Matthew Henry on Deuteronomy 3:12-20
Having shown how this country which they were now in was conquered, in these verses he shows how it was settled upon the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, which we had the story of before, Num. 32. Here is the rehearsal. 1. Moses specifies the particular parts of the country that were allotted to each tribe, especially the distribution of the lot to the half tribe of Manasseh, the subdividing of which tribe is observable. Joseph was divided into Ephraim and Manasseh; Manasseh was divided into one half on the one side Jordan and the other half on the other side: that on the east side Jordan was again divided into two great families, which had their several allotments: Jair,…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on Deuteronomy 3:16
from Gilead--that is, not the mountainous region, but the town Ramoth-gilead,
even unto the river Arnon half the valley--The word "valley" signifies a wady, either filled with water or dry, as the Arnon is in summer, and thus the proper rendering of the passage will be--"even to the half or middle of the river Arnon" (compare Jos 12:2). This prudent arrangement of the boundaries was evidently made to prevent all disputes between the adjacent tribes about the exclusive right to the water.
John Gill on Deuteronomy 3:16
And unto the Reubenites, and unto the Gadites,.... The tribes of Reuben and Gad:
I gave from Gilead even unto the river Arnon: see Deuteronomy 3:12.
half the valley and the border; or rather half the river, the river Arnon; and so it is rendered "the middle of the river", in Joshua 12:2 and so here the middle of the torrent by the Vulgate Latin and Septuagint versions, and by Onkelos:
even unto the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon; beyond which the land given to the tribes of Reuben and Gad reached not; see Deuteronomy 2:37.
John Calvin on Deuteronomy 3:12-20
Deuteronomy 3:12-20
12. And this land, which we possessed at that time, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, and half mount Gilead, and the cities thereof, gave I unto the Reubenites, and to the Gadites
12. Et hanc terram possedimus eo tempore ab Aroer, qum sita erat ad torrentem Arnon: et dimidium montis Galaad, et urbes ejus dedi Rubenitis et Gadiris.
13. And the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, being the kingdom of Og, gave I unto the half-tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob, with all Bashan, which was called the land of giants.
13. Residuum vero Galaad, et universam Basan regni Og dedi dimidiae tribui Manasse, et omnem regionem Argob, totam Basan qum vocabatur terra gigant…
