And the territory of Manasseh was from Asher to Micmethath, which is before Shechem, and the border went on the right hand toward the inhabitants of En-Tappuah.
Joshua 17:7 traces one line: Manasseh's southern boundary. It runs from Asher, past Michmethath east of Shechem, down to the people of En-tappuah. Why does Scripture spend a verse on a survey line, and what do these names carry?
God handed out the whole land tribe by tribe. No border was left to chance.
God marked out their borders. The Spirit of God takes notice of everything when He hands out the spiritual inheritance, and He gives to each according to the mind of God. There is nothing uncertain in God's arrangements. But we find that not one tribe drove out all the enemies of God from His inheritance. Not one took possession of all that God had given him.
The tribes received their land by lot. One writer marks the limit of what the lot decided.
The lot clearly showed the mind of God, and showed it more plainly than any other way could: "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD," says the voice of inspiration itself (Prov. 16:33). But the lot seems to have settled only the position of these possessions, not their extent. Room was left to revise the boundary-lines, since each tribe might grow or shrink depending on its faithfulness or unfaithfulness. Had they all been faithful, their territories would have grown, and that growth would have made such a revision necessary.
Manasseh's territory was large. Its edges are not all described the same way.
Manasseh had a fairly large possession. Its southern border touched Ephraim. The Mediterranean Sea was its western border and the river Jordan its eastern one. Issachar lay on its north-east border, and Asher on the north (v.10).
Verse 7 measures the south in detail. The north gets no line at all, and that silence carries weight.
On the north no line is given at all. We are simply told that Manasseh touched Asher on the north and Issachar on the east, and that Manasseh had cities in both. This looks as if the undrawn line was left open for progress — and Manasseh surely stands for progress. On the south he too gives way to Ephraim, for expansion is the rule for the people of God. Had they only been faithful, their borders would have widened on every side in the same way. God desired growth for them. They chose, alas, to shrink.
Asher, Michmethath and Shechem are not only dots on a map. One writer reads their meanings in order, and finds a story of man in them.
The starting-point is Asher — not the tribe, of course, but a place thought to be still known, carrying the same meaning, "happy," man's original condition. From there the line passes to Michmethath, "the corruption of the dead," which is now marked as opposite Shechem, "shoulder." Shechem is already familiar to us as the picture of obedience, the bearing of the yoke. So man turns away from God — not in ignorance, but in full view of duty.
The line then turns south to En-tappuah. Older translations read "on the right hand" here. The same writer takes up that phrase and both halves of the name.
But there is a change. The border passes south, literally "to the right hand," the place of exaltation and honour, but in dependence. So it comes to the inhabitants of En-tappuah. Tappuah is a word we well know as pointing to the Breather of new life, a new creation. Its prefix "En" means "spring," the living water that waters the new creation-life. Here we are stopped to have it explained that the land only belonged to Manasseh. Tappuah, standing on the boundary-line itself, belonged to Ephraim. So Paul, in New Testament style, tells us that we are "created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Eph. 2:10).
The list of Manasseh's places that begins here closes with cities they never cleared. One writer names the reason.
Their strength exposed the secret of their inability: they "could not" because they "would not" drive them out. They preferred to profit from these pagan peoples rather than obey God. So it happened that, after a time, Israel learned all the detestable practices of the Canaanites, and served them as a punishment for their sins. Making terms with the enemy, in disobedience to God, was a shortsighted principle. It ended with those who paid tribute becoming thorns in their eyes and pricks in their sides, and at last their masters.
- Border: God marked every line Himself. Nothing in His arrangements is uncertain, and He gives to each according to His own mind.
- Room: the lot fixed where a tribe would sit, not how far it would reach. Faithfulness would have pushed the boundary-stones outward.
- Open north: Manasseh's northern line was never drawn. It was room left for progress, and the tribe settled for less.
- Names: the line runs from "happy" to "the corruption of the dead," opposite "shoulder," the picture of obedience. Man turns from God with duty in full view.
- Spring: the border ends at a spring of new life. Yet Manasseh's story closes with cities kept for profit instead of cleared in obedience.
Manasseh had the land of Tappuah; but Tappuah on the border of Manasseh belonged to the children of Ephraim.
The survey of tribal borders stops here over one small oddity. The district around Tappuah fell to Manasseh. The town of Tappuah itself sat on the border line, and it went to Ephraim. Why would Scripture slow down to record one town changing hands?
Chapter after chapter of Joshua divides land between the tribes. One writer sees no accident in where any of those lines fell:
The whole extent of the country is given to Israel, and each tribe has its share. So the portion that fell to each tribe was given to them in full right by Jehovah Himself. Their borders were marked out, because the Spirit of God takes notice of everything when He gives out the spiritual inheritance. He gives to each according to the mind of God. There is nothing uncertain in God's arrangements.
The verse splits two things that belong together: the district and the town it is named after. One writer traces the border to that spot and finds the split matched by a line from Paul:
The border passes south, literally "to the right hand," the place of exaltation and honour, but in dependence. So it comes to the people of En-tappuah. The prefix "En" means "spring" — the living water that waters the new creation-life. Here we are stopped to have it explained that the land only belonged to Manasseh. Tappuah itself, on the boundary line, belonged to Ephraim. So Paul, in New Testament style, tells us that we are "created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." (Eph. 2:10)
The town's name carries the weight here. One writer takes "Tappuah" to mean "the Breather," and what he draws from it is not about land at all:
Tracing the border the other way, we take it up again and find first a name that has twice truly fulfilled itself to us where we found it — Tappuah, the "Breather." Here is a precious and encouraging thought. Christ, the last Adam, has breathed into us the breath of a new, eternal life. We belong to a new creation: "the old has passed away." And we who live this way are no longer to live for ourselves, but for Him who died for us and rose again.
Tappuah is not the only place where Manasseh gives ground to Ephraim. The same writer points out that Manasseh's northern boundary is never drawn at all:
On the north there is no line given at all. We are only told that it touched Asher on the north, and Issachar on the east, and that Manasseh had cities in both. It looks as if the undrawn line were left open for progress... On the south he too yields to Ephraim, since expansion is the rule for the people of God. Had they only been faithful, their borders on all sides would have been pushed out in the same way. God desired for them growth: they chose, alas, contraction.
Verse 8 is one of several places where Ephraim's and Manasseh's holdings overlap. One writer reads that mixing as a sign that something had gone wrong:
Judah's lot was clear and broad. The lands and cities given to Ephraim and Manasseh are neither, and their lots are also mixed together in a way that is difficult to explain. Once again we see these tribes failing to carry out God's purpose.
- Border given. Men did not negotiate the lines between the tribes. God handed each tribe its share in full right, and He overlooks nothing when He divides an inheritance.
- Border named. Tappuah means "the Breather." Christ, the last Adam, breathes a new, eternal life into His people, and those who have it no longer live for themselves.
- Border shared. The district stayed with Manasseh, and the town went to Ephraim. One writer matches that split to the good works God prepared beforehand for us to walk in.
- Border stretched. Manasseh's northern line was never fixed. It was left open for growth. God wanted expansion to be the rule, but the people chose contraction instead.
- Border blurred. Ephraim's and Manasseh's lots run into each other in a way that is hard to explain. One writer reads that tangle as a sign these tribes never carried out God's purpose.
And the border descended to the torrent Kanah, south of the torrent. These cities were Ephraim's among the cities of Manasseh. And the territory of Manasseh was on the north side of the torrent, and ended at the sea.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
Southward it was Ephraim's, and northward it was Manasseh's, and the sea was his border. And they touched upon Asher on the north, and upon Issachar on the east.
This verse draws Manasseh's land in a few strokes. Ephraim lies to the south, the sea runs along the west, and two names stand in for the north and east. Why does one side get a careful line while the north is a bare mention of Asher and Issachar? And why did Manasseh hold cities inside other tribes' land?
First, the plain geography: what lay on each side of Manasseh.
Manasseh had a fairly large portion. Its southern border ran alongside Ephraim. The Mediterranean Sea was its western border and the river Jordan its eastern one, though Issachar lay on its north-east border, and Asher on the north.
Only the south gets a real line, and that line belongs to Ephraim. One writer takes the missing northern border as room to grow, not as a gap in the record.
We now have Manasseh's borders, with only one side really defined: the south, where Ephraim's line has already been drawn. Yet it is repeated here with changes from the earlier account. This is surely not just an add-on to fix a flaw in the first account, but something very different, and it proves how little geography is really in question. On the north there is no line at all. We are simply told that it touched Asher on the north, and Issachar on the east, and that Manasseh had cities in both. That looks as if the undecided line were left open for growth — and Manasseh is surely the picture of growth. On the south he too gives way to Ephraim. Expansion is the rule for the people of God. Had they only been faithful, their borders on every side would have been pushed out in the same way. God wanted growth for them. Sadly, they chose to shrink.
Borders still grow the same way today. Writing on Israel's family records, one commentator points to people whose portion grew while the nation stood still.
Here and there these family records point out people whose borders God enlarged in the promised land, at a time when most of the nation had failed to conquer their inheritance fully... It is the same with us. Our spiritual borders grow in the heavenly sphere while we are still on earth. To reach this, we must admit our ruin, which we cannot repair. We must admit that we have shown no power to enlarge our own borders. And we must show humble dependence that leans on the grace of God alone to gain them.
Commentators differ about these tangled lots. One sees room left for growth. Another sees the tangle itself as a sign of failure, set against the clear, wide lot given to Judah.
The lot of the sons of Joseph came after Judah's. This is another case of God's hand ordering Israel's inheritance so that His word to the fathers of the nation would come true. The clear outline and the breadth of Judah's lot are missing from the lands and cities given to Ephraim and Manasseh. Their lots are also mixed in together, which is hard to explain. Once again these tribes fail to carry out God's purpose, and it shows.
Manasseh's reach into Asher and Issachar came at a cost.
As already said, no one traces the northern boundary line. We are told only that it touched Asher on the north, and Issachar toward the sunrise, and that Manasseh held cities in both tribes. Yet this reach seems to go beyond their strength, an evil that too often goes with energy. The Canaanites keep these cities still, though they now pay tribute.
Manasseh's name itself carries a lesson, and it pairs with Ephraim's.
Manasseh means "forgetting," reminding us of Paul's words in Philippians 3:13, "forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." So Manasseh and Ephraim go together. Manasseh was born first, but he teaches us to forget what we once were in merely natural advantage, for what comes first is not spiritual but natural. So Ephraim received the first place, which speaks of the positive side: bearing fruit.
- Border drawn. Ephraim to the south, the sea to the west, Jordan to the east, Asher and Issachar touching the north. Manasseh's share was a large one.
- Border open. No one traces the northern line. One writer reads that blank as space for growth, since expansion is God's rule for His people.
- Border earned. Borders widen through humble dependence on God's grace, not self-confidence. Some gained ground while the nation stood still.
- Border overreached. Manasseh's cities inside Asher and Issachar went beyond its strength. The Canaanites stayed put and paid tribute.
- Border named. Manasseh means "forgetting." Beside fruitful Ephraim it teaches the negative half: leave the past behind and press on to Christ.
And Manasseh had in Issachar and in Asher, Beth-shean and its dependent villages, and Ibleam and its dependent villages, and the inhabitants of Dor and its dependent villages, and the inhabitants of En-Dor and its dependent villages, and the inhabitants of Taanach and its dependent villages, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its dependent villages, the three hilly regions.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
But the children of Manasseh could not dispossess [the inhabitants of] those cities; and the Canaanites would dwell in that land.
Joshua's record of Manasseh's land ends on a sour note. He names the cities and hands them out, but the Canaanites stay put. The verse raises a question the rest of Israel's history answers: was this inability, or unwillingness?
The next verse gives the test. When Israel finally grew strong, that strength exposed the excuse.
"Now when the people of Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor" (v. 13). Their strength revealed the secret of their inability. They "could not" because they "would not" drive them out. They preferred to make a profit out of these nations instead of obeying God. And so, after a time, Israel learned all the detestable practices of the Canaanites, and served them as a punishment for their sins.
The Canaanites were stubborn. But how big that obstacle looked depended on where Manasseh was looking.
Had Manasseh looked to God, the stubbornness of the Canaanites would have proved a weak defence. … Israel suited their own convenience, without care for the word of the Lord.
Israel had already beaten these nations in battle. The problem was what they allowed to remain afterwards.
The enemies are all conquered, but not all driven out. There will always be enemies, until the coming of the Lord. "The last enemy to be destroyed is death" (1 Cor. 15:26). But Israel has to dispossess them. As long as the enemy holds anything, the joy of the people of God is not complete. Worse still, they are leaving among themselves what could keep making them fail. If the enemy is not destroyed, he will be quick to lift his head and corrupt the people, if he cannot overcome them.
Making the Canaanites pay looked like victory. It was something less. (The older translation Rossier follows reads "would dwell"; the ESV has "persisted in dwelling.")
Notice the wording: "the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land." The world has more power over a Christian in a low state than the Word and promises of God have. It is true that when Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor. But that was ruling them, not driving them out.
The same deal repeats itself whenever God's people trade obedience for advantage. It never ends well for them.
Putting false things under tribute is a common practice in the church of God, but playing with evil will end in ruin and misery. Spiritual enemies placed under tribute will do what these Canaanites did: they will claim the right to rule. … Turning a blind eye to evil, giving in to sin, smoothing over the false teaching or practice of favourite leaders — that is simply putting the enemy under tribute. Disloyalty like this to the Lord always ends with those under tribute mastering the people of God and enslaving them.
Manasseh was not the only tribe to fall short. God's gift was complete and carefully mapped. The taking was not.
God gives the whole country to Israel, and each tribe has its share. So the Lord Himself gave each tribe its portion in full right. He marked out their borders, for the Spirit of God notices everything when He hands out the spiritual inheritance, and gives to each according to the mind of God. There is nothing uncertain in God's arrangements. But we find that not one tribe drove out all the enemies of God from His inheritance. Not one took possession of all that God had given him.
Reading such chapters is uncomfortable because the pattern has not changed.
We may be enjoying the pure truth of the living Word of God to some degree. Yet our inheritance — that great land of the heavenly places with its countless blessings — is still largely untaken by the people of God. Lack of faith, lack of spiritual energy, lack of real love for Christ, has left us too indifferent to the precious fullness of what is truly ours.
- Given — God Himself drew the boundaries and gave each tribe full right to its share.
- Not taken — not one tribe drove out all the enemies. Not one took everything God had given.
- Could not — later strength exposed the real reason. They would not, because profit from the Canaanites suited them better than obedience.
- Tribute — taxing an enemy is ruling him, not driving him out. The enemy you tolerate will claim the right to rule you.
- Today — our inheritance in the heavenly places lies largely untaken, for the same reasons: little faith, little energy, little love for Christ.
And it came to pass when the children of Israel were become strong, that they made the Canaanites tributary; but they did not utterly dispossess them.
Israel finally grew strong, and used that strength to tax the Canaanites instead of driving them out. The verse records a choice, not a defeat — commentators read it as the point where Israel traded obedience for profit.
Older translations call it tribute. A Bible dictionary explains what that arrangement was.
Several Hebrew words are translated this way. In general it means what one nation or people paid to another, in money or in goods (2 Kings 3:4), to be left in peaceful possession. Some of the Canaanites were not driven out of the land, but they paid tribute to the Israelites, and Solomon put others under tribute. Joshua 17:13; 2 Chronicles 8:7-8. Later, because of their sin, Israel had to pay tribute to Assyria, Egypt and others.
So the Canaanites kept their homes and bought peace. Israel took the income and left the land in enemy hands — and later paid tribute itself.
Verse 12 said Manasseh could not drive them out. Verse 13 says that once Israel was strong they still did not. One writer points out what that sequence proves.
Their strength exposed the secret of their inability: they "could not" because they "would not" drive them out. They preferred to make a gain of these heathen rather than obey God. And so it happened that, after a time, Israel learned all the abominations of the Canaanites, and served them as a punishment for their sins. Making terms with the enemy, in disobedience to God, is a short-sighted principle. In the end those who paid tribute became thorns in their eyes and pricks in their sides, and at last their masters. Some exchange faith in God, with its demanding life, for compromise with evil and a life of self-seeking. The reaping day will then show, by its sorrowful fruits, the bitterness of departing from God.
The obstacle was real: the Canaanites meant to stay. Manasseh weighed it without looking to God.
Had Manasseh looked to God, the stubbornness of the Canaanites would have been a weak defence… They suited their own convenience, without care for the word of the Lord.
Manasseh was not an exception. One writer stands back and looks at the division of the whole land.
A large part of the land still had to be taken. Even so, Joshua divides the whole of it among the tribes of Israel, as the Lord commanded. The Lord declares that He will Himself drive out its inhabitants before them. But the people responded poorly to this promise… Wherever there is faithfulness, there is rest… God gives the whole extent of the country to Israel, and each tribe has his share… Yet not one tribe drove out all the enemies of God from His inheritance. Not one took possession of all that God had given him.
Subduing an enemy is not the same as removing him. Whatever he still holds costs God's people twice.
The enemies are all conquered, but not all driven out… But Israel has to dispossess them. As long as the enemies hold anything, the enjoyment of the people of God is not complete. More than this, the people are allowing in their midst what might continually cause them to fail. If the enemy is not destroyed, he will not be slow to lift his head and corrupt the people, if he cannot overcome them.
That corruption is what followed. Israel learned the ways of the people it had spared.
One writer takes the same arrangement into the church today.
Putting false things under tribute is a common practice in the church of God, but trifling with evil will end in ruin and misery. Spiritual foes placed under tribute will claim the right to rule, just as these Canaanites did… Do we not see Christian men putting up with known wrongdoing in their communities? Do they not allow among them people and practices that are enemies to God? Closing our eyes to evil, indulging sin, smoothing over the false doctrine or practice of favourite leaders — this is putting the enemy under tribute. Such disloyalty to the Lord always ends with the tributaries mastering the people of God and enslaving them.
- Tribute — The Canaanites bought the right to stay. Israel took the payment and kept the problem.
- Would, not could — Strength removed the excuse. They could not because they would not, and they chose gain over obedience.
- Convenience — Manasseh suited itself instead of caring for the word of the Lord. Had it looked to God, the enemy's stubbornness would have been a weak defence.
- Incomplete — God gave every tribe its full share, yet not one took all of it. Whatever the enemy still holds, you do not enjoy.
- Mastered — A spared enemy lifts his head. Those who paid tribute became thorns, then rulers. Tolerated evil in the church ends the same way: in slavery.