which was the whole breadth of the Oracle Their two inward wings touched each other and the two ends of their outward wings touched the wall of the house Under their two inward wings stood Moses's Ark and Cherubims These Cherubims were so made as the parts of them might be taken asunder See 2 Chron. 3.10 and they were the most splendid ornament of the whole Temple and carried away as 't is probable by the rapacious Babylonians at the taking of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar 1 King 6. from 23. to 29. 2 Chron. 3. from 10. to the 14. These four Cherubims in the 1 Chron. 28.18 are likened to a Chariot of four wheels whereon the Divine Majesty did sit or ride and uttered intelligibly his Sacred Oracles See Psal 99.1 Thirdly Besides the Ark and these glorious Cherubims it appears from Heb. 9.4 that within the Holy of Holies was placed Aaron's Rod that budded and the pot of Manna * See the Apostolical History on Heb. 9.4 Numb 17.10 and the Golden Censer of Aaron Lastly In the time of Moses there was also the Book of the Law call'd by some Deuteronomion laid on the side of the Ark see Deut. 31.26 But whither it was placed there in Solomon's days we do not yet we find in Josiah's reign when the Temple was purged the Book of the Law was found in the Temple by Hilkiah the Priest though no express mention is made that it was found in the Oracle So that by the side of the Ark or before the Testimony in Solomon's Temple were placed as it seems the pot of Manna Aaron's Rod the Golden Censer and the Book of the Law as they had formerly been in the Holy of Holies of the Tabernacle 4. Of the Vessels in the Priests Court 1. There we find the Altar of Brass which was twenty cubits in length twenty in breadth and ten in height 2 Chron. 4.1 It s situation was before the Porch whereon the Sacrifices were daily offered to God 2 Chron. 8.12 As for the Sacrifices we read of many instruments that were used about them as flesh-hooks of Gold 1 Chron. 28.17 also pots shovels and basons of bright brass 1 King 7.45 2. The next vessel to be considered was the molten Sea a most rare and admirable piece of solid brass cast in the clay ground in the plains of Jordan It was five cubits high and ten over from side to side being round and thirty cubits in compass containing two thousand baths * A Bath contained about 8 gallons 4 baths made a barrel so that there were usually put into this Sea 500 barrels of water and if filled up to the brim it would contain 750. namely as they usually filled it for ordinary use but if it had been filled up to the brim it would then contain three thousand viz. a third part more 1 King 7.23.26 2 Chron. 4.5 therefore 't was called a Sea for the largeness thereof It 's brim was wrought about with Lilly-work under the brim thereof were brazen knobs round about resembling the heads of oxen These were cast together with the vessel It stood upon twelve brazen oxen which by four several Threes respected the four quarters of the world The use of this vessel was for the Priests to wash in 2 Chron. 4.6 10. that is by water derived to them by a pipe and cock out of it they did wash their hands and feet for that they did wash their whole bodies in it seems not very probable (a) See Mr. Lee pag. 86 'T is like the Gibeonites or Nethinims whose office it was to be drawers of water for the Congregation Josh 9.27 did out of the fountain of Siloam or pool of Bethesda hard by fill this Sea and furnished all other Lavatories with water about the Temple 3. In this Court also were placed ten lavers appointed for the washing of the Sacrifices in the Tabernacle there were none of these that single laver made by Moses for the Priests service answering only to the molten Sea These lavers of brass contained forty haths apiece each set op his basis with wheels for their more convenient removal if need were though generally their station was five on the one side and five on the other in the Court of the Priests and East of the covered Temple they were adorn'd with brazen borders engraven with Lions Oxen Cherubims and Palm-trees had pillars and wheels and other curiosities which we cannot well here describe 1 King 7. from v. 27 to 40. 5. Of the Furniture Utensils and Chambers in the outward Court In the outward Court or Court of Israel many no doubt were the utensils there used Tremellius thinks the brazen scaffold made by Solomon for himself to stand and pray upon 2 Chron. 6.12 13. with the Kings pillar was placed in this Court. Also Pulpits and Desks wherein the Priests expounded the Law to the people The Chambers in the outward Courts were severally imployed for sundry uses as for laying up of Tythes First-fruits Wood Salt and other requisites for the Sacrifices Of Salt a mass was spent in the Temple seeing no Offering was acceptable without it Mark 9.49 Some rooms 't is like were imployed to contain the Musical Instruments whereof thirteen sorts are mentioned and explained by Mr. Fuller Ch. 10. Book 3. In other Chambers undoubtedly the standards of all measures were carefully kept for we find that the inferiour Levites among other services had a superintendency over all manner of measures and sizes 1 Chron. 23.29 It belonged to their office to set out the pars quota the exact quantity of the meal oyl and wine that was to be used in their several sacrifices therefore they were highly concerned to be skilful in measures 'T is likely that the Book of the description of the land into several parts by lot as being of publick concernment and use was preserved in some room of the Temple See Josh 18.9 Some Chambers 't is like were for lodgings for the Priests and Levites that attendded on the holy service in the Temple and others for refectories and rooms wherein the Priests had their repast or hallowed food as on shew-bread c. which though shifted but once a week by Gods command Lev. 24.8 yet by his Providence was doubtless preserved that it lost nothing of its goodness There was also as it seems an Armory in the Temple furnished with weapons to guard the Treasure there kept David provided Spears and Bucklers and Shields for that purpose and Joash by the assistance of those weapons recovered the Crown Many other Vtensils were added to the Temple after Solomon's death by succeeding Kings as occasion did require as particularly that Chest which in the reign of King Jehoash was made by Jehoiada to receive the peoples free offerings for the repair of the Temple A Chest with an hole in the lid thereof 2 King 12.9 In after ages it was called Corban which signifies sometimes the gift it self sometimes the vessel
Hittites and Perizzites Canaanites Hivites and Jebusites and should bring them into the possession of their Land But when they came to enjoy that good Land they must be especially careful not to bow down to their Idols nor Worship them nor to imitate the Idolatry of that Heathenish people (e) Lev. 18.3.25 but contrariwise with detestation to overthrow and break down their Images Lev. 7. And if they were careful to worship the Lord their God and Him only then He would bless their bread and their water and their food to them so that it should nourish them and would give them health and keep evil Diseases from them and would make them very fruitful and preserve their Women and Cattel from miscarrying and abortive Births and would prolong their life so that they should fill up the number of their days which by the course of Nature they might live And He would strike their Enemies with such terrour and fear that they should turn their backs upon them and fly when they came to Encounter them And he would send Hornets (f) De his agitur Deut. 7.20 ubi Vespa eos in angulos pellit ibique latentes sodicat quod de terrore animi dici non potest Non dubito veros snisse Crabrones hanc plagam similem ei Aegyptiacae Exod. 8.21 Impletum hoc quamvis scriptum non meminit quo loco aut tempore factum Numerantur hic tantum tres gentes quia hae solum videntur hoc incommodum sensisse Rivet Masius before them to expel the Canaanites out of the Land viz. Great Venemous Flies * See Josh 24.12 that should sting them to death So that those of their Enemies that should endeavour to hide themselves from them and think thereby to escape should be destroyed by these Hornets see Deut. 7.20 But He tells them He would not drive out these Heathenish Nations all in one year lest the Land should grow to a Wilderness if it should be all at once dispeopled and the wild Beasts in the solitary places would increase which would be a great annoyance to them But he would drive out the Heathen Nations by degrees till Israel were increased and become enow to fill the Land And that they might know how large a Possession he designed for them he tells them the bounds of it should be these The East bound should be the Red-Sea not that that Sea should bound all the East side of it but because the East side of the Land of Canaan should reach to some part of the Red-Sea The West bound should be the Sea of the Philistins or the great Ocean the Mediterranean-Sea The South border should be the Desert towards Egypt which was the Wilderness of Shur or Paran The North bound should be the River Euphrates (g) But of this larger extent of land the Israelites by reason of their sins were not possessed except for a short time under David and Solomon See 2 Sam. 8.10 1 Kings 4.21 2 Chron. 9.26 which extendeth towards the North. Lastly He chargeth them to make no Covenant with these Heathenish Nations nor to yield to Worship their Idols nor to permit them to dwell in the Land lest if they lived among them they might infect them with their Idolatry which would be a great Snare to them and a cause of their fall and ruine Exod. 23. from vers 20. to the end SECT XIX GOd having Himself given to the Children of Israel his Moral Law which is expresly call'd a Covenant Deut. 4.13 and Moses having received these other Commandments and Ordinances from the Lord and having written them in a Book He proposed them unto the People and they readily consented to them saying All the words that the Lord hath said we will do Hereupon the next Morning he rose early and built an Altar see Exod. 20.24 25. at the foot of the Mount to represent God and He set up twelve Pillars according to the twelve (h) V. 4. Duodecem adnumerato Levi. Neque enim ante Numb 1.10 in Tribus distincta binas erat Josephi prosapia Anonym Tribes to represent the People Then he appointed twelve young (i) Young men do not always signifie men young in years but men fit for Service or Ministry to the Elders These were some of the First-born and were chief Assistants to the Father of the Family in offering Sacrifice and when their Fathers were dead succeeded in their Office men of the First-born whom the Lord had consecrated to Himself as Ministers of holy things before the Levetes who came in the place of the First-born Numb 3.41 were set apart for the Priestly Function to offer Burnt-Offerings and Peace-Offerings of Oxen Calves and Goats Heb. 9.19 unto the Lord which they did accordingly Then he took half the bloud of these Sacrifices and put it into Basons and the other half he sprinkled on the Altar and so also on the Book which it seems was laid on the Altar making use of a Sprinkler (k) See more of this in the Apostolical History page 382. 383. Because it was an usual thing in all their legal Expiations to use Hyssop and Wooll to sprinkle with The Apostle received this from the usual custom of the legal Rites as being himself trained and brought up under the Law To this custom of using Hyssop the Psalmist alludeth Psal 51.7 Purge me with Hyssop and I shall be clean c. made of Scarlet wooll and a bunch of Hyssop Heb. 9.19 the legal sprinklings being usually so performed Levit. 14.6 7. though Moses here mentions not all these particulars and there was Water also as it seems intermingled with the bloud because otherwise the bloud growing cold would have been thick and so unfit to be sprinkled By all which was signified and sealed God's Favour and Grace to the People if they would be obedient Then reading again to them the Book of the Covenant that is the Book containing those Laws before mentioned which they had covenanted to observe and they promising a second time Obedience thereunto He took the other half of the bloud and sprinkled it on the People that is either on the twelve Pillars representing the twelve Tribes or on the Elders as representing the rest or on all the people promiscuously that in circuitu stood about him saying Behold the bloud of the Covenant which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words and things contained in this Book As if he should have said This bloud is a sign of the Covenant between God and You and a Seal to confirm it and a Ceremony whereby it is established The sprinkling of this bloud upon you may also signifie that the transgression of the Covenant cannot be purged but by the bloud of the Messiah Exod. 24. from 3. to 9. SECT XX. THe Lord having commanded Moses after he had delivered these Ordinances to the people to come up again into the Mount and to bring Aaron
inferiour Priests were afterwards admitted as appears Luke 1. when he had dressed and trimmed the Lamps of the golden Candlestick in the Morning (c) Manè mundabantur vesperi accendebantur Vatab. and made them ready to be lighted again at Night to burn sweet Incense upon this Altar and when he lighted the Lamps at Night to burn Incense again upon it (d) Luke 1.9 10. when Zachary burned Incense in the Temple the whole multitude were without at prayer while the Incense was ascending possibly to intimate to them how God's people should daily and constantly pray unto the Lord and that the prayers of his faithful people are very acceptable unto him while Jesus Christ doth incense them by his Merits and Intercession And this Ordinance was to be perpetually observed by (e) The Incense seems to be burnt in Chasing-dishes upon this Altar Numb 29.7 them in their Generations while that Dispensation lasted Further they were injoyned to offer no strange Incense thereon that is made of any other materials than what is injoyned vers 34 35 c. where the Ingredients are prescribed to be sweet Spices with pure Frankincense beaten small and mixed together and to be applied by the Priest only to this holy use and no other They were not to make any like to it to smell to or for their own private use Whosoever should contemptuously offend against this Ordinance are threatn'd to be cut off by Divine Vengeance And Aaron once a year as High Priest viz. on the great day of Expiation on the tenth day of the seventh month see Levit. 16.18 was appointed to put the bloud of the Sin-Offering upon the Horns of this Altar to make Expiation for such Errours and Failings as might have been committed in the administration about it And this Rite was to be religiously observed by them in their Generations till Christ the Substance of these Ceremonial shadows should appear Exod. 30. from 1. to 11. and from vers 34. to the end 7ly He gives Directions concerning framing the Tabernacle Now the Tabernacle taken in the largest sense contained two parts one that was covered which was properly called the Tabernacle and one that was open viz. the Court belonging thereunto Concerning the first these Directions are given It was to be 30 Cubits long accounting a Cubit a Yard ten Cubits high and ten broad The walls of it were to be 20 boards of Shittim-wood gilt all over standing upright each a Cubit and half in breadth so that the breadth of the boards joyned together made the length of the Tabernacle the height thereof being the length of the boards that is ten Cubits and the breadth thereof of the same proportion Each board was to have two Tenons fastned in silver Sockets or moveable Footstalls having hollow Mortaises for the Tenons of the boards to fall into These boards were also to have gilded Bars of the same wood running along their breadth in an even proportion through golden Rings to strengthen their Conjunction And these boards were to be as the walls of it But the Tabernacle it self was to consist of curious Curtains of fine twined Linnen Blue Purple and Scarlet with Cherubims curiously embroidered in them representing the Ministry of Angels in the Church and a three-fold Covering over it one of Goats hair spun and woven into Stuff possibly like our Chamlet another of Ram Skins died red a third of Badgers Skins This covered Tabernacle was to consist of two parts The one to be called the Holy of Holies at the upper end of it taking up ten Cubits or one third part of it In this were to be placed the Ark with the two Tables of the Law in it and by the Ark the Pot of Manna before the Testimony Exod. 16.33 34. and Aarons Rod Numb 17.10 and the golden Censer Levit. 16.12 * See Apost Hist on Heb. 9.4 And the Book of the Law (f) This seems to be the Book that was found in Josiah's time and to be lost in the days of wicked Manesseh and Amon The matters of that Book when read to Josiah and the people seemed so strange unto them as if no Copy of it at all or wondrous rare had been extant among them in the outside of the Ark Deut. 31.26 that is the whole Law Writings and inspired Books of Moses Into this Holy of Holies none but the High Priest and He but once a year was to enter Levit. 16. The other part of the Sanctuary was called the Holy containing 20 Cubits In this was to be placed the Altar of Incense on the right side whereof was to stand the golden Candlestick and on the left the Table of Shew-bread Into this part of the Sanctuary the ordinary Priests were to enter and there to Minister These two parts were to be divided by a Veil to be made of Blue Purple and Scarlet with embroidered Cherubims and 't was to be a partition between the Holy and Holy of Holies and this was the inner Veil There was also an hanging to be made for a door or entrance into the Tabernacle or holy Place to be made of Blue Purple and Scarlet and hung on Pillars of Shittim-wood overlaid with Gold which was to be the outward Veil Exod. 26. whole Chapter And so much of the covered Tabernacle now for the outward Court belonging thereunto It was to be in length an 100 Cubits and in breadth 50 and to be inclosed with Hangings of fine twined Linnen hung upon Pillars of Shittim-wood five Cubits high and filleted with Silver and set in Sockets of Brass and moveable Footstalls And for the Gate of this Court Eastward was to be an Hanging of 20 Cubits of Blue Purple and Scarlet and fine twined Linnen wrought with Needle-work and to be hung on four Pillars 8ly Concerning the Altar of Burnt-Offering which was to be made of Shittim-wood five Cubits long and five broad and so to be four square and three Cubits high It was to have Horns or little Pyramids on the four Corners thereof to which they were to bind their Sacrifices see Psal 118.27 They were to make for it a Grate of Net-work all of Brass with four brasen Rings in the corners thereof to take it out upon occasion It was to be overlaid with Brass to defend it against the heat of the fire the widness and length being such that the fire might be kept within the compass of the Grate which was to be set even to the midst of it They were also to make several Instruments belonging to this Altar as Panns to receive ashes Shovels Basons Flesh-hooks Fire-panns all of Brass * There was no Iron to be used about the Tabernacle and Staves of Shittim-wood overlaid with brass to be put into the Rings on the sides of the Altar to bear it withall And it was to be made hollow with boards without either bottom or cover according to the Pattern shewed to Moses in the Mount Exod. 27. from 1. to
ei authoritatem coram populo Conciliet and I will be with thee Moses now commands the Priests the Sons of Levi to put this Book of the Law which he had written in some safe Repository or Chest on the outside of the Ark where was the Pot of Manna and Aaron's Rod see Heb. 9.4 Indeed in the Ark it self were only the two Tables 1 Kings 8.9 but on the outside of it and by it was this Volume of the Law to be kept This Book was many years after found in the Treasury of the Temple in Josiah's Reign 2 Kings 22.8 2 Chron. 34.14 and therefore it seems it had been removed from the Ark and kept elsewhere wherein seeing they transgressed the directions that God here gave to the Priests no marvel if this precious Treasure was for some years lost and not looked after Moses having commanded them to place this Book on the outside of the Ark He said to them O Israel if thou art disobedient this Book shall be a witness against thee wherein thou art sufficiently warned to the contrary and shewed the Judgments that will thereupon insue But alas I know thy rebellious Disposition and thy stiff Neck Ye have been rebellious against the Lord while I was with you how much more will ye be so when I am dead Gather therefore unto me all the Elders of your Tribes and your Officers that I may speak unto them and call Heaven and Earth to witness against them For I know that after my death you will corrupt your selves and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you and evil will befal you in the latter days because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord and thereby provoke Him to anger The Elders and Officers of the people being met Moses spake in the ears of all the Congregation of Israel the words of this following Song Ch. XXXII Give Ear O ye Heavens * See Isa 1.2 and I will speak and hear O Earth the words of my mouth He beginneth this Prophetical Song with a Rhetorical Scheme calling the Heavens and Earth and all the Creatures in them to be witnesses of his word the more to affect the hearts of the people to reprove their hardness and to excite their attention I wish says He my Doctrine which I have received from God might so fall upon your hearts as the sweet and gentle Showers and fruitful Dew falleth upon the Herbs and Flowers and Grass of the Earth and causeth them to spring forth and flourish Isa 55.10 Hear therefore for I will now publish unto you the Name of the Lord that is his glorious Excellencies viz. his infinite Power Wisdom and Goodness and therefore see that ye ascribe Greatness and Majesty to Him and that ye magnifie Him as ye ought to do saying Thine O Jehovah is the Greatness and the Power and the Glory 1 Chron. 29.11 and that ye attend to what is spoken with all humility and lay it to heart and yield Obedience thereunto Know ye therefore that God is the Rock * In times of danger men use to fly to Rocks to shelter themselves 1 Sam. 13.6 He is an All-sufficient stable and sure Refuge for all those that fly to Him neither is there any sure Shelter any where else but in Him His Work is perfect for all his ways are Judgment All his Works are perfect (z) Even in those works of God that seem to have some imperfection in them as Children that are born blind or lame c. yet as they are acts of Providence there is a perfection of Wisdom Holiness and Justice in them and there is nothing at all in them for which God can justly be blamed and without any blemish there is no defect or fault to be found in any of them All his ways are Judgment his dealings with his people have been always right and just He is a God of truth and without Iniquity just and right is He. But as for this people they have corrupted themselves by their Idolatry their spot is not the spot of his Children for it proceedeth not of weakness and infirmity to which all are subject but of wilfulness and perverseness and an impenitent heart They are a perverse and crooked Generation for both their hearts and ways are evil and turned aside from the right Rule of Gods Law Do you thus requite the Lord O foolish people and unwise Is not God thy Father that made thee Is not He thy Father that hath bought thee that is ransomed and brought thee forth out of Egypt with a mighty Hand and the power of Miracles Hath not He made thee his people and established thee by Covenant to continue so if thou art not wanting to thy self and thy duty Remember the days of old and consider the years of many Generations ask thy Father and he will shew thee thy Elders and they will tell thee how God when by his Providence He disposed the several Nations that came out of the Loins of Adam into several parts of the Earth allotting to one Nation one Country and another to another did then set the bounds of the people according to the number of the Children of Israel that is did then chuse the Children of Israel to be his peculiar people and Inheritance and where they were there it might be said was his people and where their bounds ended there was the end and utmost bound of his people and the bounds of the Heathen then began and according to his secret purpose he gave and allotted to the Canaanites such bounds and limits as he knew would serve for the number of the Israelites For the Lords portion is his people Jacob is the lot of his Inheritance that is the Israelites are that portion of Mankind whom he was pleased to make his peculiar people they are his Inheritance and therefore dear to Him as Inheritances use to be to men which are divided to them by lot and they were to acknowledge no other Lord over them but Himself and they and their Children after them were to be His successively He found them in a desart Land in a wast howling Wilderness inhabited only by wild howling Beasts of Prey He found them there in desperate danger but came in seasonably to their succour when they were ready to perish He led them about he instructed them both by his Word and Works by his Spirit and the several Dispensations of his Providence He kept them as the apple of his eye with tender care and love As an Eagle stirreth up her nest that is awaketh her brood or young ones in her nest rousing them up with the Cry that she maketh to signifie to them that she intends to teach them to fly and spreading abroad her wings taketh them up and beareth them thereon so did the Lord carry Israel towards Canaan leading them Himself thither and there was no strange god with him that is no strange God had any hand in
for their present use out of an act of base sloth suffered them to roost among them and did not endeavour to drive them out Moses in the division of that Land without Jordan gave no part to the Tribe of Levi that is no Regions or Parts of the Country as he did to the other Tribes upon which they might live by Tillage and Husbandry but only some Cities to dwell in and the Suburbs belonging to them with some circuit of Ground for the feeding of their Cattel because God himself was to be their Portion and the Sacrifices and other Oblations due unto God were to be for their Maintenance Now the bounds of the Lands given to each Tribe beyond Jordan by Moses are particularly set down to prevent all strife and division among them for the future Joshua 13. whole Chapter SECT CIX JOshua now with Eleazar the High Spirit and the Elders of the Tribes who were expresly chosen and named by the Lord for this purpose Numb 34.17 c. at Gilgal set upon this great Work of dividing the Land on this side Jordan among the nine Tribes and an half And accordingly first they cast the Land into so many several Portions or Provinces as were the number of the Tribes that were to inhabit it yet so as the certain bounds of each Portion or Province were not certainly limited and appointed till they knew which Tribes the Lord would by the designation of the lot settle in each of them and then they were to inlarge or lessen the Portion according as the number of the Tribe that was there to be setled was greater or less so that the lots were only to determine in what part of the Country each Tribe should be planted and afterwards the quantity of the Land which each Tribe was to enjoy was to be set out by Joshua Eleazar and the Heads of the Tribes as was appointed Numb 26.55 56. What manner of Lottery they used in this business is no where expressed The common Opinion of the Hebrew Writers is That there were two Pots or Vrnes set before the Tabernacle the one having the Names of the Tribes in it that were to have their portion of Land assigned to them the other had just so many lots in each of which such and such a part of the Land was described and that some man appointed to that Service probably Eleazar the High Priest drew out first out of one Pot one of the Tribes then out of the other Pot one of the lots there and so that Tribe had their portion assigned them in that part of the Land described and set forth in that lot and accordingly they did by the rest And though this way and method be not any where particularly expressed in this Book yet the phrase that is often used in the following Chapters that such a lot came out and such a lot came up may seem covertly to imply it see Ch. 19.1 10 17. And herein the Hand of God in ordering the lots was the more wonderful and the Prophesies of Jacob and Moses concerning the several Inheritances of the Tribes were more evidenced to be of God Joshua therefore and the Elders now setting upon this Work the first lot came out for the Tribe of Judah and his lot fell out in the richest and best part of the Kingdom whereby the purpose of God in exalting this Tribe above the rest was made very apparent The largeness of Judah's lot and the bounds of it and the Cities thereof are set forth Chap. 15. The next two lots that were drawn were for Ephraim and Manasseh the Sons of Joseph immediately one after the other upon whom God transferred a part of Reuben's Birth-right as is expressed 1 Chron. 5.1 2. The Writer of this Book first shews joyntly where the Inheritance of those two Tribes lay and then afterwards shews severally what each of them had for their portion Chap. 16. at vers 5. He begins the Discription of Ephraim's lot which came out before the other For though he was younger than Manasseh yet he was prefer'd before him by Jacob's appointment Gen. 48 19. and besides the Cities that stood within his own lot he had many Cities allotted him within the portion of Manasseh vers 9. The lot that fell to Manasseh is described Ch. 17. and 't is said to be for Machir the only Son of Manasseh whence the whole Tribe beareth the Name of Machir Judg. 5.14 and because Machir that is the Machirites his Posterity were a Warlike people they had Gilead and Bashan allotted to them that is half of it which they did win by dispossessing the Enemy of it see Numb 32.39 40. Therefore half of the Posterity of Machir being setled on the East-side of Jordan the other half were according to Gods appointment to have their portion and lot on the West-side And there fell ten portions to Manasseh that is their Land was divided into six parts according to the number of the Sons of Gilead mentioned vers 2. And Hepher's part who was one of them was divided into five parts or portions and given to his Son Zelophehad's five Daughters and so they were ten portions in all see Numb 26.33 The Cities and Country of Ephraim and Manasseh were much intermixed one with the other These two Tribes complained to Joshua that the quantity of Land assign'd to them for their portion was not sufficient for them They alledged that it was no more than might have been well assigned to one Tribe Why hast thou say they given us but one lot and one portion to inherit seeing we are a great people But Joshua and the rest of the Commissioners had not given them too little circuit of Land to inhabit but indeed part of it was over-grown with Woods and a great part of it was yet in the possession of the Canaanites who had the advantage of Iron-Chariots to fight with Also in their portion there were the Perizzites a wild and savage people much given to Spoil and Prey and the Rephaims or Giants with whom they were not very willing to encounter These things considered these two Tribes thought they had reason to alledge That they had no more given them than would well serve for one populous Tribe Joshua retorts the strength of their argument upon themselves If says he ye be so great a people as you alledge then you are the more able to drive out the Canaanites out of those places allotted to you for your portion and the greater will be your shame if you let them alone and yet complain of the narrowness of your lot If you are so great a people get you up to the Wood-Country and cut down the Woods and make the ground fit for Tillage and build Houses and Cities upon it and drive out and destroy the Canaanites that lurk there and so you may have Land enough to dwell in and need not complain that your portion is too straight for you The Children of Joseph reply