JOSHUA 16

JOSHUA 16

PARAGRAPH DIVISIONS OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS

NASB	NKJV	NRSV	TEV	NJB
Territory of Ephraim	Ephraim and West Manasseh	The Territory of the Joseph Tribes	Territory Assigned to Ephraim and West Manasseh	The Tribe of Ephraim
		(16:1-17:18)
16:1-3	16:1-4	16:1-3	16:1-3	16:1-3
16:4-10		16:4	16:4	16:4
	The Land of Ephraim		Ephraim
	16:5-10	16:5-10	16:5-10	16:5-8a
				16:8b-10

READING CYCLE THREE (see "Bible Interpretation Seminar")

FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S INTENT AT PARAGRAPH LEVEL

This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

Read the chapter in one sitting. Identify the subjects (reading cycle #3). Compare your subject divisions with the five translations above. Paragraphing is not inspired, but it is the key to following the original author's intent, which is the heart of interpretation. Every paragraph has one and only one subject.

WORD AND PHRASE STUDY

NASB (UPDATED TEXT): JOSHUA 16:1-3
¹Then the lot for the sons of Joseph went from the Jordan at Jericho to the waters of Jericho on the east into the wilderness, going up from Jericho through the hill country to Bethel. ²It went from Bethel to Luz, and continued to the border of the Archites at Ataroth. ³It went down westward to the territory of the Japhletites, as far as the territory of lower Beth-horon even to Gezer, and it ended at the sea.

16:1 "the lot" See note at Jos. 14:2.

16:2 "Bethel to Luz" This text implies that Bethel and Luz are two different cities, but other texts state they are different names for the same city (cf. Jos. 18:13; Gen. 28:19; 35:6; Jdg. 1:23). This seems to refer to a boundary line between two cities.

▣ "the Archites" One of David's counselors was from this family group (cf. 2 Sam. 15:32; 16:16), but this is all moderns know of this non-Israelite clan (BDB 74). The same is true for the Japhletites (BDB 812).

NASB (UPDATED TEXT): JOSHUA 16:4-10
⁴The sons of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, received their inheritance. ⁵Now this was the territory of the sons of Ephraim according to their families: the border of their inheritance eastward was Ataroth-addar, as far as upper Beth-horon. ⁶Then the border went westward at Michmethath on the north, and the border turned about eastward to Taanath-shiloh and continued beyond it to the east of Janoah. ⁷It went down from Janoah to Ataroth and to Naarah, then reached Jericho and came out at the Jordan. ⁸From Tappuah the border continued westward to the brook of Kanah, and it ended at the sea. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Ephraim according to their families, ⁹together with the cities which were set apart for the sons of Ephraim in the midst of the inheritance of the sons of Manasseh, all the cities with their villages. ¹⁰But they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites live in the midst of Ephraim to this day, and they became forced laborers.

16:4 "The sons of Joseph" Joseph had two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, by his Egyptian wife. Jacob adopted these boys as his own and gave Joseph the double inheritance of the firstborn son.

16:6 "Taanath-shiloh" This (BDB 1061) is not the site of the tabernacle in Samuel's day, but another city (so say Eusebius and Jerome).

16:10 This verse is meant to express the disobedience of these large tribes (cf. Num. 35:55; Jdg. 1:27,29,30,31,33,34). This was the common experience of all the tribes (cf. Jos. 17:13).

R. K. Harrison, Introduction to the Old Testament, makes a good point about this verse.

"If scholars had differentiated a little more closely in the past between occupation and subjugation, the picture of conquest as represented in Joshua would have emerged in far clearer focus than it did, and as a result there would have been no need to regard the initial narratives of Judges as historical at the expense of their counterparts in Joshua" (p. 677).

This quote is footnoted to another source, G. F. Moore, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Judges, pp. 7-8.

▣ "to this day" This shows a contemporary compiler or a later editor.