“Neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Beth–shean and her towns, nor Taanach and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns: but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.”
Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or Dor and its villages, or Ibleam and its villages, or Megiddo and its villages; but the Canaanites persisted in inhabiting that land. — The comprehensive failure of Manasseh to expel inhabitants from a list of strategic cities establishes the first of the chapter's systematic failure accounts. The cities named—Beth-shean, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, and Megiddo—occupied strategic positions controlling water sources, trade routes, and agricultural valleys throughout the Manassite allotment. The repeated phrase 'and its villages' emphasizes the scope of incomplete conquest. The verb 'persisted in inhabiting' employs the sense of stubborn refusal or determination, suggesting that Canaanite populations actively resisted displacement.
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