Numbers 32:42

_AND NOBAH WENT AND TOOK KENATH, AND THE VILLAGES THEREOF, AND CALLED IT NOBAH, AFTER HIS OWN NAME._ Nobah - also a distinguished person connected with the eastern branch of this tribe. In the rich and extensive provinces of Gilead and Bashan these tribes found ample room for all their numbers, both of men and cattle, and in deep fertile soil, dense forests, luxuriant pasturage, and abundance of flowing streams, they must have seemed to realize the good land which had been promised them. The regions occupied by the two tribes and a half do not, according to the ordinary maps, appear to extend far eastward. But Michaelis, reasoning from the site of mount Gilead, which, as he thinks evident from the journeys of Jacob and Laban, lay not far from the Euphrates, maintains that the eastern border of the pasture-lands of these tribes must have touched close upon the Euphrates, thus fulfilling...

28-42 Concerning the settlement of these tribes, observe, that they built the cities, that is, repaired them. They changed the names of them; probably they were idolatrous, therefore they should be forgotten. A spirit of selfishness, of seeking our own, not the things of Christ, when each one ought to assist others, is as dangerous as it is common. It is impossible to be sincere in the faith, sensible of the goodness of God, constrained by the love of Christ, sanctified by the power of the Holy Ghost, and yet be indifferent to the progress of religion, and the spiritual success of others, through love of ease, or fear of conflict. Let then your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven....

KENATH - Now Kenawat, an important site near the southern extremity of the tract el-Lejah, and on the western slopes of the mountains of the Hauran. The name given to it by its conqueror, as in other cases, fell ere long into disuse, and the old name has held its ground to this day. The notices, both Scriptural and traditional, of the conquest of northeastern Gilead and Bashan by the Machirites, plainly intimate that it was effected by a few chiefs of great military prowess, who overran rapidly a far larger district than they could colonize. The father of Jair, however, Segub, was of the tribe of Judah (compare Numbers 27:1, and note; 1 Chronicles 2:21), and it is likely that the Manassite leaders induced many of the more adventuro

EXPOSITION THE TWO AND A HALF TRIBES BEYOND JORDAN (Numbers 32:1). NUMBERS 32:1 THE CHILDREN OF REUBEN AND THE CHILDREN OF GAD. Reuben and Gad had both been camped on the same (southern) side of the tabernacle, but had not apparently been neighbours, since Simeon intervened on the march (see on Numbers 2:10-4). Simeon, however, was at this time enfeebled and disgraced, and was not likely to assert himself in any way. The "great multitude of cattle" belonging to the two tribes probably point to pastoral habits of long standing, since the cattle o

AND NOBAH WENT AND TOOK KENATH, AND THE VILLAGES THEREOF,.... Who this Nobah was is not certain, very probably a descendant of Manasseh; it is said u he was among those that were born in Egypt, and died after the death of Moses, and was buried beyond Jordan, as it is said, also did Machir and Jair, so that there were none left but Caleb, and Joshua: AND CALLED IT NOBAH, after his name; but it seems that in later times its ancient name was restored to it; for Jerom w, says there was a village in Arabia, called Cannatha, which is supposed to be this place; though he also tells us x, that eight miles from Heshbon; to the south, is shown a desert place called Naba. Pliny y places Cannatha in the Decapolis. u Seder Olam Rabba, c. 9. p. 27. w Ut supra. (De loc. Heb. fol. 89. M.) x De loc. Heb. fol. 93. H. y Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 18....

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 (Numbers 32:41 f.) were probably subdivisions of Machir. Manasseh and Ephraim were at first established together on the W. of Jordan by Joshua (Joshua 17:14 f.), and any Manassite occupation of Gilead was probably subsequent to his time. NUMBERS 32:39. GILEAD: the name, here and in Numbers 32:40, is applied to the country between the Jabbok and the Jarmuk. Numbers 32:4

VILLAGES. Hebrew daughters; depending on the mother or metropolitan city. Figure of speech _Prosopopoeia_ (App-6)....

_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 to the north, and would make the present passage imply that the Nobah clan left the district where Nobah lay and migrated. But 1 Chronicles 2:23 places Kenath in close proximity with Ḥavvôth-Jair; and Judges 8:11 can be most easily explained if Kenath and Jogbehah lay near one another....

I. CITIES BUILT OR TAKEN IN THE LAND vv. 34-42 TEXT Numbers 32:34. And the children of Gad built Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer, 35. And Atroth, Shophan, and Jaazer, and Jogbehah, 36. And Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran, fenced cities; and folds for sheep. 37. And the children of Reuben built Hesbon, and Elealeh, and Kirjathaim, 38. And Nebo, and Baal-meon, (their names being changed,) and Shibmah: and gave other names unto the cities which they builded. 39. And the children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead, and took it, and dispossessed the Amorite which was in it. 40. And Moses gave Gilead unto Machir the son of Manasseh; and he dwelt therein. 41. And Jair the son of Manasseh went and took the small towns thereof, and called them Havorth-jair. 42. And Nobah went and took Kenath, and the villages thereof, and called it Nobah, after his own name. PARAPHRASE...

32:42 villages, (a-10) Lit. 'its daughters,' as ch. 21.25....