Menashe Joins Reuven and Gad/2

Menashe's Conquests

Exegetical Approaches

This topic has not yet undergone editorial review

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.

Sources:RalbagBemidbar 32:33Bemidbar 32:39About R. Levi b. Gershom, ShadalBemidbar 32:33About R. Shemuel David Luzzatto

When was the Conquest? Ralbag raises two possibilities regarding when the lands were conquered:

• During the war with Og – When the nation fought against Og (Bemidbar 21), it was the tribe of Menashe who conquered the lands mentioned here.
• After inheriting  – Alternatively, after Moshe agreed to their request, these clans conquered these cities which surrounded their inheritance.¹

Distinction between the land of Sichon and Og – 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 This could explain why Reuven and Gad request the lands of Sichon and only later Menashe asks for the lands of Og, which they then must finish conquering.

Why wait?

Different conditions? It is possible that Moshe does not

מָכִיר בֶּן מְנַשֶּׁה – This position would explain that the verse is referring

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 the tribe of Menashe, initiated thier settlement, requesting of them to join Reuven and Gad.

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

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.

¹ Ralbag compares this to Yehoshua's advice to the tribe of Yosef in Sefer Yehoshua, when he suggests to them that if they are too many people for their territory, they can go and conquer surrounding areas (Yehoshua 17:15).  From this he learns that each tribe was allowed to conquer regions near their inheritance and claim them for themselves.

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