‘ And the children of Joseph said, “The hill country is not enough for us, and all the Canaanites who dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both they who are in Beth-shean and her towns, and they who are of the valley of Jezreel.” '
The reply came back from the elders of the tribe of Joseph that even when forest land was cleared the hill country would be insufficient, and the valleys would be out of the question because of the strength of the Canaanite armaments. Like many they wanted ease and comfort without effort or the exercise of faith. But they had summed up their problems accurately. Their eyes were on the strong fortress of Bethshean with its related towns and other Canaanite enclaves in the valley of Jezreel, the deep broad valley of Nahr Jalud which descends eastward from Jezreel. And they were timid and afraid.
“The children of Joseph.” See Joshua 14:4; Joshua 16:1; Joshua 16:4; Joshua 17:14. Sometimes also described as ‘the house of Joseph' (Joshua 17:17; Joshua 18:5; Judges 1:22). There seems little difference between the expressions although the latter appears to be used to stress the combination of two tribes as one under a joint patriarch as his ‘household'.