¹⁴The sons of Manasseh; Asriel, whom¹ _his wife_ bare: (his concubine the Aramitess bare Machir the father of Gilead: ¹ Or, according to the Septuagint, _whom his concubine the Aramitess bare; she bare &c._ =14.= _Asriel, whom_ his wife _bare_: (_his concubine the Aramitess bare_] Compare Numbers xxvi. 31. Probably, however, the name is due to an error of dittography. Read simply as margin, following LXX., =whom his concubine the Aramitess bare=; =she bare=, etc. _his concubine the Aramitess_] The inhabitants of Gilead were thus in part Arameans (Syrians) by descent. A different tradition is preserved in Genesis 1. 23. ¹⁵and Machir took a wife of¹ Huppim and Shuppim, whose² sister’s name was Maacah;) and the name of the second was Zelophehad: and Zelophehad had daughters. ¹ Or, _for_. ² Or, _and his_. =15.= _took a wife of Huppim and Shuppim_] i.e. allied himself by marriage to these two families. _whose sister’s name_] Render, =and his= (Machir’s) =sister’s name=. The statement regarding Maacah is ethnographical, and means that the people of Maacah (a district at the foot of Hermon) were related by blood to Machir (the Eastern Manassites). _Zelophehad had daughters_] Numbers xxvii. 1‒11. ¹⁶And Maacah the wife of Machir bare a son, and she called his name Peresh; and the name of his brother was Sheresh; and his sons were Ulam and Rakem. =16.= _wife of_] But in verse 15, Maacah is sister of Machir. The text of verses 15, 16 has probably suffered some disturbance. ¹⁷And the sons of Ulam; Bedan. These were the sons of Gilead the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh. =17.= _the sons of Ulam_] Sons of Ulam are mentioned (viii. 40) among the descendants of Benjamin: a variation in the tradition of their descent. ¹⁸And his sister Hammolecheth bare Ishhod, and Abiezer¹, and Mahlah. ¹ In Numbers xxvi. 30, _Iezer_. =18.= _Abiezer_] Gideon’s family; Judges vi. 11; compare Joshua xvii. 2. ¹⁹And the sons of Shemida were Ahian, and Shechem, and Likhi, and Aniam. =19.= _Shechem_] This name represents the Israelite portion of the inhabitants of Shechem: the rest of the inhabitants were Hivites or Canaanites. See Judges ix. =20‒27.= THE LINE OF EPHRAIM TO JOSHUA. =20‒27.= The section presents several difficulties, arising either from the attempt to combine various threads of traditions or possibly from textual corruption. Note that Ezer and Elead, who in verse 21 are removed by several generations from Ephraim, are in verse 22 f. treated as his immediate sons. ²⁰And the sons of Ephraim; Shuthelah, and Bered his son, and Tahath his son, and Eleadah his son, and Tahath his son, =20.= _Shuthelah ... Bered ... Tahath ... Eleadah_] These four names appear to correspond with _Shuthelah ... Becher ... Tahan ... Eran_ in Numbers xxvi. 35, 36.