Deuteronomy 3:12-17

8. EXTENT AND DIVISION OF CONQUERED EAST-SIDE LANDS (Deuteronomy 3:12-17)

12 And this land we took in possession at that time: from Aroer, which is by the valley of the Arnon, and half the hill-country of Gilead, and the cities thereof, gave I unto the Reubenites and to the Gadites: 13 and the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, gave I unto the half-tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob, even all Bashan. (The same is called the land of Rephaim. 14 Jair the son of Manasseh took all the region of Argob, unto the border of the Geshurites and the Macathites, and called them, even Bashan, after his own name, Havvoth-jair, unto this day.) 15 And I gave Gilead unto Machir. 16 And unto the Reubenites and unto the Gadites I gave from Gilead even unto the valley of the Arnon, the middle of the valley, and the border thereof, even unto the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon; 17 the Arabah also, and the Jordan and the border thereof, from Chinnereth even unto the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, under the slopes of Pisgah eastward.

THOUGHT QUESTIONS 3:12-17

57.

Please refer to Numbers 22 through 33 for additional events in this period.

58.

Upon what condition were the two-and-half tribes granted their inheritance before the other tribes? Cf. Deuteronomy 3:18-20 and Numbers 32:16-27.

59.

Please refer to a map of the twelve tribes and memorize the location of the tribes.

AMPLIFIED TRANSLATION 3:12-17

12 When we took possession of this land, I gave to the Reubenites and the Gadites the territory from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of Arnon, and half the hill country of Gilead and its cities;
13 The rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, that is, all the region of Argob, with all Bashan, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh. Itis called the land of Rephaim [of giant stature].

14 Jair son of Manasseh took all the region of Argob, that is, Bashan, as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Ma-acathites, and called the villages after his own name, Havvoth-jair, so called to this day.

15 And I gave Gilead to Mechir [son of Manasseh].

16 And to the Reubenites and Gadites I gave from Gilead even to the valley of the Arnon, with the middle of the valley as the boundary of it, as far over as the river Jabbok, the boundary of the Ammonites.
17 The Arabah also, with the Jordan as its boundary, from Chinnereth as far as the sea of the Arabah, the Salt [Dead] Sea, under the cliffs [of the headlands] of Pisgah on the east.

COMMENT 3:12-17

The student should be locating the various geographical names of this chapter, and establishing the proper event with the proper place. So here we have Aroer, the Arnon river, Gilead, Bashan (Argob, see above), the Jabbok river, the Arabah, Chinnereth (either the sea of that name [i.e. the sea of Galilee] Numbers 34:11, Joshua 13:27, or the town near the sea, Joshua 19:35), the Salt (Dead) Sea, mount Pisgah (a shoulder of mount Nebo)all mentioned in describing the boundaries of the east-side tribes: Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.[26] The basic boundaries of these tribes should be committed to memoryit will help you time and again in your Bible study.

[26] And this half-tribe also had an area of the west side, north of Ephriam, extending from the plain of Sharon to the Jordanthe inheritance of the daughters of Zelophehad. Numbers 27:1-11, Joshua 17

Moses omits much of Israel's recent history herebut it was all doubtless fresh in the minds of his hearers. In Numbers 22:1, after Sihon and Og were smitten, we are told, And the children of Israel journeyed, and encamped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho (See also Numbers 33:47-49)a statement that ties right in with Deuteronomy 1:1; Deuteronomy 32:49; Deuteronomy 34:1; Deuteronomy 34:5; Deuteronomy 34:8 in locating Israel on the plains of Moab. The account of Balaam (the Mesopotamian seer) as he tried to carry out the wishes of Balak, king of Moaba country in league with Midian against Israelis in Numbers 22-24. His curses were turned into blessings.

Fearing the result of open war, the allied nations now undertook to corrupt Israel by their friendship and by seduction. Numbers 25:1 reads, And Israel abode in Shittim [very near or the same as their present location]; and the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab, and many Israelites bowed down to their gods (Numbers 25:2). Many people perished by the plague that fell on the nation as a penalty (Chap. 25). After the numbering of the people (Chap. 26), the daughters of Zelophehad (descendants of Manasseh) are granted their inheritance (Numbers 27:1-11); then follows God's command to Moses to ascend mount Abarim (Pisgah) (Numbers 27:12-14), Joshua's appointment as leader of Israel (Numbers 27:15-23), laws for various offerings (Ch. 28), offerings for the seventh month (Ch. 29), the law of vows (Ch. 30), the slaughter of the Midianites (Ch. 31) and the settling of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh on the east side (Ch. 32), Chapter 33 gives an itinerary of Israel's encampments to their present one ... in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. from Beth-jeshimoth even unto Abel-shittim (Numbers 33:48-49). The exhortations and instructions of Moses from Numbers 33:50 to the end of Numbers are, like those in Deuteronomy, given with a view to their settlement in Canaan.

We are making no attempt in this volume at closely harmonizing, chronologically, the events of Numbers (after Chapter 22) with those of Deuteronomyonly to say that they occurred at approximately the same time and in the same general areathe plains of Moab, not far from the mouth of the Jordan.

James 1 R THE SON OF MANASSETH TOOK ALL THE REGION OF THE ARGOB (Deuteronomy 3:14)Naming them HAWOTH-JAIR, that is, the towns of Jair. He was a descendant of Manasseh, being the son of Segub (1 Chronicles 2:21-22).