1And the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad had many livestock, a very great multitude. And they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead. And, behold, the place was a place for livestock. 2And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben came in and spoke to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the rulers of the congregation, saying, 3Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Shebam, and Nebo, and Beon, 4the land which Jehovah has struck before the congregation of Israel is a land for livestock, and your servants own livestock. 5And they said, If we have found favor in your eyes, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Do not make us pass over the Jordan. 6And Moses said to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben, Do your brothers go into the battle, and you, do you sit here? 7And why do you discourage the heart of the sons of Israel from passing over to the land which Jehovah has given to them? 8So your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. 9And they went up to the valley of Eshcol and saw the land, and discouraged the hearts of the sons of Israel, so as for them not to go into the land which Jehovah had given to them. 10And the anger of Jehovah glowed in that day, and He swore, saying, 11Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob because they have not wholly followed Me; 12except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have fully followed Jehovah. 13And Jehovah's anger glowed against Israel. And He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the eyes of Jehovah was destroyed. 14And, behold, you have risen up in your fathers' stead, an increase of sinful men, to add still more to the heat of Jehovah toward Israel! 15For if you turn away from following Him, He will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and so you will hurt all this people. 16And they came near to him and said, We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones. 17And we ourselves shall go armed, hurrying before the sons of Israel, until we have brought them to their place. And our little ones shall live in the fortified cities because of those living in the land. 18We will not return to our houses until each man of the sons of Israel has inherited his inheritance. 19For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan, and beyond; for our inheritance has fallen to us eastward on this side of Jordan. 20And Moses said to them, If you will do this thing; if you will arm for battle before Jehovah, 21and all of you will go over Jordan armed before Jehovah, until He has driven His enemies out before Him, 22and the land is subdued before Jehovah, then afterwards you shall return and be guiltless before Jehovah, and before Israel. And this land shall be your possession before Jehovah. 23But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against Jehovah, and know that your sin will find you out. 24Build cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep and do that which has come out of your mouth. 25And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying, Your servants will do as my lord commands. 26Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our livestock shall be there in the cities of Gilead. 27But your servants will go over, every man armed for war, before Jehovah to battle, as my lord says. 28And Moses commanded Eleazar the priest concerning them, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the sons of Israel; 29even Moses said to them, If the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben pass over the Jordan with you each armed for battle before Jehovah, and the land shall be subdued before you, then you shall give to them the land of Gilead for a possession. 30But if they will not go over armed with you, they shall have possession among you in the land of Canaan. 31And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben replied, saying, As Jehovah has said to your servants, so we will do. 32We ourselves will go over armed before Jehovah into the land of Canaan, so that the land of our inheritance on that side of Jordan may be ours. 33And Moses gave to them, even to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land, by its cities with their borders, even the cities of the land all around. 34And the sons of Gad built Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer, 35and Ataroth-shophan, and Jaazer, and Jogbehah, 36and Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran, fortified cities, and folds for sheep. 37And the sons of Reuben built Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Kirjathaim, 38and Nebo, and Baal-meon, their names being changed, and Sibmah. And they called by name the names of the cities which they had built. 39And the sons of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and captured it, and expelled the Amorite who was in it. 40And Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh, and he lived in it. 41And Jair the son of Manasseh went out and captured their towns, and called them Towns of Jair. 42And Nobah went and took Kenath and its villages; and he called it Nobah after his own name.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 THE REUBENITES AND GADITES ASK FOR AN INHERITANCE. (Num. 32:1-42)
the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead--A complete conquest had been made of the country east of the Jordan, comprising "the land of Jazer," which formed the southern district between the Arnon and Jabbok and "the land of Gilead," the middle region between the Jabbok and Jarmouk, or Hieromax, including Bashan, which lay on the north of that river. The whole of this region is now called the Belka. It has always been famous for its rich and extensive pastures, and it is still the favorite resort of the Bedouin shepherds, who frequently contend for securing to their immense flocks the benefit of its luxuriant vegetation. In the camp of ancient Israel, Reuben and Gad were pre-eminently pastoral; and as these two tribes, being placed under the same standard, had frequent opportunities of conversing and arranging about their common concerns, they united in preferring a request that the trans-jordanic region, so well suited to the habits of a pastoral people, might be assigned to them.
6 Moses said unto the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben, Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here--Their language was ambiguous; and Moses, suspicious that this proposal was an act of unbelief, a scheme of self-policy and indolence to escape the perils of warfare and live in ease and safety, addressed to them a reproachful and passionate remonstrance. Whether they had really meditated such a withdrawal from all share in the war of invasion, or the effect of their leader's expostulation was to drive them from their original purpose, they now, in answer to his impressive appeal, declared it to be their sincere intention to co-operate with their brethren; but, if so, they ought to have been more explicit at first.
16 they came near--The narrative gives a picturesque description of this scene. The suppliants had shrunk back, dreading from the undisguised emotions of their leader that their request would be refused. But, perceiving, from the tenor of his discourse, that his objection was grounded only on the supposition that they would not cross the Jordan to assist their brethren, they became emboldened to approach him with assurances of their goodwill.
We will build sheepfolds here for our cattle, and cities for our little ones--that is, rebuild, repair. It would have been impossible within two months to found new cities, or even to reconstruct those which had been razed to the ground. Those cities of the Amorites were not absolutely demolished, and they probably consisted only of mud-built, or dry-stone walls.
17 and our little ones shall dwell in the fenced cities because of the inhabitants of the land--There was good policy in leaving a sufficient force to protect the conquered region lest the enemy should attempt reprisals; and as only forty thousand of the Reubenites and the Gadites, and a half of Manasseh, passed over the Jordan (
Josh 4:13), there were left for the security of the new possessions 70,580 men, besides women and children under twenty years (compare
Num 26:7,
Num 26:18,
Num 26:34).
We ourselves will go ready armed--that is, all of us in a collective body, or as many as may be deemed necessary, while the rest of our number shall remain at home to provide for the sustenance and secure the protection of our families and flocks. (See on
Josh 4:12).
20 Moses said unto them, If ye will do this thing--with sincerity and zeal.
go before the Lord to war--The phrase was used in allusion to the order of march in which the tribes of Reuben and Gad immediately preceded the ark (see on Num. 2:10-31), or to the passage over the Jordan, in which the ark stood in mid-channel, while all the tribes marched by in succession (
Josh 3:4), of course including those of Reuben and Gad, so that, literally, they passed over before the Lord and before the rest of Israel (
Josh 4:13). Perhaps, however, the phrase is used merely in a general sense to denote their marching on an expedition, the purpose of which was blessed with the presence, and destined to promote the glory, of God. The displeasure which Moses had felt on the first mention of their proposal had disappeared on the strength of their solemn assurances. But a lurking suspicion of their motives seems still to have been lingering in his mind--he continued to speak to them in an admonitory strain; and he concluded by warning them that in case of their failing to redeem their pledge, the judgments of an offended God would assuredly fall upon them. This emphatic caution against such an eventuality throws a strong doubt on the honesty of their first intentions; and yet, whether through the opposing attitude or the strong invectives of Moses they had been brought to a better state of mind, their final reply showed that now all was right.
28 concerning them Moses commanded--The arrangement itself, as well as the express terms on which he assented to it, was announced by the leader to the public authorities. The pastoral country the two tribes had desired was to be granted them on condition that they would lend their aid to their brethren in the approaching invasion of Canaan. If they refused or failed to perform their promise, those possessions should be forfeited, and they themselves compelled to go across the Jordan and fight for a settlement like the rest of their brethren.
33 half the tribe of Manasseh--It is nowhere explained in the record how they were incorporated with the two tribes, or what broke this great tribe into two parts, of which one was left to follow the fortunes of its brethren in the settled life of the western hills, while the other was allowed to wander as a nomadic tribe over the pasture lands of Gilead and Bashan. They are not mentioned as accompanying Reuben and Gad in their application to Moses [
Num 32:1]; neither were they included in his first directions (
Num 32:25); but as they also were a people addicted to pastoral pursuits and possessed as immense flocks as the other two, Moses invited the half of them to remain, in consequence, probably, of finding that this region was more than sufficient for the pastoral wants of the others, and he may have given them the preference, as some have conjectured, for their valorous conduct in the contests with the Amorites (compare
Num 32:39, with
Josh 17:1).
34 And the children of Gad built--(See on
Num 32:16).
Dibon--identified with Dheban, now in ruins, an hour's distance from the Arnon (Mojeb).
Ataroth (Hebrew, "crowns")--There are several towns so called in Scripture, but this one in the tribe of Gad has not been identified.
Aroer--now Arair, standing on a precipice on the north bank of the Arnon.
35 Atroth, Shophan, and Jaazer, &c.--Jaazer, near a famed fountain, Ain Hazier, the waters of which flow into Wady Schaib, about fifteen miles from Hesbon. Beth-nimrah, now Nimrin; Heshbon, now Hesban; Elealeh (Hebrew, "the high"), now Elaal; Kirjathaim (Hebrew, "the double city"); Nebo, now Neba, near the mountain of that name; Baal-meon, now Myoun, in ruins, where was a temple of Baal (
Josh 13:17;
Jer 48:23); Shibmah, or Shebam (
Num 32:3), near Heshbon, famous for vines (
Isa 16:9-
Isa 16:10;
Jer 48:32).
38 (their names being changed)--either because it was the general custom of conquerors to do so; or, rather, because from the prohibition to mention the names of other gods (
Exod 23:13), as Nebo and Baal were, it was expedient on the first settlement of the Israelites to obliterate all remembrance of those idols. (See
Josh 13:17-
Josh 13:20).
39 Gilead--now Jelud.
41 Havoth-jair--that is, "tent-villages." Jair, who captured them, was a descendant of Manasseh on his mother's side (
1Chr 1:21-22).
42 Nobah--also a distinguished person connected with the eastern branch of the tribe of Manasseh.