Numbers 32:39

Moses gave the Manassites the land which was conquered by them; in fact, the whole of the kingdom of Bashan, including not only the province of Bashan, but the northern half of Gilead (see at Num 21:33-34). Of this the sons of Machir received Gilead, the modern Jebel Ajlun, between the Jabbok (Zerka) and the Mandhur (Hieromax, Jarmuk), because they had taken it and driven out the Amorites and destroyed them (see Deu 3:13). The imperfects in Num 32:39 are to be understood in the sense of pluperfects, the different parts being linked together by w consec. according to the simple style of the Semitic historical writings explained in the note on Gen 2:19, and the leading thought being preceded by the clauses which explain it, instead of their being logically subordinated to it. "The sons of Machir went to Gilead and took it...and Moses gave," etc., instead of "Moses gave Gilead to the sons of Machir, who had gone thither and taken it..." The words בּהּ ויּשׁב, "Machir dwelt therein (in Gilead)," do not point to a later period than the time of Moses, but simply state that the Machirites took possession of Gilead. As soon as Moses had given them the conquered land for their possession, they no doubt brought their families, like the Gadites and Reubenites, and settled them in fortified towns, that they might dwell there in safety, whilst the fighting men helped the other tribes to conquer Canaan. ישׁב signifies not merely "to dwell," but literally to place oneself, or settle down (e.g., Gen 36:8, etc.), and is even applied to the temporary sojourn of the Israelites in particular encampments (Num 20:1). - Machir (Num 32:40): for the sons of Machir, or Machirites (Num 26:29). But as Gilead does not mean the whole of the land with this name, but only the northern half, so the sons of Machir are not the whole of his posterity, but simply those who formed the family of Machirites which bore its father's name (Num 26:29), i.e., the seven fathers' houses or divisions of the family, the heads of which are named in Ch1 5:24. The other descendants of Machir through Gilead, who formed the six families of Gilead mentioned in Num 26:29-33, and Jos 17:2, received their inheritance in Canaan proper (Josh 17).

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

32:39-42 Three clans of Manasseh conquered part of Gilead and Bashan (cp. Deut 3:13-15; Josh 13:29-31). The location of Nobah remains uncertain (cp. Judg 8:11). • Towns of Jair: Hebrew Havvoth-jair (cp. Deut 3:14; Josh 13:30; Judg 10:4; 1 Kgs 4:13; 1 Chr 2:21-23).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Gilead--now Jelud.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(39) And the children of Machir the son of Manasseh went . . . —Better, Now the children of Machir the son of Manasseh had gone to Gilead, and taken it, &c. (See Note on Num_32:33.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

39. The individual action of clans (here and in Num_32:41 f.) is similar to that described in Jdg_1:3; Jdg_1:22. See prelim. note.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Moses gave Gilead unto Machir the son of Manasseh,.... That is, to the children of Machir, who went and took it; though some say, as Aben Ezra observes, that Machir himself was now alive, and that it was given to him, but that is not probable; for, supposing him to be living when the children of Israel came out of Egypt, all that came from thence, who were twenty years old and upwards, died in the wilderness, excepting two, see Num 32:11,

and he dwelt therein; that is, the family of the Macharite; see Num 26:29.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The children of Machir - Machir, the son of Manasseh, was long since dead: even his sons had been brought up upon Joseph’s knees Gen 50:23. But the renown acquired by his descendants raised his family almost to the dignity of a tribe; and the Machirites are in the next verse styled Machir, just as the children of Judah or of Ephraim are often spoken of as Judah or Ephraim. So in Jdg 5:14 Machir is coupled with Ephraim and Zebulun.

Went - i. e., “had gone:” the statement is preparatory to the ensuing record of the grant to them of the land they had won.

Gilead - More strictly part of north Gilead; which, though inhabited by the Amorites, had belonged to the kingdom of Og. Gilead was the district from which had sprung the ancestress of the Machirites (compare 1Ch 7:14).

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Took it, i.e. part of it; or Gilead is here taken more strictly. See Poole on "Num 32:29"; Gen 31:21; Deu 3:12,13.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

39. Machir was the son of Manasseh by an Aramite or Syrian concubine. 1Ch_7:14, and Gen_46:20, Seventy.

The Amorite — Literally, the highlanders in contrast with the low-landers, the Canaanites. Jos_3:10, note.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The children of Machir. The relation of the Beni-Machir to the tribe of Manasseh is obscure, because all the Manassites were descended from Machir. In the absence of any direct information, we can only guess at the nature of the tie which united the Beni-Machir as a family, and kept them distinct from the other Manassite families. It is evident from their history that they formed a sub-tribe powerful enough to have a name of their own in Israel. (cf. verse 40 and Jud_1:5:14, and see note on verse 41) Went to Gilead. This would seem to refer to the expedition briefly recorded in Num_21:33. It is mentioned here out of place, in the simple historical style of the Pentateuch, because the gift of Gilead to Machir grew out of its conquest by Machir. The name Gilead is again used in a very vague sense, for the territory actually allotted to Machir was rather in Bashan than in Gilead proper.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

ויורש — Understand this as the Targum does “AND HE DROVE OUT”, for the expression ריש is used in two different meanings, in the sense of ירושה (the Kal), “inheriting”, and in the sense of הורשה (the Hiphil) which denotes driving away and expelling (see Rashi on Numbers 14:24).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.