The region in central west Palestine that fell to Ephraim. The region is mainly relatively high hill-country with better rainfall than Judaea and some good soils. The term "Ephraim" also was used to denote the Northern kingdom separate from Judah and Benjamin (Isaiah 7:2; 2 Nephi 17:2).
The sick Jacob acknowledged the two sons of Joseph (Genesis 48:5), blessing Ephraim with his right hand and Manasseh with his left (Genesis 48:13-14), thus signifying that Ephraim would become the greater people (v. 19).
Joshua the son of Nun, was descended from Ephraim (Numbers 13:8). He was chosen with Eleazar the priest to divide the land (Numbers 34:17). Ephraim is also included in the blessing of Moses. Under the valiant leadership of Joshua, Ephraim with the other tribes received its inheritance, which is described in Joshua 16.
From the beginning the tribe of Ephraim occupied a position of prestige and significance. The prestige of Ephraim kept it from looking with favor upon Judah. After the death of Saul, Abner, Saul's captain, made Eshbaal king over the northern tribes, including Ephraim. Judah followed David (2 Samuel 2:8ff.), and after Eshbaal's death the northern tribes invited David to become their king, but later David learned that Israel followed after Absalom. The northern tribes never did desire to yield to David's reign, but David grew continually greater and stronger. Under Solomon the Southern kingdom reached the pinnacle of splendor and prosperity. Nevertheless, even at this time, there was discontent in the north (1 Kings 11:26ff.).
Rehoboam's folly provided the necessary pretext, and the north revolted, renouncing all claim to the promises made to David (1 Kings 12;16). Nevertheless, God continued to send his prophets to the Northern kingdom, and one of the characteristics of the Messianic kingdom is to be the healing of the tragic schism introduced by Jeroboam the son of Nebat (cf. Hosea 1:11; Isaiah 11:13). Even when exile has overtaken the Southern as well as the Northern kingdom, Ephraim retains a special place: "I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my first-born" (Jeremiah 31:9). [Tyndale House, The Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Vol. 1, pp. 462-464] [See 2 Nephi 21:13]
2 Nephi 17:2 Ephraim ([Illustration]): (1) The hilly lands allotted to Ephraim, in central west Palestine. (2) The mountains of Ephraim. [Tyndale House, The Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Vol. 1, p. 464]
2 Nephi 17:2 Ephraim ([Illustration]): The tribes of Israel. [Tyndale House, The Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Vol. 3, p. 1594]
2 Nephi 17:3 The conduit of the upper pool ([Illustration]): The Gihon Spring at the entrance of Hezekiah's Tunnel, Jerusalem. The Gihon Spring flows from a natural cave on the west side of the valley of Kidron, south of where Solomon's temple once stood. In the Old Testament period, the spring was the chief source of water for Jerusalem's inhabitants. Solomon was anointed king near the spring in a sacred ceremony. Perhaps other kings were anointed here as well. From this spring King Hezekiah's engineers ran a tunnel under the city to safeguard Jerusalem's water supply from the invading Assyrians. The Gihon Spring is likely the "upper pool" mentioned by Isaiah. Photograph by Arnold H. Green. [Donald W. Parry, Visualizing Isaiah, p. 9]