It is good idea to begin a new sentence here, “To half the tribe of Manasseh I assigned…,” or “I assigned to half the tribe of Manasseh the….”

The rest of Gilead: or “the other half of Gilead,” or “the northern half of Gilead” (Contemporary English Version).

And all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og, that is, all the region of Argob: the writer includes all the names used for this region (see verse 4). Good News Translation restructures the items, for ease of understanding. It should be clear that Og is a person, not the name of the country; so Good News Translation “where Og had ruled.”

For the half-tribe of Manasseh it may be useful to have a footnote explaining that the other half of the tribe settled in the territory west of the Jordan River. See Josh 13.29-31 for East Manasseh and 17.1-13 for West Manasseh.

The last sentence of the verse is placed within parentheses by Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, linking it with verse 14. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh and Biblia Dios Habla Hoy join it to the first part of this verse, as follows: “and all of Bashan under Og’s rule—the whole Argob district, all that part of Bashan which is called Rephaim country—I assigned to the half-tribe of Manasseh.”

Is called: Good News Translation has “was known as,” the meaning expressed by New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje, and which this Handbook recommends.

For Rephaim see 2.11, 20.

Something like the following may serve as a model for this verse:

• And to the half-tribe of Manasseh I assigned the rest of Gilead and all of Bashan, that is, the entire region of Argob, the territory ruled by King Og, which used to be called the land of the Rephaim.

However, the Contemporary English Version model using two sentences will be helpful in many languages:

• I gave the northern half of Gilead and all of the Bashan region to half of the tribe of Manasseh. Bashan had belonged to King Og, and the Argob region in Bashan used to be called the land of the Rephaim.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

Jair the Manassite: this translates the Hebrew “Jair son of Manasseh,” and that is how it is translated by New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, New Jerusalem Bible, Revised English Bible, Bible en français courant, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible. But Jair does not appear to have been the son of Manasseh; 1 Chr 2.21-22 says that Segub, the son of Machir’s daughter, was Jair’s father (making Machir his great-grandfather and Manasseh his great-great-grandfather). So it is better to translate “Jair a descendant of Manasseh” (Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, New International Version) or “Jair, from the tribe of Manasseh” (Good News Translation).

The border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites: it is better to translate “the border of Geshur and Maacah,” or “the territories of Geshur and Maacah” (Biblia Dios Habla Hoy). They were small Aramean states south of Mount Hermon. An alternative translation model for the first part of this verse is “Jair, from the tribe of Manasseh, conquered the entire region of the Argob, which was also called Bashan. This region goes as far as the territories of Geshur and Maacah.”

Called the villages after his own name, Havvoth-jair: the Hebrew name means “villages [or, settlements] of Jair.”

As it is to this day: that is, at the time this account was written (see 2.22).

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

To Machir I gave Gilead: Machir was the son of Manasseh (Gen 50.23); here the name stands for “the clan of Machir of the tribe of Manasseh” (Good News Translation), or “the descendants of Machir, son of Manasseh” (Bible en français courant). See Num 32.39-40.

This refers to the northern part of Gilead; the southern part was assigned to the tribes of Reuben and Gad. So we may translate:

• I assigned the northern half of the territory of Gilead to the descendants of Machir, who was a son of Manasseh.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

To the Reubenites and Gadites: “To the tribes of Reuben and Gad,” or “to the people of the tribes of Reuben and Gad.”

The territory from Gilead as far as the valley of the Arnon: that is, from Gilead south to the Arnon River.

With the middle of the valley as a boundary, as far over as the river Jabbok, the boundary of the Ammonites: see Good News Translation for clarity and precision. But it must be said that in Hebrew verse 16 is not all that clear. The Septuagint translates as follows: “And to Reuben and Gad I gave [the territory] from Gilead to the Wadi Arnon (the boundary was in the middle of the wadi) and as far as the Jabbok.” Instead of with the middle of the valley as a boundary, as far over as the river Jabbok, Hebrew Old Testament Text Project prefers “in the middle of the river and (its adjacent) territory, and unto the river Jabbok.” The Hebrew Old Testament Text Project Preliminary Report is not at all clear, and translators may stay with Revised Standard Version, or translate in a similar way to New Revised Standard Version, as follows: “… from Gilead as far as the Arnon River, with the middle of the river as a boundary, and up to the Jabbok River.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

It is a good idea to make a break at the end of verse 16 and begin a new sentence here, as Good News Translation does. And it should be made clear that this verse is a summary statement of the territory assigned to all three tribes: Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh. So this verse may start with “On the west the territory of the three tribes extended to….”

The Arabah: see 1.1.

Chinnereth: this is Lake Galilee (Good News Translation) or the Sea of Galilee (most English translations). In areas where lakes are unknown, we may express “Lake Galilee” as “a small fresh water sea named Galilee.”

The sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea: today it is known as the Dead Sea.

Under the slopes of Pisgah on the east: this is not easy to understand. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh makes “the slopes of Pisgah” the eastern boundary. Mount Pisgah is about 15 kilometers (9 miles) east of the northern end of the Dead Sea. Here the name may refer to the mountain itself, or more likely to the whole mountain range, of which Mount Nebo was the summit (32.49; 34.1). It is recommended that Good News Translation be followed here: “and to the foot of Mount Pisgah on the east.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

I commanded you: as the context shows, Moses is speaking to the three tribes that settled east of the Jordan. Contemporary English Version makes this clear with “At the same time I told the men of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh.”

The LORD your God: again, if the second person plural your makes it appear that Yahweh is not the God of Moses, the inclusive form of the first person plural should be used, namely, “The LORD our [inclusive] God.” For a comment on LORD, or “Yahweh,” see 1.3.

This land: that is, the land east of the Jordan River (compare Good News Translation).

All your men of valor shall pass over armed before your brethren the people of Israel: the meaning is that the fighting men or soldiers of the three tribes east of the Jordan were to cross the Jordan River to the west side ahead of the fighting men from the other tribes and help them conquer the territory on the west side. When the conquest was completed, they were to return to their homes east of the Jordan. See Num 32.16-22. Armed suggests the act of “arming” them. Good News Translation has “Now arm your fighting men”; or we may say “Now give weapons to your soldiers.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .