Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
The borders and boundaries of the region that fell by lot to the tribe of Ephraim are described.
Vulgate Text: Joshua 16:1-10
1. The lot also fell for the children of Joseph, from the Jordan opposite Jericho and its waters from the east: the wilderness which ascends from Jericho to the hill country of Bethel: 2. and it goes out from Bethel to Luz, and passes through the border of Archi to Ataroth; 3. and descends westward to the border of the Japhletites, to the borders of Lower Beth-horon, and Gezer: and its regions end at the Great Sea; 4. and the children of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took possession. 5. And the border of the children of Ephraim was by their families: and their possession toward the east was Ataroth-addar to Upper Beth-horon. 6. And the borders go out to the sea; Michmethath, however, looks north, and the border circles eastward toward Taanath-shiloh: and passes from the east to Janoah; 7. and descends from Janoah to Ataroth and Naarah: and reaches Jericho, and goes out at the Jordan. 8. From Tappuah it passes westward to the Valley of the Reeds, and its exits are at the Salt Sea. This is the possession of the tribe of the children of Ephraim by their families. 9. And cities were set apart for the children of Ephraim in the midst of the possession of the children of Manasseh, and their villages. 10. And the children of Ephraim did not kill the Canaanite who dwelt in Gezer: and the Canaanite dwelt in the midst of Ephraim to this day, as a tributary.
Verse 1: The Lot of the Children of Joseph
1. THE LOT ALSO FELL FOR THE CHILDREN OF JOSEPH, — namely Ephraim and Manasseh, who, as we heard in chapter 14, verse 4, constituted two tribes. Already the half tribe of Manasseh had received its portion of territory from Moses on this side of the Jordan; therefore the other half, with the whole tribe of Ephraim, remained, and here they receive their part by lot from Joshua beyond the Jordan, but in such a way that the lot of Manasseh was neighboring and contiguous to the lot of Ephraim.
In this chapter, therefore, the lot of Ephraim is described, and in the following chapter, the lot of the half tribe of Manasseh; to both of these the lot of the tribe of Benjamin was lateral and contiguous. Saint Jerome and Eusebius graphically describe the lots, cities, mountains, and rivers of each tribe in their Hebrew Places; Masius here and Arias in the Apparatus of the Royal Bibles, in his book Caleb; and Adrichomius exhibits the same to be inspected visually in his Geographic Maps, although some things are lacking in them. The reader should consult these; for it would be thorny and laborious, and tedious and of little use to the reader, if I were to pursue these matters here in commentary.
Verse 8: The Valley of the Reeds and the Salt Sea
8. INTO THE VALLEY OF THE REEDS. — Masius and others render it: into the torrent of the reed. For valleys through which torrents and waters flow are fertile in reeds; for these grow in marshy and moist places.
AND ITS EXITS ARE AT THE SALT SEA, — that is, at the sea which is salt by nature. In Hebrew, "sea of salt," which our translator usually renders as "the most salt sea," means the Dead Sea, or the Lake Asphaltites, as is evident from chapter 18, verse 19; Numbers chapter 34, verse 3, and elsewhere. But here it cannot be understood that way: for the tribe of Ephraim is far from it; therefore here it must mean the Mediterranean Sea. Whence Serarius suspects that the word "most salt" crept in here; for the Hebrew, Chaldean, and Greek lack it, and our translator omits it in the following chapter, verse 9, where the sea (namely the Mediterranean) is assigned as the boundary of the tribe of Manasseh, which was adjacent to the tribe of Ephraim.
Verse 9: Cities Set Apart for Ephraim in Manasseh
9. AND CITIES WERE SET APART FOR THE CHILDREN OF EPHRAIM IN THE MIDST OF THE POSSESSION OF THE CHILDREN OF MANASSEH, AND THEIR VILLAGES (that is, hamlets or suburban settlements, says Masius), — as if to say: Since the lot of the cities that had fallen to the tribe of Ephraim was not sufficient for so great a multitude of Ephraimites, some cities from the tribe of Manasseh were added to them, since the tribe of Manasseh was related to and bordered on the tribe of Ephraim.
Verse 10: The Canaanite Tributary in Ephraim
10. AND THE CANAANITE DWELT IN THE MIDST OF EPHRAIM TO THIS DAY, AS A TRIBUTARY. — This happened because of the laziness of the Ephraimites; for God had commanded that the Canaanites be exterminated and that no covenant be made with them, not even on condition of tribute.
Tropologically, Saint Gregory, Book 4 of his Moralia, chapter 22: "What does the Canaanite, that is, the gentile people, signify except vice? And often we enter the promised land with great virtues, because we are strengthened by intimate hope of eternity; but while amid sublime deeds we retain certain small vices, we allow, as it were, the Canaanite to live in our land. Yet he becomes our tributary, because we humbly turn that very vice which we cannot subdue to the use of our own benefit, so that by it the mind may think lowly of itself even amid the highest things, since by its own strength it cannot overcome even the small things it desires."