Charles Ellicott Commentary Deuteronomy 3:14

"Jair the son of Manasseh took all the region of Argob, unto the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and called them, even Bashan, after his own name, Havvoth-jair, unto this day.)" — Deuteronomy 3:14 (ASV)

Jair took ... unto this day. —The last words of this chapter seem to point to a later hand, as of Joshua, describing the completion of the conquest. The expression “unto this day” is characteristically common in Joshua, or in the editorial notes inserted throughout that book. (See Introduction to Joshua, “On the Style of the Book.”)

Geshuri and Maachathi — i.e., the Geshurite and the Maachathite, the inhabitants of Geshur and Maachah. “The Maachathites, near the Jordan springs (compare Abel-Beth-maachah, 2 Samuel 20:14–15), and the Geshurites, rather farther east” (Conder, Bible Handbook, p. 254). Talmai, king of Geshur, was the grandfather of Absalom (2 Samuel 3:3), who took refuge with him after he killed Ammon (2 Samuel 13:37). “Argob, Trachonitis, or El-Lejja, has been an asylum for all wrongdoers and refugees ever since” (Giant Cities of Bashan, p. 92).