Manasseh (Son of Joseph)

Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, saying, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s household.”

Manasseh and Ephraim were born to Joseph in the land of Egypt by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On.

Some time later Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he set out with his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

And now your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here shall be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine.

And Joseph took both of them—with 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.

But Israel stretched out his right hand and put it on the head of Ephraim, the younger; and crossing his hands, he put his left on Manasseh’s head, although Manasseh was the firstborn.

When Joseph saw that his father had placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, he was displeased and took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s.

So that day Jacob blessed them and said: “By you shall Israel pronounce this blessing: ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’” So he put Ephraim before Manasseh.

He saw Ephraim’s sons to the third generation, and indeed the sons of Machir son of Manasseh were brought up on Joseph’s knees.

from the sons of Joseph: from Ephraim, Elishama son of Ammihud, and from Manasseh, Gamaliel son of Pedahzur;

And from the sons of Manasseh, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army,

those registered to the tribe of Manasseh numbered 32,200.

The tribe of Manasseh will be next to it. The leader of the Manassites is Gamaliel son of Pedahzur,

On the eighth day Gamaliel son of Pedahzur, the leader of the Manassites, drew near.

Gamaliel son of Pedahzur was over the division of the tribe of Manasseh,

from the tribe of Manasseh (a tribe of Joseph), Gaddi son of Susi;

The descendants of Joseph included the clans of Manasseh and Ephraim.

These were the descendants of Manasseh: The Machirite clan from Machir, the father of Gilead, and the Gileadite clan from Gilead.

These were the clans of Manasseh, and their registration numbered 52,700.

Now the daughters of Zelophehad son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, belonged to the clans of Manasseh son of Joseph. These were the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. They approached

So Moses gave to the Gadites, to the Reubenites, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan—the land including its cities and the territory surrounding them.

The descendants of Machir son of Manasseh went to Gilead, captured it, and drove out the Amorites who were there.

So Moses gave Gilead to the clan of Machir son of Manasseh, and they settled there.

Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, went and captured their villages and called them Havvoth-jair.

For the tribes of the Reubenites and Gadites, along with the half-tribe of Manasseh, have already received their inheritance.

Hanniel son of Ephod, a leader from the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph;

Now the family heads of the clan of Gilead son of Machir son of Manasseh, one of the clans of Joseph, approached Moses and the leaders who were the heads of the Israelite families and addressed them,

They married within the clans of the descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained within the tribe of their father’s clan.

To the half-tribe of Manasseh I gave the rest of Gilead and all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og. (The entire region of Argob, the whole territory of Bashan, used to be called the land of the Rephaim.)

Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, took the whole region of Argob as far as the border of the Geshurites and Maacathites. He renamed Bashan after himself, Havvoth-jair, by which it is called to this day.

Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau belonging to the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead belonging to the Gadites, or Golan in Bashan belonging to the Manassites.

When you reached this place, Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan came out against us in battle, but we defeated them.

His majesty is like a firstborn bull, and his horns are like those of a wild ox. With them he will gore the nations, even to the ends of the earth. Such are the myriads of Ephraim, and such are the thousands of Manasseh.”

all of Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea,

But to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said,

The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over before the Israelites, armed for battle as Moses had instructed them.

Moses, the servant of the LORD, and the Israelites had struck them down and given their land as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

Now therefore divide this land as an inheritance to the nine tribes and the half-tribe of Manasseh.”

This is what Moses had given to the clans of the half-tribe of Manasseh, that is, to half the tribe of the descendants of Manasseh:

half of Gilead; and Ashtaroth and Edrei, the royal cities of Og in Bashan. All this was for the clans of the descendants of Machir son of Manasseh, that is, half of the descendants of Machir.

The descendants of Joseph became two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim. And no portion of the land was given to the Levites, except for cities in which to live, along with pasturelands for their flocks and herds.

So Ephraim and Manasseh, the sons of Joseph, received their inheritance.

along with all the cities and villages set apart for the descendants of Ephraim within the inheritance of Manasseh.

Now this was the allotment for the tribe of Manasseh as Joseph’s firstborn son, namely for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh and father of the Gileadites, who had received Gilead and Bashan because Machir was a man of war.

So this allotment was for the rest of the descendants of Manasseh—the clans of Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. These are the other male descendants of the clans of Manasseh son of Joseph.

But Zelophehad son of Hepher (the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh) had no sons but only daughters. These are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

Thus ten shares fell to Manasseh, in addition to the land of Gilead and Bashan beyond the Jordan,

because the daughters of Manasseh received an inheritance among his sons. And the land of Gilead belonged to the rest of the sons of Manasseh.

Now the border of Manasseh went from Asher to Michmethath near Shechem, then southward to include the inhabitants of En-tappuah.

The region of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but Tappuah itself, on the border of Manasseh, belonged to Ephraim.

From there the border continued southward to the Brook of Kanah. There were cities belonging to Ephraim among the cities of Manasseh, but the border of Manasseh was on the north side of the brook and ended at the Sea.

Ephraim’s territory was to the south, and Manasseh’s was to the north, having the Sea as its border and adjoining Asher on the north and Issachar on the east.

Within Issachar and Asher, Manasseh was assigned Beth-shean, Ibleam, Dor (that is, Naphath), Endor, Taanach, and Megiddo, each with their surrounding settlements.

But the descendants of Manasseh were unable to occupy these cities, because the Canaanites were determined to stay in this land.

So Joshua said to the house of Joseph—to Ephraim and Manasseh—“You have many people and great strength. You shall not have just one allotment,

The Levites, however, have no portion among you, because their inheritance is the priesthood of the LORD. And Gad, Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh have already received the inheritance that Moses the servant of the LORD gave them beyond the Jordan to the east.”

And beyond the Jordan, east of Jericho, they designated Bezer on the wilderness plateau from the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh.

The remaining descendants of Kohath received ten cities by lot from the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

The descendants of Gershon received thirteen cities by lot from the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.

And from the half-tribe of Manasseh they were given Taanach and Gath-rimmon—two cities, together with their pasturelands.

This is what the Levite clans of the Gershonites were given: From the half-tribe of Manasseh they were given Golan in Bashan, a city of refuge for the manslayer, and Beeshterah—two cities, together with their pasturelands.

Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh

(To the half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given land in Bashan, and to the other half Joshua gave land on the west side of the Jordan among their brothers.) When Joshua sent them to their homes he blessed them,

So the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh left the Israelites at Shiloh in the land of Canaan to return to their own land of Gilead, which they had acquired according to the command of the LORD through Moses.

And when they came to Geliloth near the Jordan in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an imposing altar there by the Jordan.

Then the Israelites received the report: “Behold, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built an altar on the border of the land of Canaan, at Geliloth near the Jordan on the Israelite side.”

The Israelites sent Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest to the land of Gilead, to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

They went to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in the land of Gilead and said to them,

Then the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered the leaders of the clans of Israel:

When Phinehas the priest and the chiefs of the congregation—the heads of Israel’s clans who were with him—heard what the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh had to say, they were satisfied.

Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest said to the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, “Today we know that the LORD is among us, because you have not committed this breach of faith against Him. Consequently, you have delivered the Israelites from the hand of the LORD.”

At that time Manasseh failed to drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo, and their villages; for the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land.

“Please, my Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I save Israel? Indeed, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.”

Calling them to arms, Gideon sent messengers throughout Manasseh, as well as Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, so that they came up to meet him.

Then the men of Israel were called out from Naphtali, Asher, and all Manasseh, and they pursued the Midianites.

Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, then through Mizpah of Gilead. And from there he advanced against the Ammonites.

Jephthah then gathered all the men of Gilead and fought against Ephraim. And the men of Gilead struck them down because the Ephraimites had said, “You Gileadites are fugitives in Ephraim, living in the territories of Ephraim and Manasseh.”

Ben-geber in Ramoth-gilead (the villages of Jair son of Manasseh in Gilead belonged to him, as well as the region of Argob in Bashan with its sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars);

from the Jordan eastward through all the land of Gilead (the region of Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh), and from Aroer by the Arnon Valley through Gilead to Bashan.

The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had 44,760 warriors—valiant men who carried the shield and sword, drew the bow, and were trained for battle.

Now the people of the half-tribe of Manasseh were numerous. They settled in the land from Bashan to Baal-hermon (that is, Senir, also known as Mount Hermon).

So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria (that is, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria) to take the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh into exile. And he brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river of Gozan, where they remain to this day.

the son of Amzi, the son of Bani, the son of Shemer,

the son of Mahli, the son of Mushi, the son of Merari, the son of Levi.

They were given Hebron in the land of Judah and its surrounding pasturelands.

But the fields and villages around the city were given to Caleb son of Jephunneh.

The descendants of Manasseh: Asriel through his Aramean concubine. She also gave birth to Machir the father of Gilead.

The son of Ulam: Bedan. These were the sons of Gilead son of Machir, the son of Manasseh.

And along the borders of Manasseh were Beth-shean, Taanach, Megiddo, and Dor, together with their villages. The descendants of Joseph son of Israel lived in these towns.

Some of the descendants of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh lived in Jerusalem:

When David went to Ziklag, these men of Manasseh defected to him: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai, chiefs of thousands in Manasseh.

They helped David against the raiders, for they were all mighty men of valor and commanders in the army.

From Issachar, men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do: 200 chiefs with all their kinsmen at their command.

All these men of war, arrayed for battle, came to Hebron fully determined to make David king over all Israel. And all the rest of the Israelites were of one mind to make David king.

Among Jerijah’s relatives there were 2,700 capable men who were heads of families. King David appointed them over the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh for every matter pertaining to God and for the affairs of the king.

over the Ephraimites was Hoshea son of Azaziah; over one of the half-tribes of Manasseh was Joel son of Pedaiah;

over the half-tribe of Manasseh in Gilead was Iddo son of Zechariah; over Benjamin was Jaasiel son of Abner;

And he assembled all Judah and Benjamin, along with those from the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who had settled among them, for great numbers had come over to him from Israel when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.

Then Hezekiah sent word throughout all Israel and Judah, and he also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh inviting them to come to the house of the LORD in Jerusalem to keep the Passover of the LORD, the God of Israel.

And the couriers traveled from city to city through the land of Ephraim and Manasseh as far as Zebulun, but the people scorned and mocked them.

Nevertheless, some from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.

A large number of the people—many from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun—had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover, contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah interceded for them, saying, “May the LORD, who is good, provide atonement for everyone

When all this had ended, the Israelites in attendance went out to the cities of Judah and broke up the sacred pillars, chopped down the Asherah poles, and tore down the high places and altars throughout Judah and Benjamin, as well as in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the Israelites returned to their cities, each to his own property.

Josiah did the same in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, as far as Naphtali, and in the ruins around them.

So they went to Hilkiah the high priest and gave him the money that had been brought into the house of God, which the Levites who guarded the doors had collected from the people of Manasseh and Ephraim, from all the remnant of Israel, from all Judah and Benjamin, and from the people of Jerusalem.

Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom?

Restore us, O God, and cause Your face to shine upon us, that we may be saved.

Moab is My washbasin; upon Edom I toss My sandal; over Philistia I shout in triumph.”

They carve out what is on the right, but they are still hungry; they eat what is on the left, but they are still not satisfied. Each one devours the flesh of his own offspring.

Manasseh will have one portion bordering the territory of Naphtali from east to west.

Ephraim will have one portion bordering the territory of Manasseh from east to west.

from the tribe of Asher 12,000, from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000, from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000,