mh_parser/vol_split/6 - Joshua/Chapter 16.xml

<div2 id="Jos.xvii" n="xvii" next="Jos.xviii" prev="Jos.xvi" progress="7.66%" title="Chapter XVI">
<h2 id="Jos.xvii-p0.1">J O S H U A</h2>
<h3 id="Jos.xvii-p0.2">CHAP. XVI.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Jos.xvii-p1">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, <scripRef id="Jos.xvii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Josh.16.1-Josh.16.4" parsed="|Josh|16|1|16|4" passage="Jos 16:1-4">ver. 1-4</scripRef>. II. The borders of the lot of
Ephraim in particular, <scripRef id="Jos.xvii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Josh.16.5-Josh.16.10" parsed="|Josh|16|5|16|10" passage="Jos 16:5-10">ver.
5-10</scripRef>. That of Manasseh following in the next
chapter.</p>
<scripCom id="Jos.xvii-p0.1_1" osisRef="Bible:Josh.16" parsed="|Josh|16|0|0|0" passage="Jos 16" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Jos.xvii-p0.2_1" osisRef="Bible:Josh.16.1-Josh.16.4" parsed="|Josh|16|1|16|4" passage="Jos 16:1-4" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Josh.16.1-Josh.16.4">
<h4 id="Jos.xvii-p1.5">The Lot of Joseph. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jos.xvii-p1.6">b. c.</span> 1444.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jos.xvii-p2">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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jos.xvii-p3">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 <i>his best beloved son,</i> and had been
the greatest ornament and support of his family, kept it from
perishing in a time of famine, and had been the <i>shepherd and
stone of Israel,</i> 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 (<scripRef id="Jos.xvii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Josh.16.1" parsed="|Josh|16|1|0|0" passage="Jos 16:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>) 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, <scripRef id="Jos.xvii-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.25-Gen.49.26 Bible:Deut.33.13-Deut.33.17" parsed="|Gen|49|25|49|26;|Deut|33|13|33|17" passage="Ge 49:25,26,De 33:13-17">Gen. xlix. 25,
26, and Deut. xxxiii. 13</scripRef>, &amp;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.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Jos.xvii-p0.3" osisRef="Bible:Josh.16.5-Josh.16.10" parsed="|Josh|16|5|16|10" passage="Jos 16:5-10" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Josh.16.5-Josh.16.10">
<h4 id="Jos.xvii-p3.4">The Inheritance of Joseph's
Children. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Jos.xvii-p3.5">b. c.</span> 1444.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Jos.xvii-p4">5 And the border of the children of Ephraim
according to their families was <i>thus:</i> 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 <i>is</i> the inheritance
of the tribe of the children of Ephraim by their families.   9
And the separate cities for the children of Ephraim <i>were</i>
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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Jos.xvii-p5">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 <i>even the mountain falling cometh to nought,
and the rock is removed out of his place,</i> <scripRef id="Jos.xvii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.14.18" parsed="|Job|14|18|0|0" passage="Job 14:18">Job xiv. 18</scripRef>. 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
(<scripRef id="Jos.xvii-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Josh.16.9" parsed="|Josh|16|9|0|0" passage="Jos 16:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>), which might
better be read, <i>and there were separate cities for the children
of Ephraim among the inheritance of the children of Manasseh,</i>
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 <i>love as brethren.</i> 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 (<scripRef id="Jos.xvii-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Num.26.34 Bible:Num.26.37" parsed="|Num|26|34|0|0;|Num|26|37|0|0" passage="Nu 26:34,37">Num. xxvi. 34, 37</scripRef>), yet by the
time they were well settled in Canaan the hands were crossed again,
and the blessing of Moses was verified, <scripRef id="Jos.xvii-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.33.17" parsed="|Deut|33|17|0|0" passage="De 33:17">Deut. xxxiii. 17</scripRef>, <i>They are the ten
thousands of Ephraim and they are the thousands of Manasseh.</i>
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
(<scripRef id="Jos.xvii-p5.5" osisRef="Bible:Josh.16.10" parsed="|Josh|16|10|0|0" passage="Jos 16:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>), 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 <i>utterly to drive out the Canaanites,</i> 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
<i>Arimathea,</i> 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
<i>Ephraim,</i> it is probable in this tribe, to which Christ
retired, <scripRef id="Jos.xvii-p5.6" osisRef="Bible:John.11.54" parsed="|John|11|54|0|0" passage="Joh 11:54">John xi. 54</scripRef>. The
whole kingdom of the ten tribes is often, in the prophets,
especially in Hosea, called <i>Ephraim.</i></p>
</div></div2>