The Pulpit Commentary — Numbers — Section 428

Yer. 36. - Atroth, Bhophan. Rather, Yer. 39.-The children of :Me.chir. The "Atroth-Shofhe.n," e.nother Ataroth, tho relation of the Beni-Machir to the tribe of site of which 1s unknown. Jaa.zer. See on Manasseh is obscure, because all the Manas· vor. 1, Jogbehah, Now perhaps Jobeiha, sites were descended from Machir. In the to the north of Janzer (cf. Judges viii. 11). absence of any direct information, we can All these places were only temporarily occu- only guess at the nature of the tie which pied by the Gadites, and fell to Reuben in united the Beni-Machir as a family, and the subsequent division. kept them tlistinct from the other Manassite Ver. 36.-Beth•nimrah and Beth-he.ran. families. It is evident from their history Supposed to be the present NimrO.n e.nd that they fo1med a sub-tribe powerful euough Be1t•haran in the plains of Moab, beside the to have a name of their own in Israel (cf. ver. Jordan, and in the immediate neighbourhood 40 and Judges v.14, and see note on ver. 41 ). of the Israelit:ish camp. The latter would Went to Gilead. This would seem to refer seem to have fallen subsequently to Reuben. to the expedition briefly recorded in eh. xxi. Fenced cities, and folds for sheep. There 33. It is mentioned here out of place, in should be no stop between these two clauses. the simple historical style of the Penta.teuch, All these places were "built" for the double becal1lle the gift of Gilead to Machir grew purpose of affording protection to the families out of its conquest by Machir. The name and to the flocks of the tribe. Gilea.d is again nsed in a very vague sense, Yer. 37.-The children of Reuben. Reuben for the territory actually allotted to Machir had, at the time of the last census, been was rather in Bashan than in Gilead proper. greater in number than Gad, and had been Yer. 40.-And he dwelt thereill. This his leader on the march. He now begins to expression does not necessarily look beyond to.ke that secondary position which Wll.S the lifetime of Moses, although it would be always to be his. Of the towns which he more naturally taken aa doing so. In eh. now occupied, the Moabites recovered many, x:x:. 1 ::l~.~ iJI used of the " a.biding " of Israel while the most important of all (Heshbon) at Kad;sh. had to be surrendered to the Levites. He Yer. 41.-Jair the aon of :Ma.ne.seeh. was indeed compensated with the southern This hero of Manasseh is mentioned here for settlements of the Go.dites as far as the Wady the first time ; in Deut. iii. 14 his conquests Hesbi.n, but even so his liniits were very are somewhat more fully described. His straitened as compared with those of Gad ~enea.logy, which is inlltrnctive and suggest. e.nd of half Manasseh. Reehbon. Cf. eh. 1ve, is given here. xxi. 25. In Josh. m. 39; 1 Chron. vi. 81, Jud41> Jitpl, Heshbon is spoken of as belonging to Ge.d. This can only be explained on the supposition Pbh•• Mnnn.sseh I tha.t the temporary settlements of the two l!'im wife - Hezron l M~chir tribes were really intermixed, and that Heshbon, as the old capital of that region, was jointly occupied. In after times it, I ~aught.er Prince• Segub too, toge~her with Elealoh and Kiijathaim, J.:'Jab Jk Nebo, Baal-meon, e.nd Sibmah, all fell into the hands of Mo11b (Isa, xv. 2, 4 ; xvi. 8 ; It will be seen that Segnb, the father of Jair, Jor. xlviii. 22, 23). was a Machirite in the female line only. Yer. 38.-Be.al-meon. Called Beon in His father Hezron, according to l Chron. iL ver. 3, Beth-moon in Jer. xlvili. 23, Beth• 21, married the daughter of .Me.nassch in his Ba.a.1-meon in Josh. xiii. 17. Their no.mes old age, when his elder sons were probably being ohanged. Cl!? nnQ-10, "with ch11nge already fathers of families. It mny probably be conjectured also that Manasseh, who of name," dependent on the verb "built." must have inherited exceptional wealth (cf. The Septuagint has ,rEp11CucvKAwµ!va1: (Sym· Gen. xlviii. 17), and had but one grandson, maehus1 ,rEp1r1:rnxu1µlva,), o.ppe.rently read- left a lo.rgo portion to his grand-daughter, ing "l-11!' for OW, but without authority. It the young wife of Hezron. It was there- is iiossible that the Beon of ver. 3 may be 11n fore very natural that Segub should have instance of this a.ttempt to change names, attached himself to the fortunes of hi.a many of which were connected with idolatry. mother's tribo. Is it not also very pro- The attempt fe.iled, but both the attempt bable that Machir had other daughters (cf. itself and its failure were very character• Gen. l. 23), who o.lso inherited largo por- istic of the partial o.nd feeble hold which tions from their grandfllther, and whose Israel had on this territory. Gave other husbands were willing enou<>h to euter into nqiea to the cities which they builded. a family which ha.dappo.rentYy brightor pros- Literally, "they called by names the names pects than any others 1 If so, it woulcl of the towns;" a rouud-about expression account nt once for the existence of a large correctly paraphrased by the A. V. r-mily of Machil'itcs not Utll!ceudetl frolll '16 THBJ 3OOK OF NUMBERS. [en. XXXII, 1-42.