Paragraph: 13:29-31

13:29a

The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible leaves untranslated but some English versions translate as “and” indicates a transition to the next topic. Many English versions do not translate this connecting word.

Moses had given to the clans of the half-tribe of Manasseh: The clause Moses had given to the clans of the half-tribe of Manasseh indicates that Moses assigned land to half of the tribe of Manasseh for them to live on and pass on to their descendants. Moses mentioned this in Deuteronomy 3:13.

the half-tribe of Manasseh: The half-tribe of Manasseh indicates the people who had Manasseh as their ancestor. Manasseh was the oldest son of Joseph, son of Jacob. The tribe of Manasseh received land on both the east and the west sides of the Jordan River, and so there were two “half-tribes.” Some English versions refer to these two groups as East Manasseh and West Manasseh.

13:29b

to half the tribe of the descendants of Manasseh: The clause to half the tribe of the descendants of Manasseh repeats the information in 29a using different words. In some languages it may be more natural to leave this part of the clause as implicit information.

the descendants of Manasseh: The phrase the descendants indicates that each family or clan within half of the tribe of Manasseh received their own portion of the land on the east side of the Jordan River. See how you translated the word “family” in Joshua 7:14.

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