their territory was from Mahanaim, all Bashan, the whole kingdom of Og the king of Bashan, and all the villages of Jair, which are in Bashan, sixty cities.
This verse maps the northern land Moses gave to half the tribe of Manasseh, east of the Jordan: Bashan, the whole kingdom of Og, and sixty towns. Two questions turn the list into teaching. What was this land? And why were God's people settling outside Canaan?
This is a real region, and it changed hands in war before anyone divided it up.
Now best known for the Golan Heights, it is a large district east of the Jordan. Gilead lies to the south. It reaches north to Mount Hermon and west to the Jordan valley. It is sometimes called the "land of Bashan," and it was the kingdom of Og the Amorite. Moses conquered it, and it became, with part of Gilead, the portion of the half tribe of Manasseh.
Sixty cities measure the strength of a kingdom the Lord had already overthrown. Moses had a reason for pointing back to it.
The kingdom of Og in Bashan was a powerful kingdom. The cities had high walls with gates and bars. Their number was sixty… King Og was a giant, and Moses mentions his iron bed. Moses must have mentioned the dead giant's bed to remind the people of the great victory the Lord had given them. He wanted to give them confidence about taking the land. The Lord, who overthrew Og, would certainly not fail them when they entered the land and met the enemies there.
The boundary list keeps one man's name. He won that land in battle and then named the towns after himself.
He was the son of Segub, a descendant of Judah. He is called "son of Manasseh" because of his mother, the daughter of Machir… He conquered the territory of Argob with some towns, and called them Havoth-Jair, "the towns of Jair."
These tribes asked for this land. One writer goes back to Numbers 32 to show what they wanted and why.
To see what first led the two and a half tribes to seek their inheritance on the east side of the Jordan, turn to chapter 32 of Numbers. There we read how these tribes saw that the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead was a place for livestock… To settle on the east side of the river and build cities there was to fall short of God's purpose for Israel's blessing.
Settling in Bashan cost these tribes something the boundary list never shows. They no longer saw God act for them at first hand.
All their armed men crossed the Jordan to help their brothers in the war. They did not go to win an inheritance for themselves where God had chosen for them. They went in order to return to their own choice, the place where they made their home… They became mere onlookers of the triumphs of Israel. The valuable lessons from the battles at Ai and Gibeon, and others like them, reached these tribes only second-hand.
Commentators weigh the east side in different ways. One writer says the land itself was always part of what God had marked out, even though God did not mean them to live there.
God had decided in advance that the land of Israel's inheritance lay on both sides of the Jordan. Even so, it does not appear that He intended any of them to live on the east of that river. The tribes who asked for their portion there did get it… In a coming day all the tribes will be placed west of the Jordan, yet they will possess the territory east of it as well, feeding in Bashan and Gilead as in the days of old. This is a picture of the full inheritance of the heavenly saints, which takes in heaven and earth.
Among the tribes east of the river, only this half tribe holds ground on both banks. One writer ties that to the meaning of Manasseh's name.
How fitting it is that Manasseh, the one who "forgets" what lies behind… should be handed the kingdom of Og in Bashan! Only someone pressing on to something beyond it can use the things of this world properly. And Manasseh is the only tribe found on the east side of the Jordan that in fact inherits on both sides of the river… we are to see in him the ability to use the world while the heart is in heaven.
- Given — Moses conquered Bashan, the kingdom of Og the Amorite, and it became the portion of half of Manasseh.
- Strong — its sixty walled cities showed a power the Lord had already overthrown. Moses held it up so Israel would trust Him for the battles ahead.
- Named — Jair took Argob in battle, and the towns carried his name from then on.
- Chosen — these tribes asked for the east side because of its good pasture. That choice fell short of God's purpose for His people.
- Costly, yet usable — those who settled there saw Israel's victories only second-hand. Manasseh alone held both banks, the picture of a heart that can use the world while it rests in heaven.
And half Gilead, and Ashtaroth, and Edrei, the cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan, [belonged] to the children of Machir the son of Manasseh, to the one half of the children of Machir according to their families.
This verse closes the list of land Moses handed out east of the Jordan — the old kingdom of Og, with its capital cities, went to the descendants of Machir. Two questions follow: why did this rich land fall to Manasseh, and why did only half of Machir's people settle there?
One reference work traces where Bashan lay and how it changed hands:
Now best known for the Golan Heights, it is a large district on the east of the Jordan, with Gilead to the south, reaching north to Mount Hermon... It was the kingdom of Og the Amorite. Moses conquered it, and it became, with part of Gilead, the portion of the half-tribe of Manasseh. Its main cities were Ashtaroth (or Beeshterah), given to the Levites; Golan, a 'city of refuge'; Edrei; and Salcah on its border.
Ashtaroth and Edrei are not chosen at random. One writer reads Og's whole character out of his land, his stronghold, and the one object he left behind:
Og's name is usually taken to mean "long-necked" — no doubt because that suits a giant. But it can really only mean "a cake baked in the ashes." He is king of Bashan, "the fertile," and his strong city is Edrei, "plenty of pasture." He lives in Ashtaroth, a city named after the Phoenician Venus, whose worship used shameful rites. Add that the only thing left of him is a monstrous bed, and you have said all there is to say of him — perhaps enough to identify him with the spirit of luxury and self-indulgence... That this Og is a giant we know all too well: he has brought down many a strong man.
A city built around that kind of worship did not stay that way. Its later history is striking:
City of Bashan in the kingdom of Og, on the east of the Jordan. It was given to the half-tribe of Manasseh and afterwards devoted to the Levites.
The verse names a man, not just a tribe. Machir heads the line because his father died long before Israel left Egypt:
One man is mentioned by name in verse 1, Machir, the firstborn of Manasseh, "because he was a man of war." Manasseh had died long before Israel's deliverance from Egypt, but Machir succeeded to the place of the firstborn. He was given Gilead and Bashan, which were on the east side of Jordan.
Manasseh alone held land on both sides of the river, and one writer finds meaning in the names themselves:
How fitting it is that the kingdom of Og in Bashan should be put into the hands of Manasseh! His name means "forgetful" of the things behind. And within Manasseh it goes to the children of Machir, "he who recollects" — remembering, of course, the thing he is pressing on towards. For only the person who is pressing on to something else can use the things of the world rightly. Manasseh is also the only one of the tribes on the east side of Jordan that in fact inherits on both sides of the river. So Manasseh comes nearest to the final division in the day still to come, when each tribe receives its inheritance on both sides, with the boundary lines running east and west across the river. Whatever Manasseh's personal failure in all this, it seems clear that we are not to look at it here, but to see in him the ability to use the world while the heart is in heaven.
Commentators differ on how much blame belongs here. What drew these families east was practical:
Moses, when he led them out of Egypt, had said nothing about Gilead and Bashan. They were not part of "the mountain of the inheritance," which he and the people had sung about... But Reuben, Gad and Manasseh had cattle, and cattle could feed well on the plains east of the river. They had no thought of rebelling, or of giving up their interest in the God of Israel. But they had cattle, and Gilead and Bashan suited them.
Another writer draws the point closer to home, noting the meaning behind the tribal names involved:
Manasseh, "forgetting," may remind us of the same. Half of that tribe also finds its lot eastward. Notice that it is the cattle of the two tribes which keep them east of Jordan, on the wilderness side; we might say, bordering closely on the world. How often business and earthly interests hold the children of God back from entering fully and practically into their heavenly calling!
Their choice cost them later. These same tribes were the first to lose the land they had picked:
Tiglath-pileser is named as the one who carried away the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh. This shows that the Israelites who stopped short of their privileges, and did not cross the Jordan, were the first to go into captivity.
- Conquered — Bashan was Og's kingdom before it was Machir's inheritance. Moses took it from a giant first.
- Named — Edrei means "plenty of pasture," and Ashtaroth carried a pagan goddess's name. One writer sees in Og the spirit of luxury that has brought down many strong men. Yet Ashtaroth later went to the Levites.
- Divided — Machir took his dead father's place as firstborn. Only half his people settled east, and Manasseh alone held land on both banks.
- Chosen — Moses never sang about Gilead and Bashan. Cattle, not God's promise, decided the matter.
- Lost — Those who stopped short of the Jordan were the first taken captive. The land that suited them best kept them least.