יהושע י״ז:א׳-י״ג

למכיר בכור מנשה. לפיכך נטל תחלה בימי משה בעבר הירדן, ויהי לו הגלעד והבשן:

To Mochir, the firstborn of Menashe. Since he was the firstborn, he was the first to take a portion in the days of Moshe, on the other side of the Jordan, and thus Gilod and Boshon were his portion.

ויפלו חבלי מנשה עשרה. ששה לששה בתי אבות המנויים למעלה, וארבע לבנות צלפחד, לא שתהא כל אחת בית אב לעצמה, אלא שנטלו ארבעה חלקים, חלק של אביהם שהיה מיוצאי מצרים, ולפי מנין היוצאים ממצרים נתחלקה הארץ, וחלקו עם אחיו בנכסי חפר אביו שהיה גם הוא מיוצאי מצרים, ושהיה בכור ונטל שני חלקים, ועוד היה להם חלק אחי אביהם שמת במדבר בלא בנים, ונטלו נחלה בחלקו, כך אמרו רבותינו בבבא בתרא (קיח א), ולא הוזקק הכתוב להשמיענו מנין חלקי הבנות, אלא ללמד שנטלו חלק בכורה, ולהודיע שארץ ישראל חלק ירושה להם מוחזקת מאבותיהם, שאילולי כן אין הבכור נוטל בראוי כבמוחזק:

Ten portions of land fell to Menashe. Six portions went to the family divisions mentioned above, and four went to the daughters of Tselophchod, not because each of them was considered an individual family division but rather because they took these four portions: the portion of their father who was one of those who went out of Egypt; since according to the number of those who went out of Egypt was the land divided; the portion their father shared with his brothers in the property of their father, Cheifer, since he too was one of those who went out of Egypt; and since their father, Tselophchod, was the firstborn, he received two portions [of Cheifer’s property]; and an additional portion from their father’s brother who died in the wilderness, without children and they received the inheritance of his share. This was stated by our Sages in Bava Basra.¹Maseches Bava Basra 119A. It was unnecessary for Scripture to relate to us the number of the daughters’ share, except to teach us that they took the share of the firstborn, and to inform us that Eretz Yisroel was an actual inheritance to them [since it was considered] the actual possession of their fathers, for the firstborn does not receive an extra portion in potential property as he does in actual property.²A firstborn receives a double portion only of the property that actually belonged to his father, but not of the property that was only potentially his father’s. Regarding the inheritance of Eretz Yisroel, the portions that were destined for them were considered their actual possession and not just potential property. The daughters of Tzelophechod, therefore, were able to inherit that extra portion of their father.

וארץ הגלעד. שבעבר הירדן היתה לבני מנשה הנותרים:

And the land of Gilod— that was on the other side of the Jordan belonged to the remaining sons of Menashe.

ארץ תפוח. הכפרים והחצרים, ותפוח עצמה העיר היתה לבני אפרים:

The land of Tapuach. The villages and the towns [belonged to Menashe], but the city of Tapuach itself belonged to the descendants of Ephraim.

אל גבול מנשה. על מצר מנשה לסוף גבולו:

On Menashe’s boundary. It was located on the border of Menashe, toward the end of his boundary.

ערים האלה. מתפוח עד נחל קנה, לאפרים היו בתוך ערי מנשה:

These cities— from Tapuach to the stream of Kanoh belonged to Ephraim, but were located among the cities of Menashe.

נגבה לאפרים. אפרים נטל חלקו מדרום לצד הארץ שבין בני יהודה לשאר השבטים:

The southern side belonged to Ephraim: Ephraim took his share from the south, facing the land between the descendants of Yehudah and the rest of the tribes.

וצפונה למנשה. מנשה נטל לצד צפון:

The northern side belonged to Menashe. Menashe took the land to the north.

שלשת הנפת. תלתא פלכין, ושלשת הנפת הנזכרים כאן, של דאר ושל עין דור היו, כמו שאמור למעלה בספר זה (יב כג): מלך דור לנפת דור, ובפסוק אחר אומר (לעיל יא ב): לנפת דאר מים, וכאן כך הוא אומר: ואת יושבי דאר ובנותיה, שלשת הנפת שהיו לה:

These were three regions. [as the Targum], Three provinces. The three regions mentioned here consisted of Dor and Ein dor, as stated above in this Seifer:³Above 12:23. “The king of Dor of the Dor region,” and in another verse it states:⁴Above 11:2. “In the region of Dor on the west,” and here it is stated: “The inhabitants of Dor and its towns.” These are three regions that belonged to her.

ויואל. ויאבה:

Resolved—were willing.⁵The tribe of Menashe set a bad precedent by taxing the Canaanites instead of destroying them as the Torah commanded. This evil practice was soon adopted by the other tribes. Even though the tribe of Ephraim also did not drive out the Canaanites (see above 16:10), they at least forced them into slave labor, whereas the tribe of Menashe demanded only a money tax. This was considered a graver sin as it allowed these Canaanites the ability to influence the Jews much more than those who were actually enslaved.