Numbers 32

Numbers 32:1 At that time, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad had a very significant number of livestock. When they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead and noticed the place was a place for livestock.

Numbers 32:2 So the people of Gad and the people of Reuben came and said to Moses and Eleazar the priest and the leaders of the congregation,

Numbers 32:3 “Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon,

Numbers 32:4 the land that Yahveh struck down at the face of the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.”

Numbers 32:5 And they said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Do not take us across the Jordan.”

Numbers 32:6 But Moses said to the people of Gad and the people of Reuben, “Will your brothers go to the war while you sit here?

Numbers 32:7 Why will you discourage the heart of the people of Israel from going over into the land that Yahveh has given them?

Numbers 32:8 Your fathers did this when I sent them from Kadesh-Barnea to see the land.

Numbers 32:9 Because when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the people of Israel from going into the land that Yahveh had given them.

Numbers 32:10 And Yahveh’s nose was ignited on that day, and he swore, and this is what he said,

Numbers 32:11 ‘Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, will see the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and Jacob, because they have not wholly followed me,

Numbers 32:12 none except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, because they have wholly followed Yahveh.’

Numbers 32:13 And Yahveh’s nose was ignited against Israel, and he made them wander in the open country forty years until all the generation that had done evil at the face of Yahveh was finished.

Numbers 32:14 And notice, you have risen in your fathers’ place, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of Yahveh against Israel!

Numbers 32:15 Because if you turn away from following him, he will again abandon them in the open country, and you will destroy all these people.”

Numbers 32:16 Then they came near to him and said, “We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones,

Numbers 32:17 but we will take up arms, ready to go at the face of the people of Israel, until we have brought them to their place. And our little ones will live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land.

Numbers 32:18 We will return to our homes once each of the people of Israel has gained his inheritance.

Numbers 32:19 Because we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has come to us on this side of the Jordan to the east.”

Numbers 32:20 So Moses said to them, “If you will do this if you will take up arms to go at the face of Yahveh for the war,

Numbers 32:21 and every armed man of you will pass over the Jordan at the face of Yahveh until he has driven out his enemies from at the face of him

Numbers 32:22 and the land is subdued at the face of Yahveh; then after that, you will return and be free of obligation to Yahveh and Israel, and this land will be your possession at the face of Yahveh.

Numbers 32:23 But if you will not do so, notice, you have failed Yahveh, and be sure your failure will find you out.

Numbers 32:24 Build cities for your little ones and folds for your sheep, and do what you have promised.”

Numbers 32:25 And the people of Gad and the people of Reuben said to Moses, “Your servants will do as my lord commands.

Numbers 32:26 Our little ones, our wives, our livestock, and all our animals will remain there in the cities of Gilead,

Numbers 32:27 but your servants will pass over, every man who is armed for war, at the face of Yahveh to battle, as my lord orders.”

Numbers 32:28 So Moses gave command concerning them to Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the people of Israel.

Numbers 32:29 And Moses said to them, “If the people of Gad and the people of Reuben, every man who is armed to battle at the face of Yahveh, will pass with you over the Jordan and the land will be subdued your face, then you will give them the land of Gilead for a possession.

Numbers 32:30 However, if they do not pass over with you armed, they will have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.”

Numbers 32:31 And the people of Gad and the people of Reuben answered, “What Yahveh has said to your servants, we will do.

Numbers 32:32 We will pass over armed at the face of Yahveh into the land of Canaan, and the possession of our inheritance will remain with us beyond the Jordan.”

Numbers 32:33 And Moses gave to them, to the people of Gad and the people of Reuben and 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 and its cities with their territories, the cities of the land throughout the country.

Numbers 32:34 And the people of Gad built Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer,

Numbers 32:35 Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah,

Numbers 32:36 Beth-nimrah and Beth-haran, fortified cities, and folds for sheep.

Numbers 32:37 And the people of Reuben built Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim,

Numbers 32:38 Nebo, and Baal-meon (their names were changed), and Sibmah. And they gave other names to the cities that they built.

Numbers 32:39 And the sons of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and captured it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were in it.

Numbers 32:40 And Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh, and he settled in it.

Numbers 32:41 And Jair the son of Manasseh went and captured their villages, and called them Havvoth-jair.

Numbers 32:42 And Nobah went and captured Kenath and its villages, and called it Nobah, after his name.

Numbers 32 quotes:

“The heads of these tribes, therefore, came to Moses and Eleazar, preferring a petition that this region , so well adapted to their favorite pursuit, might be conferred upon them instead of their being required to pass over the river and receive their allotment with their brethren within the bounds of Canaan . Their motives in making this proposition, though they appeared at first somewhat questionable to Moses, yet were subsequently so explained as to remove, in great measure, his anxiety, and to redound to the credit of their fealty and fidelity”

Bush, George. Notes Critical and Practical on the Book of Numbers. New York: [publisher not identified], 1858. p. 452.

“The land on the east side of the Jordan, which was now conquered, was a fertile and beautiful country. Jazer was remarkable for its rich and abundant pastures, and so was the land of Gilead. Even now amid its desolations it shows clearly how rich and fertile it was. It lay north and south of the brook Jabbok, and is often spoken of in the word of God. It was this beautiful region which was shown to Moses before he closed his eyes upon earthly scenes and awoke among the blessed. It was this land which was promised to Jephthah if he would become the leader of its people. And here Abner set up Ishbosheth as king after the death of Saul. It was here that, when rebellion raged against the house of David, Absalom and Israel fought the battle which resulted in his complete discomfiture and in the triumph of Israel. It was the birthplace of Elijah the Tishbite. The bride of the Lamb is represented as having her locks as a flock of goats from Gilead. It was also famous for its balm. Hence the question of the prophet Jeremiah : ” Is there no balm in Gilead? is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?”

DUNN, Lewis R. The Gospel in the Book of Numbers. Hunt & Eaton: New York, 1889. p. 241.

“It is possible that the speakers, judging from the ease and rapidity with which the eastern side of the Jordan which the eastern side of the Jordan thought that their brethren were well able to subdue the western side without their aid.”

Ellicott, C. J. The Fourth Book of Moses, Called Numbers. London: Cassell & Co, 1850. p. 198.