Ezekiel 48:4

Manasseh will have one portion bordering the territory of Naphtali from east to west.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Ezekiel delivers a prophetic vision of the restored land to the exiles, systematically assigning territorial portions to each tribe. The verse places Manasseh’s inheritance directly adjacent to Naphtali’s allotment.

The words — גְּב֣וּל (ge.Vul) designates the fixed boundary line, while מִ/פְּאַ֥ת קָדִ֛מָ/ה עַד פְּאַת יָ֖מָּ/ה (mi./pe.'At ka.Di.ma/h 'ad- pe.'at- Ya.ma/h) literally traces the span from east side to west side. These terms establish the precise geographic limits of the portion.

The thread — The allocation of Manasseh reappears in Joshua 17:1 as part of Joseph’s firstborn inheritance and Joshua 13:29 as the land Moses assigned to the half-tribe. Genesis 30:22 provides the ancestral origin for this lineage through Rachel’s opened womb.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition of God’s exacting control over territorial division and tribal inheritance. It requires the reader to accept the specified boundaries as the concrete fulfillment of divine allocation.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וְעַ֣ל׀ve./'Aland/ at גְּב֣וּלge.Vul[the] border of נַפְתָּלִ֗יnaf.ta.LiNaphtali מִפְּאַ֥תmi./pe.'Atfrom/ [the] side of קָדִ֛מָהka.Di.ma/heast/ -ward עַד־'ad-to פְּאַת־pe.'at-[the] side of יָ֖מָּהYa.ma/hwest/ -ward מְנַשֶּׁ֥הme.na.ShehManasseh אֶחָֽד׃'e.Chadone [portion]

King James Version

And by the border of Naphtali, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Manasseh.

Cross-references

Joshua 17:1 Now this was the allotment for the tribe of Manasseh as Joseph’s firstborn son, namely for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh and father of the Gileadites, who had received Gilead and Bashan because Machir was a man of war.
Joshua 13:29 This is what Moses had given to the clans of the half-tribe of Manasseh, that is, to half the tribe of the descendants of Manasseh:
Genesis 30:22 Then God remembered Rachel. He listened to her and opened her womb,
Genesis 41:51 Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, saying, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s household.”
Genesis 48:5 And now your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here shall be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine.
Genesis 48:14 But Israel stretched out his right hand and put it on the head of Ephraim, the younger; and crossing his hands, he put his left on Manasseh’s head, although Manasseh was the firstborn.