Joshua 16

1 The allotment [portion, inheritance] for the descendants [sons, offspring] of Joseph [Jehovah has added] extended from the Jordan [river, boundary] at Jericho [city of the moon] to the waters [source, fountain] of Jericho on the east [direction of sunrise], through the wilderness [desert, barren land] that goes up [ascends, rises] from Jericho into the hill country [mountainous region] of Bethel [house of God, sacred place]. word study 2 It went on from Bethel [the house of God, or Luz] (that is, Luz) and proceeded [passed along, or crossed over] to the border [boundary, or limit] of the Archites [the people of Erek, or an Archite] in Ataroth [a place of crowns]. word study 3 Then it descended [went down, fell] westward [toward the sea, in a westerly direction] to the border [boundary, limit] of the Japhletites [descendants of Japhlet, an Israelite tribe] as far as [till, unto] the border [boundary, edge] of Lower [nether, bottommost] Beth-horon [house of hollowness] and on to [even unto, as far as] Gezer [a city in Palestine, a portion], and it ended [came to a stop, reached its limit] at the Sea [the Mediterranean, a large body of water]. word study 4 So Ephraim [doubly fruitful, a tribe of Israel] and Manasseh [a grandson of Jacob, a large tribe], the sons [descendants, offspring] of Joseph [Jehovah has added, a name given to several Israelites], received [took possession, inherited] their inheritance [heritage, allotted land]. word study 5 This was the territory [land, inheritance] of the descendants [sons, family] of Ephraim [doubly fruitful, referring to Joseph’s son] by their clans [families, tribes]: The border [boundary, limit] of their inheritance [possession, heritage] went from Ataroth-addar [crowns of glory, a town in Benjamin] in the east [direction of the sunrise] to Upper [high, elevated] Beth-horon [house of hollowness, a place in Palestine] word study 6 and out toward the [Mediterranean] Sea [large body of water]. From Michmethath [hiding place, a location in ancient Palestine] on the north [Zaphon, a direction] it turned [to surround, to go around] eastward [toward the sunrise] toward Taanath-shiloh [approach to Shiloh, a significant place] and passed by [to cross over, to transition] it to Janoah [a place on the border of Ephraim] on the east [direction of the sunrise]. word study 7 From Janoah [a place in Palestine, on the border of Ephraim] it went down [descended, to a lower place] to Ataroth [crowns, a boundary location] and Naarah [a town, possibly named after a woman], and then reached [touched, came to] Jericho [its moon, a city in Palestine] and came out [went out, emerged] at the Jordan [a key river, running from Lebanon to the Dead Sea]. word study 8 From Tappuah [the apple city, a place of abundance] the border [boundary, territorial limit] went westward [toward the Mediterranean Sea, in a westerly direction] to the Brook [small river, stream] of Kanah [a place of reeds, a stream in Palestine] and ended [terminated, came to a close] at the Sea [the Mediterranean, a large body of water]. This [specifically, this territory] was the inheritance [possession, legacy] of the clans [families, tribes] of the tribe [nation, people] of Ephraim [doubly fruitful, a son of Joseph], word study 9 along with all [every single one] the cities [towns, settlements] and villages [small settlements, unwalled places] set apart [separated, designated] for the descendants [sons, children] of Ephraim [doubly fruitful, referring to Joseph’s son] within [in the midst, among] the inheritance [property, heritage] of Manasseh [a tribe of Israel, named after Joseph’s son]. word study 10 But they did not [utterly] drive out [expel, dispossess] the Canaanites [merchants and traders] who lived [dwelt, resided] in Gezer [a city in Palestine, a portion of land]. So the Canaanites [the people of Canaan] dwell [remain, abide] among the Ephraimites [the tribe of Ephraim, doubly fruitful] to this day [until now, as far as this point], but they are [have become] forced laborers [servants to do taskwork, under tribute]. word study