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Joshua 17:9

in Joshua 17

From there the border continued southward to the Brook of Kanah. There were cities belonging to Ephraim among the cities of Manasseh, but the border of Manasseh was on the north side of the brook and ended at the Sea.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And the border went down unto the brook of Kanah, southward of the brook: these cities belonged to Ephraim among the cities of Manasseh: and the border of Manasseh was on the north side of the brook, and the goings out thereof were at the sea:

KJV

And the coast descended unto the river Kanah, southward of the river: these cities of Ephraim are among the cities of Manasseh: the coast of Manasseh also was on the north side of the river, and the outgoings of it were at the sea:

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This verse in Joshua 17

Commentary

7 notes on this verse
These cities ... - The text is possibly corrupt. The intention seems to be to state that the cities lying south of the river, though within the limits of Manasseh, were in fact made over to Ephraim, and were among the “separate cities” Jos 16:9. On the contrary, the north bank of the river, both land and towns, belonged to Manasseh exclusively.

This site's exposition

was from Asher to Michmethah

on Joshua 17:7-11

The line between the two sons of Joseph is drawn so that each tribe holds towns inside the other, Ephraim keeping cities within Manasseh at 16:9 and Manasseh keeping six towns inside Issachar and Asher here. All six of verse 11 have later history in the text: Taanach and Megiddo are where the kings of Canaan fight Deborah and Barak at Judges 5:19, Endor is where Saul finds the woman with a familiar spirit at 1 Samuel 28:7, and the Philistines fasten Saul's body to the wall of Bethshean at 1 Samuel 31:10. The words rendered three countries at the close of verse 11 are read by some as a district of high ground and by others as a third part of that region, and the Hebrew leaves the question open.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

Three cities - Tappuah, and the cities upon the coast descending to the river, &c. last mentioned. Among the cities of Manasseh - That is, are intermixed with their cities, which was not strange nor unfit, these two being linked together by a nearer alliance than the rest.
And the coast descended unto the river Kanah, southward of the river,....

The Nineteenth Century3 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Thus the river was in the territory of Manasseh; but the cities which were upon the river, though all were within the limits of Manasseh's possessions, were assigned partly to Ephraim, and partly to Manasseh; those on the south side being given to the former; those upon the north to the latter [KEIL].

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

the coast of Manasseh was from Asher to Michmethah--The southern boundary is here traced from the east. Asher (now Yasir), the starting point, was a town fifteen Roman miles east of Shechem, and anciently a place of importance.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Unto the river Kanah - Literally, the river or valley of the reeds, translated by the Vulgate, vallis arundintei. The tribe of Manasseh appears to have been bounded on the north by this torrent or valley, and on the south by the Mediterranean Sea.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

The southern side belonged to Ephraim: Ephraim took his share from the south, facing the land between the descendants of Yehudah and the rest of the tribes.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Joshua 17:10:1, via Sefaria, The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997

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. 2 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

19 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וְיָרַ֣דand it goes down

    veyaradH3381 →381 times

  • הַגְּבוּל֩the border

    hagevulH1366 →240 times

  • נַ֨חַל[the] wadi of

    nachalH5158 →141 times

  • קָנָ֜הKanah

    kanahH7071 →3 times

  • נֶ֣גְבָּה[the] south towards

    negbahH5045 →112 times

  • לַנַּ֗חַלto the wadi

    lanachalH5158 →141 times

  • עָרִ֤יםcities

    ʾarimH5892 →1090 times

  • הָאֵ֙לֶּה֙<the> these

    haelehH428 →746 times

  • לְאֶפְרַ֔יִם[belonged] to Ephraim

    leefrayimH669 →180 times

  • בְּת֖וֹךְin among

    betokhH8432 →418 times

  • עָרֵ֣י[the] cities of

    ʾareiH5892 →1090 times

  • מְנַשֶּׁ֑הManasseh

    menashehH4519 →146 times

  • וּגְב֤וּלand [the] border of

    ugevulH1366 →240 times

  • מְנַשֶּׁה֙Manasseh

    menashehH4519 →146 times

  • מִצְּפ֣וֹן[was] from [the] north

    mitzefonH6828 →153 times

  • לַנַּ֔חַלof the wadi

    lanachalH5158 →141 times

  • וַיְהִ֥יand it was

    vayhiH1961 →3559 times

  • תֹצְאֹתָ֖יוextremities its

    totzeotavH8444 →23 times

  • הַיָּֽמָּה׃the sea towards

    haiyamahH3220 →396 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

4 in all, six open

The walk

8 stops

Each 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 19:29

    The border then turned back toward Ramah as far as the fortified city of Tyre, turned toward Hosah, and came out at the Sea in the region of Achzib,

    it leads to

    • Judges 1:31

      Asher failed to drive out the inhabitants of Acco, Sidon, Ahlab, Achzib, Helbah, Aphik, and Rehob.

    • 2 Samuel 5:11

      Now Hiram king of Tyre sent envoys to David, along with cedar logs, carpenters, and stonemasons, and they built a palace for David.

    • Ezekiel 26:1–21

      In the eleventh month of the twelfth year, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

    • Genesis 38:5

      Then she gave birth to another son and named him Shelah; it was at Chezib that she gave birth to him.

    • Micah 1:14

      Therefore, send farewell gifts to Moresheth-gath; the houses of Achzib will prove deceptive to the kings of Israel.

  • Through

    Joshua 16:3

    Then it descended westward to the border of the Japhletites as far as the border of Lower Beth-horon and on to Gezer, and it ended at the Sea.

    it leads to

    • Joshua 10:33

      At that time Horam king of Gezer went to help Lachish, but Joshua struck him down along with his people, leaving no survivors.

    • Joshua 18:13

      From there the border crossed over to the southern slope of Luz (that is, Bethel) and went down to Ataroth-addar on the hill south of Lower Beth-horon.

    • 2 Chronicles 8:5

      He rebuilt Upper and Lower Beth-horon as fortified cities with walls, gates, and bars,

About Joshua

The Walls of Jericho Fall Down, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Walls of Jericho Fall Down, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Joshua: the study guide →Read Joshua 17 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth.

Read on in Joshua 17 →