Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 32:39
And the children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead, and took it, and dispossessed the Amorite which [was] in it.
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.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The children of Machir – Machir, the son of Manasseh, was long since dead: even his sons had been brought up upon Josephs 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).
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
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.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
39. Gileadnow Jelud.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead, and took it,…. That part of it which Moses gave unto the half tribe of Manasseh, which till now was in the hand of the Amorites; for half Mount Gilead, and the cities thereof, were given to the Reubenites and Gadites, which is the land of Gilead they desired, and which was already conquered; for they call it the country which the Lord smote before Israel, Nu 32:1:
and dispossessed the Amorite which was in it; for though they were driven out of one part of Gilead, yet not out of the whole.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
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 , “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. 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 1Ch 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).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(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.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
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.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Num 26:29, Gen 50:23, Jos 17:1
Reciprocal: Deu 3:13 – the rest Deu 3:15 – Machir Jos 13:30 – General Jos 13:31 – the children of Machir by Jos 22:9 – the country of Gilead Jdg 5:14 – Machir Jdg 12:4 – and the men 2Sa 24:6 – Gilead 1Ch 2:21 – Machir
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Num 32:39-42. The Settlement of certain Manassites in Gilead.This is a fragment relating to a period later than the Mosaic age. Machir was a Manassite clan, and Jair and Nobah (Num 32:41 f.) were probably subdivisions of Machir. Manasseh and Ephraim were at first established together on the W. of Jordan by Joshua (Jos 17:14 f.), and any Manassite occupation of Gilead was probably subsequent to his time.
Num 32:39. Gilead: the name, here and in Num 32:40, is applied to the country between the Jabbok and the Jarmuk.
Num 32:40. This verse (which contains an anachronism) is an interpolation, for in Num 32:41 the towns (better tent-villages) thereof are the habitations of the Amorites mentioned in Num 32:39, the connexion between these verses being broken by Num 32:40.
Num 32:41. Jair the son of Manasseh: i.e. the descendant of Manasseh, and, according to Jdg 10:3 f., a judge who lived much later than Moses.