Chapter Sixteen

1–4. The southern boundary of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. 5–9. The boundary of the lot of the tribe of Ephraim. 10. The Canaanites in Gezer.

Joshua 16:1. Then the lot fell to the sons of Joseph: from the Jordan near Jericho, at the waters of Jericho on the east, the wilderness extending from Jericho to the mountain of Bethel; The boundary of the lot that fell by lot to the sons of Joseph, that is, to the tribe of Ephraim and half of the tribe of Manasseh, began from that place of the Jordan on its eastern side which was opposite Jericho, and then went to the “waters of Jericho,” by which is probably meant the abundant water source found at ancient Jericho, called afterward the spring of Elisha, and at present Ain es-Sultan or El Kelt 155. The next boundary landmark was the “wilderness extending from Jericho to the mountain of Bethel,” understood to mean a barren area stretching west from Jericho with steep ascents to the mountain highland; in Josh 18:12 it is called the wilderness of Bethaven.

Joshua 16:2. The boundary goes from Bethel to Luz and passes to the boundary of the Archites at Ataroth, From the mountain of Bethel, named after Bethel located upon it, the boundary went to Luz, which apparently was some distance from Bethel, as is evident in part from Gen 28:19, where Jacob gives the name Bethel to the place where he slept, which was not in Luz itself (Josh 16:2). The location of the city or region called Archi that followed is not known with certainty; some place Archi in the village retaining this name to the west of Ramallah 156, others in the village of Arik, between Bethel and Beth-horon 157. The place of Ataroth, mentioned later in Josh 16:5 and Josh 18:13, called Ataroth-Addar, is indicated at Khirbet el-Atira, the name of a village with ruins to the south of Beeroth 158.

Joshua 16:3. And it descends to the sea, to the boundary of Japhlet, to the boundary of lower Beth-horon and to Gezer, and ends at the sea. The boundary of Japhlet is unknown in its location. Concerning lower Beth-horon, see Josh 10:10. Gezer, which was a strong fortress, was situated on the high hill of Tel Gezer, covered with extensive ruins, which lies between Ekron (Josh 13:3) and Nicopolis, now called Amwas 159. The location of Gezer, which remained unknown with certainty until recently, was found in 1873 by the renowned French archaeologist Clermont-Ganneau, and this discovery gained recognition from other scholars.

Joshua 16:5. The boundary of the sons of Ephraim by their clans was this: the eastern boundary of their lot extended from Ataroth-Addar to upper Beth-horon [and Gezer]; The southern boundary of the lot of the tribe of Ephraim, the same as that described in Josh 16:1-3, is also marked beginning from the east; two points are indicated on it according to the Hebrew text: Ataroth-Addar, which refers to Ataroth mentioned in Josh 16:2, and upper Beth-horon (see Josh 10:11). In the Greek translation lists, and according to them in the Slavic-Russian translation, the name of the city Gezer is read next (“and Gezer”), probably transferred here from Josh 16:3, where according to the Greek translation it is not read. The final words of the description of the southern boundary are, as may be supposed, the opening words of Josh 16:6: “then the boundary goes to the sea,” whereby the description of the boundary would end the same way as in Josh 16:3.

Joshua 16:6. The boundary then goes to the sea on the north side of Michmethath and turns toward the east of Taanath-shiloh and passes it on the east side of Janoah; Joshua 16:7. From Janoah it descends to Ataroth and Naarah, touches Jericho, and ends at the Jordan; Josh 16:6-7 contain the description of the northern boundary of the tribe of Ephraim, which according to the Hebrew text begins with the words “Michmethath on the north,” where this city is named, like Sarid in the description of the boundary of the tribe of Zebulun (Josh 19:10-12), as the middle city on this boundary from which the further description of it proceeds. The location of Michmethath, however, is not determined. From Josh 17:7 it is evident only that this city was located “before Shechem” (by a literal translation from the Hebrew), that is, not far from Shechem, to the north of which it is indicated on some maps of Palestine 160. From Michmethath the boundary went east to Taanath-shiloh, which according to Eusebius (under the name Θηναθ) is indicated in 10 Roman miles from Neapolis (that is, Shechem) to the east, on the way to the Jordan; accordingly it is located at Tana as ruins are now called to the southeast of Nablus. From Taanath-shiloh the boundary went to Janoah, located at the place of ruins called Yanun, in two and a half hours’ journey to the southeast of Nablus. After Janoah the boundary descended to Ataroth and Naarah. The first of these, distinct from Ataroth indicated in verses 2 and 5, was probably located on the slope of the mountains of Ephraim toward the Jordan valley; but the actual location remains unknown. Naarah according to Eusebius is indicated in five Roman miles from Jericho; its location is also not established with precision at present.

Joshua 16:8. From Tappuah the boundary goes to the sea, to the stream of Kanah, and ends at the sea. Such is the lot of the tribe of the sons of Ephraim, by their clans. Here the western side of the northern boundary of the tribe of Ephraim is indicated. As the initial marking of it is named Tappuah, toward which it directed from Michmethath, as is evident from Josh 17:7, where it is said concerning the boundary of the half-tribe of Manasseh, neighboring Ephraim, that the boundary went from Michmethath “to the inhabitants of En-tappuah.” The location of this city is not determined. From Tappuah the boundary went west (“to the sea,” see Josh 15:10), “to the stream of Kanah,” which is probably understood to be a stream that flowed into the Mediterranean Sea between Caesarea and Jaffa, now called Nahr el-Cassab or Phaliak.

Joshua 16:9. And the cities were set apart for the sons of Ephraim in the lot of the sons of Manasseh, all the cities with their villages. Besides the cities indicated on the boundaries, the tribe of Ephraim also owned others with their villages in the lot of the tribe of Manasseh. The reason for this lay, of course, in the fact that the lot that fell to this populous tribe proved to be indeed insufficient. Although this complaint to Joshua (son of Nun) was rejected (Josh 17:14-18), it was later, as one must think, satisfied. To the tribe of Manasseh in return were given cities in the lots of the tribes of Issachar and Asher (Josh 17:11).

Joshua 16:10. But [the Ephramites] did not drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer; therefore the Canaanites lived among the Ephramites until this day, paying them tribute. [Finally the king of Egypt came and took the city and burned it with fire, and he killed the Canaanites and Perizzites and the inhabitants of Gezer, and the king of Egypt gave it as a dowry to his daughter.] Concerning Gezer, see Josh 16:3. The words enclosed in brackets “[Finally the king of Egypt... as a dowry to his daughter]” are read in the most ancient and later lists of the Greek translation, but are absent in the Hebrew text and in the translation of blessed Jerome. In some Greek manuscripts they are marked with an obelus, which shows that they are not read in the Hebrew text. According to the latter, like the LXX translation, these words are found in 1 Kgs 9:16, from where, it must be supposed, they were transferred into the Book of Joshua for more accurate indication of the time until which the Canaanites continued to live in Gezer. * * * The Holy Land, 2:19. The village of Ramallah is located to the west of Beeroth (Josh 9:17), according to Baedeker, Palästina and Syrien. Tristram. Bible places, 182. In the LXX “Archi” and “Ataroth” constitute one name: Χαταρωθει according to the Vatican manuscript, Αρχιαταρωθ according to the Alexandrian, in agreement with which the Slavonic Bible reads: “to the boundaries of Achiataroph.” Since there were several cities bearing the name Ataroth in Canaan, the Ataroth meant here is more precisely designated by the addition to its name of the name of the tribe living in it, the Archites (2 Sam 15:32). Nicopolis-Alevases is located in six hours’ journey to the west of Jerusalem, in three hours to the south of Ramle. This refers to the wall map of Palestine published by Kuperti in 1366.