For the children of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim: therefore they gave no part unto the Levites in the land, save cities to dwell in, with their suburbs for their cattle and for their substance.
The children of Joseph were two tribes. Since two and one-half tribes were settled х mee`eeber (H5676)] on the other side - i:e., on the east of Jordan (see the note at Joshua 1:14-15; Joshua 9:10; Joshua 17:5) - and the Levites had no inheritance assigned them in land, there would have been only eight tribes and a-half to provide for. But Ephraim and Manasseh, the two sons of Joseph, had been constituted two tribes (Genesis 48:5); and although Levi was excluded, the original number of the tribes of Israel was still preserved.