Dictionaries :: Ephraim

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Ephraim:

double fruitfulness ("for God had made him fruitful in the land of his affliction"). The second son of Joseph, born in Egypt (Gen 41:52; 46:20). The first incident recorded regarding him is his being placed, along with his brother Manasseh, before their grandfather, Jacob, that he might bless them (Gen 48:10; Gen 27:1). The intention of Joseph was that the right hand of the aged patriarch should be placed on the head of the elder of the two; but Jacob set Ephraim the younger before his brother, "guiding his hands wittingly." Before Joseph's death, Ephraim's family had reached the third generation (Gen 50:23).

Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary

Ephraim:

fruitful; increasing

Nave's Topical Bible

Ephraim: 1. Second Son of Joseph

Gen 41:52

Adopted by Jacob,

Gen 48:5.

Blessed before Manasseh; prophecies concerning,

Gen 48:14-20.

Descendants of,

Num 26:35-37; 1Ch 7:20-27.

Mourned for his sons,

1Ch 7:21, 22.

Ephraim: 2. A Tribe of Israel

Prophecy concerning,

Gen 49:25, 26; Isa 7; 9:18-21; 11:13; 28:1; Jer 31; Hsa 5:14; Zec 9:10; 10:7.

Numbered at Mount Sinai and in plains of Moab,

Num 1:33; 26:37.

Position in camp and march,

Num 2:18, 24; 10:22.

Blessed by Moses,

Deu 33:13-17.

Territory allotted to, after the conquest of Canaan,

Jos 16:5-9; 17:9, 10, 15-18; 1Ch 7:28, 29.

Failed to expel the Canaanites,

Jos 16:10.

Captured Beth-el in battle,

Jdg 1:22-25.

Rebuked Gideon for not summoning them to join the war against the Midianites,

Jdg 8:1.

Joined Gideon against the Midianites,

Jdg 7:24, 25.

Their jealousy of Jephthah,

Jdg 12:1.

Defeated by him,

Jdg 12:4-6.

Received Ish-bosheth as king,

2Sa 2:9.

Jeroboam set up a golden calf in Beth-el,

1Ki 12:29.

Revolted from house of David,

1Ki 12:25; 2Ch 10:16.

Some of tribe joined Judah under Asa,

2Ch 15:9.

Chastised Ahaz and Judah,

2Ch 28:7.

Joined Hezekiah in reinstituting the Passover,

2Ch 30:18.

Joined in the destruction of idolatrous forms in Jerusalem,

2Ch 31:1.

Submitted to the scepter of Josiah,

2Ch 34:1-6.

Envied by other tribes,

Isa 11:13; Jer 7:15; Eze 37:16, 19; Hsa 13:1.

Worshiped Baal,

Hsa 13:1.

Sin of, remembered by God,

Hsa 13:12.

Reallotment of territory, to, by Ezekiel,

Eze 48:5.

Name of, applied to the ten tribes,

2Ch 17:2; 25:6, 7; Isa 7:8, 9; 11:12, 13; 17:3; Jer 31:18, 20; Hsa 4:17; 5:3, 5; 6:4, 10; 8:11; 12:14.

Tribe of, called JOSEPH,

Rev 7:8.

Ephraim: 3. Mount Of

A range of low mountains,

Jos 17:15-18.

Joshua has his inheritance in,

Jdg 2:9.

Residence of Micah,

Jdg 17:8.

A place of hiding for Israelites,

1Sa 14:22.

Sheba resides in,

2Sa 20:21.

Noted for rich pastures,

Jer 50:19.

Prophecy concerning its conversion,

Jer 31:6.

Ephraim: 4. A Forest East of the Jordan River

Absalom killed in

2Sa 18:6-17

Ephraim: 5. A Gate of Jerusalem

2Ki 14:13; 2Ch 25:23; Neh 8:16; 12:39

Ephraim: 6. A City in the Territory of Ephraim

2Ch 13:19

Jesus escapes to, from the persecution of Caiaphas,

Jhn 11:54.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Ephraim:

(double fruitfulness)

(1.) The second son of Joseph by his wife Asenath. (B.C. 1715‐1708) The first indication we have of that ascendancy over his elder brother Manasseh which at a later period the tribe of Ephraim so unmistakably possessed is in the blessing of the children by Jacob (Genesis 48:1).

(2.) That portion of Canaan named after Joseph's second son (Genesis 41:50-52). The boundaries of the portion of Ephraim are given in Joshua 16:1-10. The south boundary was coincident for part of its length with the north boundary of Benjamin. It extended from the Jordan on the east, at the reach opposite Jericho, to the Mediterranean on the west, probably about Joppa. On the north of Ephraim and Manasseh were the tribes of Asher, Zebulun and Issachar. The territory thus allotted to the "house of Joseph" may be roughly estimated at 55 miles from east to west by 70 from north to south. It was one at once of great richness and great security. Its fertile plains and well‐watered valleys could only be reached by a laborious ascent through steep and narrow ravines, all but impassable for an army. Under Joshua the tribe must have taken a high position in the nation, to judge from the tone which the Ephraimites assumed on occasions shortly subsequent to the conquest. After the revolt of Jeroboam the history of Ephraim is the history of the kingdom of Israel, since not only did the tribe become a kingdom, but the kingdom embraced little besides the tribe.

(3.) In "Baal‐hazor which is by Ephraim" was Absalom's sheepfarm, at which took place the murder of Amnon, one of the earliest precursors of the great revolt (2 Samuel 13:23). There is no clue to its situation.

(4.) A city "in the district near the wilderness" to which our Lord retired with his disciples when threatened with violence by the priests (John 11:54).