Today we begin Joshua Chapter 17.
For the Complete Jewish Bible, click HERE.
For the King James version, click HERE.
“This was the territory chosen by lot for the tribe of M’nasheh, for he was the firstborn of Yosef. As for Makhir the firstborn of M’nasheh, the father of Gil‘ad, because he was a warrior he got Gil‘ad and Bashan. So the lot was drawn for the other descendants of M’nasheh according to their families — for the descendants of Avi‘ezer, Helek, Asri’el, Sh’khem, Hefer and Sh’mida; these were the male descendants of M’nasheh according to their families.”-Joshua 16:1-2
From Joshua chapter 16, the theme quickly changes to the handing out of the land inheritance to Manasseh, the other Joseph tribe.
And by the way, you may have noticed that some Bibles will go back and forth in how Manasseh is spelled.
Sometimes it will be spelled “Manasseh” and other times it will be spelled “Manessah”.
The reason why is because when we translate a Hebrew word into English, all we’re trying to do is just sound out the words as best we can.
The truth, there just isn’t a 100% correct spelling for most Hebrew words according to the rules of English grammar, period.
What’s also interesting is that in the very first verse of Joshua Chapter 16, we’re told that Manasseh was indeed the firstborn son of Joseph.
Why does the Scripture go out of its way to emphasize this?
I think the reason is because the Scripture wants to remind us of just how unusual it was for Manasseh and Ephraim to have their statuses reversed due to Jacob’s cross-handed blessing.
I see an interesting takeaway emerging here.
Just as we modern believers struggle daily with how to apply the Torah to our lives especially when one considers just how radically different ancient Hebrew culture is in comparison to our modern day culture (all the more so if one is a gentile), so too did the ancient Hebrews struggle greatly when Hashem reversed and totally overruled the cultural norms of the day.
When Ephraim was given the 1st born rights even though he was biologically speaking really the 2nd born, that must have freaked everybody out.
Everyone must have been thinking…how in the world are we to apply what God has just done?
Does Ephraim get ALL of the firstborn rights or only some?
Isn’t Manasseh entitled to some of the firstborn rights?
The big question up in the air was just how literally was Jacob’s cross-handed blessing to be applied to centuries’ old established tribal traditions concerning property rights?
This is not the first time for this reversal. Remember, Joseph was favored over his brothers, and Jacob took the status over Esau.
True!
Remember the daughters of Tzlophad, Mannasah” offspring. Their request for inheritance changed the laws of how property was to be awarded.