Joshua 16:9

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Joshua 16:5-10

Here, 1. The border of the lot of Ephraim is set down, by which it was divided on the south from Benjamin and Dan, who lay between it and Judah, and on the north from Manasseh; for east and west it reached from Jordan to the great sea. The learned, who aim to be exact in drawing the line according to the directions here, find themselves very much at a loss, the description being short and intricate. The report of those who in these latter ages have travelled those countries will not serve to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 16:9

And the separate cities for the children of Ephraim ,.... The tribe of Ephraim, being much larger than the half tribe of Manasseh, besides the lot that fell to it, described before by its boundaries, had several particular and distinct cities given to it: which were among the inheritance of the children of Manasseh ; some that were upon the borders of Ephraim, and within the territory of Manasseh, and it may be where it jetted out in a nook or corner, see Joshua 17:8 , all the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 16:9

And the separate cities - That is, the cities that were separated from the tribe of Manasseh to be given to Ephraim; see Joshua 17:9 . read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 16:9

And the separate cities. Literally, and the cities divided off. The word "were," in our version, is misplaced. It should be read thus: "And there were cities divided off and assigned to the tribe of Ephraim in the midst of the inheritance of the sons of Manasseh" (see note on verse 5). This fact, together with the compensation given to Manasseh, may serve to explain the cohesion of the ten tribes in opposition to Judah. The boundaries of the latter tribe were more strictly defined, her... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Joshua 16:9

The verb “were,” introduced by the King James Version in this verse should be omitted; and the full stop after Joshua 16:8 replaced by a colon. The purport of Joshua 16:9 is simply to add to the inheritance of Ephraim, defined by the preceding context, “the separate cities” or more properly “single cities” which were allotted to them in addition within the borders of Manasseh. The reasons for granting these additional cities to the Ephraimites can only be conjectured. Perhaps the territory... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Joshua 16:9

Joshua 16:9. The separate cities That is, besides those cities which were within Ephraim’s bounds, he had some other cities out of Manasseh’s portion, because his tribe was all here, and was larger than Manasseh’s. read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Joshua 16:1-10

The Joseph tribes (16:1-17:18)Ephraim and the western half of Manasseh together occupied most of the central portion of Canaan between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea (16:1-4). The southern part of this territory belonged to Ephraim (5-10), the northern part to Manasseh (17:1). (The other half of Manasseh had already received its allotment east of Jordan.)Western Manasseh was divided between six major family groups. No details are given concerning portions received by five of these... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Joshua 16:9

Ver. 9. And the separate cities for the children of Ephraim were, &c.— The natural sense of these words is, that besides the above-mentioned cities, through which the line of separation of the tribe of Ephraim, from that of Manasseh, crossed, the Ephraimites had some other cities beyond the boundaries of their country, in the land of the half-tribe of Manasseh, see ch. Joshua 17:7-9. Or else the words may be paraphrased thus: These are the cities which were separated for the children of... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Joshua 16:9

9. separate cities for the children of Ephraim were among the inheritance of Manasseh— ( :-), because it was found that the tract allotted to Ephraim was too small in proportion to its population and power. read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Joshua 16:1-10

4. Joseph’s inheritance chs. 16-17The writer may have dealt with the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh together since Jacob had given Joseph the second largest blessing after Judah (Genesis 49). Moreover half the tribe of Manasseh had already received its inheritance, and the remaining half would have been small compared with the other tribes. These one and one-half tribes together formed a large group of Israelites. Their lot fell in central Canaan, and their territory consisted of two parts with... read more

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