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were Ibleam, Taanach, Megiddo, and Dor. These places were an association of defense in the plain. Each was encircled by- many dependent villages, which are spoken of by the Hebrew text as "daughters." It is not a matter for wonder that the clan of Manasseh, venturing across the Jordan from Gilead, should meet with only partial success in driving out the earlier inhabitants. Not only did the walled cities of the plain of Esdraelon survive the assault, but even the dependent agricul- tural villages round about them remained in possession of the Canaanites. An ancient fortified city served at once as a de- fense for its own immediate population and as a refuge for the dwellers of contiguous hamlets in times of danger. This is indicated by Jeremiah, who shows that in war-time the cry was, "Assemble yourselves and let us go up to the fortified cities" (Jer. 4:5). Thus it was at the time of the Israelite invasion, for "Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean and its daughters (i.e., villages), nor of Taanach and its vil- lages, nor the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land" (Judg. 1:27), The text as it now stands goes on to state that the Canaanites inhabiting these towns in the plain were in time reduced to slavery by Israel. But this is clearly an editorial explanation designed to save the pride of later times, as we shall presently see. What really came to pass was this: The clan of Manasseh was forced into the hills abutting the southern side of the plain. This region was a part of what later came to be known as "the hill country of Ephraim." It contained no strong cities like Beth-shean, so that it offered a field for diversion of the Manassites. Here among the farms and pastures of the hills the rustic Canaanites were in some cases exterminated and in other cases forced into slavery. The outstanding fact here is that the clan of Manasseh obtained freehold estates by right of conquest in the hills of central Canaan. Various biblical traditions warrant the above statement that the country Canaanites who did not enjoy protection of the walled cities were partly exterminated
