The Inheritance East of the Jordan

The inheritance east of the Jordan is traced back to Moses and described through its valleys, plateaus, and former kingdoms. The allotment rests on victories already won over Sihon and Og.

T⁸he other half of Manasseh, along with the Reubenites and Gadites, had received the inheritance Moses had given them beyond the Jordan to the east, just as Moses the servant of the LORD had assigned to them: ⁹The area from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along with the city in the middle of the valley, the whole plateau of Medeba as far as Dibon, ¹⁰and all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorites who reigned in Heshbon, as far as the border of the Ammonites; ¹¹also Gilead and the territory of the Geshurites and Maacathites, all of Mount Hermon, and all Bashan as far as Salecah— ¹²the whole kingdom of Og in Bashan, who had reigned in Ashtaroth and Edrei and had remained as a remnant of the Rephaim.

The text notes that Geshurites and Maacathites were not driven out and still dwell among Israel. Levi, by contrast, receives no territorial share because the LORD's offerings are his inheritance.

¹³Moses had struck them down and dispossessed them, but the Israelites did not drive out the Geshurites or the Maacathites. So Geshur and Maacath dwell among the Israelites to this day. ¹⁴To the tribe of Levi, however, Moses had given no inheritance. The food offerings to the LORD, the God of Israel, are their inheritance, just as He had promised them.