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Joshua / Chapter 16
Joshua 16 allocates territory to Joseph’s tribes by first sketching the shared allotment, then tracing Ephraim’s border through a chain of landmarks and towns, and finally noting the unresolved situation at Gezer.
The lot came out for the children of Joseph from the Jordan at Jericho, at the waters of Jericho on the east, even the wilderness, going up from Jericho through the hill-country to Bethel;
and it went out from Bethel to Luz, and passed along to the border of the Archites to Ataroth;
and it went down westward to the border of the Japhletites, to the border of Beth-horon the nether, even to Gezer; and the goings out of it were at the sea.
The children of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance.
The border of the children of Ephraim according to their families was [thus]: the border of their inheritance eastward was Ataroth-addar, to Beth-horon the upper;
and the border went out westward at Michmethath on the north; and the border turned about eastward to Taanath-shiloh, and passed along it on the east of Janoah;
and it went down from Janoah to Ataroth, and to Naarah, and reached to Jericho, and went out at the Jordan.
From Tappuah the border went along westward to the brook of Kanah; and the goings out of it were at the sea. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Ephraim according to their families;
together with the cities which were set apart for the children of Ephraim in the midst of the inheritance of the children of Manasseh, all the cities with their villages.
They didn`t drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer: but the Canaanites dwell in the midst of Ephraim to this day, and are become servants to do forced labor.
Joshua journey · Joshua 16
Full passage context
Start with the map and timeline, then explore verse notes, background, theology, questions, and related passages.
The land promise meets conquest, settlement, and covenant responsibility.
Movement
Entering and settling the land
Artifact
Land allotments and covenant renewal
Biblical Timeline
Exodus & Settlement
Joshua context: 1500 BC - 1000 BC
Joshua context
Exodus & Settlement / 1500 BC - 1000 BC
Joshua context is set in the exodus and settlement period, where Moses, the exodus, wilderness, covenant instruction, conquest, and judges.
Follow the movement of the chapter, then open any passage in its full context.
Context snapshot
Date
Conquest and settlement setting, c. 1406-1375 BC
Genre
Historical narrative and covenant history
Setting
Israel/Canaan
Audience
Israel
World Stage
Local Canaanite city rulers Late Bronze Age setting
Joshua is set during Israel's entry into Canaan, where fortified cities, tribal allotments, and covenant renewal define the story. Egypt's regional influence is fading, but Canaan remains a landscape of local kings and city-states.
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