Bible Strands
Joshua 17:8
The region of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but Tappuah itself, on the border of Manasseh, belonged to Ephraim.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Joshua records the allocation of tribal territories to the descendants of Joseph. This verse clarifies the specific boundary arrangement for Tappuah during the division between Ephraim and Manasseh.
The words — הָיְתָה (ha.ye.Tah) translates literally as "it belonged," and אֶרֶץ ('E.retz) means "[the] land of." These terms establish legal possession rather than mere geographical description.
The thread — The location appears in Joshua 16:8 as a border marker, Joshua 12:17 as a defeated king's city, and Joshua 15:34 within Judah's allotment. These references track Tappuah's shifting administrative assignments across tribal boundaries.
Why it lands — The text states that a single region was divided between two tribes while a specific town on that border remained with the other. Readers must accept that tribal inheritance required precise documentation of intermingled territories.
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
Now Manasseh had the land of Tappuah: but Tappuah on the border of Manasseh belonged to the children of Ephraim;
Cross-references
- 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,
- Joshua 12:17 the king of Tappuah, one; the king of Hepher, one;
- Joshua 15:34 Zanoah, En-gannim, Tappuah, Enam,
- Joshua 15:53 Janim, Beth-tappuah, Aphekah,