Joshua 16:9

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.

Ver. 9. And the separate cities, &c.] Allotted to Ephraim, a numerous tribe, within the portion of Manasseh.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The verb “were,” introduced by the King James Version in this verse should be omitted; and the full stop after Jos 16:8 replaced by a colon. The purport of Jos 16:9 is simply to add to the inheritance of Ephraim, defined by the preceding context, “the separate cities” or more properly “single cities” which were allotted to them in addition within the borders of Manasseh. The reasons for granting these additional cities to the Ephraimites can only be conjectured. Perhaps the territory assigned to this numerous tribe proved on experiment to be too small; and therefore some towns, which are named in 1Ch 7:29, were given to them from the kindred Manassites, the latter being recompensed (Jos 17:11 note) at the expense of Issachar and Asher.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Jos 16:9. The separate cities — That is, besides those cities which were within Ephraim’s bounds, he had some other cities out of Manasseh’s portion, because his tribe was all here, and was larger than Manasseh’s.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Because Ephraim’s tribe was far greater than Manasseh, therefore he had more cities.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

separate cities for the children of Ephraim were among the inheritance of Manasseh-- (Jos 17:9), because it was found that the tract allotted to Ephraim was too small in proportion to its population and power.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 9. And the separate cities] That is, the cities that were separated from the tribe of Manasseh to be given to Ephraim; see Jos 17:9.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(9) The separate cities for the children of Ephraim were among the inheritance of the children of Manasseh; and Jos_17:10-11 : “Manasseh had in Issachar and in Asher, Beth-shean,” &c. This fact would manifestly tend to produce a solidarity among the several tribes, and to prevent disunion by creating common interests. The interest of the stronger tribes would be served by completing the conquest of the territory assigned to the weaker. And the general formation thus produced would resemble that which was known by the name of the testudo, or tortoise, in Roman warfare. When a body of soldiers approached the wall of a town which it was intended to assault, they sometimes held their shields over them, overlapping like scales, each man’s shield partly sheltering his own, and partly his neighbour’s body, so that no missile could penetrate. Thus it may be said not only of Jerusalem, but of all the tribes in the land of their possession, that they were built as a city that is compact together, and at unity in itself: united by joints and bands, so that if one member of the body politic should suffer, all the members must suffer with it. For a further illustration of the same topic, see on the inheritance of Benjamin (Jos_18:11) and of Simeon (Jos_19:1).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9. And the separate cities] Or, the places which were portioned off.

were] This verb, introduced into our Version, should be omitted, and the full stop at the end of Jos_16:8 should be replaced by a colon. The author intended us to add to “the inheritance of the children of Ephraim” the “separate” or “single” cities allotted to the tribe within the borders of Manasseh. It is supposed that after their relative boundaries had been fixed—though the subdivision of the territory assigned to the two brother tribes does not seem to have been very definite—it was found that the territory of Ephraim was too small in proportion to its strength.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And they drove not out the Canaanites which dwelt in Gezer,.... Which was the border of their tribe length ways, and was near the sea, Jos 16:3; 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 next clause:

but the Canaanites dwelt among the Ephraimites unto this day; which Joshua, the writer of this book, might truly say, and be no objection to it, since the same is observed after his death, Jdg 1:29; and indeed they continued to dwell there until the times of Solomon, when it was taken by Pharaoh king of Egypt, and given as a present to his daughter, the wife of Solomon, Kg1 9:15; and though this clause does not furnish out an argument against the writing of this book by Joshua, yet, from the instance given, it appears it must have been written before the times of Solomon, and so not by Ezra, as some:

and serve under tribute; so that they were under their power, and therefore could have driven them out, or slain them, as by the command of God they should; but 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.

Next: Joshua Chapter 17

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The separate cities, i.e. besides those cities which were within Ephraim’s bounds, he had some other cities, to which all their territories were annexed out of Manasseh’s portion, because his tribe was all here, and was larger than Manasseh’s.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

9. Separate cities — That is, cities separated or selected out of Manasseh for the use of Ephraim. Of these only Tappuah is named in Jos_17:8-9. Compare also 1Ch_7:28-29. It is generally supposed, that when the boundary lines had been drawn, the territory of Ephraim was found not as large proportionally as his numbers and importance demanded. But the relation of Ephraim and Manasseh was such that they might be regarded as having one lot. Compare Jos_17:14. Hence they held many cities in common, and hence too, perhaps, the reason why no complete enumeration of the cities of these two brother tribes is anywhere given.] 10. The Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer — These held their ancient seat until the days of Solomon. 1Ki_9:16. Compare Jdg_1:29.

Under tribute — This implies the power to extirpate, but instead of this a fatal compromise was made. Josephus explains the reason: “After this the Israelites grew effeminate as to fighting any more against their enemies, but applied themselves to agriculture, which producing abundance and riches, they indulged in luxury and pleasure, and, contenting themselves with the tributes that were paid them, permitted the Canaanites to live in peace.”

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the separate cities. Literally, and the cities divided off. The word "were," in our version, is misplaced. It should be read thus: "And there were cities divided off and assigned to the tribe of Ephraim in the midst of the inheritance of the sons of Manasseh" (see note on ver. 5). This fact, together with the compensation given to Manasseh, may serve to explain the cohesion of the ten tribes in opposition to Judah. The boundaries of the latter tribe were more strictly defined, her attitude more exclusive. We may almost discern this in the prominence given to Judah in the present book. Ephraim, already enraged at the passing away of the preeminence from itself, which had not merely been predicted, but, as Jud 8:1-3 12:1 show, had been actually enjoyed, was closely allied to Manasseh, and Manasseh to Issachar and Zebulun, by the arrangement we are considering. It would naturally be able, by its position and these circumstances, to combine together the rest of the tribe against the somewhat overbearing attitude of the tribe of Judah. (see 2Sa_19:43)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The separate cities - That is, besides those cities which were within Ephraim's bounds, he had some other cities, to which all of all their territories were annexed out Manasseh's portion, because his tribe was all here, and was larger than Manasseh's.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

The tribe of Ephraim also received some scattered towns in the territory of the tribe of Manasseh, in fact all those towns to which Tappuah belonged, according to Jos 17:8, with the dependent villaGes.

(Note: The reason why the Ephraimites received scattered towns and villages in the tribe-territory of Manasseh, is supposed by Calvin, Masius, and others, to have been, that after the boundaries had been arranged, on comparing the territory allotted to each with the relative numbers of the two tribes, it was found that Ephraim had received too small a possession. This is quite possible; at the same time there may have been other reasons which we cannot discover now, as precisely the same thing occurs in the case of Manasseh (Jos 17:11).)

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

The separated cities. These too were included in the inheritance of Ephraim. They had cities that were separated from their portion and were incorporated within the boundary of the inheritance of Menashe.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.