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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Joshua, Chapter XVII].</TITLE>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>J O S H U A</B></FONT>
<BR>
<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XVII.</FONT>
<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
</CENTER>
<FONT SIZE=-1>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
The half tribe of Manasseh comes next to be provided for; and here we
have,
I. The families of that tribe that were to be portioned,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+17:1-6">ver. 1-6</A>.
II. The country that fell to their lot,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+17:7-13">ver. 7-13</A>.
III. The joint request of the two tribes that descended from Joseph,
for the enlargement of their lot, and Joshua's answer to that request,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+17:14-18">ver. 14-18</A>.</P>
</FONT>
<A NAME="Jos17_1"> </A>
<A NAME="Jos17_2"> </A>
<A NAME="Jos17_3"> </A>
<A NAME="Jos17_4"> </A>
<A NAME="Jos17_5"> </A>
<A NAME="Jos17_6"> </A>
<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Inheritance of Joseph's Children.</I></FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1444.</TD></TR>
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>
1 There was also a lot for the tribe of Manasseh; for he <I>was</I>
the firstborn of Joseph; <I>to wit,</I> for Machir the firstborn of
Manasseh, the father of Gilead: because he was a man of war,
therefore he had Gilead and Bashan.
&nbsp; 2 There was also <I>a lot</I> for the rest of the children of
Manasseh by their families; for the children of Abiezer, and for
the children of Helek, and for the children of Asriel, and for
the children of Shechem, and for the children of Hepher, and for
the children of Shemida: these <I>were</I> the male children of
Manasseh the son of Joseph by their families.
&nbsp; 3 But Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son
of Machir, the son of Manasseh, had no sons, but daughters: and
these <I>are</I> the names of his daughters, Mahlah, and Noah, Hoglah,
Milcah, and Tirzah.
&nbsp; 4 And they came near before Eleazar the priest, and before
Joshua the son of Nun, and before the princes, saying, The L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brethren.
Therefore according to the commandment of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> he gave them
an inheritance among the brethren of their father.
&nbsp; 5 And there fell ten portions to Manasseh, beside the land of
Gilead and Bashan, which <I>were</I> on the other side Jordan;
&nbsp; 6 Because the daughters of Manasseh had an inheritance among
his sons: and the rest of Manasseh's sons had the land of Gilead.
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
Manasseh was itself but one half of the tribe of Joseph, and yet was
divided and subdivided.
1. It was divided into two parts, one already settled on the other side
Jordan, consisting of those who were the posterity of Machir,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+17:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
This Machir was born to Manasseh in Egypt; there he had signalized
himself as a man of war, probably in the contests between the
Ephraimites and the men of Gath,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+7:21">1 Chron. vii. 21</A>.
His warlike disposition descended to his posterity, and therefore Moses
gave them Gilead and Bashan, on the other side Jordan, of which before,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+13:31"><I>ch.</I> xiii. 31</A>.
It is here said that the lot came to Manasseh, <I>for he was the
first-born of</I> Joseph. Bishop Patrick thinks it should be
translated, <I>though he was the first-born of</I> Joseph, and then the
meaning is plain, that the second lot was for Manasseh, because, though
he was the first-born, yet Jacob had preferred Ephraim before him. See
the names of those heads of the families that settled on the other side
Jordan,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+5:24">1 Chron. v. 24</A>.
2. That part on this side Jordan as subdivided into ten families,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+17:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
There were six sons of Gilead here named
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+17:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
the same that are recorded
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+26:30-32">Num. xxvi. 30-32</A>,
only that he who is there called <I>Jezeer</I> is here called
<I>Abiezer.</I> Five of these sons had each of them their portion; the
sixth, which was Hepher, had his male line cut off in his son
Zelophehad, who left daughters only, five in number, of whom we have
often read, and these five had each of them a portion; though perhaps,
they claiming under Hepher, all their five portions were but equal to
one of the portions of the five sons. Or if Hepher had other sons
besides Zelophehad, in whom the name of his family was kept up, their
posterity married to the daughters of Zelophehad the elder brother, and
in their right had these portions assigned them. See
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+36:12">Num. xxxvi. 12</A>.
Here is,
(1.) The claim which the daughters of Zelophehad made, grounded upon
the command God gave to Moses concerning them,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+17:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
They had themselves, when they were young, pleaded their own cause
before Moses, and obtained the grant of an inheritance with their
brethren, and now they would not lose the benefit of that grant for
want of speaking to Joshua, but seasonably put in their demand
themselves, as it should seem, and not their husbands for them.
(2.) The assignment of their portions according to their claim. Joshua
knew very well what God had ordered in their case, and did not object
that they having not served in the wars of Canaan there was no reason
why they should share in the possessions of Canaan, but readily <I>gave
them as inheritance among the brethren of their father.</I> And now
they reaped the benefit of their own pious zeal and prudent forecast in
this matter. Thus those who take care in the wilderness of this world
to make sure to themselves a place in the inheritance of the saints in
light will certainly have the comfort of it in the other world, while
those that neglect it now will lose it for ever.</P>
<A NAME="Jos17_7"> </A>
<A NAME="Jos17_8"> </A>
<A NAME="Jos17_9"> </A>
<A NAME="Jos17_10"> </A>
<A NAME="Jos17_11"> </A>
<A NAME="Jos17_12"> </A>
<A NAME="Jos17_13"> </A>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>
&nbsp; 7 And the coast of Manasseh was from Asher to Michmethah, that
<I>lieth</I> before Shechem; and the border went along on the right
hand unto the inhabitants of En-tappuah.
&nbsp; 8 <I>Now</I> Manasseh had the land of Tappuah: but Tappuah on the
border of Manasseh <I>belonged</I> to the children of Ephraim;
&nbsp; 9 And the coast descended unto the river Kanah, southward of
the river: these cities of Ephraim <I>are</I> among the cities of
Manasseh: the coast of Manasseh also <I>was</I> on the north side of
the river, and the outgoings of it were at the sea:
&nbsp; 10 Southward <I>it was</I> Ephraim's, and northward <I>it was</I>
Manasseh's, and the sea is his border; and they met together in
Asher on the north, and in Issachar on the east.
&nbsp; 11 And Manasseh had in Issachar and in Asher Beth-shean and her
towns, and Ibleam and her towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and
her towns, and the inhabitants of Endor and her towns, and the
inhabitants of Taanach and her towns, and the inhabitants of
Megiddo and her towns, <I>even</I> three countries.
&nbsp; 12 Yet the children of Manasseh could not drive out <I>the
inhabitants of</I> those cities; but the Canaanites would dwell in
that land.
&nbsp; 13 Yet it came to pass, when the children of Israel were waxen
strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute; but did not
utterly drive them out.
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
We have here a short account of the lot of this half tribe. It reached
from Jordan on the east to the great sea on the west; on the south it
lay all along contiguous to Ephraim, but on the north it abutted upon
Asher and Issachar. Asher lay north-west, and Issachar north-east,
which seems to be the meaning of that
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+17:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>),
that they (that is, Manasseh and Ephraim, as related to it, both
together making the tribe of Joseph) met in Asher on the north and
Issachar on the east, for Ephraim itself reached not those tribes. Some
things are particularly observed concerning this lot:--
1. That there was great communication between this tribe and that of
Ephraim. The city of Tappuah belonged to Ephraim, but the country
adjoining to Manasseh
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+17:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>);
there were likewise many cities of Ephraim that lay within the border
of Manasseh
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+17:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
of which before,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+16:9"><I>ch.</I> xvi. 9</A>.
2. That Manasseh likewise had cities with their appurtenances in the
tribes of Issachar and Asher
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+17:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>),
God so ordering it, that though every tribe had its peculiar
inheritance, which might not be alienated from it, yet they should thus
intermix one with another, to keep up mutual acquaintance and
correspondence among the tribes, and to give occasion for the doing of
good offices one to another, as became those who, though of different
tribes, were all one Israel, and were bound to love as brethren.
3. That they suffered the Canaanites to live among them, contrary to
the command of God, serving their own ends by conniving at them, for
they made them tributaries,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+17:12,13"><I>v.</I> 12, 13</A>.
The Ephraimites had done the same
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+16:10"><I>ch.</I> xvi. 10</A>),
and from them perhaps the Manassites learned it, and with their example
excused themselves in it. The most remarkable person of this half tribe
in after-time was Gideon, whose great actions were done within this
lot. He was of the family of Abiezer; Cesarea was in this lot, and
Antipatris, famed in the latter ages of the Jewish state.</P>
<A NAME="Jos17_14"> </A>
<A NAME="Jos17_15"> </A>
<A NAME="Jos17_16"> </A>
<A NAME="Jos17_17"> </A>
<A NAME="Jos17_18"> </A>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>
&nbsp; 14 And the children of Joseph spake unto Joshua, saying, Why
hast thou given me <I>but</I> one lot and one portion to inherit,
seeing I <I>am</I> a great people, forasmuch as the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hath blessed
me hitherto?
&nbsp; 15 And Joshua answered them, If thou <I>be</I> a great people,
<I>then</I> get thee up to the wood <I>country,</I> and cut down for
thyself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the giants, if
mount Ephraim be too narrow for thee.
&nbsp; 16 And the children of Joseph said, The hill is not enough for
us: and all the Canaanites that dwell in the land of the valley
have chariots of iron, <I>both they</I> who <I>are</I> of Beth-shean and her
towns, and <I>they</I> who <I>are</I> of the valley of Jezreel.
&nbsp; 17 And Joshua spake unto the house of Joseph, <I>even</I> to Ephraim
and to Manasseh, saying, Thou <I>art</I> a great people, and hast
great power: thou shalt not have one lot <I>only:</I>
&nbsp; 18 But the mountain shall be thine; for it <I>is</I> a wood, and
thou shalt cut it down: and the outgoings of it shall be thine:
for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron
chariots, <I>and</I> though they <I>be</I> strong.
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
Here,
I. The children of Joseph quarrel with their lot; if they had had any
just cause to quarrel with it, we have reason to think Joshua would
have relieved them, by adding to it, or altering it, which it does not
appear he did. It is probable, because Joshua was himself of the tribe
of Ephraim, they promised themselves that they should have some
particular favour shown them, and should not be confined to the
decision of the lot so closely as the other tribes; but Joshua makes
them know that in the discharge of his office, as a public person, he
had no more regard to his own tribe than to any other, but would
administer impartially, without favour or affection, wherein he has
left an excellent example to all in public trusts. It was a very
competent provision that was made for them, as much, for aught that
appears, as they were able to manage, and yet they call it in disdain
but <I>one lot,</I> as if that which was assigned to them both was
scarcely sufficient for one. The word for <I>complainers</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jude+1:16">Jude 16</A>)
is <B><I>mempsimoiroi,</I></B> blamers of their lot:--
1. That they were very numerous, through the blessing of God upon them
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+17:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>):
<I>I am a great people, for the Lord has blessed me;</I> and we have
reason to hope that he that hath sent mouths will send meat. "<I>I am a
great people,</I> and in so small a lot shall not have <I>room to
thrive.</I>" Yet observe, when they speak thankfully of their present
increase, they do not speak confidently of the continuance of it. "The
Lord has blessed me hitherto, however he may see fit to deal with me
for the future." The uncertainty of what may be must not make us
unthankful for what has been and is done in kindness to us.
2. That a good part of that country which had now fallen to their lot
was in the hands of the Canaanites, and that they were formidable
enemies, who brought into the field of battle <I>chariots of iron</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+17:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>),
that is, chariots with long scythes fastened to the sides of them, or
the axle-tree, which made great destruction of all that came in their
way, mowing them down like corn. They urge that though they had a good
portion assigned them, yet it was in bad hands, and they could not come
to the possession of it, wishing to have their lot in those countries
that were more thoroughly reduced than this was.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
II. Joshua endeavours to reconcile them to their lot. He owns they were
a <I>great people,</I> and being two tribes ought to have more than
<I>one lot only</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+17:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>),
but tells them that what had fallen to their share would be a
sufficient lot for them both, if they would but work and fight. They
desired a lot in which they might indulge themselves in ease and
luxury. "No," says Joshua, "you must not count upon that; <I>in the
sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread</I> is a sentence in force even
in Canaan itself." He retorts their own argument, that they were a
<I>great people.</I> "If so, you are the better able to help
yourselves, and have the less reason to expect help from others. If
thou hast many mouths to be filled, thou hast twice as many hands to be
employed; earn, and then eat."
1. He bids them work for more
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+17:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>):
"<I>Get thee up to the wood-country,</I> which is within thy own
border, and let all hands be set to work to cut down the trees, rid the
rough lands, and make them, with art and industry, good arable ground."
Note, Many wish for larger possessions who do not cultivate and make
the best of what they have, think they should have more talents given
them who do not trade with those with which they are entrusted. Most
people's poverty is the effect of their idleness; would they dig, they
need not beg.
2. He bids them fight for more
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+17:17,18"><I>v.</I> 17, 18</A>),
when they pleaded that they could not come at the wood-lands he spoke
of because in the valley between them and it were Canaanites whom they
durst not enter the lists with. "Never fear them," said Joshua, "thou
hast God on thy side, and <I>thou shalt drive out the Canaanites,</I>
if thou wilt set about it in good earnest, <I>though they have iron
chariots.</I>" We straiten ourselves by apprehending the difficulties
in the way of our enlargement to be greater than really they are. What
can be insuperable to faith and holy resolution?</P>
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