This chapter relates, how that the tribes of Gad and Reuben requested a settlement in the country of Jazer and Gilead, being fit for the pasturage of their cattle, Num 32:1 at which Moses at first was very much displeased, as being unreasonable, and tending to discourage the rest of the people; and as acting a part like that their fathers had done before them, which brought the wrath of God upon them, so that they all but two perished in the wilderness; and this he suggests would be the case again, if such measures were taken, Num 32:6 upon which they explain themselves, and declare they had no intention of forsaking their brethren, but were willing to leave their children and cattle to the care of divine Providence, and go armed before Israel, until they were brought into, and settled in the land of Canaan; nor did they desire any part or inheritance in it, Num 32:16, this satisfied Moses, and he agreed to it, that the land they requested should be their possession, provided the conditions were fulfilled by them, which they proposed, Num 20:20, and which they again agreed unto, and promised to perform, Num 32:25, wherefore Moses gave orders to Eleazar, Joshua, and the chief fathers of the tribes, to put them in possession of the land of Gilead on those conditions, Num 32:28 and which were again promised that they would observe, Num 32:31, and at the same time Moses made a grant of the kingdoms of Sihon and of Og to the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, Num 32:33 and the chapter is closed with an account of the cities built or repaired by the children of Gad and Reuben, Num 32:34 and of the cities in Gilead taken and possessed by the children of Machir, and by Jair, who were of the tribe of Manasseh, Num 32:39.
shall be there in the cities of Gilead; such as are before mentioned, Num 32:3 and which they proposed to repair and fortify, to preserve their families and possessions from the Amorites about them.
every man armed for war; Moses had required that all should go over, and they consent to it, and promise that everyone should, though this was not insisted on when they came to it, for only about 40,000 went over, Jos 4:13, whereas the two tribes of Gad and Reuben, and the half tribe of Manasseh, numbered more than 110,000; see Num 26:7,
before the Lord to battle, as my lord saith; for now, instead of saying, "before the children of Israel", a phrase they first used, they say, "before the Lord", as Moses had expressed it.
Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the chief fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel; and the rather he did this, because he knew that he should die, and not see either the thing itself or the conditions of it performed.
if the children of Gad and the children of Reuben will pass with you over Jordan, every man armed to battle before the Lord; as they have promised they will:
and the land shall be subdued before you; which must be done before their return:
then ye shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession; which, no doubt, included that of Jazer too, since Jaazer, which is the same, is after mentioned as one of the cities built by the children of Gad, Num 32:35.
they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan; take their lot there, but have no inheritance or possessions on this side Jordan.
saying, as the Lord hath said unto thy servants, so will we do; here they make use of the word Jehovah, taking what Moses had said unto them as from the Lord, and therefore should strictly and punctually observe it, as if they heard the Lord himself speak it.
that the possession of our inheritance on this side Jordan may be ours; that is, that the possession and inheritance they desired, and which had been granted them, on conditions to be performed by them, might be ratified and confirmed unto them on their fulfilment of them.
even to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and unto half the tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph; no mention is made of this half tribe joining with the other two tribes in the request to settle on this side Jordan, and therefore it is generally thought that they were encouraged, by the success of the two tribes, to make a like motion; or else Moses and the princes, observing that there was too much land for the said tribes, joined this half tribe with them, the land being suitable for them:
the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land, with the cities thereof in the coasts, even the cities of the country round about; of which kingdoms, and the conquest of them, see Num 21:24, and several of the cities in them are after mentioned.
Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer; the two first are mentioned in Num 32:3. Aroer was a city situated on the river Arnon, and was after this in the hands of the Moabites: Jerom says (q), it was showed in his day on the top of the mountain, upon the bank of the river Arnon, which flows into the Dead sea, Jer 48:19.
(q) De loc. Heb. fol. 87. I.
and folds for sheep; they also built for their cattle, as they promised to do, and Moses enjoined them, Num 32:16.
(r) Sheviith, fol. 38. 4. (s) Vid. Reland. Palestin. Illustrat. par. 2. p. 643.
(t) De loc. Heb. fol. 89. M.
and Shibmah; the same with Shebam, Num 32:3, and gave other names unto the cities which they built; but they are neither known, nor did they always continue, as has been observed.
and dispossessed the Amorite which was in it; for though they were driven out of one part of Gilead, yet not out of the whole.
and he dwelt therein; that is, the family of the Macharite; see Num 26:29.
went and took the small towns thereof; of that part of Gilead given to Machir:
and called them Havothjair; after his own name: in Deu 3:14, they are called Bashanhavothjair.
and called it Nobah, after his name; but it seems that in later times its ancient name was restored to it; for Jerom (w), says there was a village in Arabia, called Cannatha, which is supposed to be this place; though he also tells us (x), that eight miles from Heshbon; to the south, is shown a desert place called Naba. Pliny (y) places Cannatha in the Decapolis.
(u) Seder Olam Rabba, c. 9. p. 27. (w) Ut supra. (De loc. Heb. fol. 89. M.) (x) De loc. Heb. fol. 93. H. (y) Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 18.
and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead; Jazer was in the kingdom of Sihon, and Gilead in the kingdom of Og, which had been both conquered by the Israelites:
that, behold, the place was a place for cattle; where much cattle was fed, there being a great deal of good pasturage for them: Jazer appears to be a well watered country, Jer 48:32, and Gilead and Bashan which joined and belonged to the same country of Og, who was king of Bashan, were famous for good feeding of cattle: hence we read of the bulls of Bashan, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats on Mount Gilead that looked plump and sleek; see Mic 7:14.
and to Eleazar the priest, and unto the princes of the congregation; who perhaps were the seventy elders, and with Moses the chief ruler, and Eleazar the high priest, made up the grand sanhedrim, or great council of the nation, and were undoubtedly the most proper persons to apply unto:
saying: as follows.
and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Shebam, and Nebo, and Beon; these were all places in the same country; of Heshbon see Num 21:25, Nimrah is the same with Bethnimrah, Num 32:36 and sometimes called Nimrim, famous for its water, Isa 15:6. Jerom says (l) the name of it in his time was Benamerium, and lay to the north of Zoar; Elealeh, according to the same writer (m) was but a mile from Heshbon, of which see Isa 15:4. Shebam is the same with Shibmah, Num 32:36, and seems to be a place famous for vines, Isa 16:8; it is thought to be the same with the Seba of Ptolemy (n), and according to Jerom (o), there were scarce five hundred paces between this place and Heshbon; Nebo, the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan call the grave of Moses, because on a mountain of this name Moses died, and where it is supposed he was buried; but it is certain he was buried not on a mountain, but in a valley, Deu 34:6, this perhaps had its name from the mountain near which it was, and of which see Isa 15:2. Beon is the same that is called Baalmeon, Num 32:38 and Bethbaalmeon, Jos 13:17, where was very probably a temple of Baal; it was about nine miles from Heshbon (p).
(k) Jerom. de loc. Heb. fol. 92. G. (l) lbid. K. (m) Ibid. fol. 91. A. (n) Geograph. l. 5. c. 19. (o) Comment. in Esaiam, c. 16. 8. (p) Eusebius apud Reland: Palest. Illustr. par. 2. l. 3. p. 611.
it is a land for cattle, and thy servants have cattle; to stock it, with and great numbers of them; see
let this land be given unto thy servants for a possession; as their own portion and inheritance, to be enjoyed by them, and their children after them:
and bring us not over Jordan; into the land of Canaan, where as they after explain themselves, they did not desire to have any part with their brethren, but should be content with their possession here, should it be granted them.
shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here? it is not reasonable that your brethren should be left by you and engage in a war with your common enemies, to dispossess them of their land before they can settle in it and you remain here easy and quiet in the possession of a fruitful country.
from going over into the land, which the Lord hath given them? despairing of ever enjoying it, and so laying aside all thoughts of it, and not caring to make any attempt to get possession of it.
when I sent them from Kadeshbarnea to see the land; called only Kadesh, Num 13:26 the reason of the name See Gill on Num 32:13.
and saw the land; searching it for the space of forty days:
they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel; by telling them that there were giants in the land, and that the people in common were strong, and their cities walled, and that they were not able to go up against them and overcome them; and by this means they disheartened the people:
that they should not go, into the land which the Lord had given them; and this Moses feared, and suggests would be the consequence of the request the two tribes now made.
and he sware, saying; as follows.
shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; the land of Canaan, which at various times he sware to give to them, and to their posterity:
because they have not wholly followed me; the laws which he prescribed them, the directions he gave them, and particularly the orders they had to go up and possess the land at once, Deu 1:21.
for they have wholly followed the Lord; here what was said of Caleb, Num 14:24 is said both of him and Joshua; See Gill on Num 14:24.
and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years; for though it was but about thirty eight years from that time that they were in the wilderness, the round number of forty is given; and besides it includes the time of their first coming into it, which being reckoned, makes the complete number, within a few months: Kadesh, from whence the spies were sent, and whither they returned, and where the people murmured, and had this sentence pronounced on them, that they should not see the land of Canaan, but wander and fall in the wilderness, seems to have had the addition of Barnea made unto it on that account, which signifies the son of him that wandereth:
until all the generation which had done evil in the sight of the Lord was consumed; as they all were at this time when Moses spake these words.
an increase of sinful men; this new generation was greatly increased, for when the number was taken, as it was but a little before this time, they were pretty near the same number as of those that came out of Egypt; but then they were not only an increase of men, but of sinful men, like fathers like sons:
to augment yet the fierce anger of the Lord toward Israel; to make it greater and fiercer towards that nation than even their fathers had by their many sins and transgressions.
he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; as he did at the time of the affair of the spies, when they were ordered to turn and get into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea, and where they had been ever since unto this time, Num 14:25,
and ye shall destroy all this people; be the cause of their destruction, if the Lord should in such a manner resent this step of theirs, as to order them back into the wilderness again, though they were now as they were before, on the border of the land of Canaan.
and said, we will build sheepfolds here for our cattle, and cities for our little ones not build new ones, but repair the old ones; for there were cities enough in the country, as before named, and no doubt sheepfolds too, as the land was a place of cattle, but those were through the war broken down and demolished, and needed repairing; and this they proposed to do, and leave their children and their cattle to the care of their servants, under the protection of the divine Providence, and did not mean for the present to take up their abode here.
until we have brought them unto their place; to the land of Canaan, the place designed for them, and given unto them, to the possession of it, and a settlement in it:
and our little ones shall dwell in the fenced cities, because of the inhabitants of the land; where they might be safe from them, which they proposed to repair and refortify for the security of them, while they went with their brethren into the land of Canaan, to put them into possession of that, of which they made not the least doubt; and so served to clear them of suspicion of any distrust they had of entering into and possessing the land, which might tend to discourage the people.
until the children of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance; until all the tribes were settled in their respective places, and every family and everyone in them had their portion assigned them; and accordingly they did not return until the land was wholly subdued, nor even until every lot came up, and the land was divided by it, and the inheritance of the several tribes fixed, and even the cities of the Levites assigned to them out of the several tribes; see Jos 22:1.
because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side Jordan eastward; they seem to speak as if they were assured of it, and that it was so ordered by divine Providence, and wanted nothing but the consent of Moses, and the princes of the congregation.
if ye will do this thing; which they had promised:
if ye will go armed before the Lord to war; they had said they would go ready armed before the children of Israel, but Moses expresses it "before the Lord"; which is more agreeable to their encampment and order in marching, for not the standard of Reuben but that of Judah went foremost, yet the standard of Reuben marched directly before the sanctuary bore by the Kohathites, Num 10:18, and so might be properly said to go before the Lord, who dwelt there.
until he hath driven out his enemies before him: the Canaanites, who were the enemies of the Lord, as well as of his people; and because of their sins, in which they showed their enmity to God, the land spewed them out, and he drove them out to make way for his people Israel, and till this was done the tribes of Reuben and Gad were to continue with them.
then afterward ye shall return: to this side of Jordan, the land of Jazer and Gilead, to their cities, and families there:
and be guiltless before the Lord, and before Israel: having fulfilled all that they promised:
and this land shall be your possession before the Lord; be established and settled in it as their inheritance, the Lord seeing and approving of it, and protecting them in the enjoyment of it.
behold, ye have sinned against the Lord making such a request, and not fulfilling the conditions on which it was granted:
and be sure your sin will find you out; fly in their faces, accuse them in their consciences, charge and load them with guilt, and bring deserved punishment upon them: sin may be put, as it often is, for the punishment of sin, which sooner or later will find out and come upon the impenitent and unpardoned sinner.
and do that which proceedeth out of your mouth; all that they had promised.
thy servants will do as my lord commandeth; both with respect to their march before the Lord to battle, and with respect to their provision for their children and flocks.