Joshua 17:1

There was also a lot for the tribe of Manasseh,.... As well as for the tribe of Ephraim: for he [was] the firstborn of Joseph; and therefore ought to have his part and share in the lot of the

There was also a lot for the tribe of Manasseh; for he was the firstborn of Joseph; to wit, for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead: because he was a man of war, therefore he had Gilead and Bashan.

JOSHUA CHAPTER 17 The inheritance of Manasseh, and its borders, . They could not drive out the Canaanites, but made them tributary, ,13. The children of Joseph complain that their borders are too narrow: Joshua promises them the subduing of the Canaanites, . He was the first-born of Joseph: the sense is, though Ephraim was to be more potent and numerous, yet Manasseh was the first-born, and had the privilege of the first-born, which was translated to Joseph, to wit, a double portion; and therefore though this were but half the tribe of Manasseh, yet they are not made inmates to Ephraim, but have a distinct lot of their own, as their brethren or other half tribe had beyond Jordan. Machir; the only son of Manasseh, who therefore is here, and , put for the whole tribe. The first-born; so even only sons are sometimes called, as : see Poole "". The father of Gilead; or, and the father, or who was also the father of Gilead; not of the land of Gilead, but of the man Gilead, who was Machir’ s son, . He was a man of war; he, i.e. Machir, had given great proof of his valour in his generation, (though the particular history be not mentioned,) and his posterity were no degenerate sons, but had his valiant blood still running in their veins. Gilead and Bashan, i.e. part of those countries; for part of them was also given to the Reubenites, and part to the Gadites, as appears from ,31. This may be added as a reason, either, 1. Why he got those places from the Amorites; or, 2. Why they were allotted to him or his posterity, because this was a frontier country, and the outworks to the land of Canaan, and therefore required such valiant persons to defend it.

Joshua 17:1 There was also a lot for the tribe of Manasseh; for he [was] the firstborn of Joseph; [to wit], for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead: because he was a man of war, therefore he had Gilead and Bashan.Ver. 1. For he was the firstborn of Joseph.] And so had right to a double portion. For Machir the firstborn of Manasseh.] Indeed, his only son. See the like expression in Matthew 1:25. Because he was a man of war.] Machir was: or if he was dead by this time, - as he was, or else he was very old, - by Machir is meant his posterity the Machirites (Numbers 26:29; compare Judges 5:14). Therefore he had Gilead,] i.e., Half Gilead; for Reuben had the other half.

CHAPTER XVII The lot of the half tribe of Manasseh, 1, 2. Case of the daughters of Zelophehad, 3-6. The borders of Manasseh described, 7-11. The Canaanites dwell among them, but are laid under tribute, 12, 13. The children of Joseph complain of the scantiness of their lot, 14-16. Joshua authorizes them to possess the mountainous wood country of the Perizzites, and gives them encouragement to expel them, though they were strong and had chariots of iron, 17, 18. NOTES ON CHAP. XVII Verse 1. There was also a lot for the tribe of Manasseh] It was necessary to mark this because Jacob, in his blessing, (Genesis 48:19-20), did in a certain sense set Ephraim before Manasseh, though the latter was the first-born; but the place here shows that this preference did not affect the rights of primogeniture. For Machir - because he was a man of war] It is not likely that Machir himself was now alive; if he were, he must have been nearly 200 years old: It is therefore probable that what is spoken here is spoken of his children, who now possessed the lot that was originally designed for their father, who it appears had signalized himself as a man of skill and valour in some of the former wars, though the circumstances are not marked. His descendants, being of a warlike, intrepid spirit, were well qualified to defend a frontier country, which would be naturally exposed to invasion.

Ch. Joshua 17:1-6. The Inheritance of Western Manasseh 1. There was also a lot for the tribe of Manasseh] Although the tribe of Manasseh had already, as we have seen, obtained an extensive inheritance east of the Jordan, where a portion of the warlike descendants of Machir had left their families, the rest of the tribe now claimed a further grant of land in addition to what they had acquired by force of arms. for he was the firstborn of Joseph] Comp. Genesis 41:51, “And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh (a forgetter); for God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.” And again, Genesis 48:14, “And Israel stretched out his … left hand, and laid it upon Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn.” The birth of this child in Egypt, before the commencement of the famine, was the first alleviation of Joseph’s sorrows since he left his home and his father, who loved him with such passionate affection. for Machir] The eldest son of the patriarch Manasseh. His mother was an Aramæan or Syrian concubine (1 Chronicles 7:14-15). Her name is not preserved, but her children are commemorated as having been caressed by Joseph before his death; “the children also of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were brought up (borne, marg.) upon Joseph’s knees (Genesis 50:23). the father of Gilead] The word “Gilead” here in the original has the article. This denotes not a person, but the province, or district of Gilead, and the word rendered father = “lord,” or “possessor.” The expression “father of Gilead” therefore = “lord” or “possessor of Gilead.” therefore he had Gilead and Bashan] Machir is here used for his family, for it was not he himself, but his descendants Jair and Nobah, who conquered the territory east of the Jordan. Jair captured the whole of the tract of Argob (Deuteronomy 3:14), and in addition took possession of some nomad villages in Gilead, which he called after his own name, Havoth-Jair (Numbers 32:41; 1 Chronicles 2:23). Nobah possessed himself of the town of Kenath and the hamlets dependent upon it, and gave them his own name (Numbers 32:42). For the territory of the half tribe of Manasseh east of the Jordan, see above, ch. Joshua 13:29-32. The district called “Gilead” is also sometimes called “Mount Gilead” (Genesis 31:25); sometimes “the land of Gilead” (Numbers 32:1); and sometimes simply “Gilead” (as here, and Genesis 37:25; Psalms 60:7). The name signifies the physical aspect of the country = a “hard rocky region.” It extended from the parallel of the south end of the Sea of Galilee to that of the north end of the Dead Sea, about 60 miles, and its average breadth scarcely exceeded 20. See Smith’s Bibl. Dict.

Manasseh, as the “first-born,” was to receive not only the territory on the east of Jordan won by the valor of the Machirites, but also a portion with the other tribes on the west of Jordan, the holy

’S LOT IN WESTERN , Joshua 17:1-13. 1. Manasseh, the firstborn of Joseph, and retaining the rights of primogeniture, is put second because of Ephraim’s political superiority. Compare note at the beginning of chap. 16.