Joshua 17:11

_AND MANASSEH HAD IN ISSACHAR AND IN ASHER BETHSHEAN AND HER TOWNS, AND IBLEAM AND HER TOWNS, AND THE INHABITANTS OF DOR AND HER TOWNS, AND THE INHABITANTS OF ENDOR AND HER TOWNS, AND THE INHABITANTS OF TAANACH AND HER TOWNS, AND THE INHABITANTS OF MEGIDDO AND HER TOWNS, EVEN THREE COUNTRIES._ Beth-shean and her towns - Greek, Scythopolis (now Beisan), in the valley of the Jordan, toward the east end of the plain of Jezreel. "Beth-shean" means 'house of rest;' so called from its being the halting-place for caravans traveling between Syria or Midian and Egypt, and the great station for the commerce between these countries for many centuries. Beth-san, the Hamitic name = the house of the sun [Septuagint, Baithsan]. IBLEAM AND HER TOWNS - in the neighbourhood of Megiddo (2 Kings 9:27). THE INHABITANTS OF DOR AND HER TOWNS - now Tantoura; anciently a

11._And Manasseh had in Issachar, _etc How they were so mingled as to possess some cities in the lot of Asher and Issachar, while the tribe of Ephraim dwelt between their limits, it is not easy to divine, unless, perhaps, it was perceived that a more commodious habitation would not be liable to many complaints, (156) or, perhaps, after the whole country had become more certainly known, some change was made on principles of equity in the former partition. This, therefore, seems to have been a new acquisition after it was discovered that the children of Manasseh might occupy a wider extent without loss to others. Nor was the habitation given to them a subjugated one, which they might immediately enjoy, but it was an inheritance treasured up in hope, and founded more upon heavenly promise than on actual possession. And yet their not gaining possession of those cities is attributed to their...

7-13 There was great communication between Manasseh and Ephraim. Though each tribe had its inheritance, yet they should intermix one with another, to do good offices one to another, as became those, who, though of different tribes, were all one Israel, and were bound to love as brethren. But they suffered the Canaanites to live among them, against the command of God, to serve their own ends....

Verse Joshua 17:11. _BETH-SHEAN_] Called afterwards _Scythopolis_; the city of the _Scythians_ or _Cuthites_, those who were sent into the different Samaritan cities by the kings of Assyria. _DOR_] On the Mediterranean Sea, about eight miles from Caesarea, on the road to Tyre. _EN-DOR_] The _well_ or _fountain of Dor_, the place where Saul went to consult the witch; 1 Samuel 28:7, c....

Perhaps Beth-shean (in Issachar) and the other five towns (in Asher) were given to the Manassites in compensation for towns in the Manassite territory allotted to the Ephraimites. (See Joshua 17:9. Compare Joshua 21:9.) To the wall of Beth-shean, or Bethshah (“Beisan,” about 5 miles west of the Jordan), the bodies of Saul and his sons were fastened by the Philistines after the battle on Mount Gilboa. After the exile it received the Greek name of Scythopolis, perhaps because it was principally tenanted by a rude and pagan population, styled in contempt Scythians. It was a border city of Galilee, and the chief town of the Decapolis. In Christian times it was the see of a bishop, who is enumerated as present at Nicaea and other Councils of the Church. Ibleam

EXPOSITION JOSHUA 17:1 THERE WAS ALSO A LOT. The preferable translation is, "_and_ _the lot for the tribe of Manasseh—for he was the firstborn of Joseph—was _(_or fell_)_ to Machir the son of Manasseh. _That is to say, the proper possession of the tribe of Manasseh fell to Machir and his descendants only, because of their warlike spirit, and possibly on account of their numbers also. They were sufficient to occupy the land of Gilead and Bashan, extensive and powerful though it was, while the rest of the tribe had a share in the inheritance westward of Jordan (see also Joshua 13:29-6). FOR HE WAS THE FIRSTBORN OF JOSEPH. There has been much discussion why these words were introduced. It is probable that they a

AND MANASSEH HAD IN ISSACHAR, AND IN ASHER, BETHSHEAN, AND HER TOWNS,.... As Ephraim had cities in Manasseh, so had Manasseh cities in these two tribes, which in some parts bordered on it, before described, even the cities following, and the first that is named is Bethshean: this lay in the tribe of Issachar, and was the uttermost border of Manasseh that way; it was, as Josephus m says, called Scythopolis; but not from the Scythians, as Pliny n suggests, but from Succoth, a place where Jacob resided, and which was not far from it, Genesis 33:17; it lay before the great plain of Jezreel, and was at the entrance into it, "After this went they over Jordan into the great plain before Bethsan.'' (1 Maccabees 5:52) and was six hundred furlongs, or seventy five miles, from Jerusalem, according to: "From thence they departed to Scythopolis, which lieth six hun

5. THE PORTION OF MANASSEH CHAPTER 17 _ 1. Their names (Joshua 17:1)_ 2. Their border (Joshua 17:7) 3. The complaint and the answer (Joshua 17:14) Half of the tribe of Manasseh had their inheritance on the other side of Jordan, having joined themselves to Reuben and Gad. The rest of Manasseh are now named according to their families. These are: Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher and Shemida, The son of Hepher, Zelophehad, had no sons (see Numbers 27:1); the names of the five daughters are given here again. They claim now the inheritance which the Lord had given to them. They, too, exhibit the cour

TOWNS Hebrew daughters. Figure of speech _Prosopopoeia_ (App-6). villages....

Boundaries of Western Manasseh 7. _And the coast_ We now have a description of the boundaries of Manasseh. And first (_a_), Joshua 17:7, of the _southern_boundary towards Ephraim; and (_b_), second, Joshua 17:10, of the _northern_and _eastern_boundaries. _was from Asher_ The description of the southern boundary commences at the eastern end. The _Asher_here spoken of is not the tribe of Asher, but a city on the east of Shechem. Eusebius places it on the road from Shechem to Bethshean. "Three quarters of an hour from _Tûbâs_is the hamlet of _Teyâsîr_, which may probably be identified with Asher, a town of Manasseh." Porter's _Handbook_, ii. 348. _to Michmethah_ See ch....