Joshua 17 is the seventeenth chapter of the

Book of Joshua The Book of Joshua ( he, סֵפֶר יְהוֹשֻׁעַ‎ ', Tiberian: ''Sēp̄er Yŏhōšūaʿ'') is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament, and is the first book of the Deuteronomistic history, the story of Isra ...

in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...

or in the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

of the

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

. According to Jewish tradition the book was attributed to

Joshua Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...

, with additions by the high priests Eleazar and Phinehas,Gilad, Elon
Who Really Wrote the Biblical Books of Kings and the Prophets?
''Haaretz'', June 25, 2015. Summary: The paean to King Josiah and exalted descriptions of the ancient Israelite empires beg the thought that he and his scribes lie behind the Deuteronomistic History. but modern scholars view it as part of the Deuteronomistic History, which spans the books of Deuteronomy to

2 Kings The Book of Kings (, '' Sēfer Məlāḵīm'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Kings) in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It concludes the Deuteronomistic history, a history of Israel also including the books ...

, attributed to nationalistic and devotedly Yahwistic writers during the time of the reformer Judean king

Josiah Josiah ( or ) or Yoshiyahu; la, Iosias was the 16th king of Judah (–609 BCE) who, according to the Hebrew Bible, instituted major religious reforms by removing official worship of gods other than Yahweh. Josiah is credited by most biblical s ...

in 7th century BCE. This chapter records the allotment of land for the tribe of Joseph, especially the

tribe of Manasseh According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Manasseh (; Hebrew: ''Ševet Mənašše,'' Tiberian: ''Šēḇeṭ Mănašše'') was one of the Tribes of Israel. It is one of the ten lost tribes. Together with the Tribe of Ephraim, Manasseh also fo ...

, a part of a section comprising Joshua 13:1–21:45 about the Israelites allotting the land of Canaan.

Text

This chapter was originally written in the

Hebrew language Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

. It is divided into 18 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

are of the

Masoretic Text The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; he, נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה, Nūssāḥ Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Text of the Tradition') is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. ...

tradition, which includes the

Codex Cairensis The Codex Cairensis (also: ''Codex Prophetarum Cairensis'', ''Cairo Codex of the Prophets'') is a Hebrew manuscript containing the complete text of the Hebrew Bible's Nevi'im (Prophets). It has traditionally been described as "the oldest dated He ...

(895),

Aleppo Codex The Aleppo Codex ( he, כֶּתֶר אֲרָם צוֹבָא, romanized: , lit. 'Crown of Aleppo') is a medieval bound manuscript of the Hebrew Bible. The codex was written in the city of Tiberias in the tenth century CE (circa 920) under the ...

(10th century), and Codex Leningradensis (1008). Fragments containing parts of this chapter in Hebrew were found among the

Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls (also the Qumran Caves Scrolls) are ancient Jewish and Hebrew religious manuscripts discovered between 1946 and 1956 at the Qumran Caves in what was then Mandatory Palestine, near Ein Feshkha in the West Bank, on the nor ...

including 4Q48 (4QJosh; 100–50 BCE) with extant verses 1–5, 11–15.Dead sea scrolls - Joshua
/ref> Extant ancient manuscripts of a translation into

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

known as the

Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond th ...

(originally was made in the last few centuries BCE) include

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), designated by siglum B or 03 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1 ( von Soden), is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old ...

(B;

\mathfrak

^B; 4th century) and

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...

(A;

\mathfrak

^A; 5th century).

Analysis

The narrative of Israelites allotting the land of Canaan comprising verses 13:1 to 21:45 of the

and has the following outline: :A. Preparations for Distributing the Land (13:1–14:15) :B. The Allotment for Judah (15:1–63) :C. The Allotment for Joseph (16:1–17:18) ::1. Joseph's Allotment (16:1–4) ::2. Ephraim's Inheritance (16:5–10) ::3. Manasseh's Inheritance (17:1–13) ::4. Additional Land for Joseph (17:14–18) :D. Land Distribution at Shiloh (18:1–19:51) :E. Levitical Distribution and Conclusion (20:1–21:45) There are three key elements in the report of the allotments for the nine and a haf tribes in the land of Canaan as follows:

Allotment for Manasseh (17:1–13)

The tribe of Joseph is allotted with subdivision into Ephraim and Manasseh (Joshua 14:4), overall covering a huge area of land in Canaan between the

Jordan River The Jordan River or River Jordan ( ar, نَهْر الْأُرْدُنّ, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn'', he, נְהַר הַיַּרְדֵּן, ''Nəhar hayYardēn''; syc, ܢܗܪܐ ܕܝܘܪܕܢܢ ''Nahrāʾ Yurdnan''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Shariea ...

and the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

from just north of the

Dead Sea The Dead Sea ( he, יַם הַמֶּלַח, ''Yam hamMelaḥ''; ar, اَلْبَحْرُ الْمَيْتُ, ''Āl-Baḥrū l-Maytū''), also known by other names, is a salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank ...

to Mount Carmel in the north-west, in addition to the Transjordan lands allotted the other half of Manasseh. The allotment for the tribe of Manasseh as a whole include the Transjordan territory (17:1–6), containing genealogical information closely related to Numbers 26:29–34. Machir and Gilead appear in

Judges 5 Judges 5 is the fifth chapter of the Book of Judges in the Old Testament or the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition the book was attributed to the prophet Samuel,Gilad, ElonWho Really Wrote the Biblical Books of Kings and the Prophets? '' ...

(verses 14, 17), where Machir appears to occupy lands west of the Jordan, while Gilead has the eastern part of Jordan, with six clans named in the Book of Numbers. The story of Zelophehad's daughters concludes a narrative from Numbers 27, 36, that the right of inheritance for female descendants, to protect family property in the absence of male ones, was established by

Moses Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...

, with a requirement that the daughters should marry within the tribe (

Numbers 36 The book of Numbers (from Greek Ἀριθμοί, ''Arithmoi''; he, בְּמִדְבַּר, ''Bəmīḏbar'', "In the desert f) is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible, and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah. The book has a long and co ...

). Now the provisions were respected, and the five daughters of Zelophehad, son of Hepher, along with the five Gileadite clans (in place of Hepher), making 'ten portions' (verse 5) within the territory of Manasseh in west of Jordan (the other sons of Gilead already received lands in east of Jordan). Western Manasseh's allotment stretches from the north, bordering the land of Asher, to Michmethath, on the border with the land of Ephraim to the south (verse 7, cf. 16:6). There were still enclaves of the Canaanites (verse 11–12, cf. Judges 1:27–28), that the people of Manasseh failed to expel, but put them as forced labor.

Verses 2–3

:'' And allotments were made to the rest of the people of Manasseh by their clans, Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. These were the male descendants of Manasseh the son of Joseph, by their clans.'' :'' Now Zelophehad the son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, had no sons, but only daughters, and these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.'' Of the eleven names (six sons of Gilead and five daughters of Zelophehad) six appear on ostraca (potsherds) found at

Samaria Samaria (; he, שֹׁמְרוֹן, translit=Šōmrōn, ar, السامرة, translit=as-Sāmirah) is the historic and biblical name used for the central region of Palestine, bordered by Judea to the south and Galilee to the north. The first- ...

, as place-names.Noegel, Scott B. "The Samaria Ostraca.", The Ancient Near East: Historical Sources, Blackwell (2006), 396–399. These " Samaria Ostraca" were found in the site of king Ahab's palace, containing inscription written in the

paleo-Hebrew alphabet The Paleo-Hebrew script ( he, הכתב העברי הקדום), also Palaeo-Hebrew, Proto-Hebrew or Old Hebrew, is the writing system found in Canaanite inscriptions from the region of biblical Israel and Judah. It is considered to be the script ...

, which is very similar to the Siloam Inscription.Lyon, David G
"Hebrew Ostraca from Samaria", ''The Harvard Theological Review'', Vol. 4, No. 1 (Jan., 1911), pp. 136–143
quote: "The script in which these ostraca are written is the Phoenician, which was widely current in antiquity. It is very different from the so-called square character, in which the existing Hebrew manuscripts of the Bible are written."

Additional land for Joseph (17:14–18)

The request from the tribe of Joseph (that is, the tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim) for more land is accepted by Joshua on the basis of the tribe's large population, that 'they should clear the hill country of trees and make it habitable'. This is evidenced in the history of agricultural deforestation in the hill country. Actually, the sense of constriction in the tribe of Joseph is related to their inability to expel the Canaanites of the plain, who have iron chariots. Thus, Joshua challenged the tribe of Joseph (with their great numbers) that they must drive the Canaanites out in spite of their chariots.

Notes

References

Sources

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External links

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

translations: *
Yehoshua - Joshua - Chapter 17 (Judaica Press)
Hebrew text and English translation ith Rashi's commentary">Rashi.html" ;"title="ith Rashi">ith Rashi's commentaryat Chabad.org *

translations: *
''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English) *
Joshua chapter 17. Bible Gateway
{{DEFAULTSORT:Joshua 17 Book of Joshua chapters">17