References (113)
Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh (Hebr. Menasheh): "For God has made me forget (Hebr. nashah) my bondage and my father's house." [The name Manasseh means "to make forget."]
To Joseph in the land of Egypt, Manasseh and Ephraim were born by his wife Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On [].
[In the time of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the tradition is that the firstborn becomes the next head of the family. As the eldest son, he inherits the name, status, and property of his father. It is not unusual for God to surprise us, as we have already seen several examples of in Genesis. In this passage, Joseph follows tradition and places Manasseh, his firstborn, on the right side to receive the greatest blessing. Jacob then crosses his arms and blesses Ephraim with his right hand. Joseph assumes it is a mistake, but Jacob knows exactly what he is doing.]
After all this, someone came to Joseph and said, "Look, your father is sick." So he took his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, with him.
[Jacob continues speaking to Joseph:] Now your two sons are mine, those who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in the land of Egypt, Ephraim and Manasseh, just as Reuben and Simeon are and shall be mine.
Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them close to him.
Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim's head—who was the younger—and his left hand on Manasseh's head, crossing his hands, for Manasseh was the firstborn.
When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on Ephraim's head, he disapproved (it was evil in his eyes), so he took hold of his father's hand to move it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head.
He blessed them that day and said, "By you Israel shall bless, saying, 'God (Elohim) shall make you like Ephraim and Manasseh. '" So he put Ephraim before Manasseh.
Joseph saw [his second son] Ephraim's sons to the third generation; even Manasseh's son, Machir [Joseph's grandson], became the father of children [who were laid] on Joseph's knees.
[Manasseh was Joseph's firstborn, whose son was named Machir, see ; . "Laying on Joseph's knees" alludes to the custom of placing the newborn child on the knees, first of the father, who by receiving it acknowledged the child as his own, and then of the mother, see . Joseph adopted his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, which means that they shared in his blessing and inheritance, see also .]
From the sons of Joseph:
from Ephraim, Elishama, son of Ammihod;
from Manasseh, Gamliel, son of Pedazur.
The sons of Manasseh, their generations, according to their families, according to their fathers' houses, by the number of names, every male individually, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war,
this was the number of those of the tribe of Manasseh, they were 32,200.
[Joseph received the double inheritance of the birthright. When Reuben sinned, he lost his birthright, and it was divided among three of his brothers. Levi received the right to be priests, Judah received the right to be king, and Joseph received the double inheritance, see ; .]
And those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Manasseh.
The leader of the sons of Manasseh is Gamaliel, the son of Pedazur,
On the 8th day, Gamliel, son of Pedatzur, leader of the sons of Manasseh, offered his sacrifice.
And over the army of the tribe of the sons of Manasseh was Gamliel, son of Pedatzur.
From the tribe of Joseph, from the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi, son of Sosi.
The sons of Joseph by their families: Manasseh and Ephraim.
The sons of Manasseh:
Of Machir, the family of the Machirites,
and Machir begot Gilead,
of Gilead, the family of the Gileadites.
These are the families of Manasseh and those who were counted of them, 52,700.
[First count: 32,200, an increase of 20,500.]
Then the daughters of Zelophehad [; ], the son of Chefer, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh of the family of Manasseh, the son of Joseph, came near. And these are the names of his [five] daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milkah, and Tirzah.
And Moses gave to them, to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og, king of Bashan, the land with its cities and their borders, as well as the cities of the land around it.
And the sons of Machir, the son of Manasseh, went to Gilead and took it, and drove out the Amorites who were there.
And Moses gave Gilead to Machir, the son of Manasseh, and he lived there.
And Jair, the son of Manasseh, went and took its villages and called them Havoth Jair.
For the tribe of the sons of Reuben according to their fathers' houses, and the tribe of the sons of Gad according to their fathers' houses, have received, and the half-tribe of Manasseh has received their inheritance.
And from the sons of Joseph, from the tribe of Manasseh, a leader,
Chaniel, son of Ephod.
And the leaders of the fathers' houses of the families of the sons of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, from the families of the house of Joseph, came near and spoke before Moses and before the princes, the heads of the fathers' houses of the sons of Israel,
They married into the families of the sons of Manasseh, the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained within the tribe of their father's families.
and the rest of Gilead and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh, the whole area of Argob, all Bashan, which is called the land of the Rephaim.
Jair, the son of Manasseh, took the whole region of Argob, as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, including Bashan, and named it after himself, Havvoth Jair, to this day.
Bezer [Bosor] in the wilderness in the land of the Reubenites [; city in the area around Medeba],
and Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites
and Golan in Bashan for Manasseh. [; ]
And we took their land and gave it to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. [; ]
His firstborn, he is majestic, his horns are the horns of a wild ox, with them he shall gore the peoples, all of them to the ends of the earth, they are the ten thousand of Ephraim and the thousand of Manasseh."
[Ephraim is the younger, but is mentioned first. Manasseh is the larger tribe, but Ephraim has an army ten times larger.]
and all of Naphtali [Galilee in the north]
and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh [in the central northern part]
and all the land of Judah as far as the sea in the west [southern central part to the Mediterranean Sea]
And Joshua spoke to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, saying:
And the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh crossed over armed, before the sons of Israel, as Moses had spoken to them.
Moses, the servant of the Lord (Yahweh), and the sons of Israel defeated them, and Moses, the servant of the Lord (Yahweh), gave it [the land east of the Jordan] as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh [; ].
Now divide this land as an inheritance to the nine tribes and the half-tribe of Manasseh."
[The other two tribes (Reuben and Gad) and the other half of Manasseh had their inheritance east of the Jordan, see verses 8-33 and .]
And Moses gave an inheritance to the half-tribe of Manasseh, and it was for half of the sons of Manasseh according to their families.
And half of Gilead and Ashtaroth and Edrei, the cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan, were for the sons of Machir, the son of Manasseh, for half of the sons of Machir according to their families.
The sons of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim. And they gave no part to the Levites in the land, except cities to dwell in with open country around them for their cattle and small livestock.
And Joseph's sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance.
along with the cities that were set apart for the sons of Ephraim in the midst of the inheritance of the sons of Manasseh, all the cities with their villages.
And this is the lot of the tribe of Manasseh, for he was Joseph's firstborn, as Machir was Manasseh's firstborn [; ], the father of Gilead—because he was a warrior []—he had Gilead and Bashan.
And the lot of the rest of the sons of Manasseh according to their families was 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 Shefer, and for the sons of Shemida; these were the sons of Manasseh, the son of Joseph, according to their families.
But Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, had no sons, but daughters [; ], and these are the names of his [five] daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milkah, and Tirzah.
And ten portions fell to Manasseh beside the land of Gilead and Bashan, which is on the other side of the Jordan,
because the daughters of Manasseh had an inheritance among his sons, and Gilead belonged to the rest of the sons of Manasseh.
And the border of Manasseh began from Asher, Michmethath, which is before Shechem [present-day Nablus in Samaria, see ], and the border went to the right to Ein-Tappoach.
Tappoach land belonged to Manasseh, but Tappoach on the border of Manasseh belonged to the sons of Ephraim.
And the border went down to the brook of Kanah south of the brook, with cities belonging to Ephraim among the cities of Manasseh, but the border of Manasseh is on the north side of the brook and goes from there to the sea [the Mediterranean Sea].
Southward is Ephraim, and northward is Manasseh, and the sea is his border, and it extends to Asher on the north and to Issachar on the east.
In the territories of Issachar and Asher, Manasseh received:
Beit-Shean with its surrounding towns (literally: her daughters),
Jivleam with its surrounding towns (literally: her daughters), the inhabitants of Dor with its surrounding towns, the inhabitants of Ein-Dor with its surrounding towns, the inhabitants of Taanach with its surrounding towns, the inhabitants of Megiddo with its surrounding towns (literally: her daughters), three (the third) Nafot (height, hill).
[The last two words in the verse are literally three nafot. The word means hill or mountainous region. It is a comment that could either refer to Dor (the third city in the list) and that it has an alternative name "Nafot Dor", as in . Or it refers to the geography of the last three cities located in the mountainous region, "the three mountain cities," and is then just a concluding comment.]
But the sons of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of these cities, for the Canaanites were determined to live in this land.
And Joshua spoke to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and Manasseh, saying, "You are a great people and have great power (strength); you shall not have only one lot,
But the Levites have no part among you, for the priesthood of the Lord is their inheritance, and Gad and Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance on the other side of the Jordan, to the east, which Moses, the servant of the Lord (Yahweh), gave them."
And beyond [east of] the Jordan at Jericho, eastward, they set apart [also three cities:]
Bezer in the wilderness of the lowland from the tribe of Reuben, and
Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad, and
Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh.
And the rest of the sons of Kohath received by lot for their families from the tribe of Ephraim and from the tribe of Dan and from the half-tribe of Manasseh—10 cities.
And the sons of Gershon by their families were allotted from the tribe of Issachar, and from the tribe of Asher, and from the tribe of Naphtali, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, 13 cities.
And from the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach with its open land around it, Gat-Rimmon with its open land around it—two cities.
And to the sons of Gershon of the families of the Levites, from the half-tribe of Manasseh, they gave Golan in Bashan with its open country around it, the city of refuge for a manslayer, and Beeshtera with its open country around it—two cities.
Then Joshua called the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh
And to the half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given an inheritance in Bashan, but to the other half Joshua gave among their brothers beyond the Jordan to the west. When Joshua sent them away to their tents, he blessed them
So the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned and left the sons of Israel. They went out from Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead [east of the Jordan River], to the land of their possessions which they had taken according to the commandment of the Lord (Yahweh) through the hand of Moses. []
And when they came to the area of the Jordan in the land of Canaan, the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan, a large altar to look at.
And the sons of Israel heard it said, "Behold, the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built an altar before the land of Canaan, in the region of the Jordan on the side facing the sons of Israel."
And the sons of Israel sent Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, to the sons of Reuben and to the sons of Gad and to the half-tribe of Manasseh in the land of Gilead,
And they came to the sons of Reuben and to the sons of Gad and to the half-tribe of Manasseh in the land of Gilead, and spoke with them, saying:
Then the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered and spoke to the leaders of the thousands of Israel (clans, families – family groups):
And when the priest Phinehas and the leaders of the congregation, the leaders of the thousands of Israel (clans, families – family groups) who were with him, heard the words that the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the sons of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them.
And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, said to the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the sons of Manasseh: "Today we know (we are intimately acquainted with) that the Lord (Yahweh) is in our midst, because you have not been treacherous toward the Lord (Yahweh), and have not delivered the sons of Israel to fall away from the hand of the Lord (Yahweh)."
And Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of:
Beit-Shean and its villages (daughters),
Taanach and its villages (daughters)
the inhabitants of Dor and its villages (daughters),
Jibleam and its villages (daughters),
the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages (daughters) but the Canaanites were determined to live in that land.
Gideon replied, "But, Lord (Adonai), how can I save Israel? My clan is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my family."
And he sent messengers throughout Manasseh, and they also gathered after him, and he sent messengers to Asher and to Zebulun and to Naphtali, and they came up and met him.
And the men of Israel gathered from Naphtali and from Asher and from Manasseh and pursued the Midianites.
Then the Spirit of the Lord (Yahweh) came upon Jephthah, and he went over Gilead and Manasseh and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead and from Mizpeh of Gilead over to the sons of Ammon.
And Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and fought against Ephraim, and the men of Gilead defeated Ephraim because they said, "You Gileadites are fugitives from Ephraim in the midst of Ephraim and in the midst of Manasseh."
And the sons of Dan set up a pillar for themselves, and Jonathan, the son of Gershon, the son of Moses [some manuscripts have "the son of Manasseh"], he and his brothers were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day they went into captivity from the land. [This is the first occurrence of a person named Jonathan, a name that later becomes a common name. It means "Yahweh has given."]
Gever's son – in Ramoth-Gilead, which had the villages of Jair, Manasseh's son, in Gilead; he also had the territory of Argob in Bashan, 60 large cities with walls and bronze bars;
from the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the valley of Arnon, Gilead, and Bashan.
The children of Reuben and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh were valiant men who carried shield and sword and drew the bow and were trained for war. They numbered 44,760 men ready for battle.
The children of half the tribe of Manasseh also lived there in the land, from Bashan to Baal-Hermon and Senir [the Amorite name, see ] and Mount Hermon, and they were numerous.
Then the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of the Assyrian king Pul [Tiglath-Pileser III], that is, the spirit of the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser. He carried the people away into captivity, both the Reubenites and the Gadites and half the tribe of Manasseh. He brought them to Halah, [the river] Habor, Hara, and the stream of Gozan [in present-day northern Iraq], where they are to this day.
The rest of the descendants of Kohath received ten cities from one half of the tribe of Manasseh, by lot, family by family.
The descendants of Gershom received thirteen towns from the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Manasseh in Bashan, by lot, family by family.
and from the half-tribe of Manasseh, Aner with pasture lands and Bileam with pasture lands. All this was given to the families among the rest of the descendants of Kohath.
The descendants of Gershom received, family by family, from the other half of the tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan with pasture lands and Ashtaroth with pasture lands.
The sons of Manasseh were Asriel, whom his Aramean concubine bore to him. She also bore Machir, the father of Gilead.
The son of Ulam was Bedan. These were the sons of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh.
But the children of Manasseh possessed Beit-Shan with its villages, Taanach with its villages, Megiddo with its villages, and Dor with its villages.
Here lived the children of Joseph, the son of Israel.
Some of the children of Judah, some of the children of Benjamin, and some of the children of Ephraim and Manasseh lived in Jerusalem, namely:
Some of Manasseh defected to David when he went out with the Philistines to fight Saul. But David and his men were not allowed to help the Philistines, for the princes of the Philistines consulted together and sent him away, saying, "He will cost us our heads if he goes over to his master Saul!"
When he went to Ziklag, these men from Manasseh defected to him: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Eliho, and Zillethai, chiefs of the clans of Manasseh.
from the half-tribe of Manasseh, 18,000 men of renown who came to make David king,
and from beyond the Jordan, from the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, 120,000, armed for battle with all kinds of weapons.
His brothers were able men, 2,700 in number, heads of families. King David appointed them over the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh to take care of all the affairs of God and the king.
for the children of Ephraim, Hoshea, son of Azaziah,
for one half of the tribe of Manasseh, Joel, son of Pedaiah,
for the other half of Manasseh, the one in Gilead, Jiddo, son of Zechariah,
for Benjamin Jaasiel, son of Abner,
And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, as well as the strangers from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who lived among them. Many from Israel had joined him when they saw that the Lord (Yahweh), his God (Elohim), was with him.
Hezekiah sent messengers to all Israel and Judah, and also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, inviting them to come to the house of the Lord (Yahweh) in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover of the Lord, the God of Israel.
The messengers went from city to city in the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and as far as Zebulun. But they laughed at them and mocked them.
But there were some in Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun who humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.
There was a large part of the people, many from Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, who had not purified themselves but ate the Passover lamb in a manner other than that prescribed. But Hezekiah had prayed for them and said, "May the Lord (Yahweh), the good one, forgive everyone
When all this was finished, all the Israelites who had been there went out to the cities of Judah and broke down the sacred pillars, cut down the Asherah poles, and demolished the high places and altars throughout Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh until they had destroyed them. Then all the children of Israel returned to their cities, each to his own inheritance.
He searched the houses throughout the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, as far as Naphtali.
They went to Hilkiah the high priest (Hebr. Chilqijaho) and gave him the money that had been brought into the house of God, which the Levites who guarded the threshold had collected from Manasseh, Ephraim, and all the rest of Israel, as well as from all Judah and Benjamin and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Who will bring me into the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
[Chorus]
God (Elohim), establish us
and let your face shine [; ; ]
and we shall be saved (rescued).
Moab [enemies east of the Dead Sea, see ] is my washbasin [in which I wash my feet],
over Edom [enemy south of the Dead Sea] I throw my shoe [like a servant],
over Philistia I shout in victory.
Manasseh [eats] Ephraim and Ephraim [eats] Manasseh,
and together [they turn] against Judah.
[Chorus:]
For all this, his anger is not turned away
but he still stretches out his hand.
Next to Naphtali's territory, Manasseh shall have a portion from the east side to the west.
Next to Manasseh's territory, Ephraim shall have a lot from the east side to the west.
from the tribe of Asher 12,000 [],
from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000 [],
from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000 [one son of Joseph, see ; ],
