The following is the results of your search for Ephraim, The tribe of.
Ephraim, The tribe of: Took precedence over that of Manasseh by virtue of Jacob's blessing
(Genesis 41:52; 48:1) The descendants of Joseph formed two of the tribes
of Israel, whereas each of the other sons of Jacob was the founder of
only one tribe. Thus there were in reality thirteen tribes; but the
number twelve was preserved by excluding that of Levi when Ephraim and
Manasseh are mentioned separately
(Numbers 1:32-34; Joshua 17:14,17; 1 Chronicles 7:20)
Territory of. At the time of the first census in the wilderness
this tribe numbered 40,500
(Numbers 1:32,33) forty years later, when
about to take possession of the Promised Land, it numbered only 32,500
During the march
(See CAMP)
Ephraim's place was on the west side of the tabernacle
(Numbers 2:18-24)
When the spies were sent out to spy the land, "Oshea the son of Nun"
of this tribe signalized himself. The boundaries of the portion of the
land assigned to Ephraim are given in
(Joshua 16:1-10) It included
most of what was afterwards called Samaria as distinguished from Judea
and Galilee. It thus lay in the centre of all traffic, from north to
south, and from Jordan to the sea, and was about 55 miles long and 30
broad. The tabernacle and the ark were deposited within its limits at
Shiloh, where it remained for four hundred years. During the time of
the judges and the first stage of the monarchy this tribe manifested a
domineering and haughty and discontented spirit. "For more than five
hundred years, a period equal to that which elapsed between the Norman
Conquest and the War of the Roses, Ephraim, with its two dependent
tribes of Manasseh and Benjamin, exercised undisputed pre-eminence.
Joshua the first conqueror, Gideon the greatest of the judges, and
Saul the first king, belonged to one or other of the three tribes. It
was not till the close of the first period of Jewish history that God
'refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim,
but chose the tribe of Judah, the Mount Zion which he loved'
(Psalms 78:67,68) When the ark was removed from Shiloh to Zion the
power of Ephraim was humbled." Among the causes which operated to
bring about the disruption of Israel was Ephraim's jealousy of the
growing power of Judah. From the settlement of Canaan till the time of
David and Solomon, Ephraim had held the place of honour among the
tribes. It occupied the central and fairest portions of the land, and
had Shiloh and Shechem within its borders. But now when Jerusalem
became the capital of the kingdom, and the centre of power and worship
for the whole nation of Israel, Ephraim declined in influence. The
discontent came to a crisis by Rehoboam's refusal to grant certain
redresses that were demanded
(1 Kings 12:1)ff
