Wesley Corpus

inhabiting that land, namely Midian, last mentioned; whereby he signifies, that tho' they were subject to Sihon, yet they did not dwell in his land, but in another. Were slain by them - This was recorded before, Numb 31:8, and is here repeated, because the defeating of Balaam's purpose to curse Israel, and the turning that curse into a blessing, was such an instance of the power and goodness of God, as was fit to be had in everlasting remembrance. The border thereof - That is, those cities or places which bordered upon Jordan. The cities of Gilead - That is, all the cities of eminency; all the cities properly so called, which lay in that part of Gilead; and so this may well agree with ver.31, where half the country of Gilead is said to be given to the Manassites; but there is no mention of any cities there. The land of the children of Ammon - Not of that which was now theirs, for that they were forbidden to meddle with, but of that which was anciently theirs, 'till taken from them by the Amorites, from whom the Israelites took it. Aroer - The border between them and Moab. Rabbah - The chief city of the Ammonites. Ramath - mizpeh - Called Ramoth - Gilead, or Ramoth in Gilead. Mahanaim - Exclusively; for Mahanaim was in the portion of Manasseh, beyond Jabbok, which was the border of Gad and Manasseh. The rest of the kingdom - The northern part of his kingdom. Of Manasseh - Not that thou desired it, as Reuben and Gad did, Numb 32:1, but partly as a recompence to Machir the Manassite, for his valiant acts against Og; and partly for the better defence of the other two tribes, by so considerable an accession to them, which also was without any inconvenience to them, because the country was too large for the two tribes of Reuben and Gad. Of Jair - Who, though of the tribe of Judah, by the father, 1Chron 2:21,22, yet is called the son of Manasseh, Numb 32:41, because he married a daughter of Manasseh, and wholly associated himself with those valiant Manassites; and with their help took sixty cities or great towns, Deut 3:4,14, which thence were called the towns of Jair.