Manasseh (2)
Birth and Name
Manasseh was born in Egypt to Joseph and his wife Asenath, daughter of Potiphera, priest of On (Genesis 41:50-51). He was Joseph's firstborn son, born during the seven years of abundance before the great famine. Joseph named him Manasseh, explaining, "God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father's house" (Genesis 41:51). The name reflected Joseph's gratitude that God had turned years of suffering — betrayal by his brothers, slavery, and imprisonment — into prosperity and honor in Egypt.
Manasseh and his younger brother Ephraim grew up in Egyptian court life as the sons of the second most powerful man in the kingdom. Yet their destiny would be tied not to Egypt but to the promised land of their ancestors.
Jacob's Blessing: The Reversal of the Firstborn
When Jacob was near death in Egypt, Joseph brought his two sons to receive their grandfather's blessing. Jacob formally adopted them, declaring that Manasseh and Ephraim would be counted as his own sons, on equal standing with Reuben and Simeon (Genesis 48:5). This adoption effectively gave Joseph a double portion of the inheritance — two tribal allotments instead of one.
Joseph carefully positioned his sons so that Jacob's right hand (the hand of greater blessing) would fall on Manasseh's head as the firstborn. But Jacob deliberately crossed his hands, placing his right hand on Ephraim's head (Genesis 48:14). When Joseph protested, Jacob replied, "I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations" (Genesis 48:19).
This reversal echoed a pattern running through Genesis: Isaac over Ishmael, Jacob over Esau, Joseph over his older brothers. God consistently chose the younger over the elder, overturning human conventions of primogeniture to demonstrate his sovereign freedom in distributing blessing.
The Tribe of Manasseh in the Wilderness
The tribe of Manasseh grew significantly during the wilderness period. At the first census, Manasseh numbered 32,200 fighting men (Numbers 1:34-35), the smallest count among the tribes. By the second census, taken on the plains of Moab, the tribe had surged to 52,700 (Numbers 26:34), and Manasseh is listed before Ephraim for the first time. During the wilderness march, Manasseh was positioned with Ephraim and Benjamin on the west side of the tabernacle under the standard of Ephraim (Numbers 2:18-20).
The descendants of Machir, Manasseh's son, proved to be particularly formidable warriors. They conquered the Amorites and took possession of Gilead in the Transjordan region (Numbers 32:39). Jair, another descendant, captured the region of Argob with its sixty cities (Deuteronomy 3:14).
The Divided Inheritance
Manasseh was unique among the tribes in receiving territory on both sides of the Jordan River. The half-tribe east of the Jordan (often called the "half-tribe of Manasseh") received Gilead and Bashan, a vast territory stretching from the northern border of Gad to an uncertain boundary in the north (Joshua 13:29-31). This was rugged, pastoral country well suited to the warlike descendants of Machir.
The western half-tribe received an allotment in central Canaan, between Ephraim to the south and Issachar and Asher to the north (Joshua 17:1-13). However, the tribe struggled to fully possess this territory. Several Canaanite cities — including Beth-shean, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, and Megiddo — resisted conquest, and the Manassites could only subject them to forced labor rather than driving them out (Joshua 17:12-13; Judges 1:27-28).
When the tribe complained to Joshua that their allotment was too small for their numbers, Joshua challenged them to clear the forested hill country for settlement rather than expecting an easy inheritance (Joshua 17:14-18).
Notable Figures and Later History
Several important biblical figures came from Manasseh. Gideon, the judge who defeated the Midianites with only 300 men, was from the clan of Abiezer in western Manasseh (Judges 6:15). His son Abimelech became the first attempted king in Israel, a cautionary tale of violent ambition (Judges 9). Jephthah, the judge who defeated the Ammonites, ruled in the Transjordan territory of Manasseh (Judges 11).
The eastern half-tribe, along with Reuben and Gad, was among the first to fall to Assyrian conquest. Tiglath-pileser III deported the Transjordan tribes around 733 BC (1 Chronicles 5:26). The western portion fell with the rest of the northern kingdom when Samaria was destroyed in 722 BC. Despite this, representatives of Manasseh were among those who responded to Hezekiah's invitation to celebrate Passover in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 30:1, 11), showing that tribal identity and faith persisted even after political destruction.
Biblical Context
Manasseh's personal story appears in Genesis 41:50-51, 48:1-20, and 50:23. The tribal history spans Numbers (census lists in chapters 1 and 26), Joshua (territorial allotments in chapters 13 and 17), Judges (Gideon in chapters 6-8, Jephthah in chapter 11), and the historical books through the Assyrian deportation (1 Chronicles 5:26; 2 Kings 15:29). The daughters of Zelophehad, who won inheritance rights, were from the tribe of Manasseh (Numbers 27:1-7; 36:1-12).
Theological Significance
The story of Manasseh illustrates God's sovereign freedom in blessing. Jacob's deliberate reversal of the firstborn's prerogative demonstrated that God's purposes are not bound by human convention. The tribe's divided inheritance — half on each side of the Jordan — became both a bridge between the settled land and the frontier and a vulnerability, as the eastern portion was exposed to attack. The narrative of Zelophehad's daughters from Manasseh established the principle that God's justice extends to those without traditional standing, anticipating the inclusive vision of the gospel.
Historical Background
The territory of Manasseh east of the Jordan encompasses modern-day Gilead and the Golan Heights region. Archaeological surveys have identified numerous Iron Age settlements in both western and eastern Manassite territory. The Samaria Ostraca, eighth-century BC administrative documents found at Samaria, mention clan names from the tribe of Manasseh that correspond to those listed in Numbers 26 and Joshua 17. Assyrian records confirm the deportation of populations from the Transjordan region during Tiglath-pileser III's campaigns. The site of Megiddo, in western Manasseh's territory, is one of the most thoroughly excavated sites in Israel, revealing layers of occupation spanning the biblical period.