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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Joshua, Chapter XVI].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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<h3><a href="http://www.biblesnet.com" target="_blank">Back to Biblesnet.com Home Page</a>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>J O S H U A</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XVI.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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It is a pity that this and the following chapter should be separated,
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for both of them give us the lot of the children of Joseph, Ephraim and
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Manasseh, who, next to Judah, were to have the post of honour, and
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therefore had the first and best portion in the northern part of
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Canaan, as Judah now had in the southern part. In this chapter we have,
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I. A general account of the lot of these two tribes together,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+16:1-4">ver. 1-4</A>.
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II. The borders of the lot of Ephraim in particular,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+16:5-10">ver. 5-10</A>.
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That of Manasseh following in the next chapter.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Jos16_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jos16_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jos16_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jos16_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Lot of Joseph.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1444.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And the lot of the children of Joseph fell from Jordan by
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Jericho, unto the water of Jericho on the east, to the wilderness
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that goeth up from Jericho throughout mount Beth-el,
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2 And goeth out from Beth-el to Luz, and passeth along unto the
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borders of Archi to Ataroth,
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3 And goeth down westward to the coast of Japhleti, unto the
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coast of Beth-horon the nether, and to Gezer: and the goings out
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thereof are at the sea.
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4 So the children of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their
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inheritance.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Though Joseph was one of the younger sons of Jacob, yet he was his
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eldest by his most just and best beloved wife Rachel, was himself
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<I>his best beloved son,</I> and had been the greatest ornament and
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support of his family, kept it from perishing in a time of famine, and
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had been the <I>shepherd and stone of Israel,</I> and therefore his
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posterity were very much favoured by the lot. Their portion lay in the
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very heart of the land of Canaan. It extended from Jordan in the east
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+16:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>)
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to the sea, the Mediterranean Sea, in the west, so that it took up the
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whole breadth of Canaan from side to side; and no question the
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fruitfulness of the soil answered the blessings both of Jacob and
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Moses,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:25,26,De+33:13-17">
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Gen. xlix. 25, 26, and Deut. xxxiii. 13</A>,
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&c. The portions allotted to
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Ephraim and Manasseh are not so particularly described as those of the
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other tribes; we have only the limits and boundaries of them, not the
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particular cities in them, as before we had the cities of Judah and
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afterwards those of the other tribes. For this no reason can be
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assigned, unless we may suppose that Joshua being himself of the
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children of Joseph they referred it to him alone to distribute among
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them the several cities that lay within their lot, and therefore did
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not bring in the names of their cities to the great council of their
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princes who sat upon this affair, by which means it came to pass that
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they were not inserted with the rest in the books.</P>
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<A NAME="Jos16_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jos16_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jos16_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jos16_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jos16_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Jos16_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Inheritance of Joseph's Children.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1444.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>5 And the border of the children of Ephraim according to their
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families was <I>thus:</I> even the border of their inheritance on the
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east side was Ataroth-addar, unto Beth-horon the upper;
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6 And the border went out toward the sea to Michmethah on the
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north side; and the border went about eastward unto
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Taanath-shiloh, and passed by it on the east to Janohah;
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7 And it went down from Janohah to Ataroth, and to Naarath, and
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came to Jericho, and went out at Jordan.
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8 The border went out from Tappuah westward unto the river
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Kanah; and the goings out thereof were at the sea. This <I>is</I> the
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inheritance of the tribe of the children of Ephraim by their
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families.
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9 And the separate cities for the children of Ephraim <I>were</I>
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among the inheritance of the children of Manasseh, all the cities
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with their villages.
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10 And they drave not out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer:
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but the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites unto this day, and
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serve under tribute.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here,
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1. The border of the lot of Ephraim is set down, by which it was
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divided on the south from Benjamin and Dan, who lay between it and
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Judah, and on the north from Manasseh; for east and west it reached
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from Jordan to the great sea. The learned, who aim to be exact in
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drawing the line according to the directions here, find themselves very
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much at a loss, the description being short and intricate. The report
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of those who in these latter ages have travelled those countries will
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not serve to clear the difficulties, so vastly unlike is it now to what
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it was then; not only cities have been so destroyed as that no mark nor
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footstep of them remains, but brooks are dried up, rivers alter their
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courses, and <I>even the mountain falling cometh to nought, and the
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rock is removed out of his place,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+14:18">Job xiv. 18</A>.
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Unless I could hope to solve the doubts that arise upon this draught of
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the border of Ephraim, it is to no purpose to mention them: no doubt it
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was then perfectly understood, so as that the first intention of
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recording it was effectually answered, which was to notify the ancient
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landmarks, which posterity must by no means remove.
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2. Some separate cities are spoken of, that lay not within these
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borders, at least not if the line was drawn direct, but lay within the
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lot of Manasseh
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+16:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
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which might better be read, <I>and there were separate cities for the
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children of Ephraim among the inheritance of the children of
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Manasseh,</I> because it proved that Manasseh could spare them, and
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Ephraim had need of them, and it might be hoped that no inconvenience
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would arise from this mixture of these two tribes together, who were
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both the sons of Joseph, and should <I>love as brethren.</I> And by
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this it appears that though, when the tribes were numbered in the
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plains of Moab, Manasseh had got the start of Ephraim in number, for
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Manasseh was then 52,000, and Ephraim but 32,000
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+26:34,37">Num. xxvi. 34, 37</A>),
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yet by the time they were well settled in Canaan the hands were crossed
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again, and the blessing of Moses was verified,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+33:17">Deut. xxxiii. 17</A>,
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<I>They are the ten thousands of Ephraim and they are the thousands of
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Manasseh.</I> Families and kingdoms are diminished and increased,
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increased and diminished again, as God pleases.
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3. A brand is put upon the Ephraimites, that they did not drive out the
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Canaanites from Gezer
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+16:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>),
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either through carelessness or cowardice, either for want of faith in
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the promise of God, that he would give them success if they would make
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a vigorous effort, or for want of zeal for the command of God, which
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obliged them <I>utterly to drive out the Canaanites,</I> and to make no
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peace with them. And, though they hoped to satisfy the law by putting
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them under tribute, yet (as Calvin thinks) this made the matter worse,
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for it shows that they spared them out of covetousness, that they might
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be profited by their labours, and by dealing with them for their
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tribute they were in danger of being infected with their idolatry; yet
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some think that, when they brought them under tribute, they obliged
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them to renounce their idols, and to observe the seven precepts of the
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sons of Noah; and I should think so, but that we find in the sequel of
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the story that the Israelites were so far from restraining idolatry in
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others that they soon fell into it themselves. Many famous places were
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within this lot of the tribe of Ephraim, though not mentioned here. In
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it were Ramah, Samuel's city (called in the New Testament
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<I>Arimathea,</I> of which Joseph was, that took care of our Saviour's
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burial), and Shiloh, where the tabernacle was first set up. Tirzah
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also, the royal city of Jeroboam and his successors, and Deborah's
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palm-tree, under which she judged Israel, were in this tribe. Samaria,
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built by Omri after the burning of the royal palace of Tirzah, was in
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this tribe, and was long the royal city of the kingdom of the ten
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tribes; not far from it were Shechem, and the mountains Ebal and
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Gerizim, and Sychar, near which was Jacob's well, where Christ talked
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with the woman of Samaria. We read much of Mount Ephraim in the story
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of the Judges, and of a city called <I>Ephraim,</I> it is probable in
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this tribe, to which Christ retired,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+11:54">John xi. 54</A>.
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The whole kingdom of the ten tribes is often, in the prophets,
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especially in Hosea, called <I>Ephraim.</I></P>
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