_The assignment of land to tribes on the east of Jordan_ The chapter as a whole is the work of P, but Numbers 32:39_; Numbers 32:41_f. are much earlier, and must be assigned either to J E or to an ancient document akin to J E. The writers of Israelite history felt it to be a matter of importance t... [ Continue Reading ]
_the land of Jazer_ Jazer always appears, elsewhere, as the name not of a district but of a town (see Numbers 32:3_; Numbers 32:35_and notes on Numbers 21:24; Numbers 21:32). It is difficult to see any reason for its special mention here other than the fact that it marked the limit of Gilead on the... [ Continue Reading ]
All these names recur in Numbers 32:34, three of them in a slightly different form (see R.V. marg.). _Beon_is probably a mere scribal slip for _Meon_.... [ Continue Reading ]
_discourage_ lit. -oppose." The word is the same as in Numbers 30:5 [Hebrews 6].... [ Continue Reading ]
Moses refers to the narrative of the spies in chs. 13 f. In the preliminary note to ch. 13 it is shewn that that narrative is a combination of the traditions of J E and of P; and both of these supply material to the present passage. The starting-point and the destination of the spies (Kadesh and Esh... [ Continue Reading ]
_an increase of sinful men a_ BROOD _of sinful men_. In angry rebuke Moses uses a contemptuous term. The subst. is not found elsewhere in the O.T.; but a similar word (R.V. -increase") occurs in 1 Samuel 2:33.... [ Continue Reading ]
_will be ready armed_ Heb. has lit. -will arm ourselves hastening." But the expression is awkward, and the last word (חֻשִׁים) is doubtful. חֲמֻשִׁים should probably be read: _will_ ARM OURSELVES IN BATTLE ARRAY; cf. Exodus 13:18; Joshua 1:14; Joshua 4:12. _our little ones_ Including, of course, the... [ Continue Reading ]
_be sure your sin will find you out_ lit. -know your sin, that it will find you." The rendering of the E.V., which has passed, as a proverbial expression, into our current language, is based upon an ancient notion that sin, like a curse, has so to speak an individual existence. The sinner cannot esc... [ Continue Reading ]
_proceeded out of your mouth_ See on Numbers 30:2.... [ Continue Reading ]
If they refused to join the rest of Israel in their battles, then, as a punishment, they must be forced, with their families and flocks, to live on the west of Jordan.... [ Continue Reading ]
_and unto the half tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph_) This clause, or perhaps the whole verse, is a later addition to P. See prelim. note above.... [ Continue Reading ]
Many of these towns have been identified with some probability. But the list represents a tradition very different from that in Joshua 13:15-28 (P), and must be ultimately derived from an earlier source, though in its present form it was probably written by a priestly writer. In Joshua 13:15-28 Reub... [ Continue Reading ]
_their names being changed_ The parenthesis is strange, for the change of names by the Manassites is related immediately afterwards. Some think that it is a marginal note to the reader that the names are to be changed and read otherwise than they are written in the text. The words refer to Nebo and... [ Continue Reading ]
The individual action of clans (here and in Numbers 32:41 f.) is similar to that described in Judges 1:3; Judges 1:22. See prelim. note.... [ Continue Reading ]
A later addition to the chapter. See prelim. note. In 1 Chronicles 2:21; 1 Chronicles 2:23 the possession of Gilead by Machir is expressed by saying that Machir was -the father of Gilead.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Jair the son of Manasseh_ This Manassite clan that took Gilead and gave its name to the district Havvôth-Jair (-the towns of Jair," marg. or better -the tent villages of J.") is mentioned in Judges 10:3-4 as Jair the Gileadite, and is represented as one of the judges of Israel. The territory which... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Nobah went and took Kenath_ The clan Nobah appears to have given its name to a place, which is mentioned with Jogbehah (see Numbers 32:35) in Judges 8:11. Kenath is identified by Euseb. and Jerome as _Kanatha_, the modern _Ḳanawât_, which lay on the western slope of Jebel Ḥaurân. This was far t... [ Continue Reading ]