John Gill Commentary Joshua 17:15

"And Joshua said unto them, If thou be a great people, get thee up to the forest, and cut down for thyself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the Rephaim; since the hill-country of Ephraim is too narrow for thee." — Joshua 17:15 (ASV)

And Joshua answered them
By retorting their own argument upon them:

if you are a great people ;
which he does not deny, as they were for numbers and power:

[then] go up to the wood [country] ;
which was near them, and within your borders, and lay on hills and mountains, perhaps the mountains of Gilboa, and therefore are bid to go up:

and cut down for yourself there ;
cut down the trees of the wood, clear the ground of them, and so make it habitable, and by that means enlarge the places of their habitation:

in the land of the Perizzites, and of the giants ;
or Rephaim; the former of these were one of the seven nations of the Canaanites, who from their name seem to have dwelt not in the cities, and walled towns, but in villages, and scattered houses, in desert places, and among the woods, where also the giants had retired and dwelt after Joshua had driven them out of the cities; and by driving these out of their present habitations, they would gain more room to dwell in, and would find your lot sufficient for them:

if Mount Ephraim be too narrow for you ;
either meaning all Ephraim, and even the whole lot of the sons of Joseph, or rather the mount particularly so called; for the words may be rendered, "for Mount Ephraim hastens for you" ^F17 ; was clear or open for you; ready to be delivered to you, and you may possess it at once.

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FOOTNOTES:

• F17: Vid Gusset. Ebr. Comment, p. 21.