There was also a lot for the tribe of Manasseh; for he was the firstborn of Joseph; to wit, for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead: because he was a man of war, therefore he had Gilead and Bashan.
There was also a lot for the tribe of Manasseh. Ephraim had been mentioned first, as the more numerous and powerful branch of the family of Joseph (Genesis 48:19-20); but Manasseh still retained the right of primogeniture, and had a separate inheritance assigned.
Machir - his descendants.
The father of Gilead. Though he had a son of that name (Numbers 26:29; Numbers 27:1), yet, as is evident from the use of the Hebrew article х 'ªbiy (H1) ha-Gil`aad (H1568)], reference is made, not to the person, but the province of Gilead. "Father" here means lord or possessor of Gilead; and this view is confirmed by the fact that it was not Machir, but his descendants, who subdued Gilead and Bashan (Numbers 32:41; Deuteronomy 3:13-15). These Machirites had their portion on the east side of Jordan. The western portion of land allotted to the tribe of Manasseh was divided into 10 portions, because the male descendants who had sons consisted of 5 families, to which, consequently, five shares were given; and the 6th family-namely, the posterity of Hepher-being all females, the 5 daughters of Zelophehad were, on application to the valuators, endowed each with an inheritance in land (see the note at Numbers 27:1), so that daughters in their circumstances inherited the rights of sons. The fifth and sixth verses are calculated to convey the impression that Gilead and Bashan were different names or portions of the same region. The former, however, was south of the latter, and the two countries were separate and distinct (cf. Deuteronomy 3:12).