Joshua 16

Jos 16:1 And the lot of the children of Joseph fell from Jordan by Jericho, unto the water of Jericho on the east, to the wilderness that goeth up from Jericho throughout mount Bethel,

The children of Joseph - Ephraim and Manasseh, and their descendants. The limits of the tribe of Ephraim extended along the borders of Benjamin and Dan, from Jordan on the east to the Mediterranean on the west.

And the lot of the children of Joseph - this being the next lot that was drawn to that of Judah, the government being Judah's, and the birthright Joseph's, 1Ch_5:1-2 And the sons of Reuben, the first-born of Israel (for he was the first-born; but since he defiled his father's bed, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel, and the genealogy is not to be counted according to the birthright; For Judah prevailed among his brothers, and from him came the chief ruler, but the birthright was Joseph's); and by his children are here meant the tribe of Ephraim, and the tribe of Manasseh: or the line and border according to the lot went forth

from Jordan by Jericho unto the water of Jericho on the east - by which it appears, that this was the southern border of the lot; for the tribe of Benjamin, in which Jericho was, lay between Judah and Ephraim, and the border began at Jordan, where it flowed near Jericho, and proceeded to a water which belonged to that city, and is generally thought to be the waters Elisha healed, 2Ki_2:19,

to the wilderness that goeth up throughout Mount Bethel - this was the wilderness of Bethaven, Jos_18:12; Jarchi interprets it of the border that went up through Mount Bethel; which is true, and so might the wilderness also, for which the Targum is express; mention is made of a mountain on the east of Bethel, Gen_12:8.

the lot of the children of Joseph fell -- The first four verses describe the territory allotted to the family of Joseph in the rich domains of central Palestine. It was drawn in one lot, that the brethren might be contiguously situated; but it was afterwards divided. The southern boundary only is described here; that on the north being irregular and less defined (Jos_17:10-11), is not mentioned.

Jos 16:2 And goeth out from Bethel to Luz, and passeth along unto the borders of Archi to Ataroth,

And it went out from Bethel to Luz - Bethel is distinguished from Luz in this passage, because the reference is not to the town of Bethel, which was called Luz by the Canaanites (Gen_28:19), but to the southern range of mountains belonging to Bethel, from which the boundary ran out to the town of Luz, so that this town, which stood upon the border, was allotted to the tribe of Benjamin (Jos_18:22).

And goeth out from Bethel to Luz - For though these two places in time became one, yet they were originally distinct. Bethel, at which Jacob stopped, and who gave it its name, was a field adjacent to the city of Luz, Gen_38:11; and therefore with propriety may be, as they here are, distinguished:

to the territory of the Arkite to Ataroth - We know nothing further about the Arkite than that David's friend Hushai belonged to that family (2Sa_15:32; 2Sa_16:16; 1Ch_27:33). The word is derived from Erech Gen_10:10. But whether there was in the neighborhood of Bethel a place bearing this Babylonian name, or whether a colony from the East had settled in this spot and brought the name with them, is unknown.

Ataroth - called Ataroth-Adar (crowns of fame or greatness) in Jos_18:13 perhaps to distinguish it from two other places bearing the same name but, situated on the other side of Jordan, in the territory of Gad Num_32:34.

Jos 16:3 And goeth down westward to the coast of Japhleti, unto the coast of Bethhoron the nether, and to Gezer: and the goings out thereof are at the sea.

Of Japhleti - Rather “of the Japhletite.” All history of the name is lost.

Beth-horon the nether – so called to distinguish it from Bethhoron the upper, Jos_16:5;

Bethhoron - Eusebius says that the two Beth-horons were twelve miles from Jerusalem, of which the one, called upper Beth-horon, from its situation, was built (rebuilt) by Solomon, and the other, called nether Beth-horon, was given to the Levites

and the outgoings thereof are at the sea - the Mediterranean sea.

Jos 16:4 So the children of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance.

Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance - As it fell to them by the lot; by Manasseh is meant the half tribe of Manasseh, one half of that tribe having been settled by Moses on the other side Jordan; and next follows an account of the borders of the inheritance of Ephraim in particular, as that of the half tribe of Manasseh is given in Jos_17:1.

Jos 16:5 And the border of the children of Ephraim according to their families was thus: even the border of their inheritance on the east side was Atarothaddar, unto Bethhoron the upper;

Beth-horon the upper – Eusebius says upper Beth-horon, named from its situation, was built (rebuilt) by Solomon, Upper Beth-horon is mentioned here instead of Lower Beth-horon (Jos_16:3). This makes no difference, however, as the two places stood quite close to one another.

Jos 16:6 And the border went out toward the sea to Michmethah on the north side; and the border went about eastward unto Taanathshiloh, and passed by it on the east to Janohah;

And the border went out towards the sea - The Mediterranean sea:

to Michmethah on the north side - of the border, the same on which Bethhoron was, from whence the border proceeded on to this place, of which we have no other account but in Jos_17:7; by which it appears to have been near Shechem, and in sight of it:

Jos 16:7 And it went down from Janohah to Ataroth, and to Naarath, and came to Jericho, and went out at Jordan.

And it went down from Janohah to Ataroth - This is different from Ataroth before mentioned, Jos_16:2; there were several places of this name.

And came to Jericho - The boundary line then touched Jericho, the district of Jericho, namely on the north side of the district, as Jericho was allotted to the tribe of Benjamin (Jos_18:21). At this point it also coincided with the southern boundary of the tribe of Joseph (Jos_16:1) and the northern boundary of Benjamin (Jos_18:12).

Jos 16:8 The border went out from Tappuah westward unto the river Kanah; and the goings out thereof were at the sea. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Ephraim by their families.

Tappuah - This was a city in the tribe of Manasseh, and gave name to a certain district called the land of Tappuah. Jos_17:8. Which was different from the Tappuah in the tribe of Judah, Jos_15:34; this was in the tribe of Ephraim on the border of Manasseh, Jos_17:8,

unto the river Kanah – (reedy), supposed by some to be the brook Cherith, by which Elijah hid himself, 1Ki_17:3; but if the river Kanah was the brook Cherith, this must be the dead or salt sea: but that is never called "the sea", rather the Mediterranean sea is meant, and consequently Kanah could not be Cherith, which was at too great a distance from this sea:

Jos 16:9 And the separate cities for the children of Ephraim were among the inheritance of the children of Manasseh, all the cities with their villages.

And the separate cities - That is, the cities that were separated from the tribe of Manasseh to be given to Ephraim; Jos_17:9. The tribe of Ephraim, being much larger than the half tribe of Manasseh, besides the lot that fell to it, described before by its boundaries, had several particular and distinct cities given to it

Jos 16:10 And they drave not out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer: but the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites unto this day, and serve under tribute.

The Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer - It appears that the Canaanites were not expelled from this city till the days of Solomon, when it was taken by the king of Egypt his father-in-law, who made it a present to his daughter, Solomon’s queen. 1Ki_9:15-17 And this is the reason of the labor force which King Solomon raised to build the house of the LORD and his own house, and Millo, and the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer. For Pharaoh, king of Egypt, had gone up and had taken Gezer and had burned it with fire, and had slain the Canaanites who lived in the city. And he had given it for a present to his daughter, Solomon's wife. And Solomon built Gezer, and Beth-horon the lower. The Ephraimites, however, had so far succeeded in subjecting these people as to oblige them to pay tribute, though they could not, or at least did not, totally expel them. In this they did not obey the command of God, and either they did not drive them out, because they could not, God not delivering them up into their hands, because of their sins; or through their slothfulness, or it may be through covetousness, being willing to make some advantage to themselves by them, being a trading people, which seems to be intended in the latter part of the verse. It seems they spared them for the sake of the tribute they received from them, which seems to agree with the character of the Ephraimites, Hos_12:8 And Ephraim said, Yet I have become rich, I have found much wealth for myself. In all my labors they shall find in me no iniquity that is sin.

they drave not out the Canaanites - This is the first mention of the fatal policy of the Israelites, in neglecting the divine command to exterminate the idolaters. Deu_20:16-17 But of the cities of these people, which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes. But you shall utterly destroy them: the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites; as the LORD your God has commanded you.