Menashe Joins Reuven and Gad/2

Menashe's Conquests

Exegetical Approaches

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Personal Initiative

After Moshe finished negotiating with Reuven and Gad and acquiesced to their request to settle in the lands of Sichon, the tribe of Menashe approached with a personal, distinct request to settle the lands of Og.  This position subdivides regarding when those lands were conquered:

Present Conquests

Menashe conquered their territory in the fortieth year, after Reuven and Gad were granted their request to settle on the eastern bank of the Jordan.

Sources:ShadalBemidbar 32:33About R. Shemuel David Luzzatto¹

Why did Menashe need to conquer the land? When describing the conquests over Sihcon and Og in Bemidbar 21, the text shares that the lands of Sichon were settled by Israel (וַיֵּשֶׁב יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּכׇל עָרֵי הָאֱמֹרִי בְּחֶשְׁבּוֹן וּבְכׇל בְּנֹתֶיהָ), while no such statement is made regarding the lands of Og.² If so, there were likely areas in the region that still housed the original inhabitants. This would explain why Reuven and Gad request only the lands of Sichon and it is only Menashe who later adds a request for the lands of Og, as they finish conquering its cities.³

Why wait? This approach can offer one of two somewhat opposite approaches to this question:

• It is possible that the tribe of Menashe was wary of Moshe's reaction to a request to settle lands east of the Jordan, recognizing that he might find the petition problematic. They, therefore, decided to wait to gauge his response to Reuven and Gad before asking for their own territory.
• Conversely, it is possible that Menashe intentionally separated themselves from the problematic petition of Reuven and Gad, since they viewed their own request, in contrast, as a legitimate one.  Prof. Elitzur⁴ suggests that the lands of Sihcon and Og had very different statuses. While the Bashan was considered part of the Promised Land (and thus not problematic to settle), the southern territory of Sichon was not.⁵

Why did they want the territory – It is possible, that like Reuven and Gd, they also had much cattle and desired the grazing land east of the Jordan.  Alternatively,

Different conditions?

• It is possible that Moshe does not make their settlement contingent on joining the rest of the nation in the Conquest, since unlike Reuven and Gad, they were settling areas conquered by themselves and not simply asking to enjoy the benefits of everyone else's work.
• Alternatively, despite the text's silence, it is possible that Moshe also made these tribes' request conditional on participating in the campaign against Canaan.  This could be supported by the fact that in Sefer Yehoshau, they too go to war.⁶

Disproportionate inheritance

Yair and Machir, the sons of Menashe – This position could explain, like Ibn Ezra, that the verse is referring not to Machir or Yair themselves, but rather to their descendants.

Previous Conquests

The cities had been conquered by the tribe of Menashe much earlier, either in the Patriarchal period, or during the sojourn in Egypt.

Sources:Student of R. Saadia, opinion brought by Abarbanel

Moshe's Initiative

Moshe, rather than Menashe, requested that some of the tribe join Reuven and Gad east of the Jordan.

Sources:YerushalmiBikkurim 1:8About the Yerushalmi, RambanBemidbar 32:33About R. Moshe b. Nachman, AbarbanelBemidbar 32About R. Yitzchak Abarbanel R. Avraham Saba #2, NetzivBemidbar 32:33Devarim 3:16About R. Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin

Why did Moshe want  Menashe to join?

• Demographics – Ramban claims that after Moshe agreed to Reuven and Gad's request, he realized that the land was too vast for just two tribes and therefore offered a portion to anyone who wished to join.⁷ 
• Spiritual aid – R. Saba and the Netziv assert that Moshe was motivated by religious concerns. R. Saba posits that Moshe worried that the two tribes were spiritually deficient (as proven by how their materialism led them to reject Canaan for the eastern bank), while the Netziv has him concerned about the lower level of Torah inspiration in their chosen lands. Moshe hoped that the presence of the tribe of Menashe, who were Torah scholars,⁸ would spiritually fortify the inhabitants.
• Unity – Alternatively, Moshe wanted to ensure the unity of the nation and prevent the possible alienation of the tribes of Reuven and Gad.  By splitting Menashe and having one half settle on each of the two banks of the Jordan, he hoped to ensure that family and tribal ties would connect the two communities.

Different conditions? Moshe had no need to make Menashe's settlement conditional on joining the conquest since it was not they who asked to live on the eastern back, but him.  They had never suggested that they would forsake their brethren, so Moshe had no need to emphasize that they must fight together with them.

Disproportionate inheritance – According to Ramban, Moshe had opened the land to all the tribes equally, so whoever had wanted could have similarly claimed a larger inheritance. Thus, there was no injustice in the disproportionate size of their territory.

Conquest – Ramban claims that after Moshe had them join Reuven and Gad, Menashe conquered the extra cities mentioned.

Machir and Yair, the sons of Menashe – As above, this position could say that these refer to Menashe's descendents, and not to literal sons.

Part of Reuven and Gad's Petition

Despite the silence in the text, Menashe had been part of the negotiations from the beginning.

Sources:R. Avraham Saba #1

Why is Menashe not mentioned? According to R. Avraham Saba, the clans from Menashe were not mentioned earlier due to their small numbers.

Motivation – R. Saba maintains that Moshe was very reluctant to settle the eastern bank of the Jordan, viewing the land as impure and the desire to settle there as a rejection of the Promised Land. As such, he does not think that Moshe, on his own, would have ever forced one of the tribes to settle there against their will, leading him to conclude that Menashe must have desired the territory.

Disproportionate inheritance – It is not clear, according to this position, why Menashe should have merited such a large portion.

¹ Shadal touches just briefly on the topic, so much of what is developed below is not found in his commentary, though the points might work with his general approach.

² The verse simply states, "וַיַּכּוּ אֹתוֹ וְאֶת בָּנָיו...  וַיִּירְשׁוּ אֶת אַרְצוֹ" without mentioning that they also settled in the area.

³ See Y. Ben-Shem, "הלכה ומציאות בהתנחלות שבטי ישראל" who goes further to suggest that these conquests were done without the authority of Moshe and against his will, in an act of rebellion.  This was taking place exactly as Moshe was negotiating with Reuven and Gad, and influenced Moshe's agreement to their request. In his efforts to prevent civil war, Moshe made a compromise with the two tribes mainly so that he could have Menashe join in the agreement.

⁴ See his article, "אנשים ונחלות במנשה ובשבטי ישראל".

⁵ Prof. Elitzur points out that the land of Sichon was conquered only because this was necessary in order to cross the Jordan and enter Israel, and, as such, had no inherent holiness. The lands of Og, on the other hand, served no such purpose and were conquered because they had always been meant to be a part of Israel. He further points out that the tribes were aware ahead of time of the intended map of inheritances. Thus Menashe knew they were supposed to inherit the land of the Bashan. Reuven and Gad, in contrast, had originally been meant to inherit some place west of the Jordan.

⁶ See Yehoshua 1:12-14 and Yehoshua 22:1-3.

⁷ Abarbanel explains similarly but suggests that Moshe chose Menashe, rather than asking who would like to join.

⁸ The Netziv brings evidence of their knowledge from Devorah's song where she speaks of Machir as being, "מְחֹקְקִים", a term which is parallel to "מֹשְׁכִים בְּשֵׁבֶט סֹפֵר" (Shofetim 5:14)