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Joshua 17

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1 And the lot is for the tribe of Manasseh (for he [is] first-born of Joseph), for Machir first-born of Manasseh, father of Gilead, for he hath been a man of war, and his are Gilead and Bashan.

2 And there is for the sons of Manasseh who are left, for their families; for the sons of Abiezer, and for the sons of Helek, and for the sons of Asriel, and for the sons of Shechem, and for the sons of Hepher, and for the sons of Shemida; these [are] the children of Manasseh son of Joseph -- the males -- by their families.

3 As to Zelophehad, son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, he hath no children except daughters, and these [are] the names of his daughters: Mahlah, and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah,

4 and they draw near before Eleazar the priest, and before Joshua son of Nun, and before the princes, saying, `Jehovah commanded Moses to give to us an inheritance in the midst of our brethren;' and he giveth to them, at the command of Jehovah, an inheritance in the midst of the brethren of their father.

5 And ten portions fall [to] Manasseh, apart from the land of Gilead and Bashan, which [are] beyond the Jordan;

6 for the daughters of Manasseh have inherited an inheritance in the midst of his sons, and the land of Gilead hath been to the sons of Manasseh who are left.

7 And the border of Manasseh is from Asher to Michmethah, which [is] on the front of Shechem, and the border hath gone on unto the right, unto the inhabitants of En-Tappuah.

8 To Manasseh hath been the land of Tappuah, and Tappuah unto the border of Manasseh is to the sons of Ephraim.

9 And the border hath come down [to] the brook of Kanah, southward of the brook; these cities of Ephraim [are] in the midst of the cities of Manasseh, and the border of Manasseh [is] on the north of the brook, and its outgoings are at the sea.

10 Southward [is] to Ephraim and northward to Manasseh, and the sea is his border, and in Asher they meet on the north, and in Issachar on the east.

11 And Manasseh hath in Issachar and in Asher, Beth-Shean and its towns, and Ibleam and its towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, and the inhabitants of En-Dor and its towns, and the inhabitants of Taanach and its towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns, three counties.

12 And the sons of Manasseh have not been able to occupy these cities, and the Canaanite is desirous to dwell in this land,

13 and it cometh to pass when the sons of Israel have been strong, that they put the Canaanite to tribute, and have not utterly dispossessed him.

14 And the sons of Joseph speak with Joshua, saying, `Wherefore hast thou given to me an inheritance -- one lot and one portion, and I a numerous people? hitherto hath Jehovah blessed me.'

15 And Joshua saith unto them, `If thou [art] a numerous people, go up for thee to the forest, then thou hast prepared for thee there, in the land of the Perizzite, and of the Rephaim, when mount Ephraim hath been narrow for thee.'

16 And the sons of Joseph say, `The hill is not found to us, and a chariot of iron [is] with every Canaanite who is dwelling in the land of the valley -- to him who [is] in Beth-Shean and its towns, and to him who [is] in the valley of Jezreel.'

17 And Joshua speaketh unto the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and to Manasseh, saying, `Thou [art] a numerous people, and hast great power; thou hast not one lot [only],

18 because the mountain is thine; because it [is] a forest -- thou hast prepared it, and its outgoings have been thine; because thou dost dispossess the Canaanite, though it hath chariots of iron -- though it [is] strong.'

   

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Exploring the Meaning of Joshua 17

Napsal(a) New Christian Bible Study Staff, Julian Duckworth

Joshua 17: The tribe of Manasseh receives the western half of its territory.

The previous chapter (Joshua 16) dealt with the territory given to Ephraim, Manasseh’s younger brother; this one covers the western half of Manasseh (the other half tribe of Manasseh was bound to live across the Jordan).

Interestingly, this chapter mentions many people by name, instead of only describing locations as we’ve seen before. Verses 1 and 2 list all seven of Manasseh’s sons and their families. Then verse 3 mentions Zelophehad, the great-grandson of Manasseh, who had had five daughters, but no sons. When Zelophehad died on the journey through the wilderness, his daughters came to Joshua to claim the inheritance Moses had promised them (see Numbers 27). So, both the sons and daughters of Manasseh’s family received land.

After the area given to Manasseh was outlined, the people of Ephraim and Manasseh came to Joshua and complained that they deserved more land, because of their important standing among the tribes of Israel (verse 14). They claimed that they had been specially blessed, and should receive much more.

Joshua told them that if they were such a great people, they should go to the forest country and seize land from the Perrizites and the giants living there. The people were not pleased, and told Joshua that the Canaanites who still roamed there were strong, and had chariots of iron. Even so, Joshua told them again to cut down the wood and use it, because they would eventually be able to drive out the Canaanites.

The spiritual meaning of this story is all about the relationship between good and truth. Again, there are many names to indicate the geography of the area of “West Manasseh”, and the meaning of these names very often links in with the spiritual meaning of the tribe. Beyond that, the specific area in Canaan given to a tribe is spiritually important. Ephraim and Manasseh are right in the middle of the land because they stand for truth and good, for truth leading to good, for good coming from truth.

The story about Zelophehad’s five daughters also relates to the place of truth and good. This is because sons stand for truths, often for truths which fight for us during our temptations, while daughters stand for the good in our spiritual life which bears ‘children’ (see Swedenborg’s work, Arcana Caelestia 8993 [3,4]).

Verses 5 and 6 describe this union of good and truth very beautifully: “Ten portions were given to Manasseh because the daughters of Manasseh received an inheritance among his sons; and the rest of Manasseh’s sons had the land of Gilead.” It is worth noting here that the spiritual meaning of the number ‘ten’ has to do with wholeness, and also ‘remains,’ or memories, which the Lord imparts to us when we are very young (Arcana Caelestia 4638).

When the people of Ephraim and Manasseh complained to Joshua, it is much like us wanting our spiritual life to be easy. We want it to be something given to us, and not something which we will need to work on and even fight for in ourselves.

Finally, the meaning of using wooden chariots to fight the Canaanites means to fight from our love of what is good. This is because wood corresponds to good, since it is alive and has grown. ‘Iron’ here stands for the harshness of truth without any good, which appears invincible, but in reality is weaker than the power of goodness and love (Arcana Caelestia 426[3]).

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Arcana Coelestia # 3

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3. Without such life the Word as regards the letter is dead, for it is the same with the Word as it is with man, who, as the Christian world knows, is internal as well as external. The external man if parted from the internal man is just a body and therefore dead. It is the internal man which lives and imparts life to the external. The internal man is the soul of the external man. The same applies to the Word which as to the letter alone is like the body without a soul.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.