1. Children of Joseph. The order of precedence among the tribes of Israel made Judah first and the sons of Joseph second. These relative positions are suggested in 1 Chron. 5:2: “Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler; but the birthright was Joseph’s.” Accordingly, in the division of the land of Canaan under Joshua, there were three successive stages: first, the settlement of the tribe of Judah in the strongholds of the south of Palestine; second, the establishment of Ephraim and Manasseh in the center of the country, and in some strong positions toward the north; third, the settlement of the remaining tribes, so as to fill up the gaps left between Judah and Joseph, and also to settle them upon the outskirts of their territory, so as to be, as it were, under the shadow of their wings. In giving the description of the territory of Joseph, the narrator does not go into so much detail as he did with the borders of Judah, and so the border is difficult to trace. Neither do we have the list of the cities given as in the case of Judah. The reason for this is not known. Some have suggested that Joshua, being of the tribe of Joseph, was left to distribute the territory of his tribe, and so the minute details were not brought into the council. Hence, the description of the border and the cities was left out of the record. Another peculiarity in the narrative is the interlocking of the tribe of Ephraim with the tribe of Manasseh by Ephraim’s possessing some of Manasseh’s cities. This seems to have been a peaceful arrangement of good will.
Fell from Jordan. Literally, “went out from Jordan.” Some have seen in the word “fell” a reference to the drawing of the lot out of the urn, but this interpretation is hardly justifiable since the Hebrew makes it clear that the writer is merely describing the beginning of the border of the children of Joseph. Starting from the Jordan directly opposite Jericho, the southern boundary ran to “the water of Jericho”—the“Sultan’s Spring”—the scene of Elisha’s miracle, passing it on the east side. From Sultan’s Spring the border continued eastward, leaving the city of Jericho to the south.
To the wilderness. The Hebrew has no preposition before the word “wilderness,” but it is necessary to supply one. Probably “by way of” would best convey the writer’s thought. The region intended here is what in 18:12 is called the wilderness of Beth-aven. Beth-aven appears from 7:2 to have been east of Bethel.
Throughout mount Beth-el. The Hebrew preposition be, here translated “throughout,” has rather the idea of “at,” or “in proximity to.” The mountainous area around Bethel is meant. After having passed Jericho on the east and north, the boundary ran by way of the wilderness of Beth-aven (see 18:12), and up by way of one of the ravines, either the Wadi Harith or the Wadi Suweinit, and up into the hills around Bethel.
