Machir or Makir ( ''Māḵîr'', "bartered") was the name of two figures in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...

: * Machir was the son of Manasseh, grandson of

Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

, and father of

Gilead Gilead or Gilad (; he, גִּלְעָד ''Gīləʿāḏ'', ar, جلعاد, Ǧalʻād, Jalaad) is the ancient, historic, biblical name of the mountainous northern part of the region of Transjordan.''Easton's Bible Dictionary'Galeed''/ref> Th ...

. Joseph lived to see and to play a part in the up-bringing of Machir and his children. In the

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...

's account of the journey of the

Israelites The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan. The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...

after

the Exodus The Exodus (Hebrew language, Hebrew: יציאת מצרים, ''Yeẓi’at Miẓrayim'': ) is the founding myth of the Israelites whose narrative is spread over four books of the Torah (or Pentateuch, corresponding to the first five books of the ...

, Machir (the individual) is portrayed as conquering the territories known as

and

Bashan Bashan (; he, הַבָּשָׁן, translit=ha-Bashan; la, Basan or ''Basanitis'') is the ancient, biblical name used for the northernmost region of the Transjordan during the Iron Age. It is situated in modern-day Syria. Its western part, now ...

, which had previously been occupied by

Amorites The Amorites (; sux, 𒈥𒌅, MAR.TU; Akkadian language, Akkadian: 𒀀𒈬𒊒𒌝 or 𒋾𒀉𒉡𒌝/𒊎 ; he, אֱמוֹרִי, 'Ĕmōrī; grc, Ἀμορραῖοι) were an ancient Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic-speaking people ...

. Half of the

tribe of Manasseh According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Manasseh (; Hebrew: ''Ševet Mənašše,'' Tiberian: ''Šēḇeṭ Mănašše'') was one of the Tribes of Israel. It is one of the ten lost tribes. Together with the Tribe of Ephraim, Manasseh also fo ...

, those descended from Machir, are described as having settled in Gilead and Bashan, and consequently they were important in Gilead's history. * According to the

Books of Samuel The Book of Samuel (, ''Sefer Shmuel'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Samuel) in the Old Testament. The book is part of the narrative history of Ancient Israel called the Deuteronomistic history, a series of books (Joshu ...

, Machir son of

Ammiel The name Ammiel ( ''‘Ammî’êl'') may refer to several people in the Hebrew Bible. Etymologically, it means "people of God", and is used for the following individuals: * Ammiel, son of Gemalli, one of the twelve spies sent by Moses to search th ...

was the name of a descendant of the Machir mentioned above, who resided at Lo-Debar. The text states that here he looked after

Meribaal Mephibosheth (Biblical Hebrew: , ''Məfīḇōšeṯ'', also called Meribaal, , ''Mərīḇ-Baʻal'') was the son of Jonathan (1 Samuel), Jonathan—and, thus, a grandson of Saul—mentioned in the Bible, Biblical Books of Samuel and Books of Ch ...

, the son of

Jonathan Jonathan may refer to: *Jonathan (name), a masculine given name Media * ''Jonathan'' (1970 film), a German film directed by Hans W. Geißendörfer * ''Jonathan'' (2016 film), a German film directed by Piotr J. Lewandowski * ''Jonathan'' (2018 ...

, until

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

took over his care, and also looked after David himself, when David found himself a fugitive.2 Samuel 17:27 Further: * Machir ben Yehudah Zakkai of Narbonne (725-765 c.e.), Babylonian-Jewish scholar and leader of the Jewish community of Narbonne *

Machir ben Abba Mari Yalkut haMachiri (Hebrew: ילקוט המכירי) is a work of midrash. Its author was Machir ben Abba Mari, but not even his country or the period in which he lived are definitively known. Moritz Steinschneider supposes that Machir lived in Prove ...

, author of Yalkut haMachiri (Hebrew: ילקוט המכירי) *

James Machir James Machir (1764June 25, 1827) was a United States representative from Virginia. Machir was member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1793 to 1796. He was elected as a Federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political b ...

(died 1827), United States Representative from Virginia

References

{{Authority control Founders of biblical tribes Book of Genesis people Gilead

See also

References