Joshua 13:29

MANASSEH’S (EASTERN) LOT, Joshua 13:29-33.

29. The half tribe of Manasseh The division of a tribe in Israel into two parts is a strange and singular fact. In some respects it seems accidental, in other respects providential. “Machir, Jair, and Nobah, the sons of Manasseh, were no shepherds. They were pure warriors, who had taken the most prominent part in the conquest of those provinces which up to that time had been conquered, and whose deeds are constantly referred to with credit and renown. Numbers 32:39; Deuteronomy 3:13-15. ‘Jair the son of Manasseh took all the tract of Argob… sixty great cities.’ ‘Nobah took Kehath and the daughter towns thereof, and called it after his own name.’ Deuteronomy 32:42. ‘Because Machir was a man of war, therefore he had Gilead and Bashan.’ Joshua 17:1. The district which these ancient warriors conquered was the most difficult in the whole country. And had they not remained in these wild and inaccessible districts, but had gone forward and taken their lot with the rest, who shall say what changes might not have occurred in the history of their nation through the presence of such energetic and warlike spirits?” Grove, in Smith’s Dict. But perhaps these very warlike spirits were providentially settled in these eastern hills to save western Palestine from the proximity of dangerous foes that might otherwise have settled there.

The country of Bashan, occupied by these Manassites, was, according to Porter, “the richest in all Palestine. It is to this day the granary of a great part of Syria. Its whole surface is dotted with ruined or deserted towns and villages.”