Joshua 16 – The Border of Ephraim
Ephraim's land is measured, but Gezer's Canaanites remain.
Joshua 16 turns from Judah's territory in Joshua 15 to the land given the house of Joseph, tracing Ephraim's border from Jericho westward to the sea. The chapter is brief but sets up the fuller Manasseh account that follows.
And the lot came out for the sons of Joseph from the Jordan at Jericho, at the waters of Jericho on the east, even the wilderness, going up from Jericho through the hill-country to Bethel.
And it went out from Bethel to Luz, and passed along to the border of the Archites to Ataroth,
and it went down westward to the border of the Japhletites, to the border of Beth-horon the nether, even to Gezer. And the goings out of it were at the sea.
And the sons of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance.
And the border of the sons of Ephraim according to their families was thus: the border of their inheritance eastward was Ataroth-addar, to Beth-horon the upper,
and the border went out westward at Michmethath on the north, and the border turned about eastward to Taanath-shiloh, and passed along it on the east of Janoah,
and it went down from Janoah to Ataroth, and to Naarah, and reached to Jericho, and went out at the Jordan.
From Tappuah the border went along westward to the brook of Kanah. And the goings out of it were at the sea. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Ephraim according to their families,
together with the cities which 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 they did not drive out the Canaanites who dwelt in Gezer, but the Canaanites dwell in the midst of Ephraim to this day, and have become servants to do task work.