Table of Contents
Joshua 16
Joshua 16
1 And the lot of the children of Joseph fell from Jordan by Jericho, unto the water of Jericho on the east, to the wilderness that goeth up from Jericho throughout mount Bethel,
2 And goeth out from Bethel to Luz, and passeth along unto the borders of Archi to Ataroth,
3 And goeth down westward to the coast of Japhleti, unto the coast of Bethhoron the nether, and to Gezer; and the goings out thereof are at the sea.
4 So the children of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance.
5 And the border of the children of Ephraim according to their families was thus: even the border of their inheritance on the east side was Atarothaddar, unto Bethhoron the upper;
6 And the border went out toward the sea to Michmethah on the north side; and the border went about eastward unto Taanathshiloh, and passed by it on the east to Janohah;
7 And it went down from Janohah to Ataroth, and to Naarath, and came to Jericho, and went out at Jordan.
8 The border went out from Tappuah westward unto the river Kanah; and the goings out thereof were at the sea. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Ephraim by their families.
9 And the separate cities for the children of Ephraim were among the inheritance of the children of Manasseh, all the cities with their villages.
10 And they drave not out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer: but the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites unto this day, and serve under tribute.
Notes
Cross Reference
Commentary
Rashi
Verse 1
<html><b>The lot for the descendants of Yoseif came out</b> at the northern border which marked the end of Yehoshua’s conquest. There, the lot fell for them, as stated below, “And the house of Yoseif will remain in their boundary on the north.”1<i class=“footnote”>See chapter 18:5.</i> Much of the land [of Eretz Yisroel] lay between [the border of] the descendants of Yehudah, [and the border of] the descendants of Yoseif. The other tribes took their inheritance from this area, as we find below regarding the tribe of Binyomin, “And the boundary of their lot was between the descendants of Yehudah [to the south] and the descendants of Yoseif [to the north.] <b>From the Jordan at Yericho to the waters of Yericho to the east.</b> This is where the eastern border begins. <b>To the desert that goes up from Yericho.</b> The boundary goes up from Yericho to the desert and comes westward to Beis-eil.</html>
Verse 5
<html><b>On the east was Atros-addor.</b> The eastern boundary starts from Atros-Addor and from there the border widens to Beis-choron. This is its width.</html>
Verse 6
<html><b>The boundary then went out westward.</b> Its length was westward to Michmesos; the boundary line continued north of Michmesos.</html>
<html><b>The boundary turned.</b> The width of the border spread northward, and the border-line bulged outward to the east of Taanis-Shiloh.2<i class=“footnote”>See chapter 18:11. Even though in ==== Verse 4, Menashe is mentioned before Ephraim, the portion of Ephraim is described first in ==== Verse 5. ==== Verse 4 mentions them in the order of their birth and Menashe was the oldest, but when Yaakov blessed them, he placed Ephraim first, because he knew that Ephraim would be the greater of the two. Therefore when the lots were drawn, the lot of Ephraim came out first.</i></html>
<html><b>And passed by it.</b> The boundary passed by Taanis-shiloh,3<i class=“footnote”>This refers to Shiloh, where the Mishkan was to be built. This new Mishkan was built with walls of stone and was more permanent than the Mishkan that Moshe built with wooden walls. This Mishkan remained standing in Shiloh for 369 years. In many ways it was similar to the Beis HaMikdash that was built in Yerushalayim. Many of the <i>korbonas</i> were permitted to be sacrificed and eaten in Shiloh, such as: <i>Shelamin,</i> (peace-offerings) <i>Todah,</i> (thanksgiving-offerings) the <i>korban Pesach,</i> (the paschal lamb) and the first-born offerings. Various tithes (maasir) could also be brought to the Mishkan at Shiloh. After the Mishkan at Shiloh was destroyed, the people mourned as they would at the destruction of the Beis Hamikdosh in Yerushalayim. Whenever they passed by its ruins they wood weep and mourn. It was therefore known as Taanis-Shiloh, which implies the mourning of Shiloh.</i> and the boundary line passed east of Yonoach. This was all included in the bulge of the width, which terminated at the Jordan, and there was a city named Tapuach. From there the boundary line turned to the measure of the length of the westward boundary to the brook of Konnoh.</html>
Verse 9
<html><b>The separated cities.</b> These too were included in the inheritance of Ephraim. They had cities that were separated from their portion and were incorporated within the boundary of the inheritance of Menashe.4<i class=“footnote”>These cities actually belonged to Ephraim but were located within the boundaries of Menashe, and were not connected to the portion of Ephraim.</i></html>