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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Joshua 17:7-13

We have here a short account of the lot of this half tribe. It reached from Jordan on the east to the great sea on the west; on the south it lay all along contiguous to Ephraim, but on the north it abutted upon Asher and Issachar. Asher lay north-west, and Issachar north-east, which seems to be the meaning of that (Josh. 17:10), that they (that is, Manasseh and Ephraim, as related to it, both together making the tribe of Joseph) met in Asher on the north and Issachar on the east, for Ephraim... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 17:11

And Manasseh had in Issachar, and in Asher, Bethshean, and her towns ,.... As Ephraim had cities in Manasseh, so had Manasseh cities in these two tribes, which in some parts bordered on it, before described, even the cities following, and the first that is named is Bethshean: this lay in the tribe of Issachar, and was the uttermost border of Manasseh that way; it was, as Josephus F13 Antiqu l. 12. c. 8. sect. 5. says, called Scythopolis; but not from the Scythians, as Pliny F14 ... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 17:11

Beth-shean - Called afterwards Scythopolis; the city of the Scythians or Cuthites, those who were sent into the different Samaritan cities by the kings of Assyria. Dor - On the Mediterranean Sea, about eight miles from Caesarea, on the road to Tyre. En-dor - The well or fountain of Dor, the place where Saul went to consult the witch; 1 Samuel 28:7 , etc. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 17:11

Verse 11 11.And Manasseh had in Issachar, etc How they were so mingled as to possess some cities in the lot of Asher and Issachar, while the tribe of Ephraim dwelt between their limits, it is not easy to divine, unless, perhaps, it was perceived that a more commodious habitation would not be liable to many complaints, (156) or, perhaps, after the whole country had become more certainly known, some change was made on principles of equity in the former partition. This, therefore, seems to have... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 17:11

And Manasseh had in Issachar and in Asher (see Joshua 16:9 ). Beth-shean. Afterwards called Scythopolis, now Beisan. It was a "noble city" in the days of Eusebius and Jerome. Many travellers have remarked on its splendid situation, "in this vast area of plain and mountains, in the midst of abundant waters and exuberant fertility" (Robinson, 'Later Bibl. Res.' sec. 7). "Just beyond, and separated by a narrow ridge, is another stream, also perennial, and on the peninsular formed by these... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Joshua 17:11

Perhaps Beth-shean (in Issachar) and the other five towns (in Asher) were given to the Manassites in compensation for towns in the Manassite territory allotted to the Ephraimites. (See Joshua 17:9. Compare Joshua 21:9.) To the wall of Beth-shean, or Bethshah (“Beisan,” about 5 miles west of the Jordan), the bodies of Saul and his sons were fastened by the Philistines after the battle on Mount Gilboa. After the exile it received the Greek name of Scythopolis, perhaps because it was principally... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Joshua 17:11

Joshua 17:11. Manasseh had in Issachar and in Asher, &c. In like manner as Ephraim had some cities in the tribe of Manasseh; and, as it was not unusual, when the place allotted to any tribe was too narrow for it, and the next too large, to give away part from the larger to the less portion. Inhabitants of Dor Not the places only, but the people; whom they spared and used for servants. Three countries The words may be rendered, the third part of that country; and so the meaning... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Joshua 17:1-18

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

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Joshua 17:11

towns Hebrew daughters. Figure of speech Prosopopoeia ( App-6 ) = villages. read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Joshua 17:11

11. Beth-shean and her towns—Greek, "Scythopolis" (now Beisan), in the valley of the Jordan, towards the east end of the plain of Jezreel. "Beth-shean" means "house of rest," so called from its being the halting place for caravans travelling between Syria or Midian, and Egypt, and the great station for the commerce between these countries for many centuries. Ibleam and her towns—in the neighborhood of Megiddo ( :-). the inhabitants of Dor and her towns—(now Tantoura), anciently a strong... read more

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