Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 3:15
To Machir I gave Gilead,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses addresses the assembled Israelites on the plains of Moab, concluding his inventory of the conquered Transjordan territories. He explicitly assigns Gilead to Machir.
The words — The Hebrew וּ/לְ/מָכִ֖יר (u./le./ma.Khir) and נָתַ֥תִּי (na.Ta.ti) literally render "and to Makir I gave." The verb form indicates a completed, authoritative transfer of the object marked by אֶת־.
The thread — This allocation directly parallels Numbers 32:39, where Machir’s descendants capture Gilead from the Amorites. The tribal lineage is further documented in Genesis 50:23 and Numbers 26:29 as descendants of Manasseh.
Why it lands — The text requires readers to treat territorial distribution as a precise administrative act rather than a vague blessing. It demands recognition that covenant inheritance follows explicit, recorded boundaries.
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 I gave Gilead unto Machir.
Cross-references
- Numbers 32:39 The descendants of Machir son of Manasseh went to Gilead, captured it, and drove out the Amorites who were there.
- Genesis 50:23 He saw Ephraim’s sons to the third generation, and indeed the sons of Machir son of Manasseh were brought up on Joseph’s knees.
- Numbers 26:29 These were the descendants of Manasseh: The Machirite clan from Machir, the father of Gilead, and the Gileadite clan from Gilead.
- Joshua 17:1 Now this was the allotment for the tribe of Manasseh as Joseph’s firstborn son, namely for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh and father of the Gileadites, who had received Gilead and Bashan because Machir was a man of war.
- Joshua 22:7 (To the half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given land in Bashan, and to the other half Joshua gave land on the west side of the Jordan among their brothers.) When Joshua sent them to their homes he blessed them,