1 Chronicles 5:23-26·~1 min

The Half-Tribe of Manasseh

The half-tribe of Manasseh is numerous and settled broadly from Bashan to Baal-hermon, and the text introduces the heads of their families. Their size and place are set before their character is judged.

N²³ow the people of the half-tribe of Manasseh were numerous. They settled in the land from Bashan to Baal-hermon (that is, Senir, also known as Mount Hermon). ²⁴These were the heads of their families:

Though mighty and renowned, they prove unfaithful and turn to the gods of the peoples around them. In response, God stirs the Assyrian king to exile Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, where they remain.

²⁵They were mighty men of valor, famous men, and heads of their families. But they were unfaithful to the God of their fathers, and they prostituted themselves with the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them. ²⁶So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria (that is, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria) to take the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh into exile. And he brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river of Gozan, where they remain to this day.

Section summaryThe half-tribe of Manasseh is described as numerous and strong in the northern reaches of the eastern land. Yet the section turns sharply from their stature to their unfaithfulness, and their history ends with God stirring Assyria to carry the eastern tribes into exile.

Role in the chapterThis closing section gathers the chapter’s final judgment into view. After the earlier notices of lineage, land, and victory, it names the reason those gains do not last and brings the whole eastern tribal record to its end in exile.