(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Joshua 17:14–18, “And the children of Joseph spake unto Joshua, saying, Why hast thou given me but one lot and one portion to inherit, seeing I am a great people, forasmuch as the LORD hath blessed me hitherto? And Joshua answered them, If thou be a great people, then get thee up to the wood country, and cut down for thyself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the giants, if mount Ephraim be too narrow for thee. And the children of Joseph said, The hill is not enough for us: and all the Canaanites that dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both they who are of Bethshean and her towns, and they who are of the valley of Jezreel. And Joshua spake unto the house of Joseph, even to Ephraim and to Manasseh, saying, Thou art a great people, and hast great power: thou shalt not have one lot only: But the mountain shall be thine; for it is a wood, and thou shalt cut it down: and the outgoings of it shall be thine: for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they be strong.”
The tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh wanted to get a special deal. They were exactly the same as everybody is today. We are all very happy for the rules to apply to everyone else but we want to have special exemptions to suit our own personal prejudices. These tribes were given enough land to inherit, according to rules that the Lord had laid down. However, they didn’t want to do any of the hard work required to take possession of their land so they asked Joshua to give them extra land and save them the effort of taking possession. However, Joshua told them to go out and do the hard work like everyone else.
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