Joshua · 18 verses
Joshua 17
Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.
The chapter
What happens here
Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.
Manasseh is given cities inside Issachar and Asher, cannot occupy them, and eventually puts their Canaanite inhabitants to forced labor without driving them out. The border is tidy; the occupation is not.
An inheritance with an unusual arithmeticvv. 1–6
The allotment begins with Machir, the fighting firstborn of Manasseh, whose portion lies in Gilead and Bashan. The remaining clans are named, and then the account pauses over Zelophehad, who had no sons but five daughters. Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah approach Eleazar, Joshua, and the leaders, claiming the inheritance commanded by the LORD; Joshua gives it to them among their father’s brothers. Thus Manasseh receives ten shares, with the daughters’ inheritance supplying the chapter’s neat explanation for the otherwise rather surprising total.
Cities on the map, Canaanites in the wayvv. 7–13
The border wanders from Asher past Michmethath near Shechem, down around Tappuah and the Brook of Kanah, with Ephraim’s cities tucked among Manasseh’s. Manasseh is assigned Beth-shean, Ibleam, Dor, Endor, Taanach, and Megiddo within Issachar and Asher—a generous arrangement on paper. Yet the descendants of Manasseh cannot occupy those cities because the Canaanites are determined to remain. When Israel grows stronger, the response is forced labor, but even then the Canaanites are not driven out completely: the chapter leaves the cities assigned and the inhabitants still there, which is a rather awkward sort of possession.
A larger inheritance, cleared by handvv. 14–18
The sons of Joseph object that one portion cannot contain so many people, despite the earlier ten shares. Joshua’s answer is wonderfully practical: if the hill country is too small, clear a forest in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim. They reply that the hill country is not enough either, and that the Canaanites in the valley possess iron chariots, particularly around Beth-shean and the Valley of Jezreel. Joshua grants the hill country as well, forest and all, and sends them to clear it, while conceding that the Canaanites are strong and have iron chariots. The answer to a shortage of land is, in this passage, more land with rather a lot of tree-felling attached.
The text
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Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.
Josh 17:1Now this was the allotment for the tribe of Manasseh as Joseph’s firstborn son, namely for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh and father of the Gileadites, who had received Gilead and Bashan because Machir was a man of war.
Josh 17:2So this allotment was for the rest of the descendants of Manasseh—the clans of Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. These are the other male descendants of the clans of Manasseh son of Joseph.
Josh 17:3But Zelophehad son of Hepher (the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh) had no sons but only daughters. These are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.
Josh 17:4They approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the leaders, and said, “The LORD commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brothers.” So Joshua gave them an inheritance among their father’s brothers, in keeping with the command of the LORD.
Josh 17:5Thus ten shares fell to Manasseh, in addition to the land of Gilead and Bashan beyond the Jordan,
Josh 17:6because the daughters of Manasseh received an inheritance among his sons. And the land of Gilead belonged to the rest of the sons of Manasseh.
Josh 17:7Now the border of Manasseh went from Asher to Michmethath near Shechem, then southward to include the inhabitants of En-tappuah.
Josh 17:8The region of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but Tappuah itself, on the border of Manasseh, belonged to Ephraim.
Josh 17:9From there the border continued southward to the Brook of Kanah. There were cities belonging to Ephraim among the cities of Manasseh, but the border of Manasseh was on the north side of the brook and ended at the Sea.
Josh 17:10Ephraim’s territory was to the south, and Manasseh’s was to the north, having the Sea as its border and adjoining Asher on the north and Issachar on the east.
Josh 17:11Within Issachar and Asher, Manasseh was assigned Beth-shean, Ibleam, Dor (that is, Naphath), Endor, Taanach, and Megiddo, each with their surrounding settlements.
Josh 17:12But the descendants of Manasseh were unable to occupy these cities, because the Canaanites were determined to stay in this land.
Josh 17:13However, when the Israelites grew stronger, they put the Canaanites to forced labor; but they failed to drive them out completely.
Josh 17:14Then the sons of Joseph said to Joshua, “Why have you given us only one portion as an inheritance? We have many people, because the LORD has blessed us abundantly.”
Josh 17:15Joshua answered them, “If you have so many people that the hill country of Ephraim is too small for you, go to the forest and clear for yourself an area in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim.”
Josh 17:16“The hill country is not enough for us,” they replied, “and all the Canaanites who live in the valley have iron chariots, both in Beth-shean with its towns and in the Valley of Jezreel.”
Josh 17:17So Joshua said to the house of Joseph—to Ephraim and Manasseh—“You have many people and great strength. You shall not have just one allotment,
Josh 17:18because the hill country will be yours as well. It is a forest; clear it, and its farthest limits will be yours. Although the Canaanites have iron chariots and although they are strong, you can drive them out.”
01 — Also here
Who else the chapter reaches
Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.
Named in the Hebrew or Greek somewhere in this chapter, under a form the English renders differently — the registry's Ludim against the translation's Ludites — so there is no word in the sentence to hang the link on.
Reached by an assertion Atlas extracted from a verse of this chapter rather than by a name written in it — a pronoun, a title, or a participant the sentence carries without naming. This layer is model-read and measured at 88.6–90.3% precision, and it is kept separate from the names above for that reason.
02 — Read alongside
Where this is echoed
Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 122 passages were voted onto 15 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.
- 18Hebrews 13:6So we say with confidence: “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”
- 18Romans 8:31What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
- 1Numbers 26:29These were the descendants of Manasseh: The Machirite clan from Machir, the father of Gilead, and the Gileadite clan from Gilead.
- 1Genesis 41:51Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, saying, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s household.”
- 3Numbers 26:33Now Zelophehad son of Hepher had no sons but only daughters. The names of his daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.
- 3Numbers 27:1Now the daughters of Zelophehad son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, belonged to the clans of Manasseh son of Joseph. These were the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. They approached
- 8Joshua 16:8From Tappuah the border went westward to the Brook of Kanah and ended at the Sea. This was the inheritance of the clans of the tribe of Ephraim,
- 111 Chronicles 7:29And along the borders of Manasseh were Beth-shean, Taanach, Megiddo, and Dor, together with their villages. The descendants of Joseph son of Israel lived in these towns.
- 13Joshua 16:10But they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer. So the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites to this day, but they are forced laborers.
- 1Genesis 46:20Manasseh and Ephraim were born to Joseph in the land of Egypt by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On.
- 1Genesis 50:23He saw Ephraim’s sons to the third generation, and indeed the sons of Machir son of Manasseh were brought up on Joseph’s knees.
- 4Joshua 14:1Now these are the portions that the Israelites inherited in the land of Canaan, as distributed by Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the families of the tribes of Israel.
- 11Joshua 12:23the king of Dor in Naphath-dor, one; the king of Goiim in Gilgal, one;
- 112 Kings 9:27When King Ahaziah of Judah saw this, he fled up the road toward Beth-haggan. And Jehu pursued him, shouting, “Shoot him too!” So they shot Ahaziah in his chariot on the Ascent of Gur, near Ibleam, and he fled to Megiddo and died there.
- 11Judges 5:19Kings came and fought; then the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo, but they took no plunder of silver.
- 11Judges 1:27At that time Manasseh failed to drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo, and their villages; for the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land.
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