Bible Strands
Joshua 13:31
half of Gilead; and Ashtaroth and Edrei, the royal cities of Og in Bashan. All this was for the clans of the descendants of Machir son of Manasseh, that is, half of the descendants of Machir.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The passage records Moses assigning tribal territories on the plains of Moab east of Jericho, immediately following the description of Bashan and preceding the summary of the eastern inheritance. The allocation specifically designates land for the clans descended from Machir, son of Manasseh.
The words — The Hebrew מַמְלְכ֥וּת (mamlekhut) translates to "kingdom" or "royal domain," applied directly to Og. The text explicitly names Ashtaroth and Edrei as the royal cities of this former ruler in Bashan.
The thread — The inheritance of Gilead and Bashan aligns with Numbers 32:39, where Machir’s descendants take the region, while Joshua 12:4 clarifies that Og belonged to the Rephaim, not the Amorites. The geographic markers tie directly to the surrounding tribal distributions in Joshua 13:30 and 13:32.
Why it lands — The verse requires readers to see tribal inheritance mapped precisely onto family lines rather than general conquest. It demands attention to how covenant promises are fulfilled through specific ancestral allocations.
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 half Gilead, and Ashtaroth, and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan, were pertaining unto the children of Machir the son of Manasseh, even to the one half of the children of Machir by their families.
Cross-references
- Joshua 12:4 And Og king of Bashan, one of the remnant of the Rephaim, who lived in Ashtaroth and Edrei.
- Numbers 32:39 The descendants of Machir son of Manasseh went to Gilead, captured it, and drove out the Amorites who were there.