Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ramban · Torah
Ramban on Numbers 32:41/רמב"ן על במדבר ל״ב:מ״א
אוְיָאִיר בֶּן מְנַשֶּׁה הָאִישׁ הַזֶּה יִתְיַחֵס אֶל מִשְׁפַּחַת אִמּוֹ בַּעֲבוּר שֶׁלָּקַח אֲחֻזָּתוֹ עִמָּהֶם, כִּי בְדִבְרֵי הַיָּמִים (א ב כא כב) מְפֹרָשׁ שֶׁהוּא בֶּן חֶצְרוֹן בֶּן פֶּרֶץ בֶּן יְהוּדָה, וְאִמּוֹ בַּת מָכִיר בֶּן מְנַשֶּׁה. דִּכְתִיב: ״וְאַחַר בָּא חֶצְרוֹן אֶל בַּת מָכִיר אֲבִי גִלְעָד וְהוּא לְקָחָהּ וְהוּא בֶּן שִׁשִּׁים שָׁנָה וַתֵּלֶד לוֹ אֶת שְׂגוּב, וּשְׂגוּב הוֹלִיד אֶת יָאִיר וַיְהִי לוֹ עֶשְׂרִים וְשָׁלֹשׁ עָרִים בְּאֶרֶץ הַגִּלְעָד״. וּכְתִיב: ״וַיִּקַּח גְּשׁוּר וַאֲרָם אֶת חַוֹּת יָאִיר מֵאִתָּם אֶת קְנָת וְאֶת בְּנוֹתֶיהָ שִׁשִּׁים עִיר, כָּל אֵלֶּה בְּנֵי מָכִיר אֲבִי גִלְעָד״ (שם פסוק כג). וּמִזֶּה נִרְאֶה שֶׁהָיָה נֹבַח הַלּוֹכֵד קְנָת וּבְנוֹתֶיהָ בֶּן יָאִיר, וְלָכֵן יִקָּרְאוּ גַּם הֵן חַוּוֹת יָאִיר. וְטַעַם ״וַיִּתֵּן מֹשֶׁה אֶת הַגִּלְעָד לְמָכִיר בֶּן מְנַשֶּׁה״ (במדבר ל״ב:מ׳) - לְמִשְׁפַּחְתּוֹ, כִּי בָּנָיו לְכָדוּהָ. וְכֵן ״וּלְמָכִיר נָתַתִּי אֶת הַגִּלְעָד״ (דברים ג טו) - וְלַמָּכִירִי, כִּי בַּעֲבוּר הֱיוֹתוֹ נִכְבָּד וְרֹאשׁ לְכָל זַרְעוֹ יִקָּרְאוּ בָּנָיו בִּשְׁמוֹ, כִּי כֵן יֹאמְרוּ הַכְּתוּבִים בְּרָאשֵׁי הַשְּׁבָטִים בְּנַחֲלָתָם: ״נֶגְבָּה לְאֶפְרַיִם וְצָפוֹנָה לִמְנַשֶּׁה״ (יהושע יז י), וְכֵן ״לִמְנַשֶּׁה הָיְתָה אֶרֶץ תַּפּוּחַ״ וְגוֹ' (שם פסוק ח). וּמַה שֶׁאָמַר הַכָּתוּב בְּסֵפֶר יְהוֹשֻׁעַ (יז א): ״וַיְהִי הַגּוֹרָל לְמַטֵּה מְנַשֶּׁה כִּי הוּא בְּכוֹר יוֹסֵף, לְמָכִיר בְּכוֹר מְנַשֶּׁה אֲבִי הַגִּלְעָד כִּי הוּא הָיָה אִישׁ מִלְחָמָה וַיְהִי לוֹ הַגִּלְעָד וְהַבָּשָׁן״ - גַּם כֵּן עַל בָּנָיו שֶׁהָיוּ אַנְשֵׁי מִלְחָמָה, כִּי הֵם הָלְכוּ גִּלְעָדָה וַיִּלְכְּדוּהָ, וּלְכָךְ נָתַן לָהֶם מֹשֶׁה חֵלֶק גָּדוֹל מֵהֶם. וְאוּלַי הָיָה עֲדַיִן מָכִיר קַיָּם וְלֹא נִגְזְרָה עָלָיו גְּזֵרַת הַמִּדְבָּר, לְפִי שֶׁלֹּא הָיָה מִפְּקוּדֵי מֹשֶׁה וְאַהֲרֹן, שֶׁהָיָה לוֹ יוֹתֵר מִשִּׁשִּׁים שָׁנָה וְהֶאֱרִיךְ שָׁנִים כַּדּוֹרוֹת הָרִאשׁוֹנִים:
1AND JAIR THE SON OF MENASHEH. This man [who was in fact from the tribe of Judah, as will be explained] is [here] traced back by genealogy to his mother’s family [Menasheh], because he took his inheritance together with them [i.e., the children of Menasheh]. And in the Book of Chronicles158 it says explicitly that he was a son159, Verse 22). of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, and his mother was the daughter of Machir the son of Menasheh, as it says, And afterward Hezron went in to the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead; whom he took to wife when he was threeescore years old, and she bore him Segub. And Segub begot Jair, who had three and twenty cities in the land of Gilead;158 and it is [further] written, And Geshur and Aram took the hamlets of Jair from them, Kenath, and the villages thereof, even threescore cities. All these were the sons of Machir the father of Gilead.160, Verse 23. From this [fact that Kenath is here described as being amongst ‘the hamlets of Jair’] it would appear that Nobach [mentioned here in Verse 42] who conquered Kenath and the villages thereof was a son of Jair, [although it is not mentioned here], and therefore these cities were also called ‘the hamlets of Jair.’161 is: “Nobach called it [i.e., Kenath and the villages thereof] by his name” [i.e., by the name of Jair — his father — mentioned in the previous verse]; hence these towns also came to be called ‘the hamlets of Jair,’ as they are described in I Chronicles ibid.And the meaning of the verse, And Moses gave Gilead unto Machir the son of Menasheh162 is [not “unto Machir” himself, but unto] his family, for it was his sons who conquered it.163. Similarly, And unto Machir I gave Gilead164 means “unto the Machirites,” for since Machir was an honored man and the chief of all his descendants, therefore his children were called by his name, and in the same way the verses refer to the heads of the tribes in connection with the inheritance [given to their children]: southward it was Ephraim’s, and northward it was Menasheh’s.165 So also: The land of Tappuah belonged to Menasheh etc.166, Verse 8. And when Scripture says in the Book of Joshua, And this was the lot for the tribe of Menasheh; for he was the firstborn of Joseph. As for Machir the firstborn of Menasheh, the father of Gilead, because he was a man of war, therefore he had Gilead and Bashan,167, Verse 1. it also refers to his sons, who were men of war, for it was they who went to Gilead and conquered it, and therefore Moses gave them a great part of these lands. Perhaps Machir was still alive [at the time of the division of the Land in the days of Joshua], for the decree [against the generation] of the wilderness [resulting from the incident of the spies, that they were to die in the desert] had not been decreed upon him, as he was not amongst those counted by Moses and Aaron, being he was more than sixty years old [at the time of the first census after the exodus],168 and he enjoyed longevity as did the earlier generations.169