Joshua 16

The lot of the "children of Joseph" (vs. 1-10)--Joseph, of course, had two children, Ephraim and Manasseh. Manasseh was the oldest, but Ephraim's descendants became the most significant in Israel's history. After the kingdom was divided in the days of Rehoboam (Solomon's son), the northern kingdom of Israel is often referred to as "Ephraim" because of the dominance of that tribe in the affairs of that people. As we have seen, half the tribe of Manasseh asked for, and received, an inheritance east of the Jordan River. The rest of the tribe receives its land here, and the borders are described.

The two lots had a common boundary. The entire territory of the two tribes is described in verses 1-5. It was rather extensive, dominating the central part of the country. Manasseh's border took up most of the Jordan River, although, interestingly, it had no common boundary with its brethren east of the Jordan. West Manasseh then stretched all the way to the Mediterranean Sea. Samaria, the eventual capital city of the northern kingdom, Israel, will be located within Manasseh's territory. Ephraim's territory, described in verses 6-10, was roughly 55 miles wide by 30 miles broad, and stretched from the Jordan to the sea. The tribe's territory was judiciously located in very fertile land and on the north-south trade route. This richness partly explains its leadership in the northern kingdom. The last verse of the chapter indicates a disobedient spirit already manifesting itself among this tribe. God had told the Israelites to utterly destroy or drive out the inhabitants of Canaan, but the Ephraimites did not do that. Rather they made slaves of many of the peoples they conquered, and this will eventually become a reason for their downfall (Hosea 7:8).