Numbers · Chapter 32

V. 1. Jazer-A city and country of the Amorites; Gilead-A mountainous country, famous for pasturage

Verse 1. The land of Jazer — A city and country of the Amorites. Gilead — A mountainous country, famous for pasturage. These countries were lately taken from the two Amorite princes, Sihon and Og, (Numbers 21:24,) and were, by divine appointment, allowed to be inhabited by the Israelites, as well as the land of Canaan itself.

THE SUIT OF REUBEN AND GAD FOR THEIR ALLOTMENT, 1-5.

1. Jazer — We first hear of this city in the possession of the Amorites, from whom it was taken by the Israelites after Heshbon, on their way to Bashan. It was in or near to Gilead. It was rebuilt by the tribe of Gad, and was a prominent place in their territory. Joshua 13:25, note. Gilead is a mountainous region east of the Jordan, south of Bashan, north of Moab and Ammon, and west of the Arabian plateau. Its name signifies hard, rocky. It stands in contrast to Bashan, which signifies level, fertile. Gilead shows traces of great fertility even in its present desolation, covered over as it is with hundreds of ruined cities. The modern provinces of Belka and Jebel Ajlun cover ancient Gilead. This region is the paradise of nomads, because of the abundance and richness of its pasturage.

THE SUIT OF REUBEN AND GAD FOR THEIR ALLOTMENT, 1-5.

1. Jazer — We first hear of this city in the possession of the Amorites, from whom it was taken by the Israelites after Heshbon, on their way to Bashan. It was in or near to Gilead. It was rebuilt by the tribe of Gad, and was a prominent place in their territory. Joshua 13:25, note. Gilead is a mountainous region east of the Jordan, south of Bashan, north of Moab and Ammon, and west of the Arabian plateau. Its name signifies hard, rocky. It stands in contrast to Bashan, which signifies level, fertile. Gilead shows traces of great fertility even in its present desolation, covered over as it is with hundreds of ruined cities. The modern provinces of Belka and Jebel Ajlun cover ancient Gilead. This region is the paradise of nomads, because of the abundance and richness of its pasturage.

Verse 3. Ataroth, and Dibon, &c.] The places mentioned here belonged to Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan, which being conquered by the Israelites, constituted ever after a part of their territories, Numbers 32:33.

3. Ataroth — Hebrew, crowns. There were several cities of this name. This was probably in the land of Jazer. It has not been identified. Dibon — Joshua 13:17, note. Nimrah occurs only here. Modern research has not yet identified it. There are several places east of the Jordan whose names resemble this. Heshbon — Joshua 13:17, note. Elealeh — The extensive ruins of this place are still to be seen, bearing very nearly their ancient name, El-A’al, signifying the high, about a mile north of Heshbon on the summit of a rounded hill. Shebam is probably the same as Shibmah, verse 38, and Sibmah, Joshua 13:19, note. Nebo — This town was rebuilt by Reuben. It does not occur in the list of his towns (Joshua 13:15-23) unless it be under another name, as is intimated in verse 38. Nebo being the name of a heathen god would naturally be changed after its conquest by Israel. Beon — Baal-meon, verse 38, changed, probably to eliminate the pagan association, to Beth-meon, Jeremiah 48:23. It was Moabite in Ezekiel’s day, and named as one of the cities which are “the glory of the country.” The site is still known. “Taking a sweep on the fine turf to the south-east,” (from Heshbon,) says Tristram, “we passed by the ruins of Ma’in, (Baal-meon,) shapeless and featureless, at which a cursory glance was sufficient.”

Verse 4. Which the Lord smote — That is, whose inhabitants we, by God’s peculiar aid, routed and destroyed: Deuteronomy 2:33, compared with the history of this victory, Numbers 21.

THE SUIT OF REUBEN AND GAD FOR THEIR ALLOTMENT, 1-5.

1. Jazer — We first hear of this city in the possession of the Amorites, from whom it was taken by the Israelites after Heshbon, on their way to Bashan. It was in or near to Gilead. It was rebuilt by the tribe of Gad, and was a prominent place in their territory. Joshua 13:25, note. Gilead is a mountainous region east of the Jordan, south of Bashan, north of Moab and Ammon, and west of the Arabian plateau. Its name signifies hard, rocky. It stands in contrast to Bashan, which signifies level, fertile. Gilead shows traces of great fertility even in its present desolation, covered over as it is with hundreds of ruined cities. The modern provinces of Belka and Jebel Ajlun cover ancient Gilead. This region is the paradise of nomads, because of the abundance and richness of its pasturage.

Verse 5. Let this land be given unto thy servants] Because it was good for pasturage, and they had many flocks, Numbers 32:1.

Verses 5-7. Bring us not over Jordan — To give us our possession there; but let this land, on this side Jordan, be our whole possession. Shall ye sit here? — In ease and peace, while your brethren are engaged in war. Wherefore discourage ye the heart of Israel — Their words were ambiguous, and Moses suspected that mere cowardice, and a love of ease, made them desire to stay where they were; which ill example might have disheartened the rest of their brethren.

5. Bring us not over Jordan — The charitable construction of this petition is that these tribes did not wish their allotments on the west side of the Jordan, but that they intended to assist in its conquest. But Moses understood them to desire to settle at once east of the river, and leave the other tribes to conquer Canaan alone.

THE REMONSTRANCE OF MOSES, 6-15.

V. 6. Ye sit here-In ease and peace, while your brethren are engaged in a bloody war.

Verses 5-7. Bring us not over Jordan — To give us our possession there; but let this land, on this side Jordan, be our whole possession. Shall ye sit here? — In ease and peace, while your brethren are engaged in war. Wherefore discourage ye the heart of Israel — Their words were ambiguous, and Moses suspected that mere cowardice, and a love of ease, made them desire to stay where they were; which ill example might have disheartened the rest of their brethren.

Verses 5-7. Bring us not over Jordan — To give us our possession there; but let this land, on this side Jordan, be our whole possession. Shall ye sit here? — In ease and peace, while your brethren are engaged in war. Wherefore discourage ye the heart of Israel — Their words were ambiguous, and Moses suspected that mere cowardice, and a love of ease, made them desire to stay where they were; which ill example might have disheartened the rest of their brethren.

7. Discourage… the heart… of Israel — Jehovah had promised Canaan to courageous and confiding Israel. He had declared that he would drive out their enemies, if they would trust in him. But faith in Jehovah has its human conditions. Israel must stand as a unit and present an unbroken front to the foe.

8. Kadesh-barnea — The pivot of Israel’s destiny. Chap. 14, introductory note. The punishment inflicted on the disobedient fathers should deter their sons from repeating their fathers’ sin in not wholly following Jehovah.

9. Valley of Eshcol — Says Dr. Ridgaway, in his account of Hebron and its environs, “I had wondered the day before where grew the grapes of Eshcol, as just below Hebron we had seen no vineyards; but now my wonder was at an end; throughout this valley, as far as the eye can see, are extensive vineyards. They are enclosed with stone walls, with watch towers, and the vines generally look to be very old. The main stalk is thick, is cut down very close, and lies on the ground. The best grapes in Southern Palestine are produced in this valley, thus confirming not only by the traditional name, but also by the superior quality of the fruit, the probable site whence the spies bore the specimen grapes and figs; for here, too, the fig tree abounds.” Numbers 13:23, note.

11. From twenty years old — Numbers 14:26-35; 26:64, 65, note. Have not wholly followed me — Literally, fulfilled after me, perseveringly followed me with all the heart. A similar charge is brought against Solomon in 1 Kings 11:6. See Numbers 14:24, note.

V. 12. The Kenezite-So called from Kenaz, his grand-father.

Verse 12. Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite] It was Jephunneh that was the Kenezite, and not Caleb. Kenaz was probably the father of Jephunneh.

Verses 12-14. Caleb the Kenezite — So called from Kenaz, one of his eminent ancestors. An increase of sinful men — Succeeding your fathers, as in their places, so also in their sins; imitating the unbelieving spies, and distrusting God’s power and veracity to make good his promise of settling Israel in the land of Canaan.

Verse 12. Save Caleb—the Kenezite. Kenaz was probably Caleb’s grandfather. This solves all the difficulty in this passage. Raguel is called the father of Moses’ wife, and he was evidently her grandfather. So Othniel, Caleb’s brother, was evidently his kinsman; for the Israelites could not marry a niece. Leviticus 18:14. Joshua 15:17.

12. Caleb — Joshua 14:6-12, notes. Kenezite — A descendant of Kenaz, who was probably an Edomite. Genesis 36:11, 15. It is quite possible that Caleb was a foreigner by birth; a proselyte, incorporated into the tribe of Judah, into which perhaps he or his ancestors had married. Comp. Genesis 36:20-23, and 1 Chronicles 2:50, 52. The incorporation of whole foreign families supplies us with an easy and natural solution of the difficulty with regard to the great numbers of Israelites at the Exodus. Chap. i, Concluding Note, (2.) Joshua — See Introduction to Notes on Joshua, page 7.

Verses 12-14. Caleb the Kenezite — So called from Kenaz, one of his eminent ancestors. An increase of sinful men — Succeeding your fathers, as in their places, so also in their sins; imitating the unbelieving spies, and distrusting God’s power and veracity to make good his promise of settling Israel in the land of Canaan.

13. Until all… was consumed — At the rate of forty-two per day from the hour of Israel’s rejection at Kadesh-barnea. Numbers 14:33-35, notes.

Verses 12-14. Caleb the Kenezite — So called from Kenaz, one of his eminent ancestors. An increase of sinful men — Succeeding your fathers, as in their places, so also in their sins; imitating the unbelieving spies, and distrusting God’s power and veracity to make good his promise of settling Israel in the land of Canaan.

Ver. 14. An increase of sinful men. It is the glory of a prince and a magistrate to address the wicked in becoming language. Moses well knew that every new generation of men were liable to so strong a charge.

14. An increase — A brood of sinners. Like begets like. Fierce anger — Burning of the wrath of Jehovah. Hebrews 12:29, note.

V. 15. All this people-Who being moved by your counsel and example, will refuse to go over Jordan.

Verse 15. Ye shall destroy all this people — Who, being moved by your counsel and example, will refuse to go over Jordan and possess the land of Canaan. Thus all who rest satisfied with visible and temporal things, and evidently show by their conduct that they prefer earth to heaven, not only stop short themselves of the rest that remaineth for the people of God, but greatly discourage others in their journey thither, and lay stumbling-blocks in their way. Reader! Arise, depart, this is not thy rest, because it is polluted; it will destroy thee with a sore destruction.

15. If ye turn away — If ye draw back behind him, that is, omit the fulfilling of God’s will. Hebrews 2:3; 10:30, notes.

Verse 16. We will build-cities for our little ones] It was impossible for these, numerous as they might be, to build cities and fortify them for the defence of their families in their absence. Calmet supposes they meant no more than repairing the cities of the Amorites which they had lately taken; which work might have been very easily accomplished in the time which they spent on this side of Jordan, before they went over with their brethren, to put them in possession of the land.

THE MODIFIED PETITION OF REUBEN AND GAD, 16-32.

16. They came near — Evidently after retiring from the first audience with Moses and consulting with the people of their tribes. Sheepfolds — It is the custom of the nomads of this region to surround their tents with stone walls about the height of a man, that the flocks may not be scattered in the night, and that the falling of the cobblestones laid on the top, knocked off by the wolf climbing up the wall, might give an alarm. Cities — Captured cities were to be repaired. In Argob, a district east of the Sea of Galilee, Jair took sixty cities.

V. 17. We ourselves-Either all, or as many as shall be thought necessary, leaving only so many as may be necessary to provide for the sustenance and defence of our wives and children here.

Verse 17. Because of the inhabitants of the land.] These were the Ammonites, Moabites, Idumeans, and the remains of the Midianites and Amorites. But could the women and children even keep the defenced cities, when placed in them? This certainly cannot be supposed possible. Many of the men of war must of course stay behind. In the last census, chap. 26., the tribe of Reuben consisted of 43,730 men; the tribe of Gad, 40,500; the tribe of Manasseh, 52,700; the half of which is 26,350. Add this to the sum of the other two tribes, and the amount is 110,580. Now from Joshua 4:13 we learn that of the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half of the tribe of Manasseh, only 40,000 armed men passed over Jordan to assist their brethren in the reduction of the land: consequently the number of 70,580 men were left behind for the defence of the women, the children, and the flocks. This was more than sufficient to defend them against a people already panic struck by their late discomfitures and reverses.

Verse 17. We ourselves will go — Either all, or as many of us as shall be thought necessary, leaving only so many as may be requisite to provide for the support and defence of our wives and children. Because of the inhabitants of the land — The Moabites and Edomites, or other neighbouring people, together with such of the Amorites as had saved themselves by flight, and would watch all opportunities of seeking to reinstate themselves in their lost possessions. Accordingly we find that forty thousand of the Reubenites and Gadites went over with their brethren, ready armed for war, to the plains of Jericho, Deuteronomy 3:18; Joshua 4:12.

17. Ready armed — But we will equip ourselves hastily. This does not imply that the entire military strength of these two and a half tribes, 110,580 men, would march in the van of Israel, leaving their homes unprotected. It did imply that the flower of their armies would assist in the conquest of Canaan. Joshua (Joshua 4:13) records the number as 40,000, “all mighty men of valour,” as the quota of the two and a half tribes. Joshua 1:14, note. Because of the inhabitants of the land — The Ammonites, Moabites, Idumaeans, and remnant of the Amorites and Midianites.

Verse 18. We will not return to our houses, &c. — Herein they showed both faith in God and love to their brethren, thus to go in the front of the battle, and generously risk their lives against such powerful enemies, without any further benefit to themselves, leaving their weak families behind them to the divine protection.

18. We will not return… until — They kept their promise, and fought bravely in the national army during seven years. Joshua 22:2, 3, note.

19. This side Jordan — According to geographical usage, the land “beyond Jordan” signifies the country to the east of the river. But to prevent mistake in this instance the word eastward is added. The application of the same expression to the land on the west and the east of the Jordan indicates a transition period. Joshua 1:14, note.

V. 20. Before the Lord-Before the ark, which was the token of God’s presence. He alludes either to the order of the tribes in their march, whereby Reuben and Gad marched immediately before the ark, or to the manner of their passage over Jordan, wherein the ark went first into Jordan, and stood there while all the tribes marched over Jordan by and before it, and these amongst the rest, as is expressly noted in these very words, that they passed over before the Lord, Joshua 4:13.

Verse 20. Before the Lord — Before the ark, which was the token of God’s presence. He alludes either to the order of the tribes in their march, whereby Reuben and Gad marched immediately before the ark, or to the manner of their passage over Jordan, wherein the ark went first into Jordan, and stood there while all the tribes marched over Jordan by and before it, and these among the rest, as is expressly noted in these very words, that they passed over before the Lord, Joshua 4:13.

20. Go armed before the Lord — The ark of the covenant was taken into battle as the symbol and the vehicle of Jehovah’s presence. The expression originated with Moses. This explains why the petitioners used it in verse 32 and not in verse 17, where they promise to go before Israel.

21. Go all of you — All were pledged to go, if the exigency should require. Joshua did not require all, but only a competent number, (verse 17, note,) retaining a large majority as a home guard, possibly “lest Israel vaunt themselves.” Judges 7:2.

V. 22. Before the Lord-By his presence and gracious and powerful assistance.

22. Guiltless before the Lord,… Israel — Obedience to God can never bring a man into collision with any righteous human law, or be detrimental to any real good of society. We cannot keep the first table of the law without keeping the second also. Possession before the Lord — With the approval of Jehovah.

V. 23. Your sin-The punishment of your sin. Sin will certainly find out the sinner sooner or later. It concerns us therefore to find our sins out, that we may repent of them and forsake them, lest our sins find us out, to our confusion and destruction.

Verse 23. Your sin will find you out — The punishment of your sin. Sin will certainly find out the sinner, sooner or later. It concerns us therefore to find our sins out, that we may repent of them, lest our sins find us out to our confusion and destruction.

23. Be sure your sin will find you out — Know ye your sin that it will find you out. The sin here spoken of would be their refusal to aid their brethren in the conquest of Canaan proper — the country west of the Jordan — should they refuse to co-operate with the other tribes in its reduction. The finding out would consist in the signal punishments with which they would be providentially visited.

THE MODIFIED PETITION OF REUBEN AND GAD, 16-32.

16. They came near — Evidently after retiring from the first audience with Moses and consulting with the people of their tribes. Sheepfolds — It is the custom of the nomads of this region to surround their tents with stone walls about the height of a man, that the flocks may not be scattered in the night, and that the falling of the cobblestones laid on the top, knocked off by the wolf climbing up the wall, might give an alarm. Cities — Captured cities were to be repaired. In Argob, a district east of the Sea of Galilee, Jair took sixty cities.

THE MODIFIED PETITION OF REUBEN AND GAD, 16-32.

16. They came near — Evidently after retiring from the first audience with Moses and consulting with the people of their tribes. Sheepfolds — It is the custom of the nomads of this region to surround their tents with stone walls about the height of a man, that the flocks may not be scattered in the night, and that the falling of the cobblestones laid on the top, knocked off by the wolf climbing up the wall, might give an alarm. Cities — Captured cities were to be repaired. In Argob, a district east of the Sea of Galilee, Jair took sixty cities.

THE MODIFIED PETITION OF REUBEN AND GAD, 16-32.

16. They came near — Evidently after retiring from the first audience with Moses and consulting with the people of their tribes. Sheepfolds — It is the custom of the nomads of this region to surround their tents with stone walls about the height of a man, that the flocks may not be scattered in the night, and that the falling of the cobblestones laid on the top, knocked off by the wolf climbing up the wall, might give an alarm. Cities — Captured cities were to be repaired. In Argob, a district east of the Sea of Galilee, Jair took sixty cities.

THE MODIFIED PETITION OF REUBEN AND GAD, 16-32.

16. They came near — Evidently after retiring from the first audience with Moses and consulting with the people of their tribes. Sheepfolds — It is the custom of the nomads of this region to surround their tents with stone walls about the height of a man, that the flocks may not be scattered in the night, and that the falling of the cobblestones laid on the top, knocked off by the wolf climbing up the wall, might give an alarm. Cities — Captured cities were to be repaired. In Argob, a district east of the Sea of Galilee, Jair took sixty cities.

28. Eleazar… Joshua… chief fathers — The commissioners for the allotment of Canaan. Numbers 34:17-29; Joshua 14:1, note.

THE MODIFIED PETITION OF REUBEN AND GAD, 16-32.

16. They came near — Evidently after retiring from the first audience with Moses and consulting with the people of their tribes. Sheepfolds — It is the custom of the nomads of this region to surround their tents with stone walls about the height of a man, that the flocks may not be scattered in the night, and that the falling of the cobblestones laid on the top, knocked off by the wolf climbing up the wall, might give an alarm. Cities — Captured cities were to be repaired. In Argob, a district east of the Sea of Galilee, Jair took sixty cities.

V. 30. They shall have possession-They shall forfeit their possessions in Gilead, and be constrained to go over Jordan, and to seek possessions there among their brethren.

Verses 30, 31. They shall have possessions — They shall forfeit their possessions in Gilead, and be constrained to go over Jordan, and to seek possessions there among their brethren. As the Lord hath said — Either at this time, by thy mouth; or formerly, where he commanded us, as well as our brethren, to go into Canaan and possess it.

30. Possessions… in… Canaan — If the tribes of Reuben and Gad persisted in detaching their military power from that of the nation, then they were to be compelled to go over the Jordan with their families, and to be permanently located there as a safeguard against secession.

V. 31. As the Lord hath said-Either at this time by thy mouth: or formerly, where he commanded us, as well as our brethren to go into Canaan and possess it.

Verses 30, 31. They shall have possessions — They shall forfeit their possessions in Gilead, and be constrained to go over Jordan, and to seek possessions there among their brethren. As the Lord hath said — Either at this time, by thy mouth; or formerly, where he commanded us, as well as our brethren, to go into Canaan and possess it.

THE MODIFIED PETITION OF REUBEN AND GAD, 16-32.

16. They came near — Evidently after retiring from the first audience with Moses and consulting with the people of their tribes. Sheepfolds — It is the custom of the nomads of this region to surround their tents with stone walls about the height of a man, that the flocks may not be scattered in the night, and that the falling of the cobblestones laid on the top, knocked off by the wolf climbing up the wall, might give an alarm. Cities — Captured cities were to be repaired. In Argob, a district east of the Sea of Galilee, Jair took sixty cities.

THE MODIFIED PETITION OF REUBEN AND GAD, 16-32.

16. They came near — Evidently after retiring from the first audience with Moses and consulting with the people of their tribes. Sheepfolds — It is the custom of the nomads of this region to surround their tents with stone walls about the height of a man, that the flocks may not be scattered in the night, and that the falling of the cobblestones laid on the top, knocked off by the wolf climbing up the wall, might give an alarm. Cities — Captured cities were to be repaired. In Argob, a district east of the Sea of Galilee, Jair took sixty cities.

THE PETITION GRANTED, 33-42.

33. Half the tribe of Manasseh — It appears strange that this half tribe is included here for the first time at the close of the negotiations. Moses did not overlook the fact that some of the families of Manasseh had conquered districts in Gilead and Bashan, and, consequently, were entitled to inherit them. Verse 39. Moreover, Eastern Palestine would be too large a portion for two tribes. Sihon… Og — Numbers 21:21-35, notes. With the cities — In Argob, a small territory, Jahr took no less than sixty great cities, “fenced with high walls, gates, and bars, besides unwalled towns a great many.” Deuteronomy 3:4, 5, 14. “Such a statement seems all but incredible. It would not stand the arithmetic of Colenso for a moment. But, mysterious, incredible as this seemed on the spot, with my own eyes I have seen that it is literally true. The cities are there to this day. The private houses built with colossal walls, massive stone doors, low roofs of ponderous blocks of roughly hewn stone, all point to a period far earlier than the Roman age, and probably antecedent to the conquest of the country by the Israelites.” — Revelation J.L. Porter.

V. 34. Built-Repaired and fortified. For they neither had need nor leisure as yet to do more, the old cities not being burnt and ruined, as divers in Canaan were.

Verse 34. The children of Gad built-Aroer] This was situated on the river Arnon, Deuteronomy 2:36; 2 Kings 10:33. It was formerly inhabited by the Emim, a warlike and perhaps gigantic people. They were expelled by the Moabites; the Moabites by the Amorites; and the Amorites by the Israelites. The Gadites then possessed it till the captivity of their tribe, with that of Reuben and the half of the tribe of Manasseh, by the Assyrians, 2 Kings 15:29, after which the Moabites appear to have repossessed it, as they seem to have occupied it in the days of Jeremiah, Jeremiah 48:15-20.

Verse 34. Built — Repaired and fortified. For they neither had need nor leisure as yet to do more, the old cities not being burned and ruined, as divers in Canaan were.

34. Built — Restored and fortified. Dibon,… Ataroth,… Aroer — Joshua 13:16, 17, notes.

35. Atroth, Shophan — Modern scholars agree in the opinion that but one place is intended by these two names. The Seventy omit it altogether. It has not yet been identified. Jaazer — Verse 1, note. Jogbehah is mentioned again in Judges 8:11. It is supposed that it was not far from the Jordan, and south of Jebel-Jilad.

36. Beth-nimrah — See Nimrah, verse 3, note.

37. Kirjathaim is known only by conjecture.

V. 38. Their names changed-Either because conquerers of places used to do so: or because the names of other Gods (which Nebo and Baal-meon unquestionably were) were not to be mentioned, Exodus 23:13.

Verse 38. And Nebo-their names being changed] That is, Those who conquered the cities called them after their own names. Thus the city Kenath, being conquered by Nobah, was called after his name, Numbers 32:42.

Verse 38. Their names being changed — Conquerors of places have been wont to change their names. But as the Israelites were forbidden to mention the names of other gods, and as these places, it seems had their names from the false gods worshipped in them, (which was unquestionably the case with Nebo and Baal-meon,) the Israelites might judge it proper to change the names of these places, in order to abolish all footsteps of idolatry.

Ver. 38. Baal-Meon; a city on the borders of Moab, afterward called Menes, from Misor, the Mitzraim of Egypt, the Zeus of the Greeks, and the Jupiter of the Romans. Men before the flood had begun to call themselves by the name of God. Menes is thought to be the title of Misor. Peor (Priapus) was a name of abhorrence, because of the immodesty of the place. Zebub, or flies, is added by way of contempt. See on 2 Kings 1:2.

38. Baal-meon — See Beon, verse 3, note. Names… changed — Verse 3, note. Shibmah — See Shebam, verse 3, note.

39. Machir was the son of Manasseh by an Aramite or Syrian concubine. 1 Chronicles 7:14, and Genesis 46:20, Seventy. The Amorite — Literally, the highlanders in contrast with the low-landers, the Canaanites. Joshua 3:10, note.

V. 40. Machir-Not to Machir himself, who doubtless was long since dead, but the family or posterity of Machir.

Verses 40, 42. Moses gave Gilead unto Machir — Not to Machir himself, who doubtless was long since dead, but the family or posterity of Machir. Nobah — Who, though not elsewhere named, was doubtless an eminent person of the tribe of Manasseh. It is observable, that these tribes, as they were placed before the other tribes, so they were displaced before them. They were carried captive by the king of Assyria, some years before the other tribes. Such a proportion does Providence frequently observe in balancing prosperity and adversity.

Ver. 40. Unto Machir; that is, to the posterity of Machir.

THE PETITION GRANTED, 33-42.

33. Half the tribe of Manasseh — It appears strange that this half tribe is included here for the first time at the close of the negotiations. Moses did not overlook the fact that some of the families of Manasseh had conquered districts in Gilead and Bashan, and, consequently, were entitled to inherit them. Verse 39. Moreover, Eastern Palestine would be too large a portion for two tribes. Sihon… Og — Numbers 21:21-35, notes. With the cities — In Argob, a small territory, Jahr took no less than sixty great cities, “fenced with high walls, gates, and bars, besides unwalled towns a great many.” Deuteronomy 3:4, 5, 14. “Such a statement seems all but incredible. It would not stand the arithmetic of Colenso for a moment. But, mysterious, incredible as this seemed on the spot, with my own eyes I have seen that it is literally true. The cities are there to this day. The private houses built with colossal walls, massive stone doors, low roofs of ponderous blocks of roughly hewn stone, all point to a period far earlier than the Roman age, and probably antecedent to the conquest of the country by the Israelites.” — Revelation J.L. Porter.

Verse 41. Havoth-jair.] That is, the villages or habitations of Jair; and thus they should have been translated. As these two tribes and a half were the first, says Ainsworth, who had their inheritance assigned to them in the promised land, so they were the first of all Israel that were carried captive out of their own land, because of their sins. “For they transgressed against the God of their fathers, and went a whoring after other gods. And God delivered them into the hands of Pul and Tiglath-Pilneser, kings of Assyria, and they brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and Gozan, unto this day.” See 1 Chronicles 5:25, 26.

NUMBERS

Verses 40, 42. Moses gave Gilead unto Machir — Not to Machir himself, who doubtless was long since dead, but the family or posterity of Machir. Nobah — Who, though not elsewhere named, was doubtless an eminent person of the tribe of Manasseh. It is observable, that these tribes, as they were placed before the other tribes, so they were displaced before them. They were carried captive by the king of Assyria, some years before the other tribes. Such a proportion does Providence frequently observe in balancing prosperity and adversity.

41. Havoth-jair — Towns of Jair. Joshua 13:30, note.

V. 42. Nobah-Who, though not else where named, was doubtless an eminent person of the tribe of Manasseh. ‘Tis observable, that these tribes, as they were placed before the other tribes, so they were displaced before them. They were carried captive by the king of Assyria, some years before the other tribes. Such a proportion does providence frequently observe, in balancing prosperity and adversity.

Verses 40, 42. Moses gave Gilead unto Machir — Not to Machir himself, who doubtless was long since dead, but the family or posterity of Machir. Nobah — Who, though not elsewhere named, was doubtless an eminent person of the tribe of Manasseh. It is observable, that these tribes, as they were placed before the other tribes, so they were displaced before them. They were carried captive by the king of Assyria, some years before the other tribes. Such a proportion does Providence frequently observe in balancing prosperity and adversity.

42. Nobah — An Israelite warrior, probably a Manassite. Jewish tradition says that he was born in Egypt, and was buried during the passage of the Jordan. The site of Kenath has been recovered with tolerable certainty at Kenawat, a ruined town in the southern extremity of the Lejah. “The wall, still in many places almost perfect, follows the top of the cliffs for nearly a mile, and then sweeps round in a zigzag course, enclosing a space about half a mile wide. The general aspect of the city is very striking; temples, palaces, churches, theatres, and massive buildings whose original use we cannot tell are grouped together in picturesque confusion, while beyond the walls, in the glen, on the summits and sides of the wooded peaks, away in the midst of oak forests, are clusters of columns, massive towers, and lofty tombs. Many of the ruins are beautiful and interesting. In no other city of Palestine did I see so many statues as there are here. Unfortunately, they are all mutilated. A colossal head of Ashteroth, sadly broken, lies before a little temple, of which probably it was once the chief idol. The leading streets are wide and regular, and the roads radiating from the gates are unusually wide and spacious.” — Rev. J.L. Porter. “It was built in the crevices of a great island of lava which has split, in cooling, into innumerable fissures, through whose labyrinths no enemy could penetrate. It would indeed have been perhaps impossible for Israel to have overcome a people so strongly entrenched, but for the presence at that time of vast swarms of hornets, a plague common in Palestine, which drove the population into the open ground where they could be attacked.” — Geikie. See Joshua 24:12, note.