And Nobah went and took Kenath, and the villages thereof, and called it Nobah, after his own name.

Nobe also went, and took Canath with the villages thereof: and he called it by his own name, Nobe.

and Nobah hath gone and captureth Kenath, and its villages, and calleth it Nobah, by his own name.

And Nobah went and took Kenath and its small towns, naming it Nobah, after himself.

Likewise, Nobah went forth and captured Kenath with its villages. And he called it by his own name, Nobah.

Nobah similiter profectus erat, et ceperat Cenah et villas ejus: vocavitque eam Nobah secundum nomen suum.

Kenath - Now Kenawat, an important site near the southern extremity of the tract el-Lejah, and on the western slopes of the mountains of the Hauran. The name given to it by its conqueror, as in other cases, fell ere long into disuse, and the old name has held its ground to this day.
The notices, both Scriptural and traditional, of the conquest of northeastern Gilead and Bashan by the Machirites, plainly intimate that it was effected by a few chiefs of great military prowess, who overran rapidly a far larger district than they could colonize. The father of Jair, however, Segub, was of the tribe of Judah (compare Numbers 27:1, and note; 1-Chronicles 2:21-22), and it is likely that the Manassite leaders induced many of the more adventurous of this tribe, and some possibly of other tribes, to join them in their enterprise against Bashan (see Joshua 19:34).
The Machirites did not exterminate the whole population of this district (see Joshua 13:15, etc.). The conquest of the district east of Jordan seems never to have been so effectually accomplished as that on the other side.
During the troublous times of the Judges the eastern Manassites rendered good service to the nation; compare Judges 5:14. Gideon, and probably Jephthah, were of this tribe, and reflect in a later generation the warlike and adventurous spirit which Jair and Nobah exhibited in the days of Moses.

And Nobah went and took Kenath, and the villages thereof,.... Who this Nobah was is not certain, very probably a descendant of Manasseh; it is said (u) he was among those that were born in Egypt, and died after the death of Moses, and was buried beyond Jordan, as it is said, also did Machir and Jair, so that there were none left but Caleb, and Joshua:
and called it Nobah, after his name; but it seems that in later times its ancient name was restored to it; for Jerom (w), says there was a village in Arabia, called Cannatha, which is supposed to be this place; though he also tells us (x), that eight miles from Heshbon; to the south, is shown a desert place called Naba. Pliny (y) places Cannatha in the Decapolis.
(u) Seder Olam Rabba, c. 9. p. 27. (w) Ut supra. (De loc. Hebrews. fol. 89. M.) (x) De loc. Hebrews. fol. 93. H. (y) Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 18.

Nobah--also a distinguished person connected with the eastern branch of the tribe of Manasseh.

Nobah, whose family is never referred to, but who probably belonged, like Jair, to one of the families of Machirites, took the town of Kenath and its daughters, i.e., the smaller towns dependent upon it (see Numbers 21:25), and gave it his own name Nobah. The name has not been preserved, and is not to be sought, as Kurtz supposes, in the village of Nowa (Newe), in Jotan, which is mentioned by Burckhardt (p. 443), and was once a town of half an hour's journey in circumference. For Kenath, which is only mentioned again in 1-Chronicles 2:23 as having been taken from the Israelites by Gesur and Aram, is Κάναθα, which Josephus (de bell. Jude. i. 19, 2), and Ptolemy speak of as belonging to Coelesyria, and Pliny (h. n. 5, 16) to Decapolis, and which was situated, according to Jerome, "in the region of Trachonitis, near to Bostra." The ruins are very extensive even now, being no less than 2 1/2 or 3 miles in circumference, and containing magnificent remains of palaces from the times of Trajan and Hadrian. It is on the western slope of Jebel Hauran, and is only inhabited by a few families of Druses. The present name is Kanuat. (For description, see Seetzen, i. pp. 78ff.; Burckhardt, pp. 157ff.; cf. Ritter, Erdk.)

Nobah - Who, though not else where named, was doubtless an eminent person of the tribe of Manasseh. 'Tis observable, that these tribes, as they were placed before the other tribes, so they were displaced before them. They were carried captive by the king of Assyria, some years before the other tribes. Such a proportion does providence frequently observe, in balancing prosperity and adversity.