Yehoshua - Perek 16 – “The Inheritance of Ephraim and Menashe”
The Portion of the tribes of Yosef (16:1-10)
Summary
Points to Ponder
Yosef – one or two tribal portions?
The chapter begins is with the following words: "Vayeitzei hagoral livnei Yosef miyarden yericho l'mei yericho" – the land of Yosef was distributed via the lottery from the Yarden to the waters of Yericho.” It almost sounds like there was one lot which was given to both children of Yosef and then the division was made internally between Ephraim and Menashe. This is strange, because we know that Ephraim and Menashe were two distinct tribes who had each their own territory. If so, why is this line written in a way which implies that there was one section of land which went equally to both of them and was then subdivided into two?
The commentary Misbetzos Zahav makes an interesting point built on the laws of inheritance. In Jewish law, if there is a firstborn son, he receives double the amount of all the other inheriting sons. The gemara in Bava Basra tells that there is a certain protocol in inheritance process. The first born is allowed to choose his double portion from what is called the bar metzra, the adjacent property to his first portion of land. If, for example, there are three sons, the land would be divided into four sections. The two younger sons get one section each and the first born will get two which are bordering each other. It is necessary to give the portions of land which border on each other, because for him it makes a significant difference. He can now cultivate that area as one double plot rather than two separate properties.
The Misbetzos Zahav suggests that this is the reason for the unusual wording in the verse about the inheritance of Yosef. Yosef received a double portion for his sons because Reuven, who was the intended first born of Yaakov, forfeited his portion because of his sin. That first born rite was transferred to Yosef, giving him the double portion of inheritance. If so, his whole portion had to be together in one location, which is why the description of the division of the land of Yosef lumps together Ephraim and Menashe’s respective portions.
What is the implication of the final pasuk?
The last verse of the chapter says explains that the children of Yosef did not fully conquer the Canaanites who lived in the city called Gezer, and that those Canaanites remained living in the territory of Ephraim in servitude to the Israelite overlords. One can imagine that some humanitarian thoughts probably crossed the minds of the Israelites. They assumed that if these locals would just be subservient, then they would not need to wipe them out.
However, Hashem said that there were only two options in the conquest of Israel. The first was that the Canaanite nations should accept the seven Noachide laws, pay taxes and be completely subservient. If they were to refuse such an option, they were to be killed or removed. The tribes of Yosef opted for neither of these two options. It does not seem that they insisted on complete subservience or adherence to the Noachide laws. We will see that these unconquered cities are going to be a problem which will haunt the Israelites all the way through the book of Shoftim, all the way until the times of David Hamelech. Part of the dramatic irony is that Gezer is one of those thirty-one cities listed as being the conquered cities. We are being shown that it was not fully conquered. It was just temporarily under the thumb of Israel for the time being. We will see that these are the cities which are going to create great problems later on.
Summary
- The tribes from the family of Yosef, Ephraim and Menashe, are given their portions in the land of Israel.
- They are positioned next to each other in the western part of Israel (half of Menashe’s portion is on the eastern banks of the Yarden).
- The total portion of Yosef measures from a little bit North of the Dead Sea all the way West to the Mediterranean Sea.
- The area of Ofra today is in the land given to Yosef.
- Interestingly, although the land given to Yosef does not border the land of Yehuda, they are listed back to back as the first territories. Perhaps this indicates how these tribes will be the leaders of the future northern and southern kingdoms – the firstborn of Rachel and the effective firstborn of Leah.
Points to Ponder
Yosef – one or two tribal portions?
The chapter begins is with the following words: "Vayeitzei hagoral livnei Yosef miyarden yericho l'mei yericho" – the land of Yosef was distributed via the lottery from the Yarden to the waters of Yericho.” It almost sounds like there was one lot which was given to both children of Yosef and then the division was made internally between Ephraim and Menashe. This is strange, because we know that Ephraim and Menashe were two distinct tribes who had each their own territory. If so, why is this line written in a way which implies that there was one section of land which went equally to both of them and was then subdivided into two?
The commentary Misbetzos Zahav makes an interesting point built on the laws of inheritance. In Jewish law, if there is a firstborn son, he receives double the amount of all the other inheriting sons. The gemara in Bava Basra tells that there is a certain protocol in inheritance process. The first born is allowed to choose his double portion from what is called the bar metzra, the adjacent property to his first portion of land. If, for example, there are three sons, the land would be divided into four sections. The two younger sons get one section each and the first born will get two which are bordering each other. It is necessary to give the portions of land which border on each other, because for him it makes a significant difference. He can now cultivate that area as one double plot rather than two separate properties.
The Misbetzos Zahav suggests that this is the reason for the unusual wording in the verse about the inheritance of Yosef. Yosef received a double portion for his sons because Reuven, who was the intended first born of Yaakov, forfeited his portion because of his sin. That first born rite was transferred to Yosef, giving him the double portion of inheritance. If so, his whole portion had to be together in one location, which is why the description of the division of the land of Yosef lumps together Ephraim and Menashe’s respective portions.
What is the implication of the final pasuk?
The last verse of the chapter says explains that the children of Yosef did not fully conquer the Canaanites who lived in the city called Gezer, and that those Canaanites remained living in the territory of Ephraim in servitude to the Israelite overlords. One can imagine that some humanitarian thoughts probably crossed the minds of the Israelites. They assumed that if these locals would just be subservient, then they would not need to wipe them out.
However, Hashem said that there were only two options in the conquest of Israel. The first was that the Canaanite nations should accept the seven Noachide laws, pay taxes and be completely subservient. If they were to refuse such an option, they were to be killed or removed. The tribes of Yosef opted for neither of these two options. It does not seem that they insisted on complete subservience or adherence to the Noachide laws. We will see that these unconquered cities are going to be a problem which will haunt the Israelites all the way through the book of Shoftim, all the way until the times of David Hamelech. Part of the dramatic irony is that Gezer is one of those thirty-one cities listed as being the conquered cities. We are being shown that it was not fully conquered. It was just temporarily under the thumb of Israel for the time being. We will see that these are the cities which are going to create great problems later on.