Machir entering Israel

Question

Related to The age of Machir's Sons the Stone edition on Bamidbar 32:40, when discussing the textual reference to Machir says that the text means Machir's descendants. But then it says,

Ramban and Chizkuni suggest that Machir may have enjoyed the longevity of many of the ancients and actually lived to enter the Land.

I haven't read the Ramban or Chizkuni inside but how do they reconcile this claim with the curse in Bamidbar 14,29 that everyone over 20 years old was slated to die in the wilderness because of the sin of the spies?

Answer 1

The Gemara Bava Basra 121b states explicitely that Machir (and Yair) entered Israel. This very question of why he didn't die with the rest of the Dor Hamidbar because of the sin of the meraglim (spies) is posed and answered:

והתניא יאיר בן מנשה ומכיר בן מנשה נולדו בימי יעקב ולא מתו עד שנכנסו ישראל לארץ שנאמר (יהושע ז, ה) ויכו מהם אנשי העי כשלשים וששה איש ותניא שלשים וששה ממש דברי ר' יהודה אמר לו רבי נחמיה וכי נאמר שלשים וששה והלא לא נאמר אלא כשלשים וששה אלא זה יאיר בן מנשה ששקול כרובה של סנהדרין אלא אמר רב אחא בר יעקב לא נגזרה גזירה לא על פחות מבן עשרים ולא על יתר מבן ששים לא על פחות מבן עשרים דכתיב מבן עשרים שנה ומעלה ולא על יתר מבן ששים גמר ומעלה (ויקרא כז, ז) ומעלה מערכין
Yair and Machir were born when Yaakov was alive and they entered the Land of Israel as it staes:"The people of Ai struck down like thirty six men" Rabbi Yehuda interpets literally but Rabbi Nechemia told him it says like 36 men not literally, rather this is Yair son of Menashe who was the value of the majority of the Sanhedrin (comprised of 71 men). So Rav Achai Bar Yaakov said that men over 60 were not included in the death of that generation as derived from a gezeira Shava (common word used for deriving common laws between 2 passages) of the word "Vamaala" written here and in the Parsha of Arachin.