Joshua 13:8-31

Tribal Lands East of the Jordan

13:8 The other half of Manasseh, ¹  Reuben, and Gad received their allotted tribal lands beyond the Jordan, ²  just as Moses, the Lord’s servant, had assigned them. 13:9 Their territory started ³  from Aroer (on the edge of the Arnon Valley), included the city in the middle of the valley, the whole plain of Medeba as far as Dibon, 13:10 and all the cities of King Sihon of the Amorites who ruled in Heshbon, and ended at the Ammonite border. 13:11 Their territory also included ⁴  Gilead, Geshurite and Maacathite territory, all Mount Hermon, and all Bashan to Salecah – 13:12 the whole kingdom of Og in Bashan, who ruled in Ashtaroth and Edrei. (He was one of the few remaining Rephaites.) ⁵  Moses defeated them and took their lands. ⁶  13:13 But the Israelites did not conquer ⁷  the Geshurites and Maacathites; Geshur and Maacah live among Israel to this very day. 13:14 However, Moses ⁸  did not assign land as an inheritance ⁹  to the Levites; their inheritance ¹⁰  is the sacrificial offerings ¹¹  made to the Lord God of Israel, as he instructed ¹²  them.

13:15 Moses assigned land to the tribe of Reuben ¹³  by its clans. 13:16 Their territory started at Aroer ¹⁴  (on the edge of the Arnon Valley) and included the city in the middle of the valley, the whole plain of Medeba, 13:17 Heshbon and all its surrounding cities on the plain, including Dibon, Bamoth Baal, Beth Baal Meon, 13:18 Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath, 13:19 Kiriathaim, Sibmah, Zereth Shahar on the hill in the valley, 13:20 Beth Peor, the slopes of Pisgah, and Beth Jeshimoth. 13:21 It encompassed ¹⁵  all the cities of the plain and the whole realm of King Sihon of the Amorites who ruled in Heshbon. Moses defeated him and the Midianite leaders Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba (they were subjects of Sihon and lived in his territory). ¹⁶  13:22 The Israelites killed Balaam son of Beor, the omen reader, ¹⁷  along with the others. ¹⁸  13:23 The border of the tribe of Reuben was the Jordan. The land allotted to the tribe of Reuben by its clans included these cities and their towns. ¹⁹ 

13:24 Moses assigned land to the tribe of Gad ²⁰  by its clans. 13:25 Their territory included Jazer, all the cities of Gilead, and half of Ammonite territory ²¹  as far as Aroer near ²²  Rabbah. 13:26 Their territory ran ²³  from Heshbon to Ramath Mizpah and Betonim, and from Mahanaim to the territory of Debir. 13:27 It included the valley of Beth Haram, ²⁴  Beth Nimrah, Succoth, and Zaphon, and the rest of the realm of King Sihon of Heshbon, the area east of the Jordan to the end of the Sea of Kinnereth. ²⁵  13:28 The land allotted to the tribe of Gad by its clans included these cities and their towns. ²⁶ 

13:29 Moses assigned land to the half-tribe of Manasseh ²⁷  by its clans. 13:30 Their territory started at ²⁸  Mahanaim and encompassed all Bashan, the whole realm of King Og of Bashan, including all sixty cities in Havvoth Jair ²⁹  in Bashan. 13:31 Half of Gilead, Ashtaroth, and Edrei, cities in the kingdom of Og in Bashan, were assigned to the descendants of Makir son of Manasseh, to half the descendants of Makir by their clans.

Numbers 32:29-41

32:29 Moses said to them: “If the Gadites and the Reubenites cross the Jordan with you, each one equipped for battle in the Lord’s presence, and you conquer the land, ³⁰  then you must allot them the territory of Gilead as their possession. 32:30 But if they do not cross over with you armed, they must receive possessions among you in Canaan.” 32:31 Then the Gadites and the Reubenites answered, “Your servants will do what the Lord has spoken. ³¹  32:32 We will cross armed in the Lord’s presence into the land of Canaan, and then the possession of our inheritance that we inherit will be ours on this side of the Jordan River.” ³² 

Land Assignment

32:33 So Moses gave to the Gadites, the Reubenites, and to half the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph the realm of King Sihon of the Amorites, and the realm of King Og of Bashan, the entire land with its cities and the territory surrounding them. ³³  32:34 The Gadites rebuilt Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, 32:35 Atroth Shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, 32:36 Beth Nimrah, and Beth Haran as fortified cities, and constructed pens for their flocks. 32:37 The Reubenites rebuilt Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, 32:38 Nebo, Baal Meon (with a change of name), and Sibmah. They renamed ³⁴  the cities they built.

32:39 The descendants of Machir son of Manasseh went to Gilead, took it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were in it. 32:40 So Moses gave Gilead to Machir, son of Manasseh, and he lived there. ³⁵  32:41 Now Jair son of Manasseh went and captured their small towns and named them Havvoth Jair.

Deuteronomy 3:12-17

Distribution of the Transjordanian Allotments

3:12 This is the land we brought under our control at that time: The territory extending from Aroer ³⁶  by the Wadi Arnon and half the Gilead hill country with its cities I gave to the Reubenites and Gadites. ³⁷  3:13 The rest of Gilead and all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to half the tribe of Manasseh. ³⁸  (All the region of Argob, ³⁹  that is, all Bashan, is called the land of Rephaim. 3:14 Jair, son of Manasseh, took all the Argob region as far as the border with the Geshurites ⁴⁰  and Maacathites ⁴¹  (namely Bashan) and called it by his name, Havvoth-Jair, ⁴²  which it retains to this very day.) 3:15 I gave Gilead to Machir. ⁴³  3:16 To the Reubenites and Gadites I allocated the territory extending from Gilead as far as Wadi Arnon (the exact middle of the wadi was a boundary) all the way to the Wadi Jabbok, the Ammonite border. 3:17 The Arabah and the Jordan River ⁴⁴  were also a border, from the sea of Chinnereth ⁴⁵  to the sea of the Arabah (that is, the Salt Sea), ⁴⁶  beneath the watershed ⁴⁷  of Pisgah ⁴⁸  to the east.

Deuteronomy 4:47-48

4:47 They possessed his land and that of King Og of Bashan – both of whom were Amorite kings in the Transjordan, to the east. 4:48 Their territory extended ⁴⁹  from Aroer at the edge of the Arnon valley as far as Mount Siyon ⁵⁰  – that is, Hermon –

[13:8]  ¹ tn The MT reads “with him,” which is problematic, since the reference would be to the other half of the tribe of Manasseh (not the half mentioned in v. 7).

[13:8]  ² tn Heb “received their inheritance, which Moses had assigned to them beyond the Jordan.”

[13:9]  ³ tn The words “their territory started” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[13:11]  ⁴ tn The words “their territory also included” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[13:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “from the remnant of the Rephaites.”

[13:12]  ⁶ tn Or “dispossessed them.”

[13:13]  ⁷ tn Or “dispossess.”

[13:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “did not assign an inheritance.”

[13:14]  ¹⁰ tn That is, “their source of food and life.”

[13:14]  ¹¹ tn Or “offerings made by fire.”

[13:14]  ¹² tn Or “promised” (Heb “spoke”).

[13:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “assigned to the sons of Reuben.”

[13:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “their territory was from.”

[13:21]  ¹⁵ tn The words “it encompassed” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[13:21]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “princes of Sihon, inhabitants of the land.”

[13:22]  ¹⁷ tn Or “diviner.”

[13:22]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Balaam son of Beor, the omen-reader, the Israelites killed with the sword, along with their slain ones.”

[13:23]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “This is the inheritance of the sons of Reuben by their clans, the cities and their towns.”

[13:24]  ²⁰ tn Heb “assigned to the tribe of Gad, to the sons of Gad.”

[13:25]  ²¹ tn Heb “and half of the land of the sons of Ammon.”

[13:25]  ²² tn Heb “in front of.”

[13:26]  ²³ tn The words “Their territory ran” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied for clarification.

[13:27]  ²⁴ tn Or “it included in the valley, Beth Haram.”

[13:27]  ²⁵ sn The Sea of Kinnereth is another name for the Sea of Galilee. See the note on the word “Kinnereth” in 11:2.

[13:28]  ²⁶ tn Heb “This is the inheritance of the sons of Gad by their clans, the cities and their towns.”

[13:29]  ²⁷ tn Heb “assigned to the half-tribe of Manasseh, and it belonged to the half-tribe of Manasseh.”

[13:30]  ²⁸ tn The words “their territory started at” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied for clarification.

[13:30]  ²⁹ sn The Hebrew name Havvoth Jair means “the tent villages of Jair.”

[32:29]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and the land is subdued before you.”

[32:31]  ³¹ tn Heb “that which the Lord has spoken to your servants, thus we will do.”

[32:32]  ³² tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[32:33]  ³³ tn Heb “the land with its cities in the borders of the cities of the land all around.”

[32:38]  ³⁴ tn Heb “called names.”

[32:40]  ³⁵ tn Heb “in it.”

[3:12]  ³⁶ tn The words “the territory extending” are not in the Hebrew text; they are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[3:12]  ³⁷ sn Reubenites and Gadites. By the time of Moses’ address the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh had already been granted permission to settle in the Transjordan, provided they helped the other tribes subdue the occupants of Canaan (cf. Num 32:28-42).

[3:13]  ³⁸ sn Half the tribe of Manasseh. The tribe of Manasseh split into clans, with half opting to settle in Bashan and the other half in Canaan (cf. Num 32:39-42; Josh 17:1-13).

[3:13]  ³⁹ sn Argob. See note on this term in v. 4.

[3:14]  ⁴⁰ sn Geshurites. Geshur was a city and its surrounding area somewhere northeast of Bashan (cf. Josh 12:5 ; 13:11, 13). One of David’s wives was Maacah, the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur and mother of Absalom (cf. 2 Sam 13:37; 15:8; 1 Chr 3:2).

[3:14]  ⁴¹ sn Maacathites. These were the people of a territory southwest of Mount Hermon on the Jordan River. The name probably has nothing to do with David’s wife from Geshur (see note on “Geshurites” earlier in this verse).

[3:14]  ⁴² sn Havvoth-Jair. The Hebrew name means “villages of Jair,” the latter being named after a son (i.e., descendant) of Manasseh who took the area by conquest.

[3:15]  ⁴³ sn Machir was the name of another descendant of Manasseh (cf. Num 32:41; 1 Chr 7:14-19). Eastern Manasseh was thus divided between the Jairites and the Machirites.

[3:17]  ⁴⁴ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity (also in vv. 20, 25).

[3:17]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “from Chinnereth.” The words “the sea of” have been supplied in the translation as a clarification.

[3:17]  ⁴⁶ sn The Salt Sea is another name for the Dead Sea (cf. Gen 14:3; Josh 3:16).

[3:17]  ⁴⁷ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term אַשְׁדֹּת (’ashdot) is unclear. It is usually translated either “slopes” (ASV, NAB, NIV) or “watershed” (NEB).

[3:17]  ⁴⁸ sn Pisgah. This appears to refer to a small range of mountains, the most prominent peak of which is Mount Nebo (Num 21:20; 23:14; Deut 3:27; cf. 34:1).

[4:48]  ⁴⁹ tn The words “their territory extended” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text vv. 47-49 are all one sentence, but for the sake of English style and readability the translation divides the text into two sentences.

[4:48]  ⁵⁰ sn Mount Siyon (the Hebrew name is שִׂיאֹן [si’on], not to be confused with Zion [צִיּוֹן, tsiyyon]) is another name for Mount Hermon, also called Sirion and Senir (cf. Deut 3:9).