Joshua 17:1

CHAPTER XVII

The lot of the half tribe of Manasseh, 1, 2.

Case of the daughters of Zelophehad, 3-6.

The borders of Manasseh described, 7-11.

The Canaanites dwell among them, but are laid under tribute,

12, 13.

The children of Joseph complain of the scantiness of their lot,

14-16.

Joshua authorizes them to possess the mountainous wood country

of the Perizzites, and gives them encouragement to expel them,

though they were strong and had chariots of iron, 17, 18.

NOTES ON CHAP. XVII

Verse Joshua 17:1. There was also a lot for the tribe of Manasseh] It was necessary to mark this because Jacob, in his blessing, (Genesis 48:19-1), did in a certain sense set Ephraim before Manasseh, though the latter was the first-born; but the place here shows that this preference did not affect the rights of primogeniture.

For Machir - because he was a man of war] It is not likely that Machir himself was now alive; if he were, he must have been nearly 200 years old: It is therefore probable that what is spoken here is spoken of his children, who now possessed the lot that was originally designed for their father, who it appears had signalized himself as a man of skill and valour in some of the former wars, though the circumstances are not marked. His descendants, being of a warlike, intrepid spirit, were well qualified to defend a frontier country, which would be naturally exposed to invasion.