Machir

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

1. Manasseh's oldest son by a Syrian or Aramite concubine ( 1 Chronicles 7:14). Joseph had Machir's children upon his knees ( Genesis 50:23), i.e. they were adopted by Joseph from their birth. Gilead was his son, and Abiah his daughter. A large part of the country E. of Jordan was subdued by his powerful family ( Numbers 32:39;  Deuteronomy 3:15). The rest of the family crossed Jordan. So powerful was the family that "Machir" supplants the name of "Manasseh" in  Judges 5:14;  Judges 5:17;  Joshua 13:31-29.

2. Son of Ammiel of Lodebar, a Gileadite chief; sheltered Mephibosheth, Jonathan's lame son; afterward, influenced probably by David's kindness to the same youth, supplied David with necessaries when fleeing from Absalom ( 2 Samuel 9:4;  2 Samuel 17:27-29).

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Joshua 17:1 Joshua 17:1 1 Chronicles 7:16 1 Chronicles 2:21 1 Chronicles 7:14 1 Chronicles 7:16 Numbers 26:29 Joshua 17:1 Joshua 17:1 Joshua 13:29-31

2. Son of Ammiel and member of the tribe of Manasseh. He came from the site of Lo-debar, perhaps a village near Mahanaim. He is recognized in the Old Testament for the assistance he provided Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan ( 2 Samuel 9:1 , especially  2 Samuel 9:4-5 ) and David during the period of Absalom's rebellion ( 2 Samuel 17:27-29 ). See Manasseh .

La Moine De Vries

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

MACHIR. 1. The eldest ‘son’ of Manasseh (  Joshua 17:1 ), the only son (  Numbers 26:29 ). Machir was also the ‘father of the Gilead.’ These names are ethnographic, and their use suggests that the Machirites were either coterminous with the tribe of Manasseh (wh. see) or were its most warlike part. Settled on the W. of Jordan, they invaded N. Gilead some time after the days of Deborah, and so became the ‘father of the Gilead.’ 2. Son of Ammiel of Lo-debar on the E. of Jordan. He clung to the house of Saul as long as possible, and afterwards victualled David’s men when that king was fleeing from Ahsalom (  2 Samuel 9:5;   2 Samuel 17:27 ).

W. F. Cobb.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Ma'chir. (Sold).

1. The eldest son,  Joshua 17:1, of the patriarch Manasseh , by an Aramite or Syrian concubine.  1 Chronicles 7:14. At the time of the conquest, the family of Machir had become very powerful, and a large part of the country on the east of Jordan was subdued by them.  Numbers 32:39;  Deuteronomy 3:15.

2. The son of Ammiel, a powerful sheikh of one of the TransJordanic tribes, who rendered essential service to the cause of Saul and of David successively.  2 Samuel 9:4-5;  2 Samuel 17:27-29.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

1. Eldest son of Manasseh, and father of Gilead. His descendants were warlike and were the foremost in the tribe.  Genesis 50:23;  Numbers 26:29;  Numbers 32:39,40;  Joshua 17:1,3;  Judges 5:14;  1 Chronicles 2:21,23;  1 Chronicles 7:14-17 .

2. Son of Ammiel: he gave refuge to Mephibosheth and sent supplies to David when he fled from Absalom.   2 Samuel 9:4,5;  2 Samuel 17:27 .

Easton's Bible Dictionary

A descendant of the preceding, residing at Lo-debar, where he maintained Jonathan's son Mephibosheth till he was taken under the care of David ( 2 Samuel 9:4 ), and where he afterwards gave shelter to David himself when he was a fugitive (17:27).

Copyright Statement These dictionary topics are from M.G. Easton M.A., DD Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, published by Thomas Nelson, 1897. Public Domain.

Bibliography Information Easton, Matthew George. Entry for 'Machir'. Easton's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ebd/m/machir.html. 1897.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

1. A son of Manasseh,  Genesis 50:23 . His posterity were active in the conquest of Gilead,  Numbers 32:39;  Joshua 17:1; and in the war with Jabin and Sisera,  Judges 5:14 .

2. A friend of Mephibosbeth, the son of Jonathan,  2 Samuel 9:4,5 .

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

The son of Manasseh,  Genesis 50:23. The name signifies, he that sells. There was another of the same name,  2 Samuel 9:5.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Heb. hakir', מָכַיר , Sold; Sept. Μαχείρ and Μαχίρ ), the name of two men.

1. The oldest son of Manasseh ( Joshua 17:1), who even had children born to him during the lifetime of Joseph (Genesis 1, 23). B.C. 1802. His descendants were called MACHIRITES ( מָכַירי , Sept. Μαχειρί ,  Numbers 26:29), being the offspring of Gilead ( 1 Chronicles 7:17), whose posterity settled in the land taken from the Amorites ( Numbers 32:39-40;  Deuteronomy 3:15;  Joshua 13:31;  1 Chronicles 2:23), but required a special enactment as to their inheritance, owing to the fact that the grandson Zelophehad had only daughters ( Numbers 27:1;  Numbers 36:1;  Joshua 17:3). Once the name of Machir is put poetically as a representative of the tribe of Manasseh east ( Judges 5:14). His daughter became the mother of Segub by Hezron in his old age ( 1 Chronicles 2:21). The mother of Machir was an Aramitess, and his wife was Maachah, the granddaughter of Benjamin, by whom he had several sons ( 1 Chronicles 7:14-16). "The family of Machir come forward prominently in the history of the conquest of the trans-Jordanic portion of the Promised Land. In the joint expedition of Israel and Ammon, their warlike prowess expelled the Amoritish inhabitants from the rugged and difficult range of Gilead, and their bravery was rewarded by Moses by the assignment to them of a large portion of the district, ‘ half Gilead' ( Joshua 13:31), with its rich mountain pastures, and the towns of Ashtaroth and Edrei, the capitals of Og's kingdom ( Numbers 32:39-40;  Deuteronomy 3:15;  Joshua 13:31;  Joshua 17:1). The warlike renown of the family of Machir is given as the reason for this grant ( Joshua 17:1), and we can see the sound policy of assigning a frontier land of so much importance to the safety of the whole country, exposed at the same time to the first brunt of the Syrian and Assyrian invasions, and to the never-ceasing predatory inroads of the wild desert tribes, to a clan whose prowess and skill in battle had been full proved in the subjugation of so difficult a tract (Stanley, S. and Pal. p. 327)." "The connection with Benjamin may perhaps have led to the selection by Abner of Maahanaim, which lay on the boundary between Gad and Mansasseh, as the residence of Ishbosheth ( 2 Samuel 2:8); and that with Judah may have also influenced David to go so far north when driven out of his kingdom."

2. A descendant of the preceding, son of Ammiel, residing at Lo-debar, who maintained the lame son of Jonathan until provision was made for him by David's care ( 2 Samuel 9:4-5), and afterwards extended his hospitality to the fugitive monarch himself ( 2 Samuel 17:27). B.C. 1037-1023. Josephus calls him the chief of the country of Gilead (Ant. 7:9, 8). (See David).