JOS 16:9 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not necessarily natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for Bible-translators and others doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still early looks into the drafted texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal Speaker(s)=Narrator (All still tentative.)

BrLXX Καὶ αἱ πόλεις αἱ ἀφορισθεῖσαι τοῖς υἱοῖς Ἐφραῒμ ἀναμέσον τῆς κληρονομίας νἱῶν Μανασσή, πᾶσαι αἱ πόλεις καὶ αἱ κῶμαι αὐτῶν.
(Kai hai poleis hai aforistheisai tois huiois Efraim anameson taʸs klaʸronomias nhiōn Manassaʸ, pasai hai poleis kai hai kōmai autōn.)

BrTr And the cities separated to the sons of Ephraim were in the midst of the inheritance of the sons of Manasse, all the cities and their villages.

ULT And cities set apart for the sons of Ephraim, were in the midst of the inheritance of the sons of Manasseh, all of the cities and their villages.

UST The leaders assigned some cities and their dependent villages to the people of Ephraim that were actually within the territory of the tribe of Manasseh. Those cities were part of their total territory.

BSB & MSB [along] with all the cities and villages set apart for the descendants of Ephraim within the inheritance of Manasseh.

OEB together with the towns set aside for the Ephraimites in the territory of the Manassites, all these towns and their villages.

WEBBE & WMBB together with the cities which were set apart for the children of Ephraim in the middle of the inheritance of the children of Manasseh, all the cities with their villages.

NET Also included were the cities set apart for the tribe of Ephraim within Manasseh’s territory, along with their towns.

LSV And the separate cities of the sons of Ephraim [are] in the midst of the inheritance of the sons of Manasseh, all the cities and their villages;

FBV Also some towns with their associated villages that lay in the land allotted to the tribe of Manasseh were assigned to the tribe of Ephraim.

T4T Many of those towns were really within the area allotted to the tribe of Manasseh.

LEB with the cities that were set apart for the descendants[fn] of Ephraim in the midst of the inheritance of the descendants[fn] of Manasseh, all the cities and their villages.

16:9 Or “sons”

BBE Together with the towns marked out for the children of Ephraim in the heritage of Manasseh, all the towns with their unwalled places.

Moff together with the towns set aside for the Ephraimites in the territory of the Manassites, all these towns and their villages.

JPS together with the cities which were separated for the children of Ephraim in the midst of the inheritance of the children of Manasseh, all the cities with their villages.

ASV together with the cities which were set apart for the children of Ephraim in the midst of the inheritance of the children of Manasseh, all the cities with their villages.

DRA And there were cities with their villages separated for the children of Ephraim in the midst of the possession of the children of Manasses.

YLT And the separate cities of the sons of Ephraim [are] in the midst of the inheritance of the sons of Manasseh, all the cities and their villages;

Drby with the cities that were set apart for the children of Ephraim in the midst of the inheritance of the children of Manasseh, all the cities and their hamlets.

RV together with the cities which were separated for the children of Ephraim in the midst of the inheritance of the children of Manasseh, all the cities with their villages.

SLT And the cities were separated to the sons of Ephraim in the midst of the inheritance of the sons of Manasseh, all the cities and their enclosures.

Wbstr And the separate cities for the children of Ephraim were among the inheritance of the children of Manasseh, all the cities with their villages.

KJB-1769 And the separate cities for the children of Ephraim were among the inheritance of the children of Manasseh, all the cities with their villages.

KJB-1611 And the separate cities for the children of Ephraim were among the inheritance of the children of Manasseh, all the cities with their villages.
(Same as from KJB-1769 above)

Bshps And the seperate cities for the childre of Ephraim, were among ye inheritauce of the children of Manasses, euen the cities with their villages.
(And the separate cities for the children of Ephraim, were among ye/you_all inheritance of the children of Manasses, even the cities with their villages.)

Gnva And the separate cities for the children of Ephraim were among the inheritance of the children of Manasseh: all the cities with their villages.
(Same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from marking of added words (and possibly capitalisation and punctuation))

Cvdl And all the borders, cities with their vyllages of the childre of Ephraim laye scatred amonge the enheritaunce of the children of Manasse.
(And all the borders, cities with their villages of the children of Ephraim lay scattered among the inheritance of the children of Manasse.)

Wycl and citees and the townes of tho ben departid to the sones of Effraym, in the myddis of the possessioun of the sones of Manasses.
(and cities and the towns of those been departed to the sons of Ephraim, in the midst of the possession of the sons of Manasses.)

Luth Und alle Grenzstädte samt ihren Dörfern der Kinder Ephraims waren gemenget unter dem Erbteil der Kinder Manasses.
(And all border_towns together_with your(pl) villages the/of_the children Ephraim’s were mixed under to_him inheritance the/of_the children Manasses.)

ClVg Urbesque separatæ sunt filiis Ephraim in medio possessionis filiorum Manasse, et villæ earum.
(And_cities separated are to_the_children Ephraim in/into/on in_the_middle possession of_children Manasseh, and villages of_them.)

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 16:1–17:18 The clans of Ephraim and Manasseh received their land

This section describes the boundaries of the land given to Ephraim and to Manasseh, and the towns within each of their lands.

16:9

along with all the cities and villages set apart for the descendants of Ephraim within the inheritance of Manasseh.

The clan of Ephraim also received other towns within the land of the clan of Manasseh. The villages surrounding these towns also belonged to the clan of Ephraim.
Their land also included some towns in areas belonging to the clan of Manasseh. They also received the villages that were near those towns.
(reordered) The clan of Ephraim also received other towns and the villages which surrounded them. These towns and villages were in the land that belonged to the clan of Manasseh.

along with all the cities and villages set apart for the descendants of Ephraim: The clause the cities and villages set apart for the descendants of Ephraim indicates that there were other towns that the clan of Ephraim received. These towns were in the land belonging to the clan of Manasseh.

Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

The clan of Ephraim also received other towns

Their land also included towns

all the cities and villages: The phrase and villages indicates that there were villages that surrounded the cities. These villages also belonged to the clan of Ephraim.

Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

The villages surrounding these cities also belonged to the clan of Ephraim

The Ephraim clan also received the villages that were near these cities

within the inheritance of Manasseh: Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

which were within the land that the clan of Manasseh received

which were in the land that belonged to the clan of Manasseh

General Comment on 16:9

It may be more natural to reorder the parts of this verse so that the last clause follows the first. For example:

The clan of Ephraim also received other cities and the villages that surrounded them. These towns and villages were in the land that belonged to the clan of Manasseh.

BMM BibleMapper.com Maps:

Poster Map of the Tribe of Manasseh (West) and Its Surroundings, circa 1200 B.C.

Though Manasseh’s descendants formed only half the tribe of Joseph (the other half being Ephraim) and its population was surpassed by Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, and Asher (Numbers 26) at the time of their entry in Canaan, Manasseh occupied one of the largest allotments among the tribes of Israel, rivaling even the royal tribe of Judah. Half of Manasseh’s allotted territory was located technically outside the Promised Land of Canaan in the region commonly referred to as the Transjordan (“across the Jordan”), which was seized from King Og as the Israelites approached Canaan from the southeast and prepared to enter the land (Numbers 32:33; Deuteronomy 3:13; Joshua 13; see “Israel Defeats Og and Sihon” map). The other half of its territory (often referred to as West Manasseh) lay in the central region of the Promised Land, and the tribe of Manasseh, sometimes referred to by the name of Machir, Manasseh’s son, was involved in several key events in the early life of Israel. They participated in the victory of Deborah and Barak over Sisera (Judges 5:14; see “Deborah and Barak Defeat Sisera” map) as well as the victory of Gideon (who was from Manasseh) over the Midianites (Judges 7:23; see “Gideon Defeats the Midianites” map). After Gideon died, his son Abimelech briefly made himself king over Shechem and also attacked the town of Thebez in the territory of Manasseh (Judges 9). Manassites were among those who joined David before the battle at Mount Gilboa and also among those who came to make him king at Hebron (1 Chronicles 12; see “The Battle at Mount Gilboa” map and “David and Ish-bosheth” map). Many Manassites were also among those who humbled themselves and accepted Hezekiah’s invitation to attend the Passover in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 30:11).

West Manasseh’s boundaries eventually stretched from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River, and that is how they are drawn on virtually all maps of the tribe’s territory. But this author is convinced that a careful reading of Joshua 16-17 (particularly Joshua 17:7-12) indicates that, technically speaking, Manasseh’s initial allotment included only the western portion of their full allotment, that is, the land to the west of Tappuah, Shechem, and En-gannim and to the south of Asher (see “Poster Map of the Tribe of Zebulun and Its Surroundings circa 1200 B.C.” map and its discussion regarding southern Asher), as shown on this map (see also 1 Kings 4:10). But the tribe of Joseph (that is, Manasseh and Ephraim) complained to Joshua that their allotted territory in Canaan was not large enough for their growing populations (Joshua 17:14-18). So Joshua responded: “If you are a numerous people, go up to the forest, and clear ground there for yourselves in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim” (Joshua 17:15). Then it appears that the tribe of Joseph complained further that even this additional hill country would not be enough, yet they were not confident that they could take land from the Canaanites in the Jezreel Valley (Joshua 17:16). But Joshua assured them, “Since you are so large and strong, you will be given more than one portion. The forests of the hill country will be yours as well. Clear as much of the land as you wish, and take possession of its farthest corners. And you will drive out the Canaanites from the valleys, too, even though they are strong and have iron chariots” (Joshua 17:17-18, NLT). This additional allotment–the forested hill country of the Perizzites and the Rephaim–was likely the mountainous region just north of Shechem and the surrounding towns of Tirzah, Thebez, and Bezek. This is supported by Jacob’s comment in Genesis 34:30 that Simeon and Levi had made him “odious to the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites” when they slaughtered the men of Shechem for assaulting their sister. Judges 1:4-5 also references a battle fought against the Canaanites and the Perizzites at Bezek. Prior to the Israelites’ entry into Canaan, Perizzites apparently lived in the hill country near Bethel and Ai as well (Genesis 13:7). The Rephaim, while predominantly associated with the lands across the Jordan River (Genesis 14:5; Deuteronomy 2:11-20; 3:11-13), apparently also lived in Canaan, because the Israelites wiped out many Anakim, who were descendants of the Rephaim, as they were conquering Judah (Deuteronomy 2:11; Joshua 11:21-22; 14:12-15). It should also be noted that Ephraim was included in this promise of an additional lot as well (Joshua 17:17), and the stories of Gideon and Jephthah indicate that by their time Ephraim, not Manasseh, was progressively gaining control over the lower Jordan Valley as far north as Zaphon (Judges 7:23-24; 12:1). Manasseh also began to occupy territory belonging to the surrounding Israelite tribes, including the towns and surrounding villages of Beth-shan, Ibleam, Dor, Endor, Taanach, and Megiddo, though they never fully drove out the Canaanites living there (Joshua 17:11-12; Judges 1:27-28; 1 Chronicles 7:29). As a result, the territory occupied by Manasseh and Ephraim by the completion of the book of Joshua and Judges is notably larger than the land originally allotted to them.

Joshua also records that Manasseh’s tribal allotment was further divided among ten clans of Manasseh, including the families of the daughters of Zelophehad (Joshua 17:1-6). During the Israelites’ wandering in the wilderness, Moses granted Zelophehad’s daughters, whose father had no sons, the right to inherit land, though this was not the normal practice in Israel (Numbers 27). The discovery of the Samaria Ostraca in the palace of Ahab in 1910 has enabled scholars to deduce the likely area in which several of these clans settled within Manasseh’s territory, including Noah, Shemida, Abiezer, Asriel, Shechem, Helek, Hoglah, and Tirzah. This author also suspects that the location of the clan of Mahlah may be preserved in the name of the ruins at Khirbat al Milkh (identified as Abel-meholah on this map) and the nearby stream of Wadi el Maleh. Likewise, this author also suspects the location of the clan of Milcah may be preserved in name of the ruins at Khirbat Malihim and the nearby spring of `Ein el Ma`lqa.

Tribal Allotments of the Promised Land

After the Israelites had conquered portions of the Promised Land and Joshua had grown old, the Lord directed him to divide the rest of the land among the tribes of Israel as their inheritance (Joshua 13-20). The eastern tribes had already been allotted their land under Moses’ leadership (Numbers 32), but they continued to help the other tribes drive out the Canaanites from land west of the Jordan River. The Lord also instructed the Israelites to designate several cities of refuge, where someone could flee for protection from an avenger if they accidentally killed someone (Numbers 35; Joshua 20).

Parallel JOS 16:9

Section 16:1–17:18 The clans of Ephraim and Manasseh received their land

16:9

General Comment on 16:9

Poster Map of the Tribe of Manasseh (West) and Its Surroundings, circa 1200 B.C.

Tribal Allotments of the Promised Land