Bible Strands
1 Chronicles 2:23
But Geshur and Aram captured Havvoth-jair, along with Kenath and its sixty surrounding villages. All these were descendants of Machir the father of Gilead.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Chronicler records this note while cataloging the descendants of Manasseh, specifically tracing the lineage of Machir and Gilead. The narrative interrupts the ancestral list to report a territorial shift involving Jair's settlements.
The words — The verb וַ/יִּקַּ֣ח (va/i.yi.Kach) literally means "and he took" or "and he captured." The compound name חַוֹּ֨ת יָאִ֧יר (cha.Vot ya.'Ir) translates directly to "villages of Jair."
The thread — Numbers 32:41 and Deuteronomy 3:14 previously record Jair's capture and naming of these same settlements. Joshua 13:13 later notes that Geshur and Maacath were never driven out and continued to dwell among the Israelites.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to acknowledge that ancestral land tenure is contingent on military and political reality, not permanent ownership. It directs attention to how biblical genealogies track both inheritance and loss without moral commentary.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And he took Geshur, and Aram, with the towns of Jair, from them, with Kenath, and the towns thereof, even threescore cities. All these belonged to the sons of Machir the father of Gilead.
Cross-references
- Numbers 32:41 Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, went and captured their villages and called them Havvoth-jair.
- Deuteronomy 3:14 Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, took the whole region of Argob as far as the border of the Geshurites and Maacathites. He renamed Bashan after himself, Havvoth-jair, by which it is called to this day.
- Joshua 13:13 but the Israelites did not drive out the Geshurites or the Maacathites. So Geshur and Maacath dwell among the Israelites to this day.
- Joshua 13:30 The territory from Mahanaim through all Bashan—all the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, including all the towns of Jair that are in Bashan, sixty cities;
- 2 Samuel 13:38 After Absalom had fled and gone to Geshur, he stayed there three years.