Tribe of Manasseh

[4] "Besides the rejection of the Albrightian 'conquest' model, the general consensus among OT scholars is that the Book of Joshua has no value in the historical reconstruction.

"[4] "It behooves us to ask, in spite of the fact that the overwhelming consensus of modern scholarship is that Joshua is a pious fiction composed by the deuteronomistic school, how does and how has the Jewish community dealt with these foundational narratives, saturated as they are with acts of violence against others?

As more sites have been excavated, there has been a growing consensus that the main story of Joshua, that of a speedy and complete conquest (e.g. Josh.

11.23: 'Thus Joshua conquered the whole country, just as the LORD had promised Moses') is contradicted by the archaeological record, though there are indications of some destruction at the appropriate time.

East Manasseh occupied the land from the Mahanaim in the south to Mount Hermon in the north, and including within it the whole of Bashan.

These territories abounded in water, a precious commodity in Canaan, thus constituting one of the most valuable parts of the country; additionally, Manasseh's geographic situation enabled it to defend two important mountain passes—Esdraelon on the west of the Jordan and Hauran on the east.

The modern Israeli settlement of Karnei Shomron is built near this gulch, which runs in an easterly-westerly direction.

[13] Furthermore, in the Blessing of Jacob, and elsewhere ascribed by textual scholars to a similar or earlier time period, (e.g., Joshua 17:14–18) Ephraim and Manasseh are treated as a single tribe, with Joseph appearing in their place.

Additionally, Machir is described as settling on the east of the Jordan River, leaving the absence of the western half of Manasseh in these passages still unaccounted for.