1And much cattle hath been to the sons of Reuben and to the sons of Gad, very many; and they see the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, and lo, the place is a place for cattle; 2and the sons of Gad, and the sons of Reuben, come in and speak unto Moses, and unto Eleazar the priest, and unto the princes of the company, saying: 3"Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Shebam, and Nebo, and Beon -- 4the land which Jehovah hath smitten before the company of Israel, is a land for cattle, and thy servants have cattle." 5And they say, "If we have found grace in thine eyes, let this land be given to thy servants for a possession; cause us not to pass over the Jordan." 6And Moses saith to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben, "Do your brethren go in to the battle, and ye -- do ye sit here? 7and why discourage ye the heart of the sons of Israel from passing over unto the land which Jehovah hath given to them? 8"Thus did your fathers in my sending them from Kadesh-Barnea to see the land; 9and they go up unto the valley of Eshcol, and see the land, and discourage the heart of the sons of Israel so as not to go in unto the land which Jehovah hath given to them; 10and the anger of Jehovah burneth in that day, and He sweareth, saying, 11They do not see -- the men who are coming up out of Egypt from a son of twenty years and upward -- the ground which I have sworn to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, for they have not been fully after Me; 12save Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua son of Nun, for they have been fully after Jehovah; 13and the anger of Jehovah burneth against Israel, and He causeth them to wander in the wilderness forty years, until the consumption of all the generation which is doing the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah. 14"And lo, ye have risen in the stead of your fathers, an increase of men -- sinners, to add yet to the fury of the anger of Jehovah toward Israel; 15when ye turn back from after Him, then He hath added yet to leave him in the wilderness, and ye have done corruptly to all this people." 16And they come nigh unto him, and say, "Folds for the flock we build for our cattle here, and cities for our infants; 17and we -- we are armed hasting before the sons of Israel till that we have brought them in unto their place; and our infants have dwelt in the cities of defence because of the inhabitants of the land; 18we do not turn back unto our houses till the sons of Israel have inherited each his inheritance, 19for we do not inherit with them beyond the Jordan and yonder, for our inheritance hath come unto us beyond the Jordan at the sun -rising." 20And Moses saith unto them, "If ye do this thing: if ye are armed before Jehovah for battle, 21and every armed one of you hath passed over the Jordan before Jehovah, till his dispossessing His enemies from before Him, 22and the land hath been subdued before Jehovah -- then afterwards ye do turn back, and have been acquitted by Jehovah, and by Israel; and this land hath been to you for a possession before Jehovah. 23"And if ye do not so, lo, ye have sinned against Jehovah, and know ye your sin, that it doth find you; 24build for yourselves cities for your infants, and folds for your flock, and that which is going out from your mouth do ye." 25And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben speak unto Moses, saying, "Thy servants do as my lord is commanding; 26our infants, our wives, our cattle, and all our beasts, are there in cities of Gilead, 27and thy servants pass over, every armed one of the host, before Jehovah, to battle, as my lord is saying." 28And Moses commandeth concerning them Eleazar the priest, and Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the sons of Israel; 29and Moses saith unto them, "If the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben pass over with you the Jordan, every one armed for battle, before Jehovah, and the land hath been subdued before you, then ye have given to them the land of Gilead for a possession; 30and if they do not pass over armed with you, then they have possessions in your midst in the land of Canaan." 31And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben answer, saying, "That which Jehovah hath spoken unto thy servants -- so we do; 32we -- we pass over armed before Jehovah to the land of Canaan, and with us is the possession of our inheritance beyond the Jordan." 33And Moses giveth to them, to the sons of Gad, and to the sons of Reuben, and to the half of the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorite, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land by its cities, in the borders, the cities of the land round about. 34And the sons of Gad build Dihon, and Ataroth, and Aroer, 35and Atroth, Shophan, and Jaazer, and Jogbehah, 36and Beth-Nimrah, and Beth-Haran, cities of defence, and sheepfolds. 37And the sons of Reuben have build Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Kirjathaim, 38and Nebo, and Baal-Meon (changed in name), and Shibmah, and they call by these names the names of the cities which they have built. 39And sons of Machir son of Manasseh go to Gilead, and capture it, and dispossess the Amorite, who is in it; 40and Moses giveth Gilead to Machir son of Manasseh, and he dwelleth in it. 41And Jair son of Manasseh hath gone and captureth their towns, and calleth them "Towns of Jair;" 42and Nobah hath gone and captureth Kenath, and its villages, and calleth it Nobah, by 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.
