Bible Dictionaries
Ephraim

Holman Bible Dictionary

(ee fra ihm) Personal and tribal name meaning, “two fruit land” or “two pasture lands.” The younger son of Joseph by the Egyptian Asenath, daughter of the priest of On (Genesis 41:52 ). He was adopted by his grandfather Jacob and given precedence over his brother Manasseh (Genesis 48:14 ). He was the progenitor of the tribe of Ephraim, which occupied a region slightly to the northwest of the Dead Sea (Joshua 16:1 ) and was the leading tribe of the Northern Kingdom, ever ready to assert its rights (Joshua 17:15; Judges 3:27; Judges 4:5; Judges 7:24-8:3; Judges 12:1 ).

Ephraim played an important role in Israelite history. Joshua was an Ephraimite (Joshua 19:50 ). Samuel was an Ephraimite (1 Samuel 1:1 ). Jeroboam I was an Ephraimite (1 Kings 12:25 ). The important sanctuary at Shiloh was located in the territory of Ephraim. From the eighth century B.C., Ephraim was often used as a designation for Israel (Isaiah 11:13; Jeremiah 7:15; Hosea 5:13 ). See Tribes of Israel; Patriarchs.