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Joshua 14

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1 And these [are] they [of] the sons of Israel who inherited in the land of Canaan, whom Eleazar the priest, and Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the sons of Israel, caused to inherit;

2 by lot [is] their inheritance, as Jehovah commanded by the hand of Moses, for the nine of the tribes, and the half of the tribe;

3 for Moses hath given the inheritance of two of the tribes, and of half of the tribe, beyond the Jordan, and to the Levites he hath not given an inheritance in their midst;

4 for the sons of Joseph hath been two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim, and they have not given a portion to the Levites in the land, except cities to dwell in, and their suburbs for their cattle, and for their possessions;

5 as Jehovah commanded Moses, so have the sons of Israel done, and they apportion the land.

6 And the sons of Judah come nigh unto Joshua in Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenezzite saith unto him, `Thou hast known the word that Jehovah hath spoken unto Moses the man of God, concerning me and concerning thee in Kadesh-Barnea:

7 a son of forty years [am] I in Moses, servant of Jehovah, sending me from Kadesh-Barnea, to spy the land, and I bring him back word as with my heart;

8 and my brethren who have gone up with me have caused the heart of the people to melt, and I have been fully after Jehovah my God;

9 and Moses sweareth in that day, saying, If not -- the land on which thy foot hath trodden, to thee it is for inheritance, and to thy sons -- to the age, for thou hast been fully after Jehovah my God.

10 `And, now, lo, Jehovah hath kept me alive, as He hath spoken, these forty and five years, since Jehovah spake this word unto Moses, when Israel went in the wilderness; and now, lo, I [am] to-day a son of five and eighty years;

11 yet [am] I to-day strong as in the day of Moses' sending me; as my power then, so [is] my power now, for battle, and to go out, and to come in.

12 `And now, give to me this hill-country, of which Jehovah spake in that day, for thou didst hear in that day, for Anakim [are] there, and cities, great, fenced; if so be Jehovah [is] with me, then I have dispossessed them, as Jehovah hath spoken.'

13 And Joshua blesseth him, and giveth Hebron to Caleb son of Jephunneh for an inheritance,

14 therefore hath Hebron been to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenezzite for an inheritance unto this day, because that he was fully after Jehovah, God of Israel;

15 and the name of Hebron formerly [is] Kirjath-Arba (he [is] the great man among the Anakim); and the land hath rest from war.

   

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Ephraim

  
Jacob blessing the sons of Joseph, by Januarius Zick

Ephraim was the second son born to Joseph in Egypt and was, along with his older brother Manasseh, elevated by Jacob to the same status as Joseph’s brothers. Thus when the tribes of Israel are named, Ephraim and Manasseh are named as patriarchs along with their uncles – Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin -- but Joseph is not. According to Swedenborg, Ephraim represents the intellectual aspect of the church, the part that explores and understands what is true – especially the true ideas that can be drawn from the Bible. Manasseh, meanwhile, represents the affectional aspect of the church, the part that feels and loves and cares. This plays into the best-known story of Ephraim’s life. When Jacob was old and nearing death, Joseph brought his two sons to be blessed. He presented Manasseh to Jacob’s right hand as the elder, and Ephraim to Jacob’s left hand. But Jacob crossed his hands and gave Ephraim the primary blessing. According to Swedenborg, Manasseh was the elder son because ultimately, what we love makes us who we are; our loves form our lives. So our loves are the most central, leading aspect of our human existence, with our intellect playing a secondary role. But as we develop, we need to reverse those. We can use our intellect to understand what is good and right and force ourselves to do it, even when our desires are for what’s selfish. If we stick to that out of a determination to follow the Lord and be good people, the Lord will eventually remove the selfishness from our hearts so we can truly love what is good. By having Jacob bless Ephraim above Manasseh, the Lord is telling us that we have to put our intellect first to pursue our spiritual journey.