Bible Strands
Joshua 16:8
From Tappuah the border went westward to the Brook of Kanah and ended at the Sea. This was the inheritance of the clans of the tribe of Ephraim,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Joshua records the western boundary of Ephraim’s tribal inheritance during the allocation of the Promised Land. The description follows the route from Janoah down to Jericho and the Jordan before turning west.
The words — הַ/גְּב֥וּל (ha./ge.Vul) = the border and יָ֙מָּ/ה֙ (ya.ma/h) = westward. These terms anchor the geographic survey to a specific directional movement toward the coastline.
The thread — The western limit at the Sea appears in Numbers 34:6 as the standard coastal boundary. Tappuah itself is noted as a border city between Ephraim and Manasseh in Joshua 17:8, while the Brook of Kanah line is detailed in Joshua 17:9.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that tribal inheritance was defined by precise geographic markers rather than abstract claims. Readers must track how each landmark establishes a concrete boundary for Ephraim’s territory.
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
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Joshua 17:8 The region of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but Tappuah itself, on the border of Manasseh, belonged to Ephraim.
- Numbers 34:6 Your western border will be the coastline of the Great Sea; this will be your boundary on the west.
- Joshua 12:17 the king of Tappuah, one; the king of Hepher, one;
- Joshua 16:3 Then it descended westward to the border of the Japhletites as far as the border of Lower Beth-horon and on to Gezer, and it ended at the Sea.
- Joshua 19:28 It went on to Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, and Kanah, as far as Greater Sidon.