[3] "It is hardly possible to avoid the conclusion that a passage is missing here."[4] "The material exhibits considerable disarray, as if its order has been disturbed."[5] "This list must be compared with Joshua 18:12-13, which describes the northern border of Benjamin."[6] "We may conclude that all of these passages were abbreviated from full descriptions to suit the author's purpose."[7] Cook also affirmed that, "From the abrupt manner in which the statements are introduced, as well as from their imperfect character, there is probability in the conjecture that some words, in these verses, have fallen out of the text."[8]

Despite whatever insufficiencies are alleged to characterize the instructions here, the principal facts are plain enough, and, through comparison with the boundaries of the other tribes, scholars are able to give accurate outlines of the territories assigned to Joseph's two sons:

"The territory of the tribes of Joseph was drawn as one allotment. Afterward, it was divided between Ephraim (the southern part), and the half-tribe of Manasseh (the northerm part. Note that Ephraim's border is outlined first, although that tribe was smaller (Numbers 26:34,37), and Ephraim was younger than Manasseh. This was because the birthright of Joseph's sons had been transferred to Ephraim (Genesis 48:9-20)."[9]

"And the lot came out for the children of Joseph from the Jordan at Jericho, at the waters of Jericho on the east, even the wilderness, going up from Jericho through the hill country to Bethel; and it went out from Bethel to Luz, and passed along the border of the Archites to Ataroth; and it went down westward to the border of the Japhletites, unto the border of Beth-horon the nether, even unto Gezer; and the goings out thereof were at the sea. And the children of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim took their inheritance." One problem here is that Bethel and Luz are often understood as two different names for the same place; but as Plummer noted: "The new city did not coincide precisely in its site with the old."[10] It was like old and new Carthage, or the old Jericho and new Jericho, as we observed in the N.T.

Nothing is known of the Japhletites. The The New Bible Dictionary does not even have an entry under that title.

What did this allotment include? Dummelow has given a summary of what was included:

"The territory of the two tribes, described in Joshua 16:1-4, comprised the central and most fertile part of Palestine. The south border ran from Jericho to Bethel and Beth-horon to the sea (the Mediterranean); and the north border ran from Mount Carmel, along the southern border of the plain of Esdraelon to the Jordan."[11]

Despite the fact of Ephraim's border reaching the Mediterranean at a point coinciding with the northwest comer of Judah's territory, it appears that Dan also had a stake in the towns around Joppa (Joshua 19:45-46), thus sharing that part of the seacoast with Ephraim.