Joshua 13:31

13:7-33 The land must be divided among the tribes. It is the will of God that every man should know his own, and not take that which is another's. The world must be governed, not by force, but right. Wherever our habitation is placed, and in whatever honest way our portion is assigned, we should consider them as allotted of God; we should be thankful for, and use them as such, while every prudent method should be used to prevent disputes about property, both at present and in future. Joshua must be herein a type of Christ, who has not only conquered the gates of hell for us, but has opened to us the gates of heaven, and having purchased the eternal inheritance for all believers, will put them in possession of it. Here is a general description of the country given to the two tribes and a half, by Moses. Israel must know their own, and keep to it; and may not, under pretence of their being God's peculiar people, encroach on their neighbours. Twice in this chapter it is noticed, that to the tribe of Levi Moses gave no inheritance: see Nu 18:20. Their maintenance must be brought out of all the tribes. The ministers of the Lord should show themselves indifferent about worldly interests, and the people should take care they want nothing suitable. And happy are those who have the Lord God of Israel for their inheritance, though little of this world falls to their lot.

And half Gilead,.... The other half not given to the Gadites, who had that half of it which Sihon possessed, and the tribe of Manasseh that half of it which Og possessed, see Deuteronomy 3:12 , and Ashtaroth, and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan; which are particularly mentioned, because royal cities, Joshua 13:10; see Deuteronomy 1:4, were pertaining unto the children of Machir the son of Manasseh; and who was his only son; however, to his posterity only was this inheritance given, though not to them all: even to one half of the children of Machir, by their families; which seems to confirm it that Manasseh had no other son, since his whole posterity, both the half tribe on the other side, as well as that in the land of Canaan, were denominated from him; though he seems to have had another son, who perhaps died without issue, 1 Chronicles 7:14.

31 . Ashtaroth ] See ch. Joshua 12:4 , so called doubtless from being a seat of the worship of Ashtoreth, the principal female divinity of the Phœnicians, the Astarte of the Greeks and Romans. The only trace of the name yet recovered is Tell-Ashterah or Asherah . and Edrei ] See above, ch. Joshua 12:4 . The northern part of Gilead was given to Machir, the eldest son of the patriarch Manasseh ( 1 Chronicles 7:14 ), or rather the half of his male descendants. They consisted of seven families, whose heads are named 1 Chronicles 5:24 . So great was their power, that the name of Machir occasionally supersedes that of Manasseh. They took the bold “tract of Argob … sixty great cities ( Deuteronomy 3:14 ), among the most difficult, if not the most difficult, district in the whole country.” Thus it is plain that the half tribe of Manasseh occupied by far the largest extent of land on the east of the Jordan. It embraced ( a ) the inaccessible heights and impassable ravines of Gilead; and ( b ) the almost impregnable tract of Argob, where “all is stone,” “an ocean of basaltic rocks and boulders tossed about in the wildest confusion.” “The same martial spirit, which fitted the western Manasseh to defend the passes of Esdraelon, fitted ‘Machir, the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead,’ to defend the passes of Haurân and Anti-Libanus; ‘because he was a man of war, therefore he had Gilead and Bashan.’ ” Stanley’s Lectures , I. 219.

Of the development of the tribe subsequently we have a remarkable illustration at the time of the coronation of David at Hebron. On that occasion, “while the western Manasseh sent 18,000, and Ephraim itself but 20,800, the eastern Manasseh, with Gad and Reuben, mustered to the number of 120,000, thoroughly armed—a remarkable demonstration of strength, still more remarkable when we remember the fact that Saul’s house, with the great Abner at its head, was then residing at Mahanaim on the border of Manasseh and Gad.” See Smith’s Bib. Dict . Art. “Manasseh.”

The children of Machir; whom before he called the children of Manasseh , he now calls the children of machir , because Machir was the most eminent, and, as it may seem, the only surviving son of Manasseh, Numbers 26:29 1 Chronicles 7:14-16 . For the other half of Machir’s or Manasseh’s children, see Joshua 17:1 , &c.

8. With whom—Hebrew, "him." The antecedent is evidently to Manasseh, not, however, the half-tribe just mentioned, but the other half; for the historian, led, as it were, by the sound of the word, breaks off to describe the possessions beyond Jordan already assigned to Reuben, Gad, and the half of Manasseh (see on [190]Nu 32:1; [191]Nu 32:33; also see De 3:8-17). It may be proper to remark that it was wise to put these boundaries on record. In case of any misunderstanding or dispute arising about the exact limits of each district or property, an appeal could always be made to this authoritative document, and a full knowledge as well as grateful sense obtained of what they had received from God (Ps 16:5, 6).