1 And the lot came to the tribe of Manasseh (for he was the firstborn of Joseph), to Machir, the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, for he was a man of war, and he had Gilead and Bashan.
And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh -- For God has made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house.
The sons of Manasseh: of Machir, the family of the Machirites (and Machir begot Gilead); of Gilead, the family of the Gileadites.
And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third [generation]; the sons also of Machir the son of Manasseh were born on Joseph's knees.
And Joseph said to his father, Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn: put thy right hand on his head.
Then drew near the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph; and these were the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Tirzah.
And Moses gave to them, to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and to half the tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og the king of Bashan, the land, according to its cities and territories, the cities of the land round about.
and the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to half the tribe of Manasseh. (The whole region of Argob, even all Bashan, is called a land of giants. Jair the son of Manasseh took the whole region of Argob as far as the border of the Geshurites and Maachathites, and called Bashan after his own name, Havoth-Jair, to this day.) And I gave Gilead to Machir.
but he shall acknowledge as firstborn the son of the hated, by giving him a double portion of all that is found with him; for he is the firstfruits of his vigour: the right of the firstborn is his.
From E'phraim they set out thither into the valley, following you, Benjamin, with your kinsmen; from Machir marched down the commanders, and from Zeb'ulun those who bear the marshal's staff;
The sons of Manasseh: Asriel, ... whom she bore; his Syrian concubine bore Machir the father of Gilead. And Machir took a wife [the sister] of Huppim and Shuppim, and the name of their sister was Maachah. And the name of the second [son] was Zelophehad; and Zelophehad had daughters.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Joshua 17
Commentary on Joshua 17 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 17
The half tribe of Manasseh comes next to be provided for; and here we have,
Jos 17:1-6
Manasseh was itself but one half of the tribe of Joseph, and yet was divided and subdivided.
Jos 17:7-13
We have here a short account of the lot of this half tribe. It reached from Jordan on the east to the great sea on the west; on the south it lay all along contiguous to Ephraim, but on the north it abutted upon Asher and Issachar. Asher lay north-west, and Issachar north-east, which seems to be the meaning of that (v. 10), that they (that is, Manasseh and Ephraim, as related to it, both together making the tribe of Joseph) met in Asher on the north and Issachar on the east, for Ephraim itself reached not those tribes. Some things are particularly observed concerning this lot:-