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Joshua 17

Joshua book home•Chapter 17 of 24•18 verses

Chapter overviewAt a glance + deeper study

REVIEWED OVERVIEW

Joshua 17 Overview

Manasseh’s inheritance is detailed, including the portion of Machir and the land granted to the daughters of Zelophehad according to the LORD’s command through Moses. Several Canaanite cities remain, later becoming tributaries. Ephraim and Manasseh then complain that one lot is too small for their great population, and Joshua tells them to clear the wooded hill country and drive out the Canaanites despite their iron chariots.

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Before you read Joshua 17

Coming from

Chapter 16 gave Ephraim’s territory and noted that Canaanites remained in Gezer under tribute.

In this chapter

Manasseh’s allotment confirms earlier inheritance law, then the Joseph tribes are challenged to turn numerical strength into courageous possession rather than use strong enemies as an excuse.

Leads into

Chapter 18 moves the tabernacle to Shiloh and sends surveyors through the remaining land before lots are cast for seven tribes.

Key understandingExplore deeper

The daughters of Zelophehad link Joshua directly back to Numbers 27 and 36, where God protected inheritance rights within tribal structure. The Joseph tribes’ complaint contains truth—they are numerous—but Joshua answers that their size gives them capacity to clear more land. Iron chariots are a serious military obstacle, but the response is not denial of the threat; it is confidence that the tribes can possess the mountain region assigned to them.

Major truths in this chapterExplore deeper

Truth 1

God’s earlier inheritance rulings are actually implemented when the land is distributed.

Truth 2

A real obstacle does not automatically justify abandoning an assigned responsibility.

Truth 3

Population strength creates responsibility as well as need.

Truth 4

Partial possession and tribute do not equal full removal of the Canaanite presence.

Connections to the rest of ScriptureExplore deeper

Connection 1

Numbers 27 grants inheritance rights to Zelophehad’s daughters; Numbers 36 preserves that inheritance within Manasseh.

Connection 2

Judges 1:27–28 later confirms Manasseh’s incomplete removal of Canaanite inhabitants.

Connection 3

Judges 4 shows that iron chariots remain a significant military threat in later generations, confirming that Joshua is not dismissing a trivial concern.

What is clear, and where care is neededExplore deeper

Keep this clear 1

Do not portray Joshua as saying the iron chariots are imaginary; his answer is that the tribes can still prevail.

Keep this clear 2

The daughters’ inheritance is not a modern political slogan detached from tribal law; it is the fulfillment of a specific divine ruling in Numbers.

Keep this clear 3

Putting Canaanites to tribute may look practical, but it still falls short of the conquest command.

Read Joshua 17 watching for…

The role of Machir within Manasseh.

The fulfillment of Zelophehad’s daughters’ inheritance claim.

The repeated note that Canaanites remain.

The complaint of Ephraim and Manasseh about one lot.

Joshua’s response concerning forests, mountains, and iron chariots.

Chapter outline3 sections

1-6The inheritance of Manasseh and the daughters of Zelophehad 7-13The border of Manasseh is described and some Canaanites remain 14-18Ephraim and Manasseh ask for more land and are told to clear the mountain

There was also a lot for the tribe of Manasseh; for he was the firstborn of Joseph; to wit, for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead: because he was a man of war, therefore he had Gilead and Bashan.

There was also a lot for the rest of the children of Manasseh by their families; for the children of Abiezer, and for the children of Helek, and for the children of Asriel, and for the children of Shechem, and for the children of Hepher, and for the children of Shemida: these were the male children of Manasseh the son of Joseph by 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 daughters, Mahlah, and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

And they came near before Eleazar the priest, and before Joshua the son of Nun, and before the princes, saying, The LORD commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brethren. Therefore according to the commandment of the LORD he gave them an inheritance among the brethren of their father.

And there fell ten portions to Manasseh, beside the land of Gilead and Bashan, which were on the other side Jordan;

Because the daughters of Manasseh had an inheritance among his sons: and the rest of Manasseh's sons had the land of Gilead.

And the coast of Manasseh was from Asher to Michmethah, that lieth before Shechem; and the border went along on the right hand unto the inhabitants of Entappuah.

Now Manasseh had the land of Tappuah: but Tappuah on the border of Manasseh belonged to the children of Ephraim;

And the coast descended unto the river Kanah, southward of the river: these cities of Ephraim are among the cities of Manasseh: the coast of Manasseh also was on the north side of the river, and the outgoings of it were at the sea:

Southward it was Ephraim's, and northward it was Manasseh's, and the sea is his border; and they met together in Asher on the north, and in Issachar on the east.

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.

Yet the children of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.

Yet it came to pass, when the children of Israel were waxen strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute; but did not utterly drive them out.

And the children of Joseph spake unto Joshua, saying, Why hast thou given me but one lot and one portion to inherit, seeing I am a great people, forasmuch as the LORD hath blessed me hitherto?

And Joshua answered them, If thou be a great people, then get thee up to the wood country, and cut down for thyself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the giants, if mount Ephraim be too narrow for thee.

And the children of Joseph said, The hill is not enough for us: and all the Canaanites that dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both they who are of Bethshean and her towns, and they who are of the valley of Jezreel.

And Joshua spake unto the house of Joseph, even to Ephraim and to Manasseh, saying, Thou art a great people, and hast great power: thou shalt not have one lot only:

But the mountain shall be thine; for it is a wood, and thou shalt cut it down: and the outgoings of it shall be thine: for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they be strong.

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Joshua 17:15

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