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, close to the time when Reuven and Gad made their request.

The conquest

Why wait?

Different conditions?

מָכִיר בֶּן מְנַשֶּׁה

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.

Moshe's Initiative

Ramban, Tzeror HaMor, Netziv

Sources:Moshe, rather than the tribe of Menashe, initiated thier settlement, requesting of them to join Reuven and Gad.

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 are  they 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.