Jewish History: Biblical History: The "Half-Tribe" of Menasheh:
Is Menasheh called a "half-tribe" because his mother was Egyptian?
There was nothing inferior about Joseph's children; they
were adopted by Jacob as full-fledged tribes of Israel
(Gen.48:5). But after the Exodus, when the Israelites
approached the promised land, some of the families of
the tribe of Menasheh conquered territory on the other
side of the Jordan (Num.32:39-42), and this territory
was given to them by Moses (Num.33:33). As a result,
half of the tribe of Menasheh remained on the east
side of the Jordan, together with the tribes of Reuven
and Gad (who had also been given territory there), while
the other half of the tribe crossed the Jordan with Joshua
and the other tribes and were given territory in Canaan.
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