“From Efrayim came those rooted in ‘Amalek.
Behind you, Binyamin is with your peoples.
From Makhir the commanders marched down,
and from Z’vulun those holding the musterer’s staff.”
-Judges 5:14
In the latter half of verse 14 of Judges Chapter 5, we’re told the military leaders of Makhir also contributed their share of soldiers.
Okay, so you’re probably thinking who the heck is Makhir?
Makhir isn’t one of the 12 tribes of Israel?!
Well, actually, there’s no need for confusion here.
Because yes, Makhir actually refers to the tribe of Manessah.
In Devorah’s day, the tribe of Manessah was known by the name of Makhir.
Why?
Because Manessah, the founder and head of the tribe after his name only had one son.
And that son’s name was, you guessed it, Makhir.
As was the custom of the time, Makhir became the accepted tribal leader over all of Manessah.
This was unusual though because normally a tribal leader would have several sons, each who would go on to lead his own clan.
However, it was the firstborn son of the tribal founder who eventually become the leader over the whole tribe.
This was not 100% always the case though.
For example, if another of the tribal founder’s sons (not the firstborn) was the head of a clan that became more powerful than the first born son’s clan, that clan would become dominant.
To put it simple, the point I’m trying to make here is that if Manasseh had sired many sons, the name of tribe would NOT have changed.
It would have stayed Manasseh.
However, when only one son is born, then the status of that only child was just as great as the original tribal founder.
Therefore, it wasn’t unusual for the tribal name to be changed to the name of that only child (if that only child assumed leadership).
That’s why we find the tribe of Mansesseh going by the name of Makhir at this point in history.
And from this point onward in the Scriptures, you can consider Manasseh and Makhir to be interchangeable names.
We can literally see how in Hebrew tradition, the father and son became one and the same when there was only one child.
Over and out.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“I and the Father are one.”
-John 10:30
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