John Gill's Bible Commentary Ver. 8. The border went out from Tappuah westward , etc.] Which was different from the Tappuah in the tribe of Judah, ( Joshua 15:34); this was in the tribe of Ephraim on the border of Manasseh, ( Joshua 17:8); unto the river Kanah ; supposed by some to be the brook Cherith, by which Elijah hid himself, ( 1 Kings 17:3,5); though objected to by others; it seems to have had its name from the reeds which grew in it, or on the banks of it: and the goings out thereof were at the sea ; if the river Kanah was the brook Cherith, this must be the dead or salt sea: but that is never called “the sea”, rather the Mediterranean sea is meant, and consequently Kanah could not be Cherith, which was at too great a distance from this sea: this [is] the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Ephraim by their families ; that is, this is the description of the border of it; for the cities within are not mentioned, and the descriptions in general are very obscure.
Matthew Henry Commentary
- The sons of Joseph.
--This and the following chapter should not be separated. They give the lots of Ephraim and Manasseh, the children of Joseph, who, next to Judah, were to have the post of honour, and therefore had the first an best portion in the northern part of Canaan, as Judah in the souther part. God's people now, as of old, suffer his enemies to remain Blessed Lord, when will all our enemies be subdued? 1Co 15:26. Do tho drive them all out; thou alone canst do it. These settled boundarie may remind us, that our situation and provision in this life, as wel as our future inheritance, are appointed by the only wise and righteou God, and we should be content with our portion, since he knows what is best for us, and all we have is more than we deserve _________________________________________________
Original Hebrew מתפוח8599 ילך1980 הגבול1366 ימה3220 נחל5158 קנה7071 והיו1961 תצאתיו8444 הימה3220 זאת2063 נחלת5159 מטה4294 בני1121 אפרים669 למשׁפחתם׃4940
