And the chief fathers of the families of the children of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came near, and spake before Moses, and before the princes, the chief fathers of the children of Israel:
Ver. 1. And spake before Moses.] Who was their common oracle to inquire of in all doubtful cases. Like as at Rome, C. Scipio Nasica, whom the senate, by way of honour, called Optimus, had a house in the high street assigned him at the public charge, Quo faeilius consuli posset, that any man might go to him for counsel. And surely, as the Roman general never miscarried so long as he followed the advice of Polybius, his historian; so neither did or could this people do amiss, if ruled by Moses, who was the mouth of God. Num 36:5