Machir was the father of Geuel, who was chosen as the representative for the tribe of Gad among the twelve spies Moses sent into the land of Canaan. He is mentioned only in connection with his son's role in the spying mission. Although Machir himself did not play a prominent role, his son was part of the important event where the spies brought back a report from the promised land.
2"Send men to scout out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. Send one man from each ancestral tribe, each of them a leader among his people."
After forty days of spying, the twelve spies returned with fruit from the land, but ten of them, likely including Geuel, gave a negative report that created fear among the people.
26They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole congregation of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. There they gave their report to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land.
32And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had scouted: "The land we traveled through to explore it devours those who live in it, and all the people we saw there are of enormous size.
33We even saw the Nephilim there—the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim. In our own eyes we seemed like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.
The negative report from the majority of the spies led to the people of Israel rebelling against Moses and Aaron, and they refused to enter the promised land.
2All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, "If only we had died in Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness!
3Why is the LORD bringing us to this land, only to fall by the sword? Our wives and children will become plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt?"