Joshua 17:7

"And the border of Manasseh was from Asher to Michmethath, which is before Shechem; and the border went along to the right hand, unto the inhabitants of Entappuah. The land of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh; but Tappuah on the border of Manasseh belonged to the children of Ephraim. And the border went down unto the brook of Kanah, southward of the brook: these cities belonged to Ephraim among the cities of Manasseh: and the border of Manasseh was on the north side of the brook, and the goings out thereof were at the sea: southward it was Ephraim's, and northward it was Manasseh's, and the sea was his border; and they reached to Asher on the north, and to Isaachar on the east. And Manasseh had in Isaachar and in Asher Beth-shean and its towns, and Ibleam and its towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, and the inhabitants of Endor and its towns, and the inhabitants of Taanach and its towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns, even the three heights. Yet the children of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land. And it came to pass that when the children of Israel were waxed strong, that they put the Canaanites to taskwork, and did not utterly drive them out."

"From Asher to Michmethath ..." Philbeck tells us that these cities marked "the northern and southern extremities of Manasseh's territory,"[6] but the trouble with that is that, "This place has not been identified. All that we know is that it is opposite Shechem!"[7]

Due to textual problems the meaning of Joshua 17:9 may be somewhat conjectural. Cook's understanding of the place is as good as any:

"The intention seems to be to state that the cities lying south of the river, though within the limits of Manasseh were, in fact, made over to Ephraim, and were among the `separate cities' of Joshua 16:9. On the contrary, the north bank of the river, both land and towns, belonged to Manasseh exclusively."[8]

"Beth-shean ..." (Joshua 17:11). It was to the wall of this city that the bodies of Saul and his sons were fastened by the victorious Philistines following the battle on Mount Gilboa. Later, it was the border town of Galilee and the chief town of the Decapolis.[9]

"Ibleam ..." (Joshua 17:11). "The site of Ibleam is now Khirbet Bilameh, some ten miles southeast of Megiddo on the road from Beth-shean, probably the same as the Bileam of 1 Chronicles 6:70, a Levitical city."[10]

"Dor ..." (Joshua 17:11) "This place is identified with the modern El-Burj, north of Tanturah. In Roman times it was called Dora (Josephus); it is located on the Mediterranean coast near Mount Carmel."[11]

"En-dor ..." (Joshua 17:11). "En-dor is the modern Endur 4 miles south of Mount Tabor. Assigned to Manasseh, it was never wrested from the Canaanites. The witch of En-dor, of whom Saul inquired before his last battle (1 Samuel 28:3-7) was probably of this Canaanite stock, for the Hebrews had tried to do away with such practices.[12]

"Taanach, the modern Tel Taannak, guards a pass over Mount Carmel. Israel defeated the king of this place; but Manasseh, the tribe to which it was assigned, was not able to occupy it. It was one of the Levitical cities (Joshua 21:25), and finally occupied by Isaachar. The mention of Taanach ahead of Megiddo here may indicate that at this time Megiddo was of less importance."[13]

"Megiddo ..." (Joshua 17:11). "This was an important O.T. city that lay in the Carmel range some 20 miles south-southeast of the modern Haifa. It commanded the most important pass from the coastal plain to the valley of Esdraelon ... The city was destroyed near the end of the 12th century."[14] It could have been at that time that Israel was able to reduce the inhabitants to slavery, IN A PERIOD LONG BEFORE THE MONARCHY. The frequent mention here that Israel "could not drive them out" indicates a period that soon ended when Israel "waxed strong," at a time long before the monarchy.

"Even the three heights ..." (Joshua 17:11). "This reference is to En-dor, Taanach, and Megiddo."[15]

"They put the Canaanites to taskwork, and did not utterly drive them out ..." (Joshua 17:13). The efforts of critics to make it appear that Israel did not put the Canaanites to taskwork until the days of the monarchy have been frustrated by archeological discoveries showing that, "Canaanite Megiddo fell to Israel in the latter half of the twelfth century B.C., roughly a century after the main conquest."[16] This was centuries prior to the events of 1 Kings 9.

Why did not Israel drive out the Canaanites? Jamieson gave his opinion of the failure as follows:

"Indolence, a love of ease; perhaps a mistaken humanity, arising from a disregard or forgetfulness of the Divine command, a decreasing principle of faith and zeal in the service of God were the causes of their failure."[17]

Despite opinions such as that of Jamieson, however, we believe that there were other very important factors that went into Israel's accommodation with the Canaanites. There is the great possibility, yes, even the CERTAINTY that like Demas of the N.T., "Israel loved this present age." They simply fell in love with the SUPERIOR culture and the sensuous gods that appealed to the gratification of their lusts. Thompson tells us that the differences in the Canaanite and the Israelite cultures were "extraordinary." The towns that Israel destroyed possessed beautiful palaces, magnificent temples, and many evidences of wealth, prosperity, and artistic development. There was an over-all superiority of the Canaanite towns; their diet was supplemented by the maritime trade through the Philistines with Egypt; whereas the towns with which Israel replaced the ones which they destroyed were far inferior to those burned and looted. In fact, the whole Israelitish culture was far more primitive and impoverished.[18]

In addition, an extensive pantheon of pagan gods was the ornament of the Canaanite polytheistic religion. Oh yes, they offered the same kinds of sacrifices as did the Israelites; and the ceremonies were even similar, but the religion was highly sensuous, with great emphasis on fertility rites. Hundreds of male and female prostitutes were available EVERYWHERE the shrines and high places of the pagan gods were located, and, "Even during the days of the Judges the worship of these gods was already finding favor in the eyes of many of the Israelites. The writer of the Book of Judges makes the point that, it was because Israel served the Baalim and forsook the Lord, that they were delivered into the hands of oppressors (Judges 2:11-13), etc."[19]

In this we can see that unbelief and disobedience of Divine commands is now, as it always has been, not an intellectual thing at all, but a moral one:

"The Son of man came into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. And herein is the condemnation, that men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil" (John 3:18-19).