'Descendants' in the Bible

The region of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but Tappuah itself on Manasseh’s border belonged to the descendants of Ephraim.

The descendants of Manasseh could not possess these cities, because the Canaanites were determined to stay in this land.

Joseph’s descendants said to Joshua, “Why did you give us only one tribal allotment as an inheritance? We have many people, because the Lord has been blessing us greatly.”

But the descendants of Joseph said, “The hill country is not enough for us, and all the Canaanites who inhabit the valley area have iron chariots, both at Beth-shean with its towns and in the Jezreel Valley.”

The descendants of Levi have no allotment among you, since the priesthood of the LORD is their inheritance. Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh received their inheritance to the east, beyond the Jordan River given to them by Moses the servant of the LORD."

The lot came up for the tribe of Benjamin’s descendants by their clans, and their allotted territory lay between Judah’s descendants and Joseph’s descendants.

On the west side, from the hill facing Beth-horon on the south, the border curved, turning southward, and ended at Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a city of the descendants of Judah. This was the west side of their border.

The Jordan formed the border on the east side.This was the inheritance of Benjamin’s descendants, by their clans, according to its surrounding borders.

These were the cities of the tribe of Benjamin’s descendants by their clans:Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz,

Zela, Haeleph, Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath—14 cities, with their villages.This was the inheritance for Benjamin’s descendants by their clans.

The second lot came out for Simeon, for the tribe of his descendants by their clans, but their inheritance was within the portion of Judah’s descendants.

and all the villages surrounding these cities as far as Baalath-beer (Ramah of the south).This was the inheritance of the tribe of Simeon’s descendants by their clans.

The inheritance of Simeon’s descendants was within the territory of Judah’s descendants, because the share for Judah’s descendants was too large for them. So Simeon’s descendants received an inheritance within Judah’s portion.

The third lot came up for Zebulun’s descendants by their clans.The territory of their inheritance stretched as far as Sarid;

This was the inheritance of Zebulun’s descendants by their clans, these cities, with their villages.

The fourth lot came out for the tribe of Issachar’s descendants by their clans.

This was the inheritance of the tribe of Issachar’s descendants by their clans, the cities, with their villages.

The fifth lot came out for the tribe of Asher’s descendants by their clans.

This was the inheritance of the tribe of Asher’s descendants by their clans, these cities with their villages.

The sixth lot came out for Naphtali’s descendants by their clans.

This was the inheritance of the tribe of Naphtali’s descendants by their clans, the cities with their villages.

The seventh lot {fell} for the tribe of the descendants of Dan according to their families.

Later, when the descendants of Dan lost their territory, they went up and attacked Leshem. After they captured it and executed its inhabitants, they took possession of it and settled there, renaming the city of Leshem to Dan in memory of their ancestor Dan.

This [is] the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants of Dan according to their families, these cities and their villages.

Then the family leaders of the descendants of Levi approached Eleazar the priest and Nun's son Joshua, along with the family leaders of the people of Israel.

So, just as the Lord had said, the Israelis set aside cities for the descendants of Levi from a portion of their own inheritances, along with their grazing lands.

The lot came out for the Kohathite clans: The Levites who were the descendants of Aaron the priest received 13 cities by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.

The remaining descendants of Kohath received 10 cities by lot from the clans of the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and half the tribe of Manasseh.

Gershon’s descendants received 13 cities by lot from the clans of the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and half the tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.

Merari’s descendants received 12 cities for their clans from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.

The Israelis apportioned these cities, along with their pasture lands, to the descendants of Levi by random lot, just as the LORD had commanded through Moses.

The Israelites gave these cities by name from the tribes of the descendants of Judah and Simeon

to the descendants of Aaron from the Kohathite clans of the Levites, because they received the first lot.

They gave to the descendants of Aaron the priest:Hebron, the city of refuge for the one who commits manslaughter, with its pasturelands, Libnah with its pasturelands,

All 13 cities with their pasturelands were for the priests, the descendants of Aaron.

The allotted cities to the remaining clans of Kohath’s descendants, who were Levites, came from the tribe of Ephraim.

All 10 cities with their pasturelands were for the clans of Kohath’s other descendants.

From half the tribe of Manasseh, they gave to the descendants of Gershon, who were one of the Levite clans:Golan, the city of refuge for the one who commits manslaughter, with its pasturelands in Bashan, and Beeshterah with its pasturelands—two cities.

All the cities of the descendants of Gershon according to their families totaled thirteen, including their pasture lands.

From the tribe of Zebulun, they gave to the clans of the descendants of Merari, who were the remaining Levites:Jokneam with its pasturelands, Kartah with its pasturelands,

All 12 cities were allotted to the clans of Merari’s descendants, the remaining Levite clans.

All of the cities of the descendants of Levi that had been set apart among the territorial possession of the Israelis totaled 48, along with their pasture lands.

Later, Joshua called together the descendants of Reuben, the descendants of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh

The descendants of Reuben, the descendants of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh went back to the land of Gilead, leaving the Israelis at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, for their territorial possession that they had inherited in accordance with the command of the LORD given through Moses.

After they arrived at an area of the Jordan River that is in the land of Canaan, the descendants of Reuben, the descendants of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh constructed an altar there by the Jordan River, and it was very large.

When the Israelis heard about it, they announced, "Look here, the descendants of Reuben, the descendants of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have constructed an altar in Canaan's frontier district of the Jordan River, on the side apportioned to the Israelis."

Then the Israelis sent a delegation to the descendants of Reuben, the descendants of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in the land of Gilead. They sent Eleazar's son Phinehas the priest,

They approached the descendants of Reuben, the descendants of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in the land of Gilead and told them:

The descendants of Reuben, the descendants of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered the officials of the tribes of Israel,

We actually did this from a specific concern that in the future your descendants might say to our descendants, ‘What relationship do you have with the Lord, the God of Israel?

For the Lord has made the Jordan a border between us and you descendants of Reuben and Gad. You have no share in the Lord!’ So your descendants may cause our descendants to stop fearing the Lord.

Instead, it is to be a witness between us and you, and between the generations after us, so that we may carry out the worship of the Lord in His presence with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and fellowship offerings. Then in the future, your descendants will not be able to say to our descendants, ‘You have no share in the Lord!’

"That's also why we said, "It may be if they say these things to us and to our descendants in the future, so we will respond, "Look at this replica of the altar of the LORD that our ancestors made, not for burnt offerings or sacrifice, but rather as a reminder between us and you.

When Phinehas the priest and the community leaders, the heads of Israel’s clans who were with him, heard what the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh had to say, they were pleased.

Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest said to the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, “Today we know that the Lord is among us, because you have not committed this treachery against Him. As a result, you have delivered the Israelites from the Lord’s power.”

So Eleazar's son Phinehas the priest and the leaders returned from the descendants of Reuben, the descendants of Gad, and from the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan and to the people of Israel, bringing back word to them.

What they said pleased the people of Israel, so they blessed God and said no more about going up to attack them in war and to destroy the land where the descendants of Reuben and the descendants of Gad were living.

The descendants of Reuben and the descendants of Gad named the altar "Witness," because they claimed, "It stands as a witness between us that the LORD is God."

But I took your father Abraham from the region beyond the Euphrates River, led him throughout the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants. I gave him Isaac,

Joseph’s bones, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried at Shechem in the parcel of land Jacob had purchased from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for 100 qesitahs. It was an inheritance for Joseph’s descendants.

But the tribe of Judah told the tribe of Simeon, the descendants of Judah's brother, "Come with us into our territory, and we'll both fight the Canaanites. In return, we'll go with you when you fight in your territory." So the army of the tribe of Simeon accompanied the army of the tribe of Judah.

The descendants of Judah fought against Jerusalem, and they captured it, {put it to the sword}, and {set the city on fire}.

Afterward the descendants of Judah pursued to fight against the Canaanites who were living in the hill country, the Negev, and the Shephelah.

The descendants of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, had gone up with the men of Judah from the City of Palms to the Wilderness of Judah, which was in the Negev of Arad. They went to live among the people.

However, the descendants of Benjamin did not expel the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites have lived with the descendants of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.

So the descendants of Asher lived among the Canaanites who continued to inhabit the land, because they did not expel them.

Later on, the Amorites forced the descendants of Dan into the hill country and did not permit them to come into the valleys of the hills.

She sent and called for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh Naphtali and said to him, "Has not Yahweh the God of Israel commanded you? 'Go, {march to} Mount Tabor, and take ten thousand men from the descendants of Naphtali and Zebulun.

Meanwhile, Heber the Kenite had been separated from the Kenites, the descendants of Moses' father-in-law Hobab. He had pitched his tents far away, near the Elon-bezaanannim.

So Gideon built an altar right there to the LORD and called it "The LORD is peace." (To this very day it still stands in Ophrah, which belongs to the descendants of Abiezer.)

So the Spirit of the LORD took control of Gideon, who blew a trumpet, mustering the descendants of Abiezer to follow him into battle.

Later on, the descendants of Ephraim spoke to Gideon. They argued vehemently, "What are you doing to us? You never called us! But you went out to fight Midian!"

And Gideon said to them, “I would make a request of you, that each one of you give me an earring from his spoil.” For the Midianites had gold earrings, because they were Ishmaelites [who customarily wore them].

Gideon raised 70 sons as his direct descendants, since he had many wives.

Later, Joash's son Gideon died at a ripe old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash at Ophrah, which belonged to the descendants of Abiezer.

Later on, the Israelis again practiced what the LORD considered to be evil by serving the Baals, the stars, the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the descendants of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines. In doing so, they ignored the LORD and wouldn't serve him.

Then Jephthah mustered all the men of Gilead, fought the tribe of Ephraim, and defeated them, because they had been claiming, "You descendants of Gilead are fugitives in the midst of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh."

The descendants of Gilead seized control of the Jordan River's fords along the border of Ephraim's territory. Later on, when any fugitive from Ephraim asked them, "Let me cross over," the men from Gilead would ask him, "Are you an Ephraimite?" If he said "No,"

they would order him, "Pronounce the word "Shibboleth' right now." If he said "Sibboleth," not being able to pronounce it correctly, they would seize him and slaughter him there at the fords of the Jordan River. During those days 42,000 descendants of Ephraim died that way.

There was one man from Zorah, from the family of the descendants of Dan, whose name was Manoah. Since his wife was infertile, she hadn't borne children.

The descendants of Dan sent from the whole number of their clan five {capable men} from Zorah and Eshtaol to spy out the land and to explore it. And they said to them, "Go, explore the land." And they went to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and they spent the night there.

So 600 descendants of Dan from Zorah and Eshtaol set out for battle, armed with military weapons.

And six hundred men from the descendants of Dan, armed [with] their weapons of war, [were] standing [at] the entrance of the gate.

When they had been gone a short distance from Micah's home, some of Micah's neighbors assembled a search party and overtook the descendants of Dan.

They yelled at the descendants of Dan, who turned around to face Micah and asked, "What's wrong with you? You've assembled together"?"

The descendants of Dan answered him, "You had better not talk to us about this, or else these bad guys here will attack you. You will lose your life, along with the lives of your whole household."

Then the descendants of Dan went on their way. Because Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back home.

But the descendants of Dan took what Micah had made, along with the priest who had worked for him, and went to Laish, to a quiet and carefree people, and killed them with swords. Then they set fire to the city.

The descendants of Dan set up the carved image, and Gershom's son Jonathan, a descendant of Manasseh, served along with his descendants as priests to the tribe of Dan until the land was taken captive.

After they entered the city, they had to sit down in the public square because no one would take them into their home for the night. Just then, an old man was coming out of the fields that evening from work. The man was from the mountainous region of Ephraim and had been staying in Gibeah, even though the men of that place were descendants of Benjamin.

While the descendants of Benjamin were learning that the Israelis had gone up to Mizpah, the Israelis asked, "Somebody tell us how this evil could happen?"

So then, hand over the men, {the perverse lot}, who [are] in Gibeah, so that we may kill them and purge [this] wickedness from Israel." But the descendants of Benjamin were not willing to listen to the voice of their relatives, the {Israelites}.

But the descendants of Benjamin wouldn't obey the request of their own relatives, the Israelis, so the descendants of Benjamin assembled from the cities of Gibeah to fight the Israelis in battle.

The day of the battle, the army from the descendants of Benjamin numbered 26,000 expert swordsmen from their cities, not including the inhabitants of Gibeah, who numbered 700 special forces soldiers.

The Israelis mounted up, traveled to Bethel, and asked God what to do. They said, "Who is to lead us in our opening attack against the descendants of Benjamin?" The LORD replied, "Judah is to open the attack."

The descendants of Benjamin came out of Gibeah, and 22,000 soldiers of Israel fell in battle that day.

From there the Israelis went up and wept in the LORD's presence until evening. Then they asked the LORD, "Should we attack the descendants of Benjamin again?" The LORD replied, "Attack them."

So the Israelis attacked the descendants of Benjamin for a second day,

while Eleazar's son Phinehas, a descendant of Aaron, served before it in those days. They asked, "Should we go out to war again against the descendants of our relative Benjamin, or shall we cease?" And the LORD answered, "Go out, and tomorrow I will deliver them into your control."

The Israelis went out against the descendants of Benjamin on the third day, arraying themselves against Gibeah as they had done previously.