Forest Thicket

[Josh. 17:18] But the mountain shall be thine; for it is a wood, and thou shalt cut it down: and the outgoings of it shall be thine: for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they be strong.
Chariots of iron, unusually strengthened with that metal, and perhaps armed with projecting scythes. 14-18
This episode may be a genuine recollection of Joshua’s important work as arbitrator of tribal territorial claims. It begins with a complaint, whose historical background we are not able to reconstruct.
The one lot (14) must refer to the allotment of the descendants of Joseph (16:1), although the description, which follows, gives only the southern boundary line of Ephraim.
The one lot seems to be the hill country of Ephraim (15), between Bethel and Shechem.
It appears that the one lot was expanded (17) to include that of Manasseh (1) as a second lot.
This included the land of the Rephaim (15), meaning Bashan and perhaps Gilead (12:4; 13:12; Deut. 2:20; 3:11, 13), which was assigned to a branch of the tribe of Manasseh (1, 5-6).
The land of the Perizzites refers to the territory north of Bethel (Gen. 13:7), around Shechem (Gen. 34:30), and north of Shechem (Jug. 1:4-5; for the location of Bezek north of Tirzah).
Bethel north to the cities guarding the Plain of Jezreel.
To the complaint of the tribe of Joseph that they had only one portion (14), Joshua responds by giving Manasseh ten portions west of the Jordan (5).
Joshua’s response to the complainers is that they should transform the forest thickets of the hill country into a forest part fit for habitation as G-d intended.
The complaint of the Joseph tribe is that the area allotted to them is inadequate for their great numbers.
This can refer only to parts of the hill country already brought under cultivation by the sparsely settled Canaanite society.
Before rock terracing or water channels or cisterns for irrigation could be arranged for, there was the difficult task of clearing away the forest thickets that covered the land.
The forest as obstacles to cultivation, and thus to human life, are best described as thickets of the forest (Isa. 9:18; 10:34).
This includes thorns and briers as well as scrub growth.
This kind of forest thicket is also the home of wild animal such as lions, bears, and wild boars, which destroy people and cultivated fields.
Joshua’s command to the people is to go up to the forest thickets and make them into a park, like the garden of G-d, making it habitable, life supporting and beautiful.