Joshua 17:15
And Joshua answered them, If thou be a great people, then get thee up to the wood country, and cut down for thyself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the giants, if mount Ephraim be too narrow for thee. And Joshua answered them, If thou be a great people, then get thee up to the wood country, and cut down for thyself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the giants, if mount Ephraim be too narrow for thee.
The answer was a refusal to grant Ephraim and the half-tribe of Manasseh additional territory already subdued by others, even though they pleaded their superior numbers as grounds for a larger share. Their existing lot was already rich, including the fertile plain of Sharon, so want rather than need drove the request. Joshua himself belonged to the tribe of Ephraim, yet he held to strict justice and showed no favoritism to his own kin.
The condition laid down was plain: if they were indeed a great people and found Mount Ephraim too narrow for them, they were to go up to the wood country and cut out room for themselves there. That clearing was to be made in the land of the Perizzites and of the giants, requiring them to accept the toil and danger of conquering their own possession rather than shunning hardship and seeking ease at the expense of their brethren. Their complaint in fact exposed a lack of faith and courage to drive out the Canaanites, standing in marked contrast to the spirit shown by Caleb. Joshua therefore turned their own argument back upon them, insisting that as a great people with great power, and with the pledged power and help of God, they were fully able to make their own way as their brethren had done. They could drive out the Canaanites without fear, even though the enemy was strong and armed with chariots of iron.