Joshua 16:8

8 (and it goeth forth) from Tappuah, and passeth against the sea into the valley of the place of reeds; and the goings out thereof be unto the saltiest sea. This is the possession [of the lineage] of the sons of Ephraim, by their families; (and from Tappuah it goeth west by the Kanah River; and its end, or its limit, is the Mediterranean Sea. This is the possession of the tribe of the sons of Ephraim, by their families;)

Joshua 16:8 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 16:8

The border went out from Tappuah westward
Which was different from the Tappuah in the tribe of Judah, ( Joshua 15:34 ) ; this was in the tribe of Ephraim on the border of Manasseh, ( Joshua 17:8 ) ;

unto the river Kanah;
supposed by some to be the brook Cherith, by which Elijah hid himself, ( 1 Kings 17:3 1 Kings 17:5 ) ; though objected to by others; it seems to have had its name from the reeds which grew in it, or on the banks of it:

and the goings out thereof were at the sea;
if the river Kanah was the brook Cherith, this must be the dead or salt sea: but that is never called "the sea", rather the Mediterranean sea is meant, and consequently Kanah could not be Cherith, which was at too great a distance from this sea:

this [is] the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Ephraim by
their families;
that is, this is the description of the border of it; for the cities within are not mentioned, and the descriptions in general are very obscure.

Joshua 16:8 In-Context

6 And the coasts go out into the sea; for Michmethah beholdeth the north, and it compasseth the terms against the east in Taanathshiloh, and it passeth from the strand of Janohah; (And then the border goeth out to the west, to Michmethah in the north, and then out to the east of Taanathshiloh, and passeth by it on the east to Janohah;)

7 and it goeth down from Janohah into Ataroth(addar), and into Naarath, and it cometh into Jericho; and it goeth out to (the) Jordan(;)

8 (and it goeth forth) from Tappuah, and passeth against the sea into the valley of the place of reeds; and the goings out thereof be unto the saltiest sea. This is the possession [of the lineage] of the sons of Ephraim, by their families; (and from Tappuah it goeth west by the Kanah River; and its end, or its limit, is the Mediterranean Sea. This is the possession of the tribe of the sons of Ephraim, by their families;)

9 and the cities and the towns of those be separated to the sons of Ephraim, in the midst of the possession of the sons of Manasseh.

10 And the sons of Ephraim killed not Canaanites, that dwelled in Gezer; and Canaanites dwelled (as a) tributary in the midst of Ephraim till to this day. (And the sons of Ephraim did not kill the Canaanites who lived in Gezer; and so the Canaanites live as tributaries in the midst of the Ephraimites unto this present day/and so the Canaanites live in the midst of the Ephraimites, and pay them tribute, or taxes, unto this present day.)