Deuteronomy 3:15 Kommentar

Moses, in this chapter, relates, I. The conquest of Og, king of Bashan, and the seizing of his country (Deu 3:1-11). II. The distribution of these new conquests to the two tribes and a half (Deu 3:12-17). Under certain provisos and limitations (Deu 3:18-20). III. The encouragement given to Joshua to carry on the war which was so gloriously begun (Deu 3:21, Deu 3:22). IV. Moses's request to go over into Canaan (Deu 3:23-25), with the denial of that request, but the grant of an equivalent (Deu 3:26, etc.).

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 3 In this chapter the account is carried on of the conquest of the Amorites by Israel, of Og king of Bashan, and his kingdom, Deu 3:1, and of the distribution of their country to the tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh, Deu 1:12 and then the command to the said tribes is observed, to go out armed before their brethren, and assist them in the conquest of the land of Canaan, and then return to their possessions, Deu 3:18 and also that to Joshua not to fear, but to do to the Canaanitish kings and kingdoms what he had seen done to the two kings of the Amorites, Deu 3:21. After which Moses relates the request he made, to go over Jordan and see the good land, which was denied him, only he is bidden to look from the top of an hill to see it, Deu 3:23. And the chapter is closed with the charge he was to give Joshua, Deu 3:28 which was received in the valley where they abode, Deu 3:29.

And I gave Gilead unto Machir. The son of Manasseh; not to him personally, who cannot be thought to have been living at this time, but to his posterity, to the Machirites; see Num 32:40. . Deuteronomy 3:16 deu 3:16 deu 3:16 deu 3:16And unto the Reubenites, and unto the Gadites,.... The tribes of Reuben and Gad: I gave from Gilead even unto the river Arnon: see Deu 3:12. half the valley and the border; or rather half the river, the river Arnon; and so it is rendered "the middle of the river", in Jos 12:2 and so here the middle of the torrent by the Vulgate Latin and Septuagint versions, and by Onkelos: even unto the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon; beyond which the land given to the tribes of Reuben and Gad reached not; see Deu 2:37.

CONQUEST OF OG, KING OF BASHAN. (Deu. 3:1-20) we turned, and went up the way to Bashan--Bashan ("fruitful" or "flat"), now El-Bottein, lay situated to the north of Gilead and extended as far as Hermon. It was a rugged mountainous country, valuable however for its rich and luxuriant pastures. Og the king of Bashan came out against us--Without provocation, he rushed to attack the Israelites, either disliking the presence of such dangerous neighbors, or burning to avenge the overthrow of his friends and allies.

I gave Gilead unto Machir--It was only the half of Gilead (Deu 3:12-13) which was given to the descendants of Machir, who was now dead.

Machir received Gilead (see Num 32:40). - In Deu 3:16 and Deu 3:17 the possession of the tribes of Reuben and Gad is described more fully according to its boundaries. They received the land of Gilead (to the south of the Jabbok) as far as the brook Arnon, the middle of the valley and its territory. הנּחל תּוך is a more precise definition of ארנן נחל, expressive of the fact that the territory of these tribes was not to reach merely to the northern edge of the Arnon valley, but into the middle of it, viz., to the river Arnon, which flowed through the middle of the valley; and וּגבוּל (and the border) is an explanatory apposition to what goes before, as in Num 34:6, signifying, "viz., the border of the Arnon valley as far as the river." On the east, "even unto Jabbok the brook, the (western) border of the Ammonites" (i.e., as far as the upper Jabbok, the Nahr Ammn: see at Num 21:24); and on the west "The Arabah (the Ghor: see Deu 1:1) and the Jordan with territory" (i.e., with its eastern bank), "from Chinnereth" (i.e., the town from which the Sea of Galilee received the name of Sea of Chinnereth: Num 34:11; see at Jos 19:35) "to the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea under the slopes of Pisgah (see at Num 21:15 and Num 27:12) eastward" (i.e., merely the eastern side of the Arabah and Jordan). - In Deu 3:18-20 Moses reminds them of the conditions upon which he had given the two tribes and a half the land referred to for their inheritance (cf. Num 32:20-32).