Bible Atlas: A Manual of Biblical Geography and History

by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut

III. The Half Tribe of Manasseh, East (Num. 32:39-42; Josh. 13:29-31), occupied the northern portion of Eastern Palestine, generally known in the Old Testament as Bashan, larger than the portion assigned to any one tribe. It extended from Mahanaim northward to Mount Hermon, and from the river Jordan and its two northern lakes eastward to the desert. Though some of this land is a desert, yet most of it is fertile, and even now it is called "the granary of Palestine." It consists of undulating plains between two masses of mountains; the one on the east, now known as el Ledja, and the other on the side of the Jordan Valley. On its western hills were Aphek, and Golan, a city of refuge; near its centre were Ashtaroth, the former capital of Og, who reigned over Bashan before the conquest, and Edrei. Kenath, taken by Nobah, was at the foot of el Ledja, east of the line of the map. Its people never conquered the Geshurites on the east, and were separated from their brethren by the Canaanites in the Jordan Valley (see map on [page 50]), so that they were not closely identified with the history of Israel, and were the first to be carried away captive. (2 Kings 10:32, 33.)

IV. The Tribe of Simeon (Josh. 19:1-9) received a portion of the land previously given to Judah. Its location was on the extreme south, and its boundaries were indeterminate, being indicated only by the list of eighteen towns belonging to it. It was the strip of grazing land between the mountains and the desert of the wandering, where Abraham and Isaac spent most of their lives. Its most important place was the historic Beersheba; but it included also Gerar, on the Philistine border; Arad, whose king twice resisted the Israelites' progress during the wandering; Hormah, in the South Country; and Ziklag, at one time the home of David. Nothing is known of this tribe's history. From its frontier position it probably lost its individuality, a part of its people becoming merged with the wandering races of the desert, and a part with its more powerful neighbor, Judah. Most of its cities were held by the Philistines until the reign of David.

V. The Tribe of Judah (Josh. 15:1-63) occupied the most valuable portion of the land, and for three centuries was the rival of Ephraim in the leadership of the nation. Its boundary line on the north is described with great minuteness, but was changed after the building of the Temple to include a part of the city of Jerusalem. It ran from the northern end of the Dead Sea, south of Jerusalem, in a direction generally east, though with many turnings, from the Jordan to the Mediterranean. The region embraced five sections. 1. The Philistine plain, by the sea, never conquered. 2. The Shefelah, or low hills, a boundary disputed with the Philistines. 3. The "hill country," the home of the tribe. 4. The Negeb, or South Country, extending from Hebron southward. 5. The wild, uninhabitable Jeshimon, called in later history "the wilderness of Judæa," on the western shore of the Dead Sea. Omitting the Philistine cities by the Mediterranean, its most important cities were: Hebron, the inheritance of Caleb; Debir, the conquest of Othniel; Bethlehem, the birthplace of David, and, in after ages, of his greater Son; Maon, Carmel; En-gedi, a haunt of David during his exile; Lachish and Libnah, on the Shefelah; and Kirjath-jearim, at one time the abode of the ark.

VI. The Tribe of Benjamin (Josh. 18:11-28) was located between Judah and Ephraim, having the Jordan on the east, and Dan on the west. It was a small country, 25 miles long by 12 wide, yet rich in natural advantages; and many events of Bible history took place within its borders. It included 26 cities, of which the most important were: Gilgal, the military capital during the conquest; Jericho, the first town taken on the west of the Jordan; Jerusalem, long held by the Jebusites, but from the time of David the capital of the country; Bethel, connected with many events; Ramah, the home of Samuel; Gibeah, the residence of King Saul; Michmash, Gibeon and Mizpeh, the places of famous battles. No portion of the land contains more of Jewish history than Benjamin, the smallest of all the tribes of Israel.

COMPARATIVE POPULATION OF THE TWELVE TRIBES AT THE ENTRANCE INTO CANAAN.

VII. The Tribe of Dan (Josh. 19:40-48; Judges 18) was situated between Benjamin and the sea, and, though apparently large, was in reality very small, since nearly all its territory was held by the original inhabitants, the Canaanites. Its southernmost town was Timnath, a small village not on the map, but two miles west of Beth-shemesh; its northern limit was a brook just north of Joppa. The original inhabitants proved too strong for the Danites, who were compelled to maintain a sort of fortified camp in and between the villages of Zorah and Eshtaol, called "the camp of Dan." (Judges 13:25.) A part of the tribe migrated northward, as related in the interesting account in Judges 17, 18; and, by a surprise, seized the Phœnician village of Laish, or Leshem, in the far north of Palestine, changed its name to Dan, and made it a new rallying centre for the tribe. This place, with Beersheba on the south, was named, in the expression "from Dan to Beersheba," as one of the limits of the land. It remained for centuries the place of an idolatrous worship, perpetuated under all the changes of government, down to the final captivity of the land.

VIII. The Tribe of Ephraim (Josh. 16) was located on the north of Benjamin and Dan, and extended from the Jordan to the Mediterranean, in the centre of the country. But inasmuch as the Canaanites were able to resist the power of the Ephraimites on both sides of the mountain, toward the river Jordan and toward the sea, the haughty tribe deemed its possession too small for its needs, and asked a larger space of Joshua. They were answered in a half-jesting, half-rebuking manner by the leader, and urged to drive out the enemy and make for themselves more room, a counsel which they followed only in part. (Josh. 17:14-18; Judges 1:22-26.) The principal places in "Mount Ephraim" (as the district of this tribe was generally called) were: Shechem, between the twin mountains of Ebal and Gerizim; Shiloh, the place of the ark, and the religious centre of the land; Beth-horon, the field where the decisive victory of the conquest was won; Timnath, the burial place of Joshua; and Samaria, built during the kingdom as the capital of the Ten Tribes.

IX. The Half Tribe of Manasseh, West (Josh. 17), was located north of Ephraim, and extended from the Jordan to the Mediterranean. Its boundary followed the northern slope of Mount Carmel, except by the sea, where the mountain was given to Asher. The lowlands on the Jordan, the Plain of Esdraelon, and the Mediterranean, were held by the Canaanites, in the cities of Dor, Megiddo, Taanach and Beth-shean, a chain of fortresses which gave control of the larger portion of the province, so that the Manassites were restricted to the mountains, where they occupied Geba, Dothan and Jarmuth.