The Inheritance of Manasseh West of the Jordan

Continuing a chronological Bible study:

The past few and future chapters of Joshua described the lots of inheritance that fell to the twelve tribes of Israel.  This same map from iBiblemaps.com shows the general division of the tribes:

(Joshua 17:1) There was also a lot for the tribe of Manasseh for he, the firstborn of Joseph, for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead; because he was a man of war, therefore he had Gilead and Bashan. 

The last chapter spoke of the lots that fell to the children of Joseph but only described the one that fell to Ephraim.  This chapter described the lot that went to the other son of Joseph, Manasseh, half already having been given on the east of the Jordan River.  The lot of Manasseh described in verse 1 was allotted to Machir the son of Manasseh and through his son Gilead.  It seems Machir was known as a man of war.  I suppose the sense was that because he was a valiant warrior, he had been given the land on the east of the Jordan that he or his descendants had conquered (Bashan, the kingdom of Og), and he received part of Gilead, and he was also to be given a portion on the west of the Jordan.

(2) There was also a lot for the rest of the children of Manasseh by their families, for the children of Abiezer, and for the children of Helek, and for the children of Asriel, and for the children of Shechem, and for the children of Hepher, and for the children of Shemida; these were the male children of Manasseh the son of Joseph by their families.

There was also a lot given to the other half of the tribe of Manasseh on the west side of the Jordan River.  It was said to be for the children of Abiezer, also called Jeezer (Numbers 26:30), a son of Gilead who was the son of Machir.  It was also for the children of the other sons of Gilead, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida (Numbers 26:30-32).  These were the male children or descendants of Manasseh.

(3) But Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, had no sons, but daughters, and these are the names of his daughters, Mahlah, and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

Normally only the males inherited, but Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, had no sons, only daughters, Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.  His daughters had requested and were granted their father's inheritance (Numbers 27:7).

(4) And they came near before Eleazar the priest and before Joshua the son of Nun and before the princes, saying, "The Lord commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brethren." Therefore, according to the commandment of the Lord, he gave them an inheritance among the brethren of their father.

Indeed, the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, came before the priest, and Joshua, and the ten princes who were appointed along with Eleazar and Joshua to divide the land (Numbers 34:17), and claimed their inheritance according to the commandment of the Lord to Moses (Numbers 27:7), and it was given to them.

(5) And there fell ten portions to Manasseh, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan on the other side of the Jordan, (6) Because the daughters of Manasseh had an inheritance among his sons, and the rest of Manasseh's sons had the land of Gilead.

The lot on the west side of the Jordan that fell to the half tribe of Manasseh was divided into ten portions, for the five sons of Gilead who had male descendants and for the five daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher.  Apparently, Hepher had only the one son, Zelophehad, who had only daughters, so there were no males among Hepher's descendants to receive an inheritance.  The rest of Manasseh's sons, the sons of Machir, had the land of Gilead and Bashan on the east side of the Jordan.

(7) And the coast of Manasseh was from Asher to Michmethah that lies before Shechem, and the border went along on the right hand to the inhabitants of En Tappuah.  

The boundary of West Manasseh went from the border of Asher in the northwest corner to Michmethah in the south.  Or perhaps there was a city of Asher, not the tribe of Asher, in the southwest corner of West Manasseh that went across to Michmethah, which was said to be before Shechem, to En Tappuah.  The map at the beginning of this post shows the tribe of Asher in relation to West Manasseh, and this map borrowed from Precept Austin shows the southern cities of Michmethah and Shechem.

(8) Manasseh had the land of Tappuah, but Tappuah on the border of Manasseh belonged to the children of Ephraim.

West Manasseh had the territory of Tappuah, but Ephraim had the city of Tappuah, one of those cities within West Manasseh that were given to Ephraim, according to Joshua 16:9.

(9) And the coast descended to the river Kanah, southward of the river; these cities of Ephraim are among the cities of Manasseh; the coast of Manasseh also was on the north side of the river, and the outgoings of it were at the sea.

I believe the meaning is that from the city of Tappuah that belonged to the children of Ephraim, the border continued west along the Kanah River and eventually reached the Mediterranean Sea.  The cities southward of the river were among the cities in West Manasseh that belonged to Ephraim.  North of the river belonged to Manasseh.

(10) Southward was Ephraim's and northward Manasseh's, and the sea is its border, and they met together in Asher on the north and in Issachar on the east.

The land south of the river belonged to Ephraim and north of it was Manasseh's, and the Mediterranean Sea was West Manasseh's western border.  The western border met the northern border at the border of Asher's lot and went eastward to Issachar's in the northeast.

(11) And Manasseh had in Issachar and in Asher Beth Shean and her towns and Ibleam and her towns and the inhabitants of Dor and her towns and the inhabitants of En Dor and her towns and the inhabitants of Taanach and her towns and the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns, three countries.

As Ephraim had cities within the tribe of Manasseh, it seems that Manasseh had cities within Asher and Issachar.  It seems to me that everyone's borders should have been pushed northward a little, but I imagine that the lots were determined before they knew who would get which lot, and as some tribes were much larger than others and required more land than perhaps had been allotted to them, adjustments were made to accommodate them.  The cities of Beth Shean, Ibleam, Dor, Taanach, and Megiddo all appear to be completely within West Manasseh in the map above, so perhaps the border was adjusted from what was previously intended to be Asher's and Issachar's lots.  I believe the sense of the three countries is that all these cities were in three regions in the north that became part of West Manasseh, perhaps the northwest region around Dor from Asher, the north central region around Megiddo and other cities in the north central from Issachar, and the northeast region around Beth Shean, also from Issachar.

(12) Yet the children of Manasseh could not drive out those cities, but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.

The tribe of Manasseh did not entirely drive out the Canaanites from those cities, so those Canaanites continued to dwell in the land.

(13) Yet it came to pass, when the children of Israel grew strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute, but did not utterly drive them out.

When the Israelites grew stronger, perhaps meaning they grew greater in number, they made the Canaanites pay tribute to them and allowed them to stay.  It seems that if they were strong enough to force them to pay tribute, they would have been strong enough to drive them out as God had commanded they do, but they didn't, perhaps for some selfish gain.

(14) And the children of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, "Why have you given me one lot and one portion to inherit, seeing I am a great people, for as much as the Lord has blessed me till now?"

The children of Joseph were Ephraim and Manasseh.  It seems they thought they should have more than one lot each seeing that they were a great people, most likely meaning great in number as the Lord had blessed them up to that point, but perhaps they also looked forward to the future as Jacob had blessed them, his grandsons, as his sons (Genesis 48:19), and said they would be great, especially Ephraim whose descendants would become a multitude of nations.  

(15) And Joshua answered them, "If you are a great people, get up to the forest and cut down for yourself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the giants, if mount Ephraim is too narrow for you."

However, Joshua said that if they were indeed a great people, then they should get themselves into the wood country and clear more land for them in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim, the giants, if what they now occupied was too small for them.  This map borrowed from Big Springs Community Church clearly shows much land west of Megiddo, Beth Shean, and Shechem, that they did not occupy: 

(16) And the children of Joseph said, "The hill is not enough for us, and all the Canaanites that dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, they of Beth Shean and her towns and they of the valley of Jezreel."

The children of Joseph said that that hill country was not enough for them, and all the Canaanites that dwelt in Beth Shean and all the valley of Jezreel were too much for them.  Most all the commentaries I study suggest that chariots of iron did not mean they were made of iron, but rather they were armed with scythes and dangerous.  This response of the children of Joseph hearkens back to the time the first spies came back with the report that the Canaanites were giants and too strong for them, and they were punished for having no faith in God to give them the land as He had said.

(17) And Joshua spoke to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and to Manasseh, saying, "You are a great people and have great power; you shall not have one lot, (18) But the mountain shall be yours, for it is a wood and you shall cut it down, and the outgoings of it shall be yours, for you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have chariots, though they be strong."

I have to hand it to Joshua; even though he was from the tribe of Ephraim, he did not back down and give in to give them more land.  I also can't help but think of Jacob who loved Joseph so much and made his sons his own.  He might have been disappointed to learn that they were acting so weak and faithless.  Joshua told Ephraim and the half tribe of Manasseh that they were indeed a great and powerful people, and they would not have only the one lot they occupied, but they would have almost twice as much land if they went in and cut down the woods and even the outgoings of that region to the Mediterranean Sea would be theirs because they would drive out the Canaanites, even though they were strong.  After all, their Lord was stronger and had promised them all that territory.

There is a great lesson in this.  God never promised us a rose garden.  He said we will be saved, and we will overcome, but we will be persecuted.  Life will be hard; we lost the Garden of Eden long ago.  God will make a way if we rely on Him, but we must have that whole armor of God, truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, and the word of God (Ephesians 6:13-17), and we must endure till the end (Matthew 24:13).  But be of good courage, Paul told us in 1 Corinthians 3:15, that even in weaknesses, such as slothfulness, which might be said of the children of Joseph at this point, we will suffer loss but we ourselves will still be saved as one barely escaping a fire.  However, God desires the best for us, and if we will trust in Him to lead us, we can live that best life.

Law Governing Marriage of the Daughters of Zelophehad

Continuing a chronological Bible study:

(Numbers 36:1) And the chief fathers of the families of the children of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came near, and spoke before Moses and before the princes, the chief fathers of the children of Israel.

The Israelites were in their last station in the plains of Moab before going over the Jordan River to take possession of their promised land.  In the past couple of chapters and posts, God had been laying out some instructions through Moses about their boundaries and the makeup of their cities.  At this point, the chief fathers of the children of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, came forward to speak before Moses and the chief fathers of the children of Israel.  Machir made up the half tribe of Manasseh that took its inheritance on their current side of the Jordan River.

(2) And they said, "The LORD commanded my lord to give the land for an inheritance by lot to the children of Israel; and my lord was commanded by the LORD to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters."

The chief fathers of the families of Gilead, the son of Machir, the half tribe of Manasseh on the east side of the Jordan, began by referencing the fact that Moses had been commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of Zelophehad to his daughters.  Zelophehad, we were told in Numbers 27:1, was the son of Hepher who was the son of Gilead, and therefore had also been a chief father of the family of Gilead.  Now his inheritance belonged to his daughters.

(3) "And if they be married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the children of Israel, then shall their inheritance be taken from the inheritance of our fathers, and shall be put to the inheritance of the tribe in which they are received; so it shall be taken from the lot of our inheritance."

The chief fathers of the families of Gilead brought up the supposition that the daughters of Zelophehad might well marry a man from another tribe, and land from their tribe's inheritance would be taken away and added to the tribe into which each daughter of Zelophehad married.

(4) “And when the Jubilee of the children of Israel comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they are received; so shall their inheritance be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers."

Normally, in the Year of Jubilee inheritances were to be restored to the original owners of them, but this would not be the case for the inheritances of the daughters of Zelophehad; theirs would remain with the tribe into which they had married, and would thus be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of the fathers of the families of Gilead, that is Machir, that half tribe of Manasseh that had its inheritance on the eastern side of the Jordan River.

(5) And Moses commanded the children of Israel according to the word of the LORD, saying, "The tribe of the sons of Joseph has spoken well."

Moses then told the children of Israel that the Lord had said that what the fathers of the families of Gilead (the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, who was the son of Joseph) had said was right and reasonable.

(6) "This is the thing which the LORD commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, ‘Let them marry whom they think best, but only to the family of the tribe of their father shall they marry.'"

The Lord commanded that the daughters of Zelophehad marry only within the family of their father's, and theirs themselves, own tribe.  There was to be no forced or arranged marriage; they could marry whomever they wished, but it had to be within their own tribe.  Some Bible commentators say that the verse meant they could only marry within their father's family within the tribe, meaning the family of the Hepherites, Hepher being the father of Zelophehad.  At this point, I don't see it that way.  I believe it means they could marry into the family of their father's tribe, which would be the half tribe of Manasseh that was to dwell on the eastern side of the Jordan.  This seems a very wise and reasonable command.  For one thing, if God is the one directing whom they should marry, then how could the marriage fail?  Even now isn't it God's best for Christians that they not be unequally yoked with unbelievers (2 Corinthians 6:14)?

(7) “So the inheritance of the children of Israel shall not move from tribe to tribe; for every one of the children of Israel shall keep to himself the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers."

Doing as God commanded, Moses said, would allow each of the children of Israel to keep his inheritance of the tribe of his fathers, and ownership would not move from tribe to tribe. 

(8) “And every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel shall be the wife of one of the family of her father’s tribe, so that the children of Israel each may enjoy the inheritance of his fathers. (9) Neither shall the inheritance move from one tribe to another tribe; but every one of the tribes of the children of Israel shall keep its own inheritance.”

Dr. John Gill pointed out, in his Exposition of the Entire Bible, that the tribes were not strictly obliged to marry within their own tribes.  The inheritances were given to the heads of each tribe, and wives who married into the families of a tribe became one of that tribe, and likewise the children they bore.  It was only in the case of the daughters who possessed an inheritance, that they would have to marry within their tribe so that their inheritance would not go to another tribe.  With this law, all tribes retained their inheritances.

I recall something that illustrates this point.  I am a genealogist, and in researching my son's family tree, I found this case of his great-great grandfather.  He married a young woman of some means, and her parents gave her a good bit of land when they got married.  She died in childbirth with their first child, a daughter.  The land then went to the daughter.  However, the baby daughter died, and then the land went to her father.  Her father remarried and they had a child.  At that point, the child who was completely unrelated to the parents who had initially given the land, was the heir to the land.  Those parents were upset about it and even sued the husband of their daughter, but to no avail.  If it had been Biblical times, and their daughter had married someone within the tribe of her parents, the land would have stayed in the family, because her husband was within their tribe, and there would have been no hostile feelings and lawsuits.  God makes such wise laws!

(10) Just as the LORD commanded Moses, so did the daughters of Zelophehad; (11) For Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to the sons of their father’s brothers. (12) They were married into the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father.

The daughters of Zelophehad did just as the Lord had commanded to Moses that they do.  They married into the families of their father's brothers, and therefore were married into the families of their half tribe of Manasseh, and thus their inheritances remained in the tribe of their father.

(13) These are the commandments and the judgments which the LORD commanded the children of Israel by the hand of Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho.

With this verse the book of Numbers ends with a summary statement that the preceding had been the commandments and judgments of the Lord, concerning their inheritances in the promised land, regarding the division of it, cities of refuge, and the case of inheritances in it.  These commandments the Lord gave at the Israelites' last station in the plains of Moab by the Jordan River across from Jericho where they would enter their promised land.

The moral of the 36th chapter of Numbers is that the people of God are taught to hold fast to their inheritances in His promises and their right in Christ.  They are not to be unequally yoked as to have union with pagans that would make them partakers in paganism and idolatry, and thus pull them away from their God.  We should not join in friendships with wicked men and unbelievers.  Though we can't completely avoid being around such people, we shouldn't choose those people for our closest friends.  We must not defile ourselves by closely sharing with those who defile themselves with sin.  Of course, that is not to say we shouldn't have any contact with unbelievers and sinners.  How can an unbelieving world learn about Christ if it can't see the light?  However, we have to avoid those close associations that would necessarily make us compromise God's laws.

The Law of Inheritances; Joshua Appointed to Succeed Moses

Continuing a chronological Bible study:

(Numbers 27:1) Then came 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 are the names of his daughters--Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

In chapter 26 of Numbers there was a census taken of all the able-bodied men of war 20 years and older.  In verse 33 we were told of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher (Gilead's son who was the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh), and that Zelophehad had no sons, only daughters.  Here these daughters were mentioned again--Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

(2) And they stood before Moses, before Eleazar the priest, and before the princes and all the congregation, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying, (3) “Our father died in the wilderness, and he was not in the company of those who gathered together against the LORD, in the company of Korah, but died in his own sin, and had no sons."

The five daughters of Zelophehad came before Moses and Eleazar (Aaron's son) the priest, and before all the princes of the people, and all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were gathered by the door of the tabernacle.  They spoke about their father who had died in the wilderness, making it a point to say that he had not been in the company of Korah who had rebelled against the Lord, but had died in his own sin, meaning that sin that is common to all men, and he had died in the wilderness under that general sentence that the Lord had passed upon the older generation that none of them would enter the promised land.  They explained that their father had had no sons.

(4) “Why should the name of our father be removed from among his family because he had no son? Give us a possession among our father’s brothers.”

Because inheritance in the promised land was based upon the number of able-bodied men of war, and did not include women, they reasoned that their father's name should not be erased from his family just because he had only daughters and no son.  They requested that they be given a possession in the promised land, as representing their father among his brothers.  Matthew Henry, in his Commentary on the Whole Bible, pointed out how this showed great faith in the word of the Lord since Canaan had not yet been conquered, and an earnest desire to have a part in that promise, as well as respect for their father's name.  Additionally, Mr. Henry compared these five daughters to the five wise virgins that Jesus would later use in a teaching parable.  The promised land was a symbol of the Kingdom of God, and these five wise virgins showed diligence in seeking to obtain their part in that heavenly inheritance.

(5) And Moses brought their cause before the LORD.

Moses did not try to answer this himself, but took their case to the Lord.

(6) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (7) “The daughters of Zelophehad speak right; you shall surely give them a possession of an inheritance among their father's brethren; and you shall cause the inheritance of their father to pass to them."

The Lord told Moses that the daughters of Zelophehad had spoken what was right and just, and that he was to give them the inheritance of their father just as their father's brothers' inheritances fell to their sons.  In this the Lord demonstrated that when you seek, you shall find.  Those who seek an inheritance in the heavenly land of promise, shall receive it.

(8) “And you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘If a man dies and has no son, then you shall cause his inheritance to pass to his daughter.'"

The Lord went on speaking to Moses, to furthermore tell the children of Israel what to do in the case of a man who died with no son; his inheritance was to pass to his daughter.

(9) "'And if he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers.'"

The Lord went on to instruct that if a man died with no children at all, his inheritance was to pass to his brothers.

(10) "'And if he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. (11) And if his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to the relative closest to him in his family, and he shall possess it.’” And it shall be to the children of Israel a statute of judgment, as the LORD commanded Moses.

If a man died with no children and he had no brothers, then his inheritance was to be given to his father's brothers.  In the event his father had no brothers either, then the inheritance was to pass to the man's closest relative.  This was to be the law for inheritances as the Lord had commanded to Moses.

(12) And the LORD said to Moses, “Go up into this Mount Abarim, and see the land which I have given to the children of Israel."

The Lord then told Moses to go up this mountain...  Abarim was actually a range of mountains; the mountain Moses was told to ascend was Mount Nebo, as was later recorded in Deuteronomy 32:49.  The Lord wanted Moses to go up that mountain to see the land that He was giving the children of Israel.

(13) “And when you have seen it, you also shall be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother was gathered."

The Lord continued, telling Moses that once he had seen the promised land, he would then die, as his brother Aaron had died.

(14) "For you rebelled against My commandment in the desert of Zin, in the strife of the congregation, to sanctify Me at the water before their eyes"; that is the water of Meribah in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.

The Lord went on to explain to Moses why he would die before entering the promised land.  In Numbers 20:12, the Lord had told both Moses and Aaron that because they did not believe Him, to sanctify Him in the eyes of the children of Israel, they would not bring the people into the promised land.  This was the event at the water of Meribah in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin when the people had complained about having no water.  Moses and Aaron did not obey the Lord to sanctify Him in the eyes of His children.  Rather they seemed to imply it was they who would give them water by Moses's action by striking the rock, which was not what the Lord had told him to do.  Aaron had already died as the Lord had promised after this episode, and now it was Moses's time, but the gracious Lord would allow Moses to see the promised land.

(15) And Moses spoke to the LORD, saying, (16) “Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, (17) Who may go out before them and go in before them, who may lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the LORD may not be as sheep which have no shepherd.”

Moses then entreated the Lord, acknowledging that He, the Father of spirits who knew the spirits of all men, place a man in Moses's stead to lead the people so they would not wander about as sheep without a shepherd.  This request by Moses showed a tender concern for the children of Israel.  This same metaphor was later used in Matthew 9:36 when describing Jesus Christ's compassion for the multitudes who fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd.

(18) And the LORD said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun with you, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him; (19) And set him before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation, and give him charge in their sight."

In answer to Moses's request, the Lord told him to take Joshua with him, a man in whom was His Spirit, and set him before Eleazar the priest and all the congregation.  Moses was to lay his hand on Joshua, signifying the transfer of leadership from Moses to Joshua, and give him formal charge in their sight.

(20) “And you shall put some of your honor on him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient."

By his words and actions, Moses was to transfer to Joshua his honor as leader in government so that the children of Israel would regard Joshua as their leader and obey his commands.

(21) "And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim before the LORD; at his word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come in, he, and all the children of Israel with him, all the congregation."

The Lord continued to speak to Moses with regard to Joshua.  Joshua was to stand before Eleazar the priest, who would ask counsel of the Lord through the use of the Urim and Thummim that were kept inside the fold of the breastplate of judgment worn by the priest (Exodus 28:30).  In this way it was the Lord who determined when the people moved out or came back in.  At "his" word may refer to Joshua's word or that of Eleazar, or even at the Lord's word.  If it was Joshua or Eleazar, it was to voice the will of the Lord as shown through the Urim and Thummim.

(22) And Moses did as the LORD commanded him, and he took Joshua and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; (23) And he laid his hands upon him and gave him a charge, as the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses.

Moses did just as the Lord had commanded he do.  He brought Joshua before Eleazar the priest and before all the children of Israel, and laid his hands upon him and ordained Joshua as his successor.  According to the medieval French rabbi and Torah commentator, Jarchi, Moses "did this cheerfully, and did more than he was commanded; for the Lord said to him, 'lay thine hand', but he laid both his hands" (John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible).

Moses showed us a great example of humility.  This might have ordinarily been seen as a demoting of himself and a diss to his own family.  Think about it--the priesthood was given to his brother Aaron's family, and now he was to pass the civil government on to his servant from the tribe of Ephraim.  His own posterity were only common Levites who waited on the priests.  However, Moses cheerfully ordained Joshua.  As Matthew Henry so beautifully stated, "...this was such an instance of self-denial and submission to the will of God as was more his glory than the highest advancement of his family could have been; for it confirms his character as the meekest man upon earth, and faithful to him that appointed him in all his house. This (says the excellent bishop Patrick) shows him to have had a principle which raised him above all other lawgivers, who always took care to establish their families in some share of that greatness which they themselves possessed; but hereby it appeared that Moses acted not from himself, because he acted not for himself."

Census of Israel in the Plains of Moab, Part 4

Continuing a chronological Bible study, started in the previous three posts:

Census of Israel in the Plains of Moab, Part 1

Census of Israel in the Plains of Moab, Part 2

Census of Israel in the Plains of Moab, Part 3

Chapter 26 of Numbers has had to be chopped up into many short posts because Blogger limits the number of labels each post can have.  There is an all-important census going on in this chapter, and all the names should be noted.  Continuing:

(Numbers 26:28) The sons of Joseph after their families were Manasseh and Ephraim.

The sons of Joseph were Manasseh and Ephraim, and they became two of the twelve tribes of Israel.

(29) Of the sons of Manasseh: of Machir, the family of the Machirites; and Machir begat Gilead: of Gilead come the family of the Gileadites. (30) These are the sons of Gilead: Jeezer, the family of the Jeezerites; of Helek, the family of the Helekites. (31) And of Asriel, the family of the Asrielites: and Shechem, the family of the Shechemites; (32) And Shemida, the family of the Shemidaites; and Hepher, the family of the Hepherites.

From Machir, the son of Manasseh, came the family of the Machirites.  Machir's son was Gilead, and the Gileadites were separated into six families after his sons, Jeezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Shemida, and Hepher.

(33) And Zelophehad the son of Hepher had no sons, but daughters: and the names of the daughters of Zelophehad were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

It appears that Hepher, the son of Gilead, had only one son, Zelophehad, who had no sons, only five daughters, but they were important enough to be named here, even though they would not be counted as able to go to war.  They were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

(34) These are the families of Manasseh; and those who were numbered of them were fifty-two thousand seven hundred.

The families of the tribe of Manasseh were numbered at 52,700 able-bodied men of war twenty years and older.  Their numbers had increased by 20,500 since the census 38 years prior to this one.  Indeed Manasseh's numbers had increased more than those of any other tribe.

Once again, I have to end a short post and continue in the next because Blogger limits the number of labels I can have in each post.  To continue the census:

Census of Israel in the Plains of Moab, Part 5