דברי הימים א, פרק ז׳, פסוק כ״א

A deep family and tribal tragedy emerges from the genealogical records, revealing a deadly event where the sons of Ephraim lost their lives during an expedition to seize livestock. Regarding the timing and background of this incident, rabbinic tradition suggests it occurred before the Exodus from Egypt. The descendants of Ephraim miscalculated the end of the Egyptian enslavement and left before the appointed time [רד״ק, חומת אנך]. Their motive for leaving early stemmed from a belief that the exile was a specific punishment for the selling of Joseph. As Joseph's direct descendants, they assumed the exile did not apply to them. They were unaware that the enslavement had been sealed much earlier at the Covenant Between the Parts and applied to all the tribes [חומת אנך].

An alternative perspective places the tragedy much later, during the time the Israelites wandered in the desert or near the region of Gilead, while their father Ephraim was still alive. This timeline provides a reason for a noticeable drop in population between the censuses taken in the desert. At the beginning of the journey, the tribe of Ephraim numbered over forty thousand men, yet by the census taken just before entering the land, they had decreased to roughly thirty-two thousand. According to this view, the missing thousands were the casualties killed by the men of Gath [רד״ק].

The fatal encounter occurred exactly as the sons of Ephraim went down into the area to take the herds [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. They were defeated by the men of Gath, who were native to the land. The primary approach among commentators is that this detail highlights the tactical advantage held by the locals. The men of Gath intimately knew the terrain, the roads, and the entryways of the region. In contrast, the sons of Ephraim were born in a different country and lacked familiarity with the local geography, allowing the men of Gath to easily ambush and overpower them. Another explanation suggests the focus is simply on identifying the attackers as Philistines, the original inhabitants of the city, noting that Gath would eventually be conquered by Israel [רד״ק]. Conversely, a different opinion argues that the native description actually refers to the victims, emphasizing that the casualties were the direct children born to Ephraim himself [רד״ק].