Matthew Henry on Joshua 17:7-13
We have here a short account of the lot of this half tribe. It reached from Jordan on the east to the great sea on the west; on the south it lay all along contiguous to Ephraim, but on the north it abutted upon Asher and Issachar. Asher lay north-west, and Issachar north-east, which seems to be the meaning of that (Jos 17:10), that they (that is, Manasseh and Ephraim, as related to it, both together making the tribe of Joseph) met in Asher on the north and Issachar on the east, for Ephraim itself reached not those tribes. Some things are particularly observed concerning this lot: - 1. That there was great communication between this tribe and that of Ephraim. The city of Tappuah belonged to E…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on Joshua 17:11
Beth-shean and her towns--Greek, "Scythopolis" (now Beisan), in the valley of the Jordan, towards the east end of the plain of Jezreel. "Beth-shean" means "house of rest," so called from its being the halting place for caravans travelling between Syria or Midian, and Egypt, and the great station for the commerce between these countries for many centuries.
Ibleam and her towns--in the neighborhood of Megiddo (Kg2 9:27).
the inhabitants of Dor and her towns--(now Tantoura), anciently a strong fortress; a wall of wild precipitous rock defended the shore fortifications against attack from the land side.
En-dor and her towns--situated on a rocky eminence, four Roman miles south of Tabor.…
Read the whole note in the consoleAdam Clarke on Joshua 17:11
Beth-shean - Called afterwards Scythopolis; the city of the Scythians or Cuthites, those who were sent into the different Samaritan cities by the kings of Assyria.
Dor - On the Mediterranean Sea, about eight miles from Caesarea, on the road to Tyre.
En-dor - The well or fountain of Dor, the place where Saul went to consult the witch; Sa1 28:7, etc.
John Gill on Joshua 17:11
And Manasseh had in Issachar, and in Asher, Bethshean, and her towns,.... As Ephraim had cities in Manasseh, so had Manasseh cities in these two tribes, which in some parts bordered on it, before described, even the cities following, and the first that is named is Bethshean: this lay in the tribe of Issachar, and was the uttermost border of Manasseh that way; it was, as Josephus (m) says, called Scythopolis; but not from the Scythians, as Pliny (n) suggests, but from Succoth, a place where Jacob resided, and which was not far from it, Genesis 33:17; it lay before the great plain of Jezreel, and was at the entrance into it,"After this went they over Jordan into the great plain before Bethsan.…
