Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary

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Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708)

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J O S H U A

CHAP. XVI.

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It is a pity that this and the following chapter should be separated,

for both of them give us the lot of the children of Joseph, Ephraim and

Manasseh, who, next to Judah, were to have the post of honour, and

therefore had the first and best portion in the northern part of

Canaan, as Judah now had in the southern part. In this chapter we have,

I. A general account of the lot of these two tribes together,

ver. 1-4.

II. The borders of the lot of Ephraim in particular,

ver. 5-10.

That of Manasseh following in the next chapter.

The Lot of Joseph.	B. C. 1444.

     

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 Beth-el,

  2 And goeth out from Beth-el 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 Beth-horon 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.

     

Though Joseph was one of the younger sons of Jacob, yet he was his

eldest by his most just and best beloved wife Rachel, was himself

his best beloved son, and had been the greatest ornament and

support of his family, kept it from perishing in a time of famine, and

had been the shepherd and stone of Israel, and therefore his

posterity were very much favoured by the lot. Their portion lay in the

very heart of the land of Canaan. It extended from Jordan in the east

(v. 1)

to the sea, the Mediterranean Sea, in the west, so that it took up the

whole breadth of Canaan from side to side; and no question the

fruitfulness of the soil answered the blessings both of Jacob and

Moses,

Gen. xlix. 25, 26, and Deut. xxxiii. 13,

&c. The portions allotted to

Ephraim and Manasseh are not so particularly described as those of the

other tribes; we have only the limits and boundaries of them, not the

particular cities in them, as before we had the cities of Judah and

afterwards those of the other tribes. For this no reason can be

assigned, unless we may suppose that Joshua being himself of the

children of Joseph they referred it to him alone to distribute among

them the several cities that lay within their lot, and therefore did

not bring in the names of their cities to the great council of their

princes who sat upon this affair, by which means it came to pass that

they were not inserted with the rest in the books.

The Inheritance of Joseph’s Children.	B. C. 1444.

     

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 Ataroth-addar, unto Beth-horon the upper;

  6 And the border went out toward the sea to Michmethah on the

north side; and the border went about eastward unto

Taanath-shiloh, 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.

     

Here,

1. The border of the lot of Ephraim is set down, by which it was

divided on the south from Benjamin and Dan, who lay between it and

Judah, and on the north from Manasseh; for east and west it reached

from Jordan to the great sea. The learned, who aim to be exact in

drawing the line according to the directions here, find themselves very

much at a loss, the description being short and intricate. The report

of those who in these latter ages have travelled those countries will

not serve to clear the difficulties, so vastly unlike is it now to what

it was then; not only cities have been so destroyed as that no mark nor

footstep of them remains, but brooks are dried up, rivers alter their

courses, and even the mountain falling cometh to nought, and the

rock is removed out of his place,
Job xiv. 18.

Unless I could hope to solve the doubts that arise upon this draught of

the border of Ephraim, it is to no purpose to mention them: no doubt it

was then perfectly understood, so as that the first intention of

recording it was effectually answered, which was to notify the ancient

landmarks, which posterity must by no means remove.

2. Some separate cities are spoken of, that lay not within these

borders, at least not if the line was drawn direct, but lay within the

lot of Manasseh

(v. 9),

which might better be read, and there were separate cities for the

children of Ephraim among the inheritance of the children of

Manasseh, because it proved that Manasseh could spare them, and

Ephraim had need of them, and it might be hoped that no inconvenience

would arise from this mixture of these two tribes together, who were

both the sons of Joseph, and should love as brethren. And by

this it appears that though, when the tribes were numbered in the

plains of Moab, Manasseh had got the start of Ephraim in number, for

Manasseh was then 52,000, and Ephraim but 32,000

(Num. xxvi. 34, 37),

yet by the time they were well settled in Canaan the hands were crossed

again, and the blessing of Moses was verified,

Deut. xxxiii. 17,

They are the ten thousands of Ephraim and they are the thousands of

Manasseh. Families and kingdoms are diminished and increased,

increased and diminished again, as God pleases.

3. A brand is put upon the Ephraimites, that they did not drive out the

Canaanites from Gezer

(v. 10),

either through carelessness or cowardice, either for want of faith in

the promise of God, that he would give them success if they would make

a vigorous effort, or for want of zeal for the command of God, which

obliged them utterly to drive out the Canaanites, and to make no

peace with them. And, though they hoped to satisfy the law by putting

them under tribute, yet (as Calvin thinks) this made the matter worse,

for it shows that they spared them out of covetousness, that they might

be profited by their labours, and by dealing with them for their

tribute they were in danger of being infected with their idolatry; yet

some think that, when they brought them under tribute, they obliged

them to renounce their idols, and to observe the seven precepts of the

sons of Noah; and I should think so, but that we find in the sequel of

the story that the Israelites were so far from restraining idolatry in

others that they soon fell into it themselves. Many famous places were

within this lot of the tribe of Ephraim, though not mentioned here. In

it were Ramah, Samuel’s city (called in the New Testament

Arimathea, of which Joseph was, that took care of our Saviour’s

burial), and Shiloh, where the tabernacle was first set up. Tirzah

also, the royal city of Jeroboam and his successors, and Deborah’s

palm-tree, under which she judged Israel, were in this tribe. Samaria,

built by Omri after the burning of the royal palace of Tirzah, was in

this tribe, and was long the royal city of the kingdom of the ten

tribes; not far from it were Shechem, and the mountains Ebal and

Gerizim, and Sychar, near which was Jacob’s well, where Christ talked

with the woman of Samaria. We read much of Mount Ephraim in the story

of the Judges, and of a city called Ephraim, it is probable in

this tribe, to which Christ retired,

John xi. 54.

The whole kingdom of the ten tribes is often, in the prophets,

especially in Hosea, called Ephraim.

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Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708)

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