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•EPHRAIM double fruitfulness (“for God had made him fruitful in the land of his affliction”). The second son of Joseph, born in Egypt (Genesis 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 (48:10; comp. 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 (Genesis 50:23).‌

•EPHRAIM, GATE OF one of the gates of Jerusalem (2 Kings 14:13; 2 Chronicles 25:23), on the side of the city looking toward Ephraim, the north side.

•EPHRAIM IN THE WILDERNESS (John 11: 54), a town to which our Lord retired with his disciples after he had raised Lazarus, and when the priests were conspiring against him. It lay in the wild, uncultivated hill-country to the north-east of Jerusalem, betwen the central towns and the Jordan valley.

•EPHRAIM, MOUNT the central mountainous district of Palestine occupied by the tribe of Ephraim (Joshua 17:15; 19:50; 20:7), extending from Bethel to the plain of Jezreel. In Joshua’s time (Joshua 17:18) these hills were densely wooded. They were intersected by well-watered, fertile valleys, referred to in Jeremiah 50:19. Joshua was buried at Timnath-heres among the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill of Gaash (Judges 2:9). This region is also called the “mountains of Israel” (Joshua 11:21) and the “mountains of Samaria” (Jeremiah 31:5, 6: Amos 3:9).

•EPHRAIM, THE TRIBE OF took precedence over that of Manasseh by virtue of Jacob’s blessing (Genesis 41:52; 48:1). The descendants of Joseph formed two of the tribes of Israel, whereas each of the other sons of Jacob was the founder of only one tribe. Thus there were in reality thirteen tribes; but the number twelve was preserved by excluding that of

Levi when Ephraim and Manasseh are mentioned separately (Numbers 1:32-34; Joshua 17:14, 17; 1 Chronicles 7:20).

Territory of. At the time of the first census in the wilderness this tribe numbered 40,500 (Numbers 1:32, 33); forty years later, when about to take possession of the Promised Land, it numbered only 32,500. During the march (see CAMP) Ephraim’s place was on the west side of the tabernacle (Numbers 2:18-24). When the spies were sent out to spy the land, “Oshea the son of Nun” of this tribe signalized himself.

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