Machir (biblical region)
Machir (Hebrew: מָכִיר Māḵīr) was the name of a tribal group mentioned in the Song of Deborah in Judges 5, where it is praised for fighting alongside five other Israelite tribes: the Tribe of Ephraim, the Tribe of Benjamin, the Tribe of Zebulun, the Tribe of Issachar, and the Tribe of Naphtali.[1] The Song of Deborah speaks of officers (mechokekim) coming from Machir to join the battle against Sisera.
Analysis
[edit]The passage appears to reflect an early time in the history of Israel, before Israel was organized as a nation, when it was instead a group of loosely associated tribes. In the later standardized lists of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, Machir does not appear, but rather the Tribe of Manasseh appears in its place.[1] Machir "may have been an independent clan that was eventually absorbed within Manasseh."[1] Other hypotheses include the idea that Manasseh was originally a clan within Machir which became more prominent than the rest of the tribe, or that Manasseh may have been another group who displaced the Machirites.[2]
According to traditions in the Pentateuch, which view the tribes as descending from the sons of Jacob, Machir was the son of Manasseh, but was legally adopted by Jacob.[2] This places the origins of the "Machirite group" in Egypt.[2] After the time in Egypt, the Bible records that Moses gave the region of Gilead to Machir as part of the eastern half of the inheritance of Manasseh (Deuteronomy 3).[2]
The region is understood in tradition to be identical to the portion of the land of Gilead given to Machir the son of Manasseh by Moses (Numbers 32:40, Deuteronomy 3:15).
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Steven L. McKenzie (2010). Introduction to the Historical Books: Strategies for Reading. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 67. ISBN 978-0-8028-2877-4.
- ^ a b c d Patricia A. MacNicoli (2000). David Noel Freedman (ed.). Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. W.B. Eerdmans. p. 842. ISBN 978-0-8028-2400-4.