THE PORTION OF MANASSEH After Ephraim, there was also a lot for the tribe of Manasseh; the daughters of ‘Zelophehad’ sought to be given their portion according to the Lord’s command to the prophet Moses (Numbers 27); the children of Joseph were known for their zeal to get a greater portion through strife. 1- The portion of Manasseh the firstborn of Joseph 1- 12 2- The portion of the daughters of ‘Zelophehad’ 3- 4 3- The Canaanites stay among the children of Manasseh 13 4- The zeal of the children of Joseph 14- 18 1- The portion of Manasseh the firstborn of Joseph: As far as the spiritual inheritance is concerned, there is no commitment to the firstborn status according to the flesh, but to that of the spirit; so Judah occupied the first status, although he is not the firstborn according to the flesh; and now we find that Manasseh comes after Ephraim, who is younger according to the flesh. The firstborn status has been taken away from Manasseh and given to Ephraim to enjoy inheritance, because Ephraim means the (increasing fruits), while Manasseh means (forgetting the world). We can say that Joseph’s children, Ephraim and Manasseh, represent one integral work: Ephraim offers the positive side, namely, fulfillment by the fruit of the spirit, and entrance into the heavenly life; while Manasseh offers the negative side, namely, forgetting the world with its pleasures. There is indeed, no fulfillment with the heavenliness, without forsaking the love of the worldliness, nor there is forgetting the worldliness without enjoyment of the heavenliness; yet the positive side has the priority. In more than one occasion, the two tribes: Ephraim and Manasseh are connected together; The Psalmist says: “Before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, stir up your strength, and come and save us! “ (Psalm 80: 2) And St. Augustine says: [God appears before Ephraim and Manasseh ... You appear before him who is fruitful; as well as before him who forgets, not to go back, but to have the memory that saves him]1. 1 On Ps. 80. 213 St. Jerome comments on the word “Manasseh”, saying: [It means (forgetting) ... The son who took his inheritance, wasted it, and forgot what is mine; and now he remembers Me; I call him ‘Manasseh’, from forgetting; because he did not forget to return to his Father] 1. It is as though the tribe of Manasseh refers to someone who returned to his father after forgetting him for so long; but he remembered him and would never again forget him. The son who returns to his father, enjoys the portion of Manasseh, that includes in its border the city of ‘Shechem’, that was given to the Levites, and was chosen as one of the cities of refuge (Joshua 20: 7). Shechem has holy memories in the minds of the old people; as near it, Abraham set his tents (Genesis 12: 6); Jacob purchased a lot of land to set his tent (Acts 7: 16); Joseph’s brothers herded their flocks of sheep (Genesis 37: 12, 13); and Joshua read the Book of the law (Joshua 8: 30), and his farewell speech (Joshua 24: 1)...And as God hated Shiloh because of its transgressions, He also hated Shechem, where an altar for the Baal was erected (Judges 8: 33, 9, 4); There ten tribes of the children of Israel rebelled; made ‘Jeroboam’ their king (1 Kings 12); and Shechem the capital of Israel (1 Kings 12: 25), and a center for the Samaritans....; It turned into a symbol of dissension, and departure of the spirit of love and unity among the people of Israel. ‘Shechem’ in Hebrew means (mountain shoulder); probably because of its location at the foot of the mountain of Gerizim (Judges 9: 7), in the valley between it and the mountain of Ebal. With the beginning of the twentieth century, there was little doubt that it was located at the location of ‘Tel-Elbalata’, one and a half miles east of Nables, that some believe that it was itself the old Shechem; this later was 41 miles north of Jerusalem, and 5 miles and a half south east of Samaria. In this region, there are few Samaritans, with a special temple, where they worship on the Sabbaths, as well as a school for learning the Samaritan language] 2. 2- Portion of the daughters of Zelophehad: In our interpretation of the Book of Numbers3, we saw how the daughters of Zelophehad came to enjoy the inheritance of their father; and how, because of them the statute of inheritance in Israel was changed. Their story carried spiritual symbols that we already dealt with in some detail. 1 On Ps. Hom 34. 2 Mckenzie, p. 797; New Westminster Dict. Of Bible, p. 861. . 3 سفر العدد 1981 أصحاح 27 214 3- The Canaanites stay among the children of Manasseh: If the tribe of Ephraim were not able to drive out the Canaanites, and left them to dwell in their midst in Gezer; so also their brothers the children of Manasseh did, and left the Canaanites to dwell in the land, and put them to forced labor (Joshua 17: 12, 13). 4- The zeal of the children of Joseph: The two tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh, being both the children of Joseph, spoke together to Joshua, saying: “Why have you given us but one lot and one portion to inherit, since we are a great people, inasmuch as the Lord has blessed us until now ? “Joshua 17: 14) Their getting together and speaking with a spirit of unity, got them the admiration of Joshua; as there is nothing that makes our prayers holy in the eyes of the Lord, and our petitions accepted by Him, like getting together in one spirit in the Lord, and our talking to Him with one heart; just like the union of several members to one head! By this He grants us His mercies to enjoy a greater portion. The Lord Himself confirmed that if two or three of us get together in His name, He shall be in their midst. The children of Joseph were privileged by their holy zeal in the Lord; through their union, the increasing spiritual fruits (Ephraim) encountered with the forgetting of love and worries of the world (Manasseh); to make the heart aflame, yearning for a greater portion of the heavenliness. . Through this, “the Kingdom is taken by force” (Matthew 11: 12). The Kingdom of heaven is not granted to the negligent and the lukewarm, but to the hearts that believe in their right in God, those that incessantly strive, to enjoy a greater heavenly portion. The secret of the success of the children of Joseph, lies not only in their unity in the Lord, and in their strife filled with a holy zeal, but also in their realization of their new position and their right in the Lord; saying: “We are a great people, inasmuch as the Lord has blessed us until now”. Indeed, how great it is for the believer, to realize that, even if he is nothing by himself, yet, in Jesus Christ, he is (a great people), blessed by the Lord. He harbors in his heart and body a great people, of feelings, emotions, will, and abilities, ... etc. all sanctified in the Lord. In him there are mighty energies that are the gifts of God who blesses him. Through this realization, the believer, as a son to God, seeks to enjoy more; as whoever has got, will be given more, and whoever has not, what he already has will be taken from him. 215 “Joshua answered them, ‘If you are a great people, then go up to the forest country and clear a place for yourself there in the land of the Perizzites and (the Rephaites) the giants, since the mountains of Ephraim are too confined for you.” (Joshua 17: 15) The scholar Origen says that the word ‘Perizzites’ means (giving fruit), and the ‘Rephaites’ means (negligent mothers). So, if the children of Joseph asked Joshua for a greater portion, he opened before them the forest country to go up and clear a place for themselves, by cutting the fruitless trees, and those with bad fruits, and planting instead good and fruitful trees. The inheritance is to be realized on two aspects: crushing evil, and practicing goodness in the Lord; rejecting the works of the old man, and enjoying those of the new man! Let us drive out the Perizzites, who although they give fruits, yet they are those of the deadly evil; then, let us bring ‘Ephraim’ instead, who has the (productive Spirit). Let us also drive out the Raphaites, the (negligent mothers), who produce love and pleasures of the world, and bring instead the children of Manasseh, who forget all worldly love! If our heart is still a coarse land (forest), that is because it is under the control of the Perizzites, those who produce evil fruits, and the Raphaites, mothers of the weak and negligent thoughts, in the spiritual strife ... But we, by Jesus, in place of the coarse land, there will be a paradise of God, where there are no evil fruits, nor a place for negligence; but in it are the children of Ephraim and Manasseh, the good fruits and the rejection of the worldliness. The scholar Origen comments on those words of Joshua, saying: [Let us make the mountain in us alive; by uprooting the trees without value and without fruits, to plant instead a new field, that is constantly renewed, to harvest a crop, “some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty” (Matthew 13: 8 - 23). About this teaching the Holy Book also says: “And now, the ax is laid to the root of the trees, Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 3: 10). That was what Joshua the son of Nun taught our ancestors, concerning the barren trees that should be cut down, and that was what the Lord God commanded in His Holy Book] 1. 1 In Jos. Hom. 22: 5.
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