Reference: Manasseh (1)
Fausets
("causing to forget".) Joseph's firstborn by Asenath, whose birth "made him forget all his toil and all (the sorrow he endured through) his father's house" (Ge 41:51). Jacob adopted them as his own, though "horn in Egypt" and by an alien to Israel (Ge 48:5,9); "as Reuben and Simeon they shall be mine," i.e. patriarchal heads of tribes, as Jacob's immediate sons were; Manasseh and Ephraim gave their names to separate tribes. Joseph had the portion of the firstborn by having the double portion, i.e. two tribal divisions assigned to his sons (1Ch 5:1-2; compare De 21:17). When Joseph took Ephraim in his right toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left toward Israel's right hand, Israel put his right upon Ephraim the younger, and his left upon Manasseh wittingly, notwithstanding Joseph's remonstrance. Their name should be a formula of blessing, "God make thee as Ephraim and Manasseh," and they should "grow as fish do increase" (a natural image near the fish abounding Nile): Ge 48:16,20.
The term "thousands" is especially applied to Manasseh (De 33:17; Jg 6:15 margin.) Manasseh's son by an Aramitess (Syrian) concubine, Machir, had children "borne upon Joseph's knees" (Ge 50:23), i.e. adopted as his from their birth. Manasseh, Ephraim, and Benjamin, the three sprung from Rachel, marched W. of the tabernacle. Moses in his last blessing (De 33:13-17) gives Joseph (i.e. Ephraim and Manasseh) the "precious things of the earth" by "the good will of Him that dwelt in the bush, "in contrast to Joseph's past "separation from his brethren," his horns like the two of the wild bull (not "unicorn"), namely, "the ten thousands of Ephraim and the thousands of Manasseh shall push," etc. At Sinai Manasseh numbered 32,200 (Nu 1:10,35; 2:20-21; 7:54-59), Ephraim 40,500. But 40 years later, at Jordan, Manasseh 52,700, Ephraim 32,590 (Nu 26:34-37).
Manasseh here resumes his place as firstborn (his having two portions of Canaan, one on each side of Jordan, being also a kind of privilege of the firstborn), probably as having been foremost in the conquest of Gilead, the most impregnable portion of Palestine, as Lejah (asylum) the modern name of Argob implies; their inheritance was northern Gilead, Argob, and Bashan (Nu 32:39-42; De 3:4,13-15; Jos 17:1). Gideon, the greatest of the judges, and one whose son all but established hereditary monarchy in their line, and Jephthah, were samples of their warriors. They advanced from Bashan northwards to the base of Mount Hermon (1Ch 5:23). When David was crowned at Hebron western Manasseh sent 18,000, eastern Manasseh with Gad and Reuben 120,000 armed men (1Ch 12:31,37). Moreover, a prince of each of the two sections of Manasseh stands on a level with the princes of entire tribes (1Ch 27:20-21).
But because of apostasy from the God of their fathers to the gods of the people whom He destroyed before them, Manasseh was first cut short by the Syrian Hazael (2Ki 10:32), then God stirred up the spirit of Pul and of Tiglath Pileser of Assyria to carry the eastern half of Manasseh, Reuben, and Gad captives to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river Gozan (1Ch 5:25-26). Manasseh failed to occupy all the territory assigned to them. "Geshur and Aram (Syria) took the 23 towns of Jair and the 37 of Kenath and her daughters, 60 in all, from them"; so 1Ch 2:23 ought to be translated In Jg 10:4 we find Jair the judge in possession of 30 of them, recovered from the enemy. Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh successfully warred with and dispossessed the Hagarites with Jetar, Nephish, and Nodab (1Ch 5:18-22). The western half of Manasseh failed for long to dispossess completely the Canaanites (Jg 1:27; Jos 17:11-12).
On their complaining that but one portion had been allotted to them, and that the Canaanite chariots prevented their occupying the Esdraelon and Jordan plains, Joshua advised them to go into the wooded mountain, probably Carmel. Accordingly their towns Taanach, Megiddo, Ibleam, and Endor are in the region of Carmel, within the allotments of other tribes. Bethshean was in the hollow of the Ghor or Jordan valley, the connecting point between the eastern and the western Manasseh. Kerr shows that the land of Manasseh, instead of crossing the country from E. to W., occupied only half that space, and lay along the sea to the W., bounded on the E. by the range of Mount Carmel.
Jos 17:7 defines its coast. En Tappuah is Atuf. The town was given to Ephraim, the land N. of it was Manasseh's. Conder thinks that Asher was separated from Manasseh by Zebulun, and that the Asher in Jos 17:10 is Asherham-Michmethah (now Es Sireh) at the N.W. corner of Ephraim. Issachar lay to the E. of Ephraim and Manasseh, along the entire line of the Jordan, from the sea of Chinneroth to the wady Kelt not far from the Salt Sea: thus it was a triangle, its apex at Jericho, its base N. of the Jezreel plain (Palestine Exploration Quarterly Statement, January, 1877, p. 41-50). In the declension of the nation Isaiah (Isa 9:20-21) foretells that the two sons of Joseph, once so intimately united, should be rent into factions thirsting for one another's blood, "they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm, Manasseh Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh, and they together against Judah."
After the fall of the ten tribes, Psalm 80 expresses Judah's prayer of sympathy for her sister: "give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock. ... Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh (advancing at their head, as formerly in the pillar of cloud in the wilderness) ... come and save us." The book of Numbers (Nu 2:17-24) represents these three kindred tribes together marching after the ark; so in the Psalms. Many out of Manasseh were among the penitents coming southwards to Judah, and joining in the spiritual revivals under Asa (2Ch 15:9), Hezekiah (2Ch 30:1,10-11,18; 31:1), and Josiah (2Ch 34:6-9).
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh, for [he said], "God has caused me to forget all my hardship and all my father's house."
And now, your two sons who were born to you in the land of Egypt before my coming to you in Egypt, are mine. Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine as Reuben and Simeon [are].
Then Joseph said to his father, "They [are] my sons whom God has given me here." And he said, "Please bring them to me that I may bless them."
The angel who redeemed me from all evil, may he bless the boys. And through them let my name be perpetuated, and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac. And let them multiply into many in the midst of the earth.
So he blessed them that day, saying, Through you Israel shall pronounce blessing, saying, 'May God make you like Ephraim and like Manasseh.'" So he put Ephraim before Manasseh.
And Joseph saw Ephraim's children to the third generation. Moreover, the children of Makir, son of Manasseh, were born on the knees of Joseph.
From the descendants of Joseph: from Ephraim, Elishama son of Ammihud; from Manasseh, Gamaliel son of Pedahzur.
those who were counted from the tribe of Manasseh were thirty-two thousand two hundred.
"The tent of assembly the camp of the Levites will set out in the midst of the camps; they will set out just as they encamped, {each according to their standards}. "The standard of the camp of Ephraim according to their divisions [will be] to the west. The leader of the descendants of Ephraim [will be] Elishama son of Ammihud. read more. And his division and the {ones counted} [are] forty thousand five hundred. The tribe of Manasseh [will be] next to him. The leader of the descendants of the tribe of Manasseh [will be] Camaliel son of Pedahzur.
The tribe of Manasseh [will be] next to him. The leader of the descendants of the tribe of Manasseh [will be] Camaliel son of Pedahzur. And his division and the {ones counted} [are] thirty-two thousand two hundred.
And his division and the {ones counted} [are] thirty-two thousand two hundred. For the tribe of Benjamin: the leader of the descendants of Benjamin [will be] Abidan son of Gideoni. read more. And his division and the {ones counted} [are] thirty-five thousand four hundred. All {those counted} from the camp of Ephraim [are] one hundred and eighty thousand one hundred. They will set out third according to their divisions.
On the eighth day Gamaliel son of Pedahzur, leader of the descendants of Manasseh: his offering [was] one silver plate--its weight one hundred and thirty [shekels]--[and] one silver bowl for drinking [weighing] seventy shekels according to the sanctuary shekel, {both of them} filled [with] finely milled flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; read more. {one golden dish weighing ten shekels} filled [with] incense; one {young} bull, one ram, a male lamb {in its first year} as a burnt offering; one he-goat as a sin offering; and for the sacrifice of the fellowship offering, two cattle, five rams, five he-goats, [and] five male lambs {in their first year}. This [was] the offering of Gamaliel son of Pedahzur.
These [were] the clans of Manasseh, and the ones counted of them [were] fifty-two thousand seven hundred. These [were] the descendants of Ephraim according to their clans: of Shuthelah, the clan of the Shuthelahites; of Beker, the clan of the Bekerites; of Tahan, the clan of the Tahanites. read more. And these [were] the descendants of Shuthelah: of Eran, the family of the Eranites. These [were] the clans of the descendants of Ephraim according to the ones counted of them, thirty-two thousand five hundred. These [were] the descendants of Joseph according to their clans.
The descendants of Makir son of Manasseh went to Gilead, and they captured it and drove out the Amorites who [were] in it. So Moses gave Gilead to Makir son of Manasseh, and he lived in it. read more. And Jair son of Manasseh went and captured their unwalled villages, and he called them Havvoth Jair. Nobah went and captured Kenath and its villages, and he called it Nobah after his [own] name.
And we captured all [of] his towns at that time; [there] was not a city that we did not take from them.
And the remainder of Gilead and all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh, the whole region of Argo. All of that [area of] Bashan was called [the] land of the Rephaim. Jair the descendant of Manasseh acquired the whole region of Argob, up to the boundary of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and he called it, [that is] Bashan, after his [own] name, Havvoth Jair, {as it still is today}. read more. And [also] I gave Gilead to Makir.
But he shall acknowledge the firstborn son of the disliked [wife] {by giving} him a double portion of {all that he has}, for he [is] the firstfruit of his vigor; to him [is] the legal claim of the birthright.
And of Joseph he said, "Blessed by Yahweh [is] his land, with the choice things of heaven, with dew, and with the deep lying down beneath, and with [the] choice things of [the] fruits of the [the] sun, and with the choice things of [the] yield of [the] {seasons}, read more. and with the finest things of [the] ancient mountains, and with [the] choice things of [the] {eternal hills}, and with the choice things of [the] earth and its fullness, and the favor of [the one] {who dwelt} in [the] bush. Let them come to the head of Joseph, and to the crown of the prince among his brothers. [As] the firstborn of his ox, majesty {belongs to him}, and his horns [are] [the] horns of a wild ox; with them he drives people together, and they [are] the myriads of Ephraim, and they [are] the thousands of Manasseh."
[As] the firstborn of his ox, majesty {belongs to him}, and his horns [are] [the] horns of a wild ox; with them he drives people together, and they [are] the myriads of Ephraim, and they [are] the thousands of Manasseh."
Then the allotment was made for the tribe of Manasseh, because he [was] the firstborn of Joseph. To Makir, the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, {were allotted} Gilead and Bashan, because he was a warrior.
The border of Manasseh was from Asher [to] Micmethath, which [is] opposite Shechem; then the border goes to the south, to the inhabitants of En Tappuah.
The south [is] Ephraim's, and the north [is] Manasseh's; the sea is their border; Asher touches [the] north and on [the] east Issachar. In Issachar and Asher, Manasseh had Beth-shean and its villages, Ibleam and its villages, the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, the inhabitants of En-dor and its villages, the inhabitants of Taanach and its villages, the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages; the third is Napheth. read more. But the descendants of Manasseh were not able to take possession of these towns; the Canaanites were determined to live in this land.
Manasseh did not drive out Beth-Sean and its towns, or Taanach and its towns, or the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its towns, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns; the Canaanites [were] determined to live in this land.
He said to him, "Excuse me, my lord. How will I deliver Israel? Look, my clan [is] the weakest in Manasseh, and I [am] the youngest in my father's house."
And he had thirty sons who would ride on thirty donkeys, and they had thirty towns that [are] in the land of Gilead that they called Havvoth Jair until this day.
In those days, Yahweh began to reduce Israel, so Hazael defeated them in every territory of Israel,
And Geshur and Aram took Havvoth-Jair from them, Kenath and its villages, sixty cities. All these [were] the {descendants} of Makir, the father of Gilead.
The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel (for he was the firstborn, but when he defiled the couch of his father, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel, so that he was not enrolled in the genealogy as the firstborn, though Judah became strong among his brothers and a chief [came] from him, but the birthright belonged to Joseph).
The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh [had] {valiant} men [who] carried a shield and a sword, and archers, and [who were] expert in war, forty-four thousand seven hundred and sixty [for] going out [as] an army. And they made war against the Hagrites, Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab. read more. And they were helped against them, and the Hagrites and all who [were] with them were given into their hand, for they cried out to God in the battle, and he responded to their prayer because they trusted in him. And they captured their livestock: fifty thousand of their camels; two hundred and fifty thousand sheep; two thousand donkeys; and one hundred thousand men alive. For many [were] slain because the war was of God. And they lived under them until the exile. And the sons of the half-tribe of Manasseh lived in the land from Bashan to Baal-Hermon, Senir, and Mount Hermon. They [were] numerous.
But they transgressed against the God of their ancestors and prostituted themselves after the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them. So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul, king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tiglath-Pilneser, king of Assyria, and he took them [into exile], namely, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. And he brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river Gozan, until this day.
And from the half-tribe of Manasseh: eighteen thousand who were designated by name to come to make David king.
And from beyond the Jordan, from the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, with all [their] weapons of war for battle: one hundred and twenty thousand.
For the Ephraimites: Hoshea the son of Azaziah. For the half-tribe of Manasseh: Joel the son of Pedaiah. For the half-tribe of Manasseh in Gilead: Iddo the son of Zechariah. For Benjamin: Jaasiel son of Abner.
And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin and those sojourning with them, from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon, for many had deserted to him from Israel when they saw that Yahweh his God [was] with him.
Then Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and he also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, to come to the house of Yahweh in Jerusalem to make a Passover feast to Yahweh the God of Israel.
And it happened [that] the runners were passing from city to city in the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and up to Zebulun, but they were laughing at them and mocking them. Only men from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.
For a majority of the people, many from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves. But they ate the Passover sacrifice {otherwise than prescribed}, but Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, "May the good Yahweh make atonement unto
And when all this was finished, all Israel who were found in the cities of Judah went out and shattered the stone pillars, cut down the Asherahs, and destroyed the high places and the altars from all Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh {to the very last one}. Then all the Israelites returned, each to his own property [and] to their cities.
And in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon, and as far as Naphtali, in their ruins all around, he broke down the altars and the Asherahs and crushed the idols, grinding [them] to dust, and he cut down all the incense stands in all the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem. read more. Now in the eighteenth year of his reign [after] he purged the land and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the commander of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz, the recorder, to repair the house of Yahweh his God. And they came to Hilkiah the high priest and gave the money that was brought for the house of God, which the Levites, the guardians of the threshold, had gathered from the hand of Manasseh, Ephraim, and from the whole remnant of Israel, and from all Judah and Benjamin and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
They devoured on [the] right but [still] were hungry and devoured on [the] left but they were not satisfied. Each one devoured the flesh of his arm, Manasseh [devoured] Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh; together they [were] against Judah. In all of this his anger has not turned away, and still his hand [is] stretched out.