Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Chronicles 7:28
And their possessions and habitations [were], Bethel and the towns thereof, and eastward Naaran, and westward Gezer, with the towns thereof; Shechem also and the towns thereof, unto Gaza and the towns thereof:
28. Beth-el ] Jdg 1:22-25; 1Ki 12:29; 1Ki 12:32. Beth-el is perhaps the modern Beitn ( Bdeker, p. 213). The city was on the border of Ephraim and Benjamin and in Jos 18:22 is assigned to Benjamin, but it was originally conquered by Ephraim (Jdg 1:22), and during the division of the kingdom it belonged to the North: cp. 2Ch 13:19, note.
Naaran ] In Jos 16:7, Naarath (R.V. Naarah).
Gezer Shechem ] See 1Ch 6:67, note.
unto Gaza ] Gaza (Heb. Azzah) the well-known Philistine city was in the extreme south-west of Palestine and can hardly be intended here in a list of Ephraimite cities. Some Heb. MSS read Ayyah, a reading which is in part supported by LXX (B) .
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
28, 29. The Seats of the Sons of Joseph
It is difficult to say why the possessions of Ephraim (1Ch 7:28) and Manasseh (1Ch 7:29) are mentioned here, and also why having been mentioned, they are not more fully described.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Their possessions, i.e. the portion allotted to the tribe of Ephraim.
Beth-el; which stood in the border of Benjamin, but belonged to Ephraim.
Unto Gaza, not that of the Philistines, which belonged to another tribe, and was remote from Ephraim; but another of the same name. Or rather Adasa, as it is in the margin of our Bible; the particle ad, here rendered unto, being a part of the name; for why should unto be put to this town, which is not put to any of the other?
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And their possessions and habitations,…. That is, of the sons of Ephraim, when come into the land of Canaan:
were Bethel, and the towns thereof; the villages belonging to it, which was formerly called Luz, and was the border of Ephraim, Jos 16:7
and eastward Naaran: the same with Naarath, Jos 16:7
and westward Gezer, with the towns thereof; of which see
Jos 16:3,
and Shechem also, and the towns thereof; which was a city of refuge in Mount Ephraim, Jos 20:7
unto Gaza, and the towns thereof; not Gaza, a city of the Philistines, for the tribe of Ephraim did not reach so far; the Targum calls it Aiah; it may be read Adaza, as in the margin of our Bibles.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
In 1Ch 7:28 and 1Ch 7:29 the possessions and dwelling-places of the tribe of Ephraim (and as we learn from the superscription, 1Ch 7:29), also those of West Jordan Manasseh, are given, but in a very general way; only the chief places on the four sides being mentioned. Bethel, now Beitin, on the frontier of the tribal domains of Benjamin and Ephraim (Jos 16:2; Jos 18:13), and assigned to the tribe of Benjamin (Jos 18:22), is here mentioned as an Ephraimite city on the southern frontier of the Ephraimite territory, as it belonged to the kingdom of the ten tribes; whence we gather that this register was prepared after that kingdom had come into existence. As to its position, see on Jos 7:2. Her daughters are the smaller villages which belonged to Bethel. Naaran, without doubt the same place which is called in Jos 16:7 (with loc.), is the eastern frontier city lying to the north-east of Jericho; see on Jos 16:7. “And westward Gezer,” according to Jos 16:3, lying between Beth-horon and the sea (see on Jos 10:33), is the frontier city on the south-west; and Shechem and Avvah ( ), with their daughters, are places which mark the boundary on the north-west. As to , Shechem, the present Nabulus, see on Jos 17:7. Instead of , most of the editions of the Bible agree with lxx and Vulg. and Chald. in having , but not the Philistine Gaza: it is only an error of the transcribers and printers, as all the more accurate MSS and the better printed copies have ; see De Rossi, Variae Lectt. ad h. l. The locality or is certainly met with nowhere else, but, if we may judge by Jos 16:6 and Jos 17:17, is to be sought not far from Shechem in a north-western direction, perhaps on the site of the there mentioned Michmethah, the position of which has, however, not yet been ascertained.
1Ch 7:29 According to Jos 17:11, the Manassites had received the four cities here named, lying within the territory of Issachar and Asher. This is attested also by , to the hands, i.e., in possession of the sons of Manasseh. As to its position, see Jos 17:11. These cities formed the boundaries on the extreme north, of the dwellings “of the sons of Joseph,” i.e., of the two tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
THE BOUNDS OF EPHRAIM AND WEST MANASSEH
(1Ch. 7:28-29).
Comp. 1Ch. 6:54, sqq., where a list of the cities of the Levites is similarly added to their tribal registers.
(28) And their possessions.Heb., and their domain and their seats were Bethel and her daughters; their domain, that is, the domain of both divisions of the tribe of Joseph.
Betheloriginally assigned to Benjamin (Jos. 18:22), belonged later to the northern kingdom. The present list appears therefore to be younger than the disruption of Solomons empire.
Naaran, or Naarah (Naap) (Jos. 16:7) was a town north-east of Jericho. Gezer lay on the southwest border of Ephraim (Jos. 16:3), Shechem (Nabls, ) on the north. Gaza: so the LXX Vulg. (Aza which represents the Hebrew Azzh, i.e., Gaza), and Targum; but a great number of MSS. and seventeen editions read Ayyah, a place not mentioned elsewhere, but doubtless lying on the north-west border of Ephraim.
(29) And by the borders of the children of Manasseh.Literally, and upon the hands of the sons of Manasseh, a favourite phrase with the chronicler, occurring nine times in Chronicles and once in Ezra. (See Note on 1Ch. 6:31.) The four cities lay within the territory of Issachar and Asher, but were assigned to Manassen (Jos. 17:11). They mark the northward marches of the two houses of Joseph, as the cities of 1Ch. 7:28 mark the southward. They long withstood the Israelite occupation (Jos. 17:12-16; see also Jdg. 5:19. Then fought the kings of Canaan, in Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Gezer. See note on 1Ki 9:15-17.
towns. Hebrew daughters. Put by Figure of speech Catachresis (App-6) for villages.
Gaza. Not the Gaza in Philistia assigned to Judah (Jos 15:47).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
1Ch 7:28-29
1Ch 7:28-29
“And their possessions and habitations were Bethel and the towns thereof; Shechem also and the towns thereof, unto Azzah and the towns thereof; and by the borders of the children of Manasseh, Beth-shean and its towns, Taanach and its towns, Megiddo and its towns. In these dwelt the children of Joseph the son of Israel.”
E.M. Zerr:
1Ch 7:28. We think of Bethel and the other places named in this verse as cities or towns, yet the text gives, them and also their taunts. The word is from a Hebrew wide range of meaning. Its primary definition is “daughter,” but it has figurative applications also, and when so used it means something closely related, such as a daughter who would be related to an older person. Moffatt’s translation gives it “Bethel and its townships,” etc.
1Ch 7:29. Ephraim and Manasseh were full brothers and it seems appropriate to write of the two in this way of close association. We were told that the descendants of Ephraim had certain places “with their towns” (townships), now it is fitting to say something of the kind about the descendants of Manasseh.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Narran
Naarath, Jos 16:7.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Bethel: Gen 28:19, Jos 16:2, Jdg 1:22
Naaran: Naaran, or Naarath, Eusebius says was a town in his time called , Noorath, five miles from Jericho. It appears to be the same as , Neara, mentioned by Josephus, from whence, he says, they brought the water which watered the palm-trees of Jericho., Naarath
Gezer: 1Ch 6:66, 1Ch 6:67
towns: Heb. daughters
Reciprocal: Jos 16:3 – Bethhoron Jos 16:7 – Ataroth
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Ch 7:28. Their possessions That is, the portion allotted to the tribe of Ephraim: were Beth-el Which stood in the border of Benjamin, but belonged to Ephraim. Unto Gaza Not the Gaza of the Philistines, which belonged to another tribe, and was remote from Ephraim, but another place of the same name. Or rather Adazza, as in the margin; the particle ad, here rendered unto, being part of the name.