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| 32:3 |
When Jacob saw them, he said, 'This is God's camp.' He named the place Twin Camps (Machanaim).
Vayomer Ya'akov ka'asher ra'am machaneh Elohim zeh vayikra shem-hamakom hahu Machanayim. |
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Commentary:
Twin Camps That is, Jacob's camp and the divine camp (Ramban).
| Machanaim It was a city on the border between Gad and Manasseh, associated with Ramath-Mitzpeh (Joshua 13:26, 13:30). Also see Joshua 21:38, 1 Chronicles 6:65; 2 Samuel 2:8, 2:12, 2:29, 17:24,27. Some identify Machanaim with Khirbath al-Makhna, 2.5 miles north of Aijalon, which would place it 14 miles north of the Jabbok River, and 10 miles east of the Jordan. Jacob was thus apparently headed toward the juncture of the Jordan and the Jabbok. According to others, however, Machanaim was actually on the Jabbok River.
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