The Staff of Moses
CHAPTER SEVEN
THE EXPANSION OF ISRAEL
Numbers chapters 25 to 32
ISRAEL IN THE WILDERNESS
The Book of Numbers continues from where it left off with the failure of Balaam to curse Israel.
Pinchas the Zealot Saves the People
[Numbers 25:1] AND ISRAEL ABODE IN SHITTIM, AND THE PEOPLE BEGAN TO COMMIT WHOREDOM WITH THE DAUGHTERS OF MOAB.
This was done at the advice of Balaam. As it explains later: AND MOSES SAID UNTO THEM, HAVE YE SAVED ALL THE WOMEN ALIVE BEHOLD, THESE CAUSED THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, THROUGH THE COUNSEL OF BALAAM, TO COMMIT TRESPASS AGAINST THE L-RD IN THE MATTER OF PEOR, AND THERE WAS A PLAGUE AMONG THE CONGREGATION OF THE L-RD [Numbers 31:15-16].
[Numbers 25:2] AND THEY CALLED THE PEOPLE UNTO THE SACRIFICES OF THEIR G-DS: AND THE PEOPLE DID EAT, AND BOWED DOWN TO THEIR G-DS.
[Numbers 25:3] AND ISRAEL JOINED HIMSELF UNTO BAALPEOR: AND THE ANGER OF THE L-RD WAS KINDLED AGAINST ISRAEL.
[Numbers 25:4] AND THE L-RD SAID UNTO MOSES, TAKE ALL THE HEADS OF THE PEOPLE, AND HANG THEM UP BEFORE THE L-RD AGAINST THE SUN, THAT THE FIERCE ANGER OF THE L-RD MAY BE TURNED AWAY FROM ISRAEL.
[Numbers 25:5] AND MOSES SAID UNTO THE JUDGES OF ISRAEL, SLAY YE EVERY ONE HIS MEN THAT WERE JOINED UNTO BAALPEOR.
"BAALPEOR": "Baal-Peor". "Baal" means "lord" or "master". It can also mean "husband" and as a root "conjugate, have intercourse".
The "Baal" is represented by a phallic symbol or penis. Baal-worship in a sense is penis-idolatry.
The worship of "BAALPEOR" was a degenerated version of baal-worship and involved ritual defecation.
[Numbers 25:6] AND, BEHOLD, ONE OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL CAME AND BROUGHT UNTO HIS BRETHREN A MIDIANITISH WOMAN IN THE SIGHT OF MOSES, AND IN THE SIGHT OF ALL THE CONGREGATION OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, WHO WERE WEEPING BEFORE THE DOOR OF THE TABERNACLE OF THE CONGREGATION.
[Numbers 25:7] AND WHEN PHINEHAS, THE SON OF ELEAZAR, THE SON OF AARON THE PRIEST, SAW IT, HE ROSE UP FROM AMONG THE CONGREGATION, AND TOOK A JAVELIN IN HIS HAND;
[Numbers 25:8] AND HE WENT AFTER THE MAN OF ISRAEL INTO THE TENT, AND THRUST BOTH OF THEM THROUGH, THE MAN OF ISRAEL, AND THE WOMAN THROUGH HER BELLY. SO THE PLAGUE WAS STAYED FROM THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL.
[Numbers 25:9] AND THOSE THAT DIED IN THE PLAGUE WERE TWENTY AND FOUR THOUSAND.
This event is recalled in Psalms:
THEY JOINED THEMSELVES ALSO UNTO BAALPEOR, AND ATE THE SACRIFICES OF THE DEAD.
THUS THEY PROVOKED HIM TO ANGER WITH THEIR INVENTIONS: AND THE PLAGUE BRAKE IN UPON THEM.
THEN STOOD UP PHINEHAS, AND EXECUTED JUDGMENT: AND SO THE PLAGUE WAS STAYED.
AND THAT WAS COUNTED UNTO HIM FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS UNTO ALL GENERATIONS FOR EVERMORE [Psalms 106:28-31].
Balaam failed to curse Israel on a physical level but he realized that their weakness was sexual immorality. They were susceptible to the wiles of foreign women and prepared to commit idolatry for the sake of “adolatry”. The results of these sins did bring a curse on the Israelites that may have resulted in their near extinction. Only because Pinchas (i.e. “Phinehas”) took matters into his own hands and publicly executed the leading culprit were the Israelites saved. The Israelite man who was killed was Zimri a prince from the tribe of Simeon and the woman was Cozbi, daughter to a leading house in Midian (25:14-15).
The Tribe of Manasseh Receives Its Inheritance
The Daughters of Zelophehad
A new census was taken of the Israelite tribes (Numbers chapter 26). The daughters of Zelophehad, from the tribe of Manasseh, asked for and received (Numbers 27:7) the inheritance of their father. Archaeological evidence shows that these women gave their names to provinces within the inheritance of Manasseh west of the Jordan. The Book of Numbers tells us the laws concerning family matters and oaths and offerings brought by the Princes of each tribe for the Tabernacle. The tribes of Reuben and Gad requested to receive the lands that had been conquered east of the Jordan since these were good herding country and they had many flocks of sheep and cattle (Numbers 32:4). They received these lands together with the half-tribe of Mannasseh:
[Numbers 32:33] AND MOSES GAVE UNTO THEM, EVEN TO THE CHILDREN OF GAD, AND TO THE CHILDREN OF REUBEN, AND UNTO HALF THE TRIBE OF MANASSEH THE SON OF JOSEPH, THE KINGDOM OF SIHON KING OF THE AMORITES, AND THE KINGDOM OF OG KING OF BASHAN, THE LAND, WITH THE CITIES THEREOF IN THE COASTS, EVEN THE CITIES OF THE COUNTRY ROUND ABOUT.
The tribe of Manasseh was split into two sections: one half was to receive its inheritance east of the Jordan River and the other half to the west of it:
[Numbers 32:39] AND THE CHILDREN OF MACHIR THE SON OF MANASSEH WENT TO GILEAD, AND TOOK IT, AND DISPOSSESSED THE AMORITE WHICH WAS IN IT.
Were Israelites Active in Canaan
Before the Exodus?
[Numbers 32:40] AND MOSES GAVE GILEAD UNTO MACHIR THE SON OF MANASSEH; AND HE DWELT THEREIN.
[Numbers 32:41] AND JAIR THE SON OF MANASSEH WENT AND TOOK THE SMALL TOWNS THEREOF AND CALLED THEM HAVOTHJAIR.
"HAVOTHJAIR" i.e. "The Townships or Homesteads (Havoth) of Yair"
[Numbers 32:42] AND NOBAH WENT AND TOOK KENATH, AND THE VILLAGES THEREOF, AND CALLED IT NOBAH, AFTER HIS OWN NAME.
The Commentaries state that Machir, Nobah, and Yair, mentioned above (Numbers 32:41-42), had died long before the time of Moses and Joshua ì . They had dwelt in Egypt, where they received positions of authority. In their own lifetime they had been responsible for, or taken an active interest in, areas of Canaan that were later re-possessed by their descendants. The lands spoken of here, were those that later belonged to the Machir-dominated half tribe of Manasseh, east of the Jordan River.
The Book of Chronicles speaks of the sons of Ephraim (son of Joseph) having been active in the country of Canaan long before they came out of Egypt, and of Sheerah the daughter of Ephraim having built cities there:
"AND THE SONS OF EPHRAIM.....EZER, AND ELEAD, WHOM THE MEN OF GATH SLEW, BECAUSE THEY CAME TO TAKE AWAY THEIR CATTLE.
"AND EPHRAIM THEIR FATHER MOURNED MANY DAYS, AND HIS BRETHREN CAME TO COMFORT HIM...
"AND HIS DAUGHTER WAS SHEERAH WHO BUILT BETH HORON THE NETHER, AND THE UPPER, AND UZZEN SHEERAH (1-Chronicles 7:20-23).
According to Prophecy when the Lost Ten Tribes return in the future they will initially receive areas east of the Jordan to settle in:
"AND THEY OF EPHRAIM SHALL BE LIKE A MIGHTY MAN...
"I WILL BRING THEM AGAIN ALSO OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT, AND GATHER THEM OUT OF ASSYRIA; AND I WILL BRING THEM INTO THE LAND OF GILEAD AND LEBANON; AND PLACE SHALL NOT BE FOUND FOR THEM (Zechariah 10:7, 10).
Yair in the Bible
JAIR THE SON OF MANASSEH” took the cities named “HAVOTHJAIR” [Numbers 32:41] or “Townships-of-Yair”. There is an opinion that believes that all the references to “Yair” are referring to one and the same person. By taking the various descriptions together, we may derive a composite picture of the activities of this single person or at least of his descendants who were named after him.
Alternately, one could understand Scripture as stating that there were several people named “Yair” who had a group of “townships” or “cities” named after them. These heroes with the name “Yair” lived at different periods and were active east of the Jordan River in both “ Gilead” and in “Bashan”, which was further to the north. References to “Yair” include:
1. Yair of both Judah and Gilead of Manasseh.
"AND AFTERWARD HEZRON WENT IN TO THE DAUGHTER OF MACHIR THE FATHER OF GILEAD, WHOM HE MARRIED WHEN HE WAS THREESCORE YEARS OLD; AND SHE BARE HIM SEGUB.
"AND SEGUB BEGAT JAIR, WHO HAD THREE AND TWENTY CITIES IN THE LAND OF GILEAD [1-Chronicles 2:21-22].
Here we have Yair, son of Segub, son of Hezron (of Judah), who had married the daughter of Machir of Manasseh. Even though he was descended from Judah through his father, the family of Yair had intermarried with Machir of Manasseh and dwelt in his territory. Twenty-three cities were named after Yair in Gilead.
2. Yair the Gileadite, Judge of Israel.
"AND AFTER HIM AROSE JAIR, A GILEADITE, AND JUDGED ISRAEL TWENTY AND TWO YEARS.
"AND HE HAD THIRTY SONS THAT RODE ON THIRTY ASS COLTS, AND THEY HAD THIRTY CITIES , WHICH ARE CALLED HAVOTHJAIR UNTO THIS DAY, WHICH ARE IN THE LAND OF GILEAD.
"AND JAIR DIED, AND WAS BURIED IN CAMON [Judges 10:3-5].
The “Yair” spoken of above in the Book of Judges, according to the simple meaning of the text, would appear to have lived at a much later date than the previous one.
He is listed well down the line of Judges, after the land had been conquered, settled, lost to foreigners and re-conquered several times. The sons of this Yair were involved with thirty townships named “HAVOTH-JAIR” in the Land of Gilead.
3. Yair of Bashan.
"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.
"AND THEIR COAST WAS FROM MAHANAIM , ALL BASHAN, ALL THE KINGDOM OF OG KING OF BASHAN, AND ALL THE TOWNS OF JAIR, WHICH ARE IN BASHAN, THREESCORE CITIES [Joshua 13:29-30].
"JAIR THE SON OF MANASSEH TOOK ALL THE COUNTRY OF ARGOB UNTO THE COASTS OF GESHURI AND MAACHATHI; AND CALLED THEM AFTER HIS OWN NAME, BASHANHAVOTHJAIR, UNTO THIS DAY [Deuteronomy 3:14].
"Bashanhavothjair" means The Townships or Homesteads (“Havoth”) of Yair in the Land of Bashan. Bashan was to the north of Gilead, and there were sixty cities or townships in it that were associated with Yair. We have listed “Yair of Bashan” last but chronologically he was first of all. The other two persons named “Yair” went in his footsteps.
All of the above passages agree that descendants of one or more personages named Yair were to be found within the territory of Manasseh east of the Jordan River, and groups of settlements were named after them. They became a powerful and important group. They are recorded in Mesopotamian inscriptions and in Assyrian records under the name “Iari”. They came to possess lands in Northern Syria and along the banks of the Euphrates and even east of it. Different regions, mountains, and places were named after them. The “Iari” neighbored or overlapped with the entity of Yadi in northwest Syria which was a northern settlement of Judah. This settlement of Judah is recalled in the Bible:
NOW THE REST OF THE ACTS OF JEROBOAM, AND ALL THAT HE DID, AND HIS MIGHT, HOW HE WARRED, AND HOW HE RECOVERED DAMASCUS, AND HAMATH, WHICH BELONGED TO JUDAH, FOR ISRAEL, ARE THEY NOT WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL [2-Kings 14:28].
Yadi of Judah was associated with a similar settlement of Dan (the Dananu of Smal) in the same region. Irish legend connects Yair or “Iar” with Nemdh. The name NEMED ("Nemha") means sanctified or separated and is synonymous with the Hebrew "Peresh" which name was given to the son of Gilead from the Tribe of Menasseh (1-Chronicles 7:16). The Nemedians were said to be descendants of Sru, Sera, and Isru. These names and "ISRU" especially are forms of the name ISRAEL. The Nemedians split into three groups: Peresh of Manasseh; with Judah; and with the Tribe of Dan or Dana. Israelites from the settlements of Yair (the “Iari”) went into exile with the Lost Ten Tribes and moved with them to the west.
Yair in the British Isles
The Iari people were to be found in Ireland and Scotland. Places in ancient Britain were named after an ancestor named Iar. Variations of the name are applied in Irish mythology, to one of their major ancestors. The History of Keating © (1570-1646) was based on legends transmitted verbally by Irish sages. Keating mentions three of the early ancestors of the Irish and Scottish peoples: Fennius Farsa the Scythian; Gaedal son of Ethor, of the race of Gomer, from Greece; and "Caei the Eloquent (or the Just), from Judea, or Iar, son of Nemha, as others call him.." Here someone identified as Iar, says Keating, is either from Judah or from “Nemha”. Keating apparently had contradictory sources, one linked Iar to Judah and another to “Nemha”. The Bible does the same! The name “Nemha” in Gaelic Irish means sanctified or separated and has the same meaning as the Hebrew name of “Peresh” [1-Chronicles 7:16]. In the Bible, Peresh was linked with Machir the son of Manasseh, and with Gilead. As we find:
[1-Chronicles 7:16] AND MAACHAH THE WIFE OF MACHIR BARE A SON, AND SHE CALLED HIS NAME PERESH; AND THE NAME OF HIS BROTHER WAS SHERESH; AND HIS SONS WERE ULAM AND RAKEM.
[1-Chronicles 7:17] AND THE SONS OF ULAM; BEDAN. THESE WERE THE SONS OF GILEAD, THE SON OF MACHIR, THE SON OF MANASSEH.
From the above, we see that Peresh was the son of Machir, son of Manasseh. He was a brother of Gilead, and evidently counted amongst Gilead. Peresh was linked with Gilead and Manasseh in the same way that Yair was linked with Gilead and Manasseh. In Irish tradition, Iar is related to Nemha whose name in Irish has the same meaning as Peresh. Iar was called “Iar, son of Nemh”, i.e. son of Peresh in Hebrew. Iar is also linked with Judah by Keating. Yair is linked with both Peresh of Manasseh and with Judah in the Bible. The name Yair in Hebrew would have been pronounced by some of the Northern Israelites and by the Phoenicians as “Iar”. and descendants of Yair were collectively referred to in Mesopotamian inscriptions as the Iari. Keating therefore provides us with additional evidence that the ancestor of groups in Ireland known, as “Iar” in Irish tradition, was the same as the Israelite Yair mentioned in the Bible. An ancestor named “Iar” is recorded elsewhere in Irish history and according to place-names was known of in Scotland.
The name of Iar appears several times in Irish national genealogies under various forms ì : There is Iarbonel the prophet, one of the four sons of Nemedh, who was mentioned by Keating. There is Jaruanell the prophet one of the four sons of Neuie McAgamemnon in the “Annals of Clonmacnois”. Keating mentions that “some antiquaries” derive the Tuatha De Danann from “Iarbanel son of Nemedh”. The Tuatha De Danann were the People of Dana or of Dan, who once ruled over Ireland . The name “Iarbanel” is also considered to be a derivation from the name “Iar”. The book of Irish Mythology known as the “Leabhar Gabhala” also brings two alternate versions in which Iarbanel is high up on the genealogical lists of the People of Dana. In the MIddle East descendants of Yair known as the Iari were linked with an enclave of Judah in Cilicia (southeast Turkey) known as Yadi which adjoined a region known as in Smal that had been settled by eements from Dan known as the Dananu . Yadi and Smal (of the Dananu) usually had the same rulers. We thus find groups from Judah and Dan associated with the Iari in the Middle East according to history (as deduced from recent rchaeological findings) and again according to tradition later in Ireland.
From Gilead (“Galaad”) of Israel emerged the Galatae or “Galadi” of northern Gaul, the Galadon of northern Wales and southern Britain, and the Caledonians of Scotland. These groups had ethnic migratory connections with the Gaels of Ireland. In both Ireland and Scotland there are place-names bearing the name “Iar”, i.e. Yair. These place-names are believed to have been in honor of an eponymous ancestor. The Ierne in southeast Ireland. According to the French historian Henri Hubert, ("The Rise of the Celt", London 1934), regarded Iar as their forefather. Similar usage of the name is also found in Scotland! The people of Yair may therefore be assumed to have been submerged, and assimilated, amongst the descendants of Gilead in the British Isles. The Irish legends, quoted above, speak of Iar of Judea or of Iarbanel the Prophet who is identifiable with Iar. Iar, in some accounts was one of the first ancestors of the Nemedian peoples (including the Dana and Milesians) who settled in Ireland. Elsewhere, Iar is closely associated with Fennius, the first and primary forefather of the Irish and Scots. “Nemed” (of the Nemedians) means “Separated” or “Sanctified” the same as “Peresh”, the son of Machir the son of Manasseh (1-Chronicles 7;16). It is doubtful if the transmitters of the Irish legends were ever aware of the quoted verses in the First Book of Chronicles and their historical value. Neither did they know what was inscribed on Assyrian tablets concerning the Iari. Neither were the place names bearing the ethnic denomination “Iar” in Ireland and Scotland derived from scholastic imagination. It follows that all of these proofs are from independent sources that complement each other and indicate historical truths underlying the Irish texts. Biblical and archaeological evidence showed a geographical linkage of the names Gabar, Gad, Yair, Yadi (Yehudah), and Gilead. Parallel associations are noticeable in the toponomy of Ireland and Scotland and in Celtic Mythology.
Many of the invaders of Ireland later moved to Wales, West England, and Scotland. Legends concerning these people and their characteristics can teach us much about the inhabitants of the British Isles in general.
Celtic Mythology and Israelite Origins
Keating says that the Invaders of Ireland were first the Partholanians, then the Nemedians, the Fomorians, the Fir Bolg, the Tuatha de Danaan [i.e. the People of Dana] who came after being defeated by “Syrians”, (i.e. Assyrians?) and finally the Milesians (descendants of Niul) whose ancestor had been an associate of Caei the Eloquent from Judah (sic.) who was also known as Iar son of Nemha. Niul the Milesian befriended the Children of Israel under Moses and was offered a portion with them in the Promised Land. Niul declined the offer and so was given by Moses a thousand men and a fleet of ships when he left the country. Niul begat Esru and Esru begat Sru. Due to the resentment of the Egyptians, they left Egypt and went to Scythia. Fifteen generations later, led by Batha son of Degatha, their descendants migrated to Spain. They were called the sons of Miledh. From the heart of Spain, they were driven to Galicia in the northwest of Spain. From Galicia they launched an invasion of Ireland.
The above account corresponds with Classical records and with archaeological findings.
Irish Records
The “Annals of Clonmacnoise,
From the Creation to a.d. 1408,” ì
In the “Annals of Clonmacnoise” a certain Bartholome is mentioned as coming to Ireland in the time of Semiramis. Historically, Semiramis was actually either the mother, or the widow, of Pul. Pul has been identified (maybe wrongly) with Tiglathpileser-III. Pul was a king of Assyria who was responsible (together withTiglathpileser-III, if he was not the same person under a different name) for exiling at least part of the Israelites (1-Chronicles 5:26). Assuming that Bartholome does represent an historical group who did come to Ireland at the time of Semiramis, we can say that Bartholomew came at the time when the Northern Israelites were exiled from Israel.
[An old English version (by Roberts ¿) of this same tradition said that the people who were led by Bartholome and sailed to Ireland came from Israel via Spain.]
The Annals of Clonmacnoisesay that “Jaruanell” was amongst those who came next to Ireland. He came from Greece along with Brittan who was the ancestor of the Welsh. The name “Jaruanell” is another form of the name “Iar”. “The Annals of Clonmacnoise” say that “The Tower of Conyn” (of “Conan” in other versions) was conquered by invading Fomorians. The “Ffirvolge” also invaded Ireland. The “Ffirvolge”, in other accounts, are called the Fir Bolge or sons of Bolge. These were the Belgae, groups of whom settled in Britain, Ireland, and Belgium.
“The Annals of Clonmacnoise” say further that the “Twathy de Dannan” came from Greece. In other accounts these people are usually referred to as the “Tuatha de Dannan” meaning the “People of Dana”. They were from the Tribe of Dan. There was a strong connection in Ancient Times between the Greeks and the Israelite Tribe of Dan. The founder of Greek Civilization in Greek eyes was called Danaus. Ancient Classical authors (such as Manetho and Diodorus of Sicily) identified Danaus of Greek tradition with Dan of Israel. In Hebrew Greece is called “Javan”. The Prophet Ezekiel linked Dan and Javan (i.e. Greece) together as traders with the Phoenician city of Tyre on the coast of Lebanon.
DAN ALSO AND JAVAN GOING TO AND FRO OCCUPIED IN THY FAIRS: BRIGHT IRON, CASSIA, AND CALAMUS, WERE IN THY MARKET [Ezekiel 27:19].
The last and most important group of immigrants, recorded by “The Annals of Clonmacnoise”, was the Milesians who are described as descended from Neale. The name “Neale” is sometimes understood to be a form of Beale or Bel. Britain was known as “The Honey Isle of Bel”. Bel was a Mesopotamian, Syrian, and Northern Israelite form of the name “baal”. “Baal” was the god of the Canaanites and of neighboring peoples including the Israelites who left the worship of G-d, became pagans, and worshipped Baal. That was why they were exiled. The pagan worship and baal-cult of the Northern Israelites before their exile is described in the Bible, in 2-Kings chapter 17, at some length. The Annals say that Neale went to Egypt and settled in a place called Capacyront. The name Capacyront is be derived from the Hebrew “Pi-hahiroth” (Exodus 14:2). This was the place the children of Israel camped by just before the parting of the Red Sea. Neal, in “The Annals of Clonmacnoise”, is described as a Scythian, and as descended from Japhet. Nevertheless, he is also in Egypt at the same time as the Israelites, he identifies with the Israelites, he helps the Israelites and he is given an opportunity to participate in the inheritance of the Israelites. Neal declines to join the Israelites, but Israelites remain with him, in his forces. Somehow or other, Neal in effect becomes part of the Israelites who left Egypt even though he settles elsewhere.
The sons of Neal are Essru and Sru who both have names that may be forms of the name Israel. Sru is rendered “Isru” in some versions. The name Israel in Hebew is “Yisra-el” and the “-el” (in “Yisra-el”) means G-d. The “-el” could be dropped off the name. Examples for such changes of names exist. The “y” sound in “Yisra” could be also deleted in the Northern and Phoenician dialect of Hebrew. We thus have “Yisra” instead of Israel becoming pronounced as “Isru”. Sru and Isru were the sons of Neal.
From Egypt, the Annals say, the Milesians moved to Spain. From Spain they moved to Ireland. It should be pointed out that the ancient Irish were probably unaware of the existence of “The Lost Ten Tribes”. For them all Israelites were “Jews”. They therefore had to rationalize how someone could have participated in Israelite history, almost as an Israelite, yet not belong to them, and also be a Scythian and have stayed in Egypt. To their Medieval way of thinking, the Scythians came from “ Scythia” in the north and all northern peoples belonged to Japhet according to conventional notions of the time.
Taking these traditions at their face value, we have indications of Israelite origins. The names of numerous “Celtic” British heroes, places, and tribal groups as well as customs and traditions, strengthen the evidence that a major portion of these people were of Hebraic descent.
Commandments Concerning the Promised Land
The Israelites were commanded to drive out the inhabitants of the Land of Canaan (Numbers 33:52) and destroy all their idols. The Land was to be divided up by lot equally amongst the families, according to the number of people in each one (33:54). If they did not drive out the Canaanites they themselves would be driven out of the Land (33:55). Chapter 34 demarks the borders of the Promised Land for the nine and a half tribes (34:13) since the tribes of Gad and Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh had already received their inheritance east of the Jordan. Each Israelite tribe was headed by a prince (34:18). The Levites were to receive cities of their own scattered throughout lands of the other tribes. Six of these cities were to be cities of refuge to which someone who had committed accidental manslaughter could flee. The Daughters of Zelophehad, from the Tribe of Manasseh, had been promised the inheritance of their deceased father. After a petition by members of the clan of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh it was decided that they should only marry within their own kin (36:6). Subsequently, each one of the daughters married one of her cousins (Numbers 36:7).
References:
ì Yehudah Kiel “Daat Mikra” on Divrei HaYamim (Book of Chronicles) quotes from the Commentary of “Rabbi Yehudah HaHasid” (ca.1690) and from a Student of Saadia Gaon, perhaps ca.1100 c.e. For an English Translation and more historical background on the subject see “Lost Israelite Identity”, by Yair Davidiy , chapter six, especially note 6.
© THE HISTORY OF IRELAND FROM THE EARLIEST PERIOD TO THE ENGLISH INVASION, by Rev. Geoffrey Keating (ca.1570-1646), translated by J. O’Mahoney, New York , 1866.
ì The source for this information was obtained from an apparently anonymous, undated work, probably published more than a hundred years ago, in the National Message Serial no.118c, available from Covenant Publishing. The sources used by the author of the work appear to have been authentic.
ì “Annals of Clonmacnoise, From the Creation to a.d. 1408,” translated into English by Conell MacGeoghagan, a.d.1627; ed. Rev.D.Murphy, Dublin 1896, University Press.
¿ Raymond F.McNAIR, “ America and Britain in Prophecy”, 1996, U.S.A.