able to go forth to war. 19And they made war with the Hagrites, with Jetur, and Naphish, and Nodab. 20And they were helped against them, and the Hagrites were delivered into their hand, and all that were with them: for they cried to God in the battle, and he was intreated of them; because they put their trust in him. 21And they took away their cattle; of their camels fifty thousand, and of sheep two hundred and fifty thousand, and of asses two thousand, and of [1]men an hundred thousand. 22For there fell many slain, because the war was of God. And they dwelt in their stead until the captivity.
23And the children of the half tribe of Manasseh dwelt in the land: they increased from Bashan unto Baal-hermon and Senir and mount Hermon. 24And these were the heads of their fathers' houses; even Epher, and Ishi, and Eliel, and Azriel, and Jeremiah, and Hodaviah, and Jahdiel,
19. made war with the Hagrites. . .] Possibly this war described in vv. 18—22 is only a midrashic variation of the war briefly noted in ver. 10; possibly we have traditions of separate conflicts. That fighting against Arabian tribes took place in the time of Saul (ver. 10) is quite probable, and perhaps there is here a definite recollection of the fact. Yet conflicts on the eastern borders were no doubt frequent, and the ancient fights may have been overlaid with the memories and details of more recent struggles, and especially the names assigned may be those of later foes. Though the Hagrites are mentioned in inscriptions of Sennacherib, they seem to have grown more prominent and powerful in later days (cp. Ps. lxxxiii. 7), and their name in the Chronicler's time may have been somewhat loosely and generally applied to the Arabian tribes near Palestine.
Jetur, and Naphish, and Nodab] Other Bedouin tribes, Jetur, Naphish, Kedemah are given as sons of Ishmael in i. 31.
20. they were helped] with Divine assistance; cp. xv. 26.
22. was of God] i.e. was prompted by God; cp. 1 Sam. xv. 2, 3.
23, 24. The Half Tribe of Manasseh.
23. For the genealogy of Manasseh, see vii. 14 ff.
Baal-hermon] In Judg. iii. 3 a mount Baal-hermon is mentioned. Here probably a city is meant, possibly Banias, on the eastern slope of Hermon.
Senir] an Amorite name for Mt Hermon or a peak of the range (Deut. iii. 9).
- ↑ Heb. souls of men.
