Kommentar zu Jehoschua 14:4
כִּֽי־הָי֧וּ בְנֵֽי־יוֹסֵ֛ף שְׁנֵ֥י מַטּ֖וֹת מְנַשֶּׁ֣ה וְאֶפְרָ֑יִם וְלֹֽא־נָתְנוּ֩ חֵ֨לֶק לַלְוִיִּ֜ם בָּאָ֗רֶץ כִּ֤י אִם־עָרִים֙ לָשֶׁ֔בֶת וּמִ֨גְרְשֵׁיהֶ֔ם לְמִקְנֵיהֶ֖ם וּלְקִנְיָנָֽם׃
Die Söhne Josefs waren zwei Stämme, Manasse und Efraim. Aber sie hatten den Leviten keinen Teil vom Lande gegeben nur Städte zum Wohnen und deren Bezirke für ihre Herden und ihre Habe.
Rashi on Joshua
The descendants of Yoseif were two tribes. In place of the tribe of Levi.1Moshe and Yehoshua were commanded that the Levi’im were not to be given a portion of the land. The land was to be divided only among the other eleven tribes. The children of Menashe and Ephraim were counted as two tribes so that the land would be divided by twelve tribes. This came about through the will of Yaakov, who told Yoseif that his two sons, Ephraim and Menashe, would be considered as his own two son, Reuven and Shimon. (See Bereishis 48:7) This is mentioned here to explain how Yehoshua was to divide the land among nine and half tribes, when without Levi, there would be only eight and a half. We are told therefore that Menashe and Ephraim were counted as two tribes, thus this would compensate for the omission of Levi.
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