Thematic Bible: The tribe of Manasseh


Thematic Bible



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

Then Hezekiah sent word throughout all Israel and Judah, and he also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh to come to the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem to observe the Passover of Yahweh, the God of Israel.

A large number of the people—many from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun—were ritually unclean, yet they had eaten the Passover contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah had interceded for them, saying, “May the good Lord provide atonement on behalf of


He said about Joseph: May his land be blessed by the Lord with the dew of heaven's bounty and the watery depths that lie beneath; with the bountiful harvest from the sun and the abundant yield of the seasons; with the best products of the ancient mountains and the bounty of the eternal hills; read more.
with the choice gifts of the land and everything in it; and with the favor of Him who appeared in the [burning] bush. May these rest on the head of Joseph, on the crown of the prince of his brothers. His firstborn bull has splendor, and horns like those of a wild ox; he gores all the peoples with them to the ends of the earth. Such are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and such are the thousands of Manasseh.

So he blessed them that day with these words:

The nation Israel will invoke blessings by you, saying,
“May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh,”
putting Ephraim before Manasseh.

Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine beside a spring; its branches climb over the wall. The archers attacked him, shot at him, and were hostile toward him. Yet his bow remained steady, and his strong arms were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, by the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, read more.
by the God of your father who helps you, and by the Almighty who blesses you with blessings of the heavens above, blessings of the deep that lies below, and blessings of the breasts and the womb. The blessings of your father excel the blessings of my ancestors and the bounty of the eternal hills. May they rest on the head of Joseph, on the crown of the prince of his brothers.


So Moses gave them—the Gadites, Reubenites, and half the 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 with the territories surrounding them.

And to half the tribe of Manasseh, that is, to half the tribe of Manasseh's descendants by their clans, Moses gave this as their territory: From Mahanaim through all Bashan-all the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, including all of Jair's Villagesthat are in Bashan-60 cities. But half of Gilead, and Og's royal cities in Bashan-Ashtaroth and Edrei-are for the descendants of Machir son of Manasseh, that is, half the descendants of Machir by their clans.

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 in it. Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, went and captured their villages, which he renamed Jair's Villages. read more.
Nobah went and captured Kenath with its villages and called it Nobah after his own name.


There were among Jerijah’s relatives, 2,700 capable men who were heads of families. King David appointed them over the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh as overseers in every matter relating to God and the king.

for the Ephraimites, Hoshea son of Azaziah; for half the tribe of Manasseh, Joel son of Pedaiah; for half the tribe of Manasseh in Gilead, Iddo son of Zechariah; for Benjamin, Jaasiel son of Abner;


When all this was completed, all Israel who had attended 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, to the last one. Then all the Israelites returned to their cities, each to his own possession.

He did the same in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, and as far as Naphtali and on their surrounding mountain shrines.


Then Jotham fled, escaping to Beer, and lived there because of his brother Abimelech.

He went to his father’s house in Ophrah and killed his 70 brothers, the sons of Jerubbaal, on top of a large stone. But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerubbaal, survived, because he hid himself.

When they told Jotham, he climbed to the top of Mount Gerizim, raised his voice, and called to them:

Listen to me, lords of Shechem,
and may God listen to you:


Your two sons born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt are now mine. Ephraim and Manasseh belong to me just as Reuben and Simeon do.

Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, meaning, “God has made me forget all my hardship in my father’s house.”


Ephraim’s military divisions will camp on the west side under their banner. The leader of the Ephraimites is Elishama son of Ammihud.

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


The men of Ephraim were called together and crossed the Jordan to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, “Why have you crossed over to fight against the Ammonites but didn’t call us to go with you? We will burn your house down with you in it!”

they told him, “Please say Shibboleth.” If he said, “Sibboleth,” because he could not pronounce it correctly, they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. At that time 42,000 from Ephraim died.


Some Manassites defected to David when he went with the Philistines to fight against Saul. However, they did not help the Philistines because the Philistine rulers, following consultation, sent David away. They said, "It will be our heads if he defects to his master Saul." When David went to Ziklag, some men from Manasseh defected to him: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai, chiefs of thousands in Manasseh. They helped David against the marauders, for they were all brave warriors and commanders in the army.


From half the tribe of Manasseh: 18,000 designated by name to come and make David king. From the Issacharites, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do: 200 chiefs with all their relatives under their command. From Zebulun: 50,000 who could serve in the army, trained for battle with all kinds of weapons of war, with singleness of purpose to help David. read more.
From Naphtali: 1,000 commanders accompanied by 37,000 men with shield and spear. From the Danites: 28,600 trained for battle. From Asher: 40,000 who could serve in the army, trained for battle. From across the Jordan-from the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh: 120,000 men equipped with all the military weapons of war.


Then he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, as well as those from the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who had settled among them, for they had defected to him from Israel in great numbers when they saw that Yahweh his God was with him.


Next the military divisions of the camp of Ephraim with their banner set out, and Elishama son of Ammihud was over Ephraim's division. Gamaliel son of Pedahzur was over the division of the tribe of Manasseh,


Manasseh's descendants: the Machirite clan from Machir. Machir fathered Gilead; the Gileadite clan from Gilead. These were Gilead's descendants: the Iezerite clan [from] Iezer; the Helekite clan from Helek; The Asrielite clan [from] Asriel; the Shechemite clan [from] Shechem; read more.
the Shemidaite clan [from] Shemida; the Hepherite clan [from] Hepher; Zelophehad son of Hepher had no sons-only daughters. The names of Zelophehad's daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.


The descendants of Manasseh could not possess these cities, because the Canaanites were determined to stay in this land. However, when the Israelites grew stronger, they imposed forced labor on the Canaanites but did not drive them out completely.


The descendants of Manasseh: according to their family records by their clans and their ancestral houses, counting the names of those 20 years old or more, everyone who could serve in the army, those registered for the tribe of Manasseh numbered 32,200.


On the eighth day Gamaliel son of Pedahzur, leader of the Manassites, [presented an offering]. His offering was one silver dish weighing three and a quarter pounds and one silver basin weighing one and three-quarter pounds, [measured] by the standard sanctuary shekel, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering; one gold bowl weighing four ounces, full of incense; read more.
one young bull, one ram, and one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; one male goat for a sin offering; and two bulls, five rams, five male breeding goats, and five male lambs a year old, for the fellowship sacrifice. This was the offering of Gamaliel son of Pedahzur.


The daughters of Zelophehad approached; [Zelophehad was the] son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh from the clans of Manasseh, the son of Joseph. These were the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. They stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the leaders, and the entire community at the entrance to the tent of meeting and said, "Our father died in the wilderness, but he was not among Korah's followers, who gathered together against the Lord. Instead, he died because of his own sin, and he had no sons. read more.
Why should the name of our father be taken away from his clan? Since he had no son, give us property among our father's brothers." Moses brought their case before the Lord, and the Lord answered him, "What Zelophehad's daughters say is correct. You are to give them hereditary property among their father's brothers and transfer their father's inheritance to them.


When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, Machir son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim


This was the allotment for the tribe of Manasseh as Joseph's firstborn. Gilead and Bashan came to Machir, the firstborn of Manasseh and the father of Gilead, who was a man of war. So the allotment was for the rest of Manasseh's descendants by their clans, for the sons of Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. These are the male descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph, by their clans. Now Zelophehad son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, had no sons, only daughters. These are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. read more.
They came before Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the leaders, saying, "The Lord commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our male relatives." So they gave them an inheritance among their father's brothers, in keeping with the Lord's instruction. As a result, 10 tracts fell to Manasseh, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan, which are beyond the Jordan, because Manasseh's daughters received an inheritance among his sons. The land of Gilead belonged to the rest of Manasseh's sons. The border of Manasseh went from Asher to Michmethath near Shechem. It then went southward toward the inhabitants of En-tappuah. The region of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but Tappuah [itself] on Manasseh's border belonged to the descendants of Ephraim. From there the border descended to the Brook of Kanah; south of the brook, cities belonged to Ephraim among Manasseh's cities. Manasseh's border was on the north side of the brook and ended at the Mediterranean Sea. Ephraim's [territory] was to the south and Manasseh's to the north, with the Sea as its border. They reached Asher on the north and Issachar on the east. Within Issachar and Asher, Manasseh had Beth-shean with its towns, Ibleam with its towns, and the inhabitants of Dor with its towns; the inhabitants of En-dor with its towns, the inhabitants of Taanach with its towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo with its towns-the three [cities] of Naphath.


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


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


These were Manasseh’s clans, numbered by their registered men: 52,700.


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


Now Elijah the Tishbite, from the Gilead settlers, said to Ahab, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, I stand before Him, and there will be no dew or rain during these years except by my command!”


He said to Him, “Please, Lord, how can I deliver Israel? Look, my family is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.”


After him came Jair the Gileadite, who judged Israel 22 years.


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