Inspire: Joshua, Judges & Ruth 978-1-4964-7519-0 - Flipbook - Page 37
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BLESSING
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3 However, Zelophehad, a descendant of Hepher son of Gilead, son of Makir,
son of Manasseh, had no sons. He had only daughters, whose names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 4 These women came to Eleazar the priest,
Joshua son of Nun, and the Israelite leaders and said,
“The LORD commanded Moses
to give us a grant of land
along with the men of our tribe.”
So Joshua gave them a grant of land along with their uncles, as the Lord had
commanded. 5 As a result, Manasseh’s total allocation came to ten parcels of land,
in addition to the land of Gilead and Bashan across the Jordan River, 6 because
the female descendants of Manasseh received a grant of land along with the male
descendants. (The land of Gilead was given to the rest of the male descendants
of Manasseh.)
The boundary of the tribe of Manasseh extended from the border of
Asher to Micmethath, near Shechem. Then the boundary went south
from Micmethath to the settlement near the spring of Tappuah. 8 The land
surrounding Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but the town of Tappuah itself,
on the border of Manasseh’s territory, belonged to the tribe of Ephraim.
9 From the spring of Tappuah, the boundary of Manasseh followed the
Kanah Ravine to the Mediterranean Sea. Several towns south of the ravine
were inside Manasseh’s territory, but they actually belonged to the tribe of
Ephraim. 10 In general, however, the land south of the ravine belonged to
Ephraim, and the land north of the ravine belonged to Manasseh. Manasseh’s
boundary ran along the northern side of the ravine and ended at the
Mediterranean Sea. North of Manasseh was the territory of Asher, and to the
east was the territory of Issachar.
11 The following towns within the territory of Issachar and Asher, however,
were given to Manasseh: Beth-shan, Ibleam, Dor (that is, Naphoth-dor),
Endor, Taanach, and Megiddo, each with their surrounding settlements.
7
12
But the descendants
of Manasseh
were unable to
occupy these towns
because the Canaanites were determined
to stay in that region.
Later, however, when the Israelites became strong enough, they forced the
Canaanites to work as slaves. But they did not drive them out of the land.
14 The descendants of Joseph came to Joshua and asked, “Why have you given
us only one portion of land as our homeland when the Lord has blessed us with
so many people?”
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