Bible Strands
Joshua 13:29
This is what Moses had given to the clans of the half-tribe of Manasseh, that is, to half the tribe of the descendants of Manasseh:
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Joshua records the land distribution to Israel's leaders following the Transjordan conquest. The verse operates as a transitional heading introducing the specific allotment to the eastern half of Manasseh's clan.
The words — וַ/יִּתֵּ֣ן (va/yi.ten) means "and he gave," marking Moses' initial authority in the allocation. מְנַשֶּׁ֑ה (me.na.shseh) identifies the tribe, while the repeated לַ/חֲצִ֖י (la./cha.tzi) and לַ/חֲצִ֛י (la./cha.tzi) literally render "to the half," stressing the tribal division.
The thread — The verse continues the systematic territorial distribution recorded in Joshua 13, linking Moses' original Transjordan grant to Joshua's formalized settlement. This administrative breakdown pattern runs through the surrounding inheritance accounts in Joshua 13:28 and 13:30.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to track precise administrative markers rather than assume uniform tribal distribution. It demands attention to how leadership transitions from Moses to Joshua are documented through concrete geographic and genealogical 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 Moses gave inheritance unto the half tribe of Manasseh: and this was the possession of the half tribe of the children of Manasseh by their families.