Joshua 16 Study Notes: Ephraim's Inheritance
Joseph's descendants receive their territory through his two sons, and the borders of Ephraim's tribe are traced, including towns set within Manasseh's land. The chapter ends by noting that Ephraim left the Canaanites of Gezer in place and made them work as laborers.
General
True or False: Some towns reserved for Ephraim lay inside Manasseh's territory.
Answer: True
This is true. After tracing Ephraim's borders, the chapter adds that Ephraim also held towns and villages that lay within Manasseh's inheritance (16:9). The next chapter says the same thing from Manasseh's side, giving the town of Tappuah as an example of an Ephraimite town on Manasseh's border (17:8-9). The two tribes descended from Joseph were brothers whose land overlapped, much as Jacob had blessed them together as a pair (Genesis 48:20).
- Joshua 16:9 (BSB)“along with all the cities and villages set apart for the descendants of Ephraim within the inheritance of Manasseh.”Ephraim's inheritance also includes towns reserved for it inside Manasseh's land.
- Joshua 17:8-9 (BSB)“The region of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but Tappuah itself, on the border of Manasseh, belonged to Ephraim. 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.”The account of Manasseh's border confirms that Ephraim held towns, such as Tappuah, within Manasseh's area.
- Genesis 48:20 (BSB)“So that day Jacob blessed them and said: “By you shall Israel pronounce this blessing: ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’” So he put Ephraim before Manasseh.”Jacob blessed the two brothers together, setting the pattern of two closely linked tribes.
Theological
True or False: The allotment places certain Ephraimite towns within the bounds of Manasseh's inheritance.
Answer: True
This is true. Ephraim's allotment includes towns and villages set within Manasseh's territory (16:9), and the parallel description of Manasseh's border names Tappuah as one such Ephraimite town (17:8-9). The interlocking holdings fit the close pairing of Joseph's two sons, whom Jacob blessed together (Genesis 48:20), and they anticipate the joint appeal the house of Joseph will bring to Joshua in 17:14-18.
- Joshua 16:9 (BSB)“along with all the cities and villages set apart for the descendants of Ephraim within the inheritance of Manasseh.”Ephraim's inheritance also includes towns reserved for it inside Manasseh's land.
- Joshua 17:8-9 (BSB)“The region of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but Tappuah itself, on the border of Manasseh, belonged to Ephraim. 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.”The account of Manasseh's border confirms that Ephraim held towns, such as Tappuah, within Manasseh's area.
- Genesis 48:20 (BSB)“So that day Jacob blessed them and said: “By you shall Israel pronounce this blessing: ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’” So he put Ephraim before Manasseh.”Jacob blessed the two brothers together, setting the pattern of two closely linked tribes.
General
True or False: Joshua 16:10 says the Canaanites who stayed in Gezer were made to serve as forced laborers.
Answer: True
This is true. Instead of removing the Canaanites of Gezer, the Ephraimites let them stay and made them forced laborers, meaning they were compelled to do work for Israel, and the verse says this was still so at the time of writing (16:10). The book holds two truths side by side. The LORD handed Israel the whole land promised on oath to their ancestors (21:43), yet the tribes did not fully remove the people living there, and Joshua later promises that God would still drive them out (23:5). Canaanites were still living in Gezer when Egypt's Pharaoh later captured the city and handed it over as a wedding gift at his daughter's marriage to Solomon (1 Kings 9:16).
- Joshua 16:10 (BSB)“But they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer. So the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites to this day, but they are forced laborers.”The Canaanites of Gezer remain among Ephraim, made to serve as forced laborers.
- Joshua 21:43 (BSB)“Thus the LORD gave Israel all the land He had sworn to give their fathers, and they took possession of it and settled in it.”The book affirms that the LORD gave Israel all the land He had sworn to the fathers.
- Joshua 23:5 (BSB)“The LORD your God will push them out of your way and drive them out before you, so that you can take possession of their land, as the LORD your God promised you.”Joshua later promises that the LORD will still drive out the remaining nations.
- 1 Kings 9:16 (BSB)“Pharaoh king of Egypt had attacked and captured Gezer. He had set it on fire, killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife.”Canaanites still lived in Gezer until Pharaoh captured it and gave it as a gift at his daughter's marriage to Solomon.
Theological
True or False: According to 16:10, Ephraim kept the Canaanites of Gezer as a subject labor force.
Answer: True
This is true. Ephraim kept the Canaanites of Gezer as a subject labor force rather than dispossessing them, an arrangement the verse says continued to the writer's day (16:10). The book sets this beside its own summary that the whole land sworn to the fathers was given (21:43): God gave what He promised and the land lay open before Israel, while the tribes' full possession remained incomplete because they failed to dispossess those living there, and 23:5 promises that God will still drive them out. Gezer's Canaanite population persisted until Pharaoh took the city and passed it to Solomon through a royal marriage (1 Kings 9:16).
- Joshua 16:10 (BSB)“But they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer. So the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites to this day, but they are forced laborers.”The Canaanites of Gezer remain among Ephraim, made to serve as forced laborers.
- Joshua 21:43 (BSB)“Thus the LORD gave Israel all the land He had sworn to give their fathers, and they took possession of it and settled in it.”The book affirms that the LORD gave Israel all the land He had sworn to the fathers.
- Joshua 23:5 (BSB)“The LORD your God will push them out of your way and drive them out before you, so that you can take possession of their land, as the LORD your God promised you.”Joshua later promises that the LORD will still drive out the remaining nations.
- 1 Kings 9:16 (BSB)“Pharaoh king of Egypt had attacked and captured Gezer. He had set it on fire, killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife.”Canaanites still lived in Gezer until Pharaoh captured it and gave it as a gift at his daughter's marriage to Solomon.
General
According to Joshua 16:10, what did the Ephraimites fail to do?
Answer: Expel the Canaanites from the town of Gezer
The chapter ends with a failure: the Ephraimites left the Canaanite population of Gezer in place, so these people stayed on among the Ephraimites (16:10). The book of Judges repeats this same failure (Judges 1:29). God had told Israel not to make agreements with the peoples of the land (Deuteronomy 7:2), and Moses had warned that any who were allowed to stay would become like thorns that would trouble Israel (Numbers 33:55). The Jebusites of Jerusalem appear in Judah's record (15:63), not Ephraim's.
- Joshua 16:10 (BSB)“But they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer. So the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites to this day, but they are forced laborers.”The chapter closes by recording Ephraim's failure at Gezer.
- Judges 1:29 (BSB)“Ephraim also failed to drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer; so the Canaanites continued to dwell among them in Gezer.”Judges records the same failure of Ephraim at Gezer.
- Deuteronomy 7:2 (BSB)“and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you to defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy.”God had commanded Israel not to make terms with the peoples of the land.
- Numbers 33:55 (BSB)“But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land before you, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides; they will harass you in the land where you settle.”Moses had warned that peoples left in the land would become thorns and trouble Israel.
Theological
What failure does Joshua 16:10 record for Ephraim's tribe?
Answer: Expel the Canaanites from the town of Gezer
Ephraim's allotment closes on a note of incomplete obedience: the Canaanites of Gezer were not dispossessed and remained in the tribe's midst (16:10). Judges 1:29 records the same failure in its survey of the tribes. The command had been clear, with no treaty and no terms for the nations of the land (Deuteronomy 7:2), and Moses had warned that those left behind would become thorns in Israel's side (Numbers 33:55). The Jebusites of Jerusalem belong to Judah's record (15:63), not Ephraim's.
- Joshua 16:10 (BSB)“But they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer. So the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites to this day, but they are forced laborers.”The chapter closes by recording Ephraim's failure at Gezer.
- Judges 1:29 (BSB)“Ephraim also failed to drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer; so the Canaanites continued to dwell among them in Gezer.”Judges records the same failure of Ephraim at Gezer.
- Deuteronomy 7:2 (BSB)“and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you to defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy.”God had commanded Israel not to make terms with the peoples of the land.
- Numbers 33:55 (BSB)“But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land before you, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides; they will harass you in the land where you settle.”Moses had warned that peoples left in the land would become thorns and trouble Israel.
General
In Joshua 16, who receives the portion that belongs to Joseph's family line?
Answer: Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh
The land described in 16:1-3 is Joseph's portion, and verse 4 explains that it went to his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. An inheritance here means the share of the promised land assigned to a tribe and its families to hold. Joseph receives his portion through two tribes because Jacob, near the end of his life, adopted Joseph's two sons as his own, counting them just like his oldest sons Reuben and Simeon (Genesis 48:5). Chronicles adds that the birthright Reuben forfeited was handed to Joseph's sons (1 Chronicles 5:1-2), and Joshua 14:4 notes that Joseph's line had become two tribes. Reuben and Gad had already received land east of the Jordan, and Simeon and Levi are dealt with elsewhere.
- Joshua 16:4 (BSB)“So Ephraim and Manasseh, the sons of Joseph, received their inheritance.”The summary line names the two tribes descended from Joseph as the receivers of this allotment.
- Genesis 48:5 (BSB)“And now your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here shall be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine.”Jacob adopted Joseph's two sons as his own, which is why each becomes a tribe with land.
- 1 Chronicles 5:1-2 (BSB)“These were the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel. Though he was the firstborn, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph son of Israel, because Reuben defiled his father’s bed. So he is not reckoned according to birthright. And though Judah prevailed over his brothers and a ruler came from him, the birthright belonged to Joseph.”The birthright that Reuben lost passed to the sons of Joseph.
- Joshua 14:4 (BSB)“The descendants of Joseph became two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim. And no portion of the land was given to the Levites, except for cities in which to live, along with pasturelands for their flocks and herds.”Earlier in the allotment record Joshua notes that Joseph's descendants had become two tribes.
Theological
Joshua 16 opens with the lot for the house of Joseph. Who receives it?
Answer: Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh
The single lot of 16:1-3 belongs to Joseph's house, and verse 4 names its holders: Ephraim and Manasseh. Their standing as two full tribes rests on Jacob's adoption of them in Egypt, where he reckoned them as his own on a level with Reuben and Simeon (Genesis 48:5). The Chronicler explains the deeper reason: the firstborn's birthright, forfeited by Reuben, was transferred to Joseph's sons (1 Chronicles 5:1-2). Joshua 14:4 had already recorded that Joseph's descendants formed two tribes, so the allotment honors Jacob's word generations later.
- Joshua 16:4 (BSB)“So Ephraim and Manasseh, the sons of Joseph, received their inheritance.”The summary line names the two tribes descended from Joseph as the receivers of this allotment.
- Genesis 48:5 (BSB)“And now your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here shall be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine.”Jacob adopted Joseph's two sons as his own, which is why each becomes a tribe with land.
- 1 Chronicles 5:1-2 (BSB)“These were the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel. Though he was the firstborn, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph son of Israel, because Reuben defiled his father’s bed. So he is not reckoned according to birthright. And though Judah prevailed over his brothers and a ruler came from him, the birthright belonged to Joseph.”The birthright that Reuben lost passed to the sons of Joseph.
- Joshua 14:4 (BSB)“The descendants of Joseph became two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim. And no portion of the land was given to the Levites, except for cities in which to live, along with pasturelands for their flocks and herds.”Earlier in the allotment record Joshua notes that Joseph's descendants had become two tribes.