Tyndale Open Study NotesJoshua 16

• As he had promised, God brought Israel into the land. Joshua then focused on dividing the land among Israel's tribes.

• The tribal allowances made the covenant of the Israelites with God real. It showed the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Since God owned the land, giving it to the tribes was a gift. God gave them the land to live in and guided its distribution.

• In these lists of tribal allowances, the author describes some borders in great detail, allowing them to be mapped. With others, they are less plainly defined.

• The allotment of land to the tribes on the west side of the Jordan describes what God intended for each tribe to possess.

• The one narrating the story begins this section with Caleb receiving land and ends with Joshua receiving land (14:6–15; 19:49–51). Only Caleb and Joshua had shown faith in God that Israel could conquer the land (Numbers 13:30; 14:6–9).

Joseph had two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim (Genesis 41:50–52). Half of those descended from Manasseh received their inheritance east of the Jordan River. The tribe of Ephraim and the rest of Manasseh's tribe now received their land. This made the total number of land portions twelve, fulfilling Jacob's blessing to Joseph (Genesis 49:22–26). Like Judah in the south, Joseph’s tribes led from their central position in the north.

The tribe of Benjamin received Jericho as their territory (18:21).

• Ephraim's border went from Lower Beth-horon to upper Beth-horon. This gave this tribe control of one of the two main roads to Jerusalem from the west (see 16:5).

• Gezer was a large and important town of Canaan at the meeting point of the coastal plain and the hill country. This apparently did not come into Israel's possession until the time of King Solomon (see Judges 1:29; 1 Kings 9:16).

This description of Ephraim’s northern boundary with Manasseh is general and incomplete. Because Shechem belonged to Manasseh, the border between the two tribes ran south of that town.