Immerse: Kingdoms Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 38
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IMMERSE
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KINGDOMS
15:61–17:2
In the wilderness there were the towns of Beth-arabah, Middin,
Secacah, Nibshan, the City of Salt, and En-gedi—six towns with their
surrounding villages.
But the tribe of Judah could not drive out the Jebus ites, who lived in the
city of Jerusalem, so the Jebusites live there among the people of Judah to
this day.
The allotment for the descendants of Joseph extended from the
Jordan River near Jericho, east of the springs of Jericho, through the
wilderness and into the hill country of Bethel. From Bethel (that
is, Luz) it ran over to Ataroth in the territory of the Arkites. Then it
descended westward to the territory of the Japhletites as far as Lower
Beth-horon, then to Gezer and over to the Mediterranean Sea.
This was the homeland allocated to the families of Joseph’s sons, Manas
seh and Ephraim.
The following territory was given to the clans of the tribe of Ephraim.
The boundary of their homeland began at Ataroth-addar in the east.
From there it ran to Upper Beth-horon, then on to the Mediterranean
Sea. From Micmethath on the north, the boundary curved eastward
past Taanath-shiloh to the east of Janoah. From Janoah it turned
southward to Ataroth and Naarah, touched Jericho, and ended at
the Jordan River. From Tappuah the boundary extended westward,
following the Kanah Ravine to the Mediterranean Sea. This is the
homeland allocated to the clans of the tribe of Ephraim.
In addition, some towns with their surrounding villages in the
territory allocated to the half-tribe of Manasseh were set aside for the
tribe of Ephraim. They did not drive the Canaanites out of Gezer,
however, so the people of Gezer live as slaves among the people of
Ephraim to this day.
The next allotment of land was given to the h alf-tribe of Manasseh, the descendants of Joseph’s older son. Makir, the firstborn son of Manasseh, was
the father of Gilead. Because his descendants were experienced soldiers,
the regions of Gilead and Bashan on the east side of the Jordan had already
been given to them. So the allotment on the west side of the Jordan was for
the remaining families within the clans of the tribe of Manasseh: Abiezer,
Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. These clans represent the
male descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph.