Devarim / Deuteronomy 1:1 –
3:22
(These are the) words – Hebrew
Second naming/law – Greek
Parashah
#7 - Devarim 3:15 – 22
“…and to Machir I gave Gilead, and to the
Reubenites and to the Gadites I gave from Gilead to the brook of Arnon, in the
midst of the brook and the border, until the brook of Jabbok, which is the
boundary of the children of Ammon, the plain, the Jordan and the border
thereof, from Kinnereth to the sea of the plain of the Salt Sea, under the
waterfalls of Pisgah, eastward.” (vss. 15 – 17)
The finale of this week’s parashot
begins with a continuation of the previous portion, Moses’ rehashing what has
already occurred regarding the distribution of the land in the Trans-Jordan
area. The Trans-Jordan refers to the
land east of the Jordan River. Of the
twelve tribes to receive land sandwiched between the waters of the Jordan River
and the Mediterranean Sea, two had requested permission to remain in the Trans-Jordan. Reuben and Gad were the tribes that made this
request. Upon Moses’ approval, it was
also determined that ½ of the tribe of Manasseh was to remain in the
Trans-Jordan as well. (See Numbers 32 for a more in depth presentation of these
events.)
Briefly, let me describe what is
mentioned here. Machir, a man of the
tribe of Manasseh, was given the city of Gilead. We will revisit Machir a little later. The Reubenites and the Gadites received territory
between the Jabbok and Arnon Rivers.
This is an area that covers about 35 – 40 miles north to south; it began
at about the midpoint between the southernmost point Sea of Galilee (Kinnereth)
and the northernmost tip of the Dead (Salt) Sea and extended southward to near
the mid-way point of the Dead (Salt) Sea.
The ½ tribe of Manasseh, of which Machir is a member, received as their
portion the land from the Jabbok River northward to about the center point on
the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee (the southern portion of the Golan
Heights), and their land then fanned out northeastwardly from there.
Let us now return to Machir. As was already reported, Machir had been
given Gilead; this would have been the city of Gilead, Gilead; in other words,
the settlement of Gilead within the boundaries of the territory of Gilead.
However, who is Machir? What is important about him and his progeny? According to Numbers 27:1, 32:39, and 36:1,
he was the son of Manasseh which would make him the grandson of Joseph. As we follow his genealogy in the direction
of his descendants we discover that he had a son named Gilead, a grandson named
Hepher, a great-grandson named Zelophehad (Num. 26:33), and five great great
granddaughters known as the daughters of Zelophehad. According to Joshua 17:4 – 6 it seems that
his five daughters were given territory near Gilead, the city which had been
given to their great-great-grandfather.
These five women had a great uncle
who was the son of their great-grandfather Gilead. He was a half brother of their grandfather
Hepher, and his name was Jephthah.
Scripture has information regarding him in Judges 11:1 – 12:7. Judges 11:13 reveals that the Ammonites
wanted “their land” returned to them.
What land? Jephthah’s response from verses 15 through 23
accurately described the history of what had occurred some three hundred years
previously – in the time of our parashah.
Israel had not taken any of the land of the Ammonites for they had been
forbidden to do so. Yes, they did
conquer the Amorites, but that land bordered on the northern part of the Ammonites,
it was not part of Ammon.
A wise man once said, “…there is nothing
new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9).
To put this situation in modern terms, “Give back the land to the
Palestinians.” NO! There has never been a group of people called
the Palestinians, there never was a land of Palestine despite the nomenclature
given to it by the Romans, and the Ammonites had no historical right to
Trans-Jordan Israel. There is no land to “give back”.
According to map #45 in the Holman
Bible Atlas (© 1998)
as well as map #4-7 in the Satellite Bible Atlas – Historical Geography of
the Bible (© 2013), Ammon had at
this time expanded to the east and north thereby expanding their territory east
of Trans-Jordan Israel. The Ammonites,
besides raiding the lands of Reuben, Gad, and the ½ tribe of Manasseh, also
traversed through these lands in order to raid Judah, Benjamin, and
Ephraim. Scriptural support for this
comes from Judges 10:6 – 9 where we also find that this occurred for 18
years. Students of the Tanakh could
probably guess the cause of these raids; Israel had once again sinned against
HaShem by serving other gods, including those of the Ammonites.
It seems that most of the Jephthah-led fighting actually
took place in the territory of the Gadites and the Reubenites, for Judges 11:33
states as follows:
“He struck them with
a very great slaughter from Aroer
to the entrance
of Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as
Abel-keramim. So the sons of Ammon were subdued
before the sons
of Israel.” NASB
Aroer seems to have been
located just north of the Arnon River, in the territory of Reuben, and the
defeat of the Ammonites continued northward to Abel-keramim, well in the
northern portion of Gad, some 20 miles south of the Jabbok River, which was the
southern border of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh.
There is a comparison I would like to bring up before
closing these thoughts on our parashah.
There are six women who merit mention in the readings of Deuteronomy and
Judges; and they are related to each other.
We know the names of the five daughters of Zelophehad, but the sixth
women we only know as the daughter of Jephthah; she was their 1st
cousin once removed. (“Once removed”
means that there is a one-generation difference between them.)
Though I cannot pretend to know why HaShem has these six
Gileadite women mentioned, I can give you a thought of mine. These women had chutzpah, and their chutzpah
was admiral.
Zelophehad’s daughters honored their father through their
request of an inheritance so that his name would be maintained among his family
(Numbers 27:4). The sisters really had
nothing to gain for themselves by this request once they were married or had
died. In addition to showing utmost
respect for the property of their tribe, this request was for the honor of
their father’s name. What better example
is there of honoring your father and mother?
Did not Jephthah’s daughter do likewise? Of whom does she remind you? She reminds me of Isaac as he permitted
himself to be bound and lay down on the altar.
She was willing to allow her father to fulfill his vow to Adonai. How much trust is exhibited here – not only
in her father, but also in her Father?
Lastly, the half tribe of Manasseh had not requested to
remain in Trans-Jordan as far as I can tell.
Why did Moses send them there?
Was it because of their faithfulness? Was it because Joseph had been
separated from his brethren, and in a sense, splitting this son of Joseph
separates them from the rest of the tribes who all remain whole – excluding the
priesthood. Not only does Joseph have
representation on both sides of the Jordan River, but also in the western
territories he has representation in what will become known as Israel and
Judah. Perhaps Joseph’s representation
on both sides of the river is symbolic of his faithfulness to the mitzvot of
HaShem, and as a protector/life-giver to all his brethren.
May we all remember and rejoice at HaShem’s everlasting
faithfulness to His Word. Shalom.
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