Bible Strands
Joshua 16:9
along with all the cities and villages set apart for the descendants of Ephraim within the inheritance of Manasseh.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Joshua records the territorial boundaries assigned to the tribe of Ephraim during the final distribution of the Promised Land. The narrator details how Ephraim's allotment overlaps geographically with the adjacent territory of Manasseh.
The words — The term הַמִּבְדָּלוֹת (hamivdalot) translates literally to "separate places" or "set-apart villages." It designates specific urban centers allocated to Ephraim that physically reside within Manasseh's inheritance.
The thread — This geographic overlap recurs in Joshua 17:9, which notes that cities belonging to Ephraim were interspersed among Manasseh's allotted lands. The pattern establishes how tribal territories were interwoven rather than strictly partitioned.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to acknowledge that tribal inheritance involved shared geography and administrative complexity. It demands acceptance of a land distribution that prioritizes divine assignment over neat territorial boundaries.
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
And the separate cities for the children of Ephraim were among the inheritance of the children of Manasseh, all the cities with their villages.
Cross-references
- Joshua 17:9 From there the border continued southward to the Brook of Kanah. There were cities belonging to Ephraim among the cities of Manasseh, but the border of Manasseh was on the north side of the brook and ended at the Sea.