But the Amorites would dwell in mount Heres in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim: yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that they became tributaries.
The hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that they became tributaries. 'Midway between the open rich vales of Manasseh and Ephraim, and the garden recesses and pasture-grounds in the neighbourhood of Hebron, about Beth-el and Jebus, the highland territory was comparatively poor and bare; and the occupation of it was not grudged by the Hebrews to the tribes whom they displaced from their richer settlements. There, accordingly, we find the Canaanites whom they weakly permitted to continue in the land, or in that part of the land actually possessed by them. It must be borne in mind that the provinces of Zebulun, Asher, Naphtali, and Dan, mentioned Judges 1:30-34, were then only theoretically assigned to these tribes, who did not enter into actual possession of their estates until long after, and then only partially. The remaining Canaanites were driven by Joshua to the bare mountain heights in the country actually conquered and possessed (Judges 1:21-22)' (Draws 'Scripture Lands,' p. 104; also Appendix D).