Joshua 16:4
in Joshua 16So Ephraim and Manasseh, the sons of Joseph, received their inheritance.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the children of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance.
KJV
So the children of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance.
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This verse in Joshua 16
Commentary
3 notes on this verseTheir inheritance - Their several portions which here follow. It is said, they took their inheritance, which also Judah had done before them, because the tribes of Judah and Joseph did take their inheritances before the rest; and it was fit they should do so, for the security of the main camp, and the body of the people which were at Gilgal, chap. xviii, 5.
This site's exposition
the lot of the children
on Joshua 16:1-4
Joseph draws one lot for two tribes, and verse 4 names them Manasseh and Ephraim in birth order while the description that follows gives Ephraim his portion first and leaves Manasseh to chapter 17. Genesis 48:14 and 48:19 stand behind that order, where Jacob crossed his hands over the two boys and said the younger brother would be the greater. Verse 2 treats Bethel and Luz as two points on the line, though Genesis 28:19 has Jacob give the old city of Luz the name Bethel; Clarke and Gill both read the sanctuary ground as lying beside the town rather than inside it. Only the southern border is traced here, and the northern side is given at 17:10.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
So the children of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance. As it fell to them by the lot; by Manasseh is meant the half tribe of Manasseh, one half of that tribe having been settled by Moses on the other side Jordan; and next follows an account of the borders of the inheritance of Ephraim in particular, as that of the half tribe of Manasseh is given in Jos 17:1.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
On the east was Atros-addor. The eastern boundary starts from Atros-Addor and from there the border widens to Beis-choron. This is its width.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
5 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּנְחֲל֥וּ | vaiyinchalu | and they received their inheritance | H5157 → | 59 times |
| בְנֵי־ | venei- | [the] descendants of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יוֹסֵ֖ף | yosef | Joseph | H3130 → | 213 times |
| מְנַשֶּׁ֥ה | menasheh | Manasseh | H4519 → | 146 times |
| וְאֶפְרָֽיִם׃ | veefrayim | and Ephraim | H669 → | 180 times |
וַיִּנְחֲל֥וּand they received their inheritance
vaiyinchaluH5157 →59 times
בְנֵי־[the] descendants of
venei-H1121 →4930 times
יוֹסֵ֖ףJoseph
yosefH3130 →213 times
מְנַשֶּׁ֥הManasseh
menashehH4519 →146 times
וְאֶפְרָֽיִם׃and Ephraim
veefrayimH669 →180 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Joshua 17:14Then the sons of Joseph said to Joshua, “Why have you given us only one portion as an inheritance? We have many people, because the LORD has blessed us abundantly.”
it leads to
- Genesis 48:19
But his father refused. “I know, my son, I know!” he said. “He too shall become a people, and he too shall be great; nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and…
- Genesis 48:22
And to you, as one who is above your brothers, I give the ridge of land that I took from the Amorites with my sword and bow.”
- Numbers 26:34–37
These were the clans of Manasseh, and their registration numbered 52,700.
- Deuteronomy 33:13–17
Concerning Joseph he said: “May his land be blessed by the LORD with the precious dew from heaven above and the deep waters that lie beneath,
- Genesis 49:22–26
Joseph is a fruitful vine—a fruitful vine by a spring, whose branches scale the wall.
- Genesis 48:19
About Joshua
Who and where
3 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonPatriarchsJosephThe rejected-then-exalted son — Genesis's great Christ-type; preserver of his family and of Egypt; the bridge into Exodus.
- PersonLate monarchyManassehJudah's longest-reigning and worst king, who filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; the book names his apostasy as the cause of 586…
- PlaceJudeaEphraimThe town near the wilderness where Jesus withdrew with His disciples before the last Passover (John 11:54).
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.