For years, I’ve read about the two-and-a-half tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh. And I must confess, I can’t think of a single time I ever stopped to ask aa simple question staring me right in the face…
Why is there a half-tribe of Manasseh hanging around? Where did they come from?
Reuben and Gad we know. That’s what Numbers 32 is all about. They like the land east of the Jordan, so they cut a deal with Moses to send a third of their combined forces west with the main Israelite force, in exchange for the rest of their land staying behind in already-conquered territory. Easy, right?
But suddenly, Manasseh enters the conversation. In Numbers 32:33, Manasseh is granted a half-tribe allotment alongside Reuben and Gad. They never asked Moses for it directly; why do they appear now?
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a good answer to this question. Most claim that it was Machir, a family of the Manassites, that simply wanted part of the conquered pasture-land for themselves. It’s a lesson on greed, in other words.
But if that were true, the Manassites wouldn’t have had to “dispossess” the Amorites that were living in Gilead (Numbers 32:39). This signals to me that it was a portion of the land that Israel left untouched, and Machir was granted permission to seek it for themselves.
One would think that if that were the case though, more Scriptural real estate would be given to those discussions. After all, the rest of the tribal land inside Canaan was given via lots and population size, and we just saw a huge discussion between Moses and the tribes of Reuben and Gad.
You’re telling me Manasseh just snuck in under the radar to go off on their own?
In Joshua 17:14-18, the rest of the tribe of Manasseh asks for more land “since they were numerous.” They argue that Joshua only gave them one portion, despite Joshua 17:5 saying that ten portions fell to Manasseh, in addition to the Transjordan area.
Joshua’s response is curious: He tells them to clear land in the Perizzites and the Rephaim, the latter of which is flatly stated as Transjordan area (Deuteronomy 3:13). To be fair, there are mentions of the “valley of Rephaim” in Joshua 15:8 and Joshua 18:16. Maybe Joshua is referencing those Rephaims?
Like I said, there’s no good solution. What we do know is that, at some point, the family of Machir (of Manasseh) joined in with Reuben and Gad to ask for Transjordan area, along with, at some point, Jair and Nobah, also from Manasseh.
We also know they had to clear some land in order to do that and/or dispossess an entire nation of Amorites on their own because they were “too numerous” for just one plot of land.
What we don’t know is the conversation that evidently occurred between Manasseh and the leaders of Israel to allow him to claim the Transjordan area for himself. I have to be okay with that solution, even if it will annoy me for quite a while.
What do you think? Email me at [email protected] and let me know your thoughts!