Bible Strands
Joshua 17:11
Within Issachar and Asher, Manasseh was assigned Beth-shean, Ibleam, Dor (that is, Naphath), Endor, Taanach, and Megiddo, each with their surrounding settlements.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records Joshua’s allocation of territory to the half-tribe of Manasseh during the initial distribution of the Promised Land. This assignment places Manasseh’s inheritance within the borders of the tribes of Issachar and Asher.
The words — The phrase וַיְהִי לְמַנַּשֶּׁה (va-yehi le-Manasseh) literally means "and it belonged to Manasseh," indicating legal possession rather than immediate control. The term בְּנֹתֶיהָ (be-noteha), translated as "their surrounding settlements," denotes dependent villages attached to each listed city.
The thread — This territorial list parallels the catalog in 1 Chronicles 7:29 and the conquest record in Judges 1:27, which notes the tribe’s subsequent failure to displace the Canaanite inhabitants. Joshua 12:23 also references Dor as a conquered city under the broader campaign summary.
Why it lands — The verse demands recognition that divine allotment does not guarantee automatic possession or immediate occupation. It requires a reader to account for the gap between granted inheritance and actual territorial control.
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 Manasseh had in Issachar and in Asher Beth–shean and her towns, and Ibleam and her towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, and the inhabitants of Endor and her towns, and the inhabitants of Taanach and her towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns, even three countries.
Cross-references
- 1 Chronicles 7:29 And along the borders of Manasseh were Beth-shean, Taanach, Megiddo, and Dor, together with their villages. The descendants of Joseph son of Israel lived in these towns.
- Joshua 12:23 the king of Dor in Naphath-dor, one; the king of Goiim in Gilgal, one;
- Judges 1:27 At that time Manasseh failed to drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo, and their villages; for the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land.
- Judges 5:19 Kings came and fought; then the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo, but they took no plunder of silver.
- 2 Kings 9:27 When King Ahaziah of Judah saw this, he fled up the road toward Beth-haggan. And Jehu pursued him, shouting, “Shoot him too!” So they shot Ahaziah in his chariot on the Ascent of Gur, near Ibleam, and he fled to Megiddo and died there.
- Joshua 11:2 to the kings of the north in the mountains, in the Arabah south of Chinnereth, in the foothills, and in Naphoth-dor to the west;
- 1 Samuel 28:7 Then Saul said to his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, so I can go and consult her.” “There is a medium at Endor,” his servants replied.
- 1 Samuel 31:10 They put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and hung his body on the wall of Beth-shan.
- 1 Kings 4:11 Ben-abinadab in Naphath-dor (Taphath, a daughter of Solomon, was his wife);
- 1 Kings 9:15 This is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon imposed to build the house of the LORD, his own palace, the supporting terraces, and the wall of Jerusalem, as well as Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer.