The territory allotted to the descendants of Joseph — specifically Ephraim — is described. The Canaanites of Gezer remain among them as forced laborers.
What Makes This Chapter Remarkable
Ephraim's allotment is brief compared to Judah's, but the tribe's significance is enormous — Ephraim will become synonymous with the northern kingdom. The note that the Canaanites of Gezer were not driven out but subjected to forced labor (v. 10) marks a pattern of incomplete obedience that defines the settlement period. The compromise — coexistence through subjugation rather than separation — is precisely what Deuteronomy warned against.
Translation Friction
The boundary descriptions are compressed and some geographical references are uncertain. The phrase mas-oved (v. 10, 'forced labor') is the same term used for Solomon's labor force in 1 Kings 9:21 — we rendered it consistently. The partial obedience — subjugating rather than driving out — represents a middle path the Torah did not authorize.
Connections
Gezer's Canaanite population persists until Pharaoh's daughter receives it as a wedding gift from Egypt's king (1 Kings 9:16). The forced-labor arrangement anticipates the system that will become the northern kingdom's grievance against Solomon (1 Kings 12:4). Ephraim's complaint about insufficient territory (17:14-18) reveals growing tribal friction.
The allotment for the descendants of Joseph began at the Jordan near Jericho, east of the waters of Jericho, going up through the wilderness from Jericho into the hill country of Bethel.
KJV And the lot of the children of Joseph fell from Jordan by Jericho, unto the water of Jericho on the east, to the wilderness that goeth up from Jericho throughout mount Bethel,
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Vayyetse ha-goral livnei Yosef ('the lot came out for the descendants of Joseph') — Ephraim and Manasseh are treated together as 'the house of Joseph' before receiving individual allotments. Their combined territory forms the central hill country of Canaan — the heartland that will later become the northern kingdom of Israel.
From Bethel it went on to Luz and crossed to the territory of the Archites at Ataroth.
KJV And goeth out from Bethel to Luz, and passeth along unto the borders of Archi to Ataroth,
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Mi-Beit El Luzah ('from Bethel to Luz') — Bethel and Luz are sometimes treated as the same city (Genesis 28:19) and sometimes as adjacent sites. Ha-Arkhi ('the Archite') — a clan whose territory lay near Bethel. David's friend and advisor Hushai is called 'the Archite' (2 Samuel 15:32; 16:16).
It descended westward to the territory of the Japhletites, down to Lower Beth-horon and on to Gezer, ending at the sea.
KJV And goeth down westward to the coast of Japhleti, unto the coast of Bethhoron the nether, and to Gezer: and the goings out thereof are at the sea.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Beit Choron Tachton ('Lower Beth-horon') — the lower of the two Beth-horon settlements that guarded the strategic pass from the central highlands to the coastal plain (the same pass where the Amorite coalition was routed in 10:10-11). Gezer — the city whose king was defeated (10:33; 12:12) but whose territory was never fully conquered until Solomon's time (1 Kings 9:16).
So the descendants of Joseph — Manasseh and Ephraim — received their inheritance.
KJV So the children of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The general Joseph boundary (vv. 1-3) is now subdivided: Ephraim's allotment follows in verses 5-9, and Manasseh's in chapter 17. Joseph's double portion (through Ephraim and Manasseh) fulfills Jacob's blessing of Genesis 48-49.
The boundary of the Ephraimites, clan by clan, was as follows: the eastern border of their inheritance ran from Ataroth-addar to Upper Beth-horon.
KJV And the border of the children of Ephraim according to their families was thus: even the border of their inheritance on the east side was Atarothaddar, unto Bethhoron the upper;
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Beit Choron Elyon ('Upper Beth-horon') — the upper settlement of the twin Beth-horon towns. Together with Lower Beth-horon (v. 3), these cities controlled the most important pass between the coastal plain and the central highlands. Ephraim's border runs through this strategic corridor.
The boundary went toward the sea at Michmethath on the north, then turned eastward to Taanath-shiloh, and passed east of it to Janoah.
KJV And the border went out toward the sea to Michmethah on the north side; and the border went about eastward unto Taanathshiloh, and passed by it on the east to Janohah,
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Ta'anat Shiloh ('approach to Shiloh') — the name references Shiloh, which will become the central sanctuary site where the tabernacle is established (18:1). The boundary passes near this important future religious center.
From Janoah it descended to Ataroth and Naarah, reached Jericho, and ended at the Jordan.
KJV And it went down from Janohah to Ataroth, and to Naarath, and came to Jericho, and went out at Jordan.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
U-faga bi-Yricho v'yatsa ha-Yarden ('it touched Jericho and went out at the Jordan') — Ephraim's eastern boundary reaches the Jordan River at Jericho, making Ephraim's territory a cross-section of the central highlands from the Jordan to the Mediterranean approaches.
From Tappuah the boundary ran westward to the Kanah Valley and ended at the sea. This was the inheritance of the tribe of Ephraim, clan by clan.
KJV The border went out from Tappuah westward unto the river Kanah; and the goings out thereof were at the sea. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Ephraim by their families.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Nachal Qanah ('the Kanah River/Valley') — this wadi formed the boundary between Ephraim and Manasseh on the western side of the territory. The Kanah runs through the Shephelah to the Mediterranean.
In addition, certain cities within Manasseh's territory were set apart for the Ephraimites — all those cities with their surrounding settlements.
KJV And the separate cities for the children of Ephraim were among the inheritance of the children of Manasseh, all the cities with their villages.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
He-arim ha-mavdalot livnei Efrayim b'tokh nachalat b'nei M'nasheh ('the cities set apart for Ephraim within the inheritance of Manasseh') — tribal boundaries were not absolute. Ephraim held designated enclaves within Manasseh's territory, reflecting the close kinship between the two Joseph tribes and the practical difficulties of drawing clean borders in a landscape of interspersed settlements.
They did not drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer, so the Canaanites have lived among the Ephraimites to this day — though they were put to forced labor.
KJV And they drave not out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer: but the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites unto this day, and serve under tribute.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
V'lo horishu et ha-K'na'ani ha-yoshev b'Gazer ('they did not dispossess the Canaanites dwelling in Gezer') — the same failure noted for Judah and Jerusalem (15:63), now repeated for Ephraim and Gezer. Vay'hi l'mas oved ('they became forced labor') — rather than expelling the Canaanites, Ephraim enslaved them. This compromise — subjugation rather than dispossession — violates Deuteronomy 7:1-2 and sets the pattern for the Judges period. Forced labor controls the population without removing the religious threat that cohabitation poses.