Manasseh's Land West of the Jordan River
1-6 Manasseh was Joseph's oldest son, and Machir was Manasseh's oldest son. Machir had a son named Gilead, and some of his descendants had already received the regions of Gilead and Bashan because they were good warriors. The other clans of the Manasseh tribe descended from Gilead's sons Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. The following is a description of the land they received.
Hepher's son Zelophehad did not have any sons, but he did have five daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. One day the clans that were descendants of Zelophehad's five daughters went to the priest Eleazar, Joshua, and the leaders of Israel. The people of these clans said, “The Lord told Moses to give us land just as he gave land to our relatives.”
Joshua followed the Lord's instructions and gave land to these five clans, as he had given land to the five clans that had descended from Hepher's brothers. So Manasseh's land west of the Jordan River was divided into ten parts.
7 The land of the Manasseh tribe went from its northern border with the Asher tribe south to Michmethath, which is to the east of Shechem. The southern border started there, but curved even farther south to include the people who lived around Tappuah Spring. 8 The town of Tappuah was on Manasseh's border with Ephraim. Although the land around Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, the town itself belonged to Ephraim.
9-10 Then the border went west to the Kanah Gorge and ran along the northern edge of the gorge to the Mediterranean Sea. The land south of the gorge belonged to Ephraim. And even though there were a few towns that belonged to Ephraim north of the gorge, the land north of the gorge belonged to Manasseh.
The western border of Manasseh was the Mediterranean Sea, and the tribe shared a border with the Asher tribe on the northwest and with the Issachar tribe on the northeast.
11 Manasseh was supposed to have the following towns with their surrounding villages inside the borders of Issachar's and Asher's tribal lands:
Beth-Shan, Ibleam, Endor, Taanach, Megiddo, and Dor, which is also called Naphath.
12 But the people of Manasseh could not capture these towns, so the Canaanites kept on living in them. 13 When the Israelites grew stronger, they made the Canaanites in these towns work as their slaves, though they never did force them to leave.
Joseph's Descendants Ask for More Land
14 One day the Joseph tribes came to Joshua and asked, “Why didn't you give us more land? The Lord has always been kind to us, and we have too many people for this small region.”
15 Joshua replied, “If there's not enough room for you in the hill country of Ephraim, then go into the forest that belonged to the Perizzites and the Rephaim. Clear out the trees and make more room for yourselves there.”
16 “Even if we do that,” they answered, “there still won't be enough land for us in the hill country. And we can't move down into Jezreel Valley, because the Canaanites who live in Beth-Shan and in other parts of the valley have iron chariots.”
17 “Your tribes do have a lot of people,” Joshua admitted. “I'll give you more land. Your tribes are powerful, 18 so you can have the rest of the hill country, but it's a forest, and you'll have to cut down the trees and clear the land. You can also have Jezreel Valley. Even though the Canaanites there are strong and have iron chariots, you can force them to leave the valley.”
حصة منسى
1 وكانَتِ الحِصَّةُ بِالقُرعَةِ لسِبْطِ منَسَّى لأنَّهُ بِكْرُ يوسُفَ. فكانَ لِماكيرَ، بِكرِ منَسَّى وأبـي جِلعادَ، أرضُ جِلعادَ وباشانَ لأنَّهُ كانَ مُقاتِلا. 2 ثُمَّ كانَتِ الحِصَّةُ بِالقُرعَةِ لِبَني منَسَّى الذُّكورِ الباقينَ بِـحسَبِ عشائرِهِم لِبَني أبـيعازَرَ، وبَني حالَقَ، وبَني أسريئيلَ، وبَني شَكَمَ، وبَني حافَرَ، وبَني شَميداعَ. 3 وأمَّا صَلُفحادُ بنُ حافَرَ بنِ جِلعادَ بنِ ماكيرَ بنِ منَسَّى، فلم يكُنْ لَه بَنونَ، وإنَّما كانَت لَه بَناتٌ. وهذِهِ أسماءُ بَناتِهِ: مَحلَةُ ونوعَةُ وحُجلَةُ ومِلكَةُ وتِرصَةُ 4 فتَقدَّمْنَ إلى ألعازارَ الكاهنِ ويَشوعَ بنِ نُونٍ والرُّؤساءِ وقُلنَ: «الرّبُّ أمرَ موسى بأن يُعطيَنا ميراثا كأقرِبائنا الذُّكورِ». فأعطاهُنَّ ميراثا بأمرِ الرّبِّ كإخوةِ أبـيهِنَّ. 5 فنالَ منَسَّى عشَرةَ أسهُمٍ ما عدا أرضَ جِلعادَ وباشانَ شرقيَّ الأردُنِّ، 6 لأنَّ بَناتِ منَسَّى أخَذنَ ميراثا كأبنائِهِ وصارَت أرضُ جِلعادَ لِبَني منَسَّى الباقينَ.
7 وكانَ حَدُّ منَسَّى مِنْ أشيرَ إلى المكمَتَةِ في شرقيِّ شَكيمَ. وامتَدَّ الحَدُّ جَنوبا لِـيَشمُلَ سُكَّانَ عَينَ تَفُّوحَ. 8 وكانَت أرضُ تَفُّوحَ لِمنَسَّى، وأمَّا مدينةُ تَفُّوحَ الّتي هيَ على حُدودِ منَسَّى فكانَت لِبَني أفرايِمَ. 9 وينحَدِرُ الحَدُّ إلى وادي قانَةَ. إلاَّ أنَّ هذِهِ المُدُنَ الواقِعَةَ إلى الجنوبِ مِنَ الوادي صارَت لأفرايِمَ فيما بَينَ مُدُنِ منَسَّى. وكانَ حَدُّ منَسَّى مِنْ شمالي الوادي إلى البحرِ المُتوسِّطِ. 10 الجَنوبُ لأفرايِمَ والشَّمالُ لِمنَسَّى، وحَدُّهُما البحرُ وهوَ يمتَدُّ إلى أشيرَ شمالا وإلى يسَّاكَرَ شرقا. 11 وكانَ لِمنَسَّى في أرضِ يسَّاكَرَ وأرضِ أشيرَ مدينةُ بَيتَ شانَ وتَوابِــعُها. ومدينةُ يَبلَعامَ وتَوابِــعُها، وسُكَّانُ دورٍ وتَوابِــعُها، وسُكَّانُ عَينِ دورٍ وتَوابِــعُها، وسُكَّانُ تَعنَكَ وتَوابِــعُها، وسُكَّانُ مَجِدُّو وتَوابِــعُها، والتِّلالُ الثَّلاثُ. 12 ولم يَقدِرْ بَنو منَسَّى أنْ يَتَملَّكوا هذِهِ المُدُنَ فأقامَ الكنعانِـيُّونَ في هذِهِ الأرضِ. 13 ولمَّا قَويَ بَنو إِسرائيلَ فرَضوا على الكنعانِـيِّينَ جِزيَةً ولم يَطرُدوهُم.
14 وقالَ بَنو يوسُفَ ليَشوعَ: «ما بالُكَ أعطَيتَنا بِالقُرعَةِ حِصَّةً واحدةً وسَهما واحدا، ونحنُ شعبٌ كثيرٌ والرّبُّ إلى الآنَ يُبارِكُنا؟» 15 فقالَ لهُم يَشوعُ: «إذا كُنتُم شعبا كثيرا وضاقَ علَيكُم جبَلُ أفرايِمَ فاصعَدوا إلى الغابِ ومَهِّدوا لأنفُسِكُم الأرضَ هُناكَ في أرضِ الفِرزِّيِّينَ والرَّفائيم». 16 فقالَ بَنو يوسُفَ: «الجبَلُ وحدَهُ لا يكْفينا، ثُمَّ إنَّ لجميعِ الكنعانيِّينَ المُقيمينَ في أرضِ الوادي مَركباتِ حديدٍ، سَواءٌ مِنهُمُ الّذينَ في بَيتَ شانَ وتَوابِــعِها أو الّذينَ في وادي يَزرَعيلَ». 17 فقالَ يَشوعُ لبَيتِ يوسُفَ، لأفرايِمَ ومنَسَّى «أنتُم شعبٌ كثيرٌ ولكُم قوَّةٌ عظيمةٌ، فلا يكونُ لكُم حِصَّةٌ واحدةٌ، 18 بل يكونُ لكُمُ الجبَلُ لأنَّهُ غابٌ فتُمَهِّدونَهُ ويكونُ لكُم بكُلِّ سعَتِهِ، فتَطردونَ الكنعانيِّينَ ولو كانَ لهُم مَركباتُ حديدٍ وكانوا أشِدَّاءَ».
