Joshua 17:1–13

WEST MANASSEH’S INHERITANCE

17This was the allotment for the tribe of Manasseh^g as Joseph’s firstborn. Gilead and Bashan were given to Machir, the firstborn of Manasseh and the father of Gilead, because he was a man of war.^{h 2}So the allotment was for the rest of Manasseh’s descendants by their clans, for the sons of Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. These are the male descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph, by their clans.

³Now Zelophehad son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, had no sons, only daughters. These are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.^{i 4}They came before the priest Eleazar, Joshua son of Nun, and the leaders, saying, “The Lord commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our male relatives.” So they gave them an inheritance among their father’s brothers, in keeping with the Lord’s instruction.^{j 5}As a result, ten tracts fell to Manasseh, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan, which are beyond the Jordan,^{A 6}because Manasseh’s daughters received an inheritance among his sons. The land of Gilead belonged to the rest of Manasseh’s sons.

⁷The border of Manasseh went from Asher to Michmethath near Shechem. It then went southward toward the inhabitants of En-tappuah. ⁸The region of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but Tappuah itself on Manasseh’s border^k belonged to the descendants of Ephraim. ⁹From there the border descended to the Brook of Kanah; south of the brook, cities belonged to Ephraim among Manasseh’s cities. Manasseh’s border was on the north side of the brook and ended at the Mediterranean Sea. ¹⁰Ephraim’s territory was to the south and Manasseh’s to the north, with the Sea as its border. They reached Asher on the north and Issachar on the east. ¹¹Within Issachar and Asher, Manasseh had Beth-shean, Ibleam, and the inhabitants of Dor with their surrounding villages;^l the inhabitants of En-dor, Taanach, and Megiddo—the three cities of^B Naphath—with their surrounding villages.^m

¹²The descendants of Manasseh could not possess these cities, because the Canaanites were determined to stay in this land. ¹³However, when the Israelites grew stronger, they imposed forced labor on the Canaanites but did not drive them out completely.ⁿ