The In-Dept Study of the Bible
Numbers 32
1 Now the children of Reuben and the
children of Gad had a very great multitude
of livestock. They saw the land of Jazer,
and the land of Gilead. Behold, the place
was a place for livestock.
2 Then the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spoke to Moses,
andtoEleazar thepriest, andto theprinces
of the congregation, saying,
3 “Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon,
4 the land which Yahweh struck before
the congregationofIsrael, is a land for livestock; and your servants have livestock.”
5 They said, “If we have found favor in
your sight, let this land be given to your
servants for a possession. Don’t bring us
over the Jordan.”
6 Moses said to the children of Gad, and
to the children of Reuben, “Shall your
brothers go to war while you sit here?
7 Why do you discourage the heart of the
children of Israel from going over into the
land which Yahweh has given them?
8 Your fathers did so when I sent them
from Kadesh Barnea to see the land.
9 For when they went up to the valley of
Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged
the heart ofthe children ofIsrael, that they
should not go into the land which Yahweh
had given them.
10 Yahweh’s anger burned in that day,
and he swore, saying,
11 ‘Surely none of the men who 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,
12 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh
the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun,
because they have followed Yahweh completely.’
13 Yahweh’s anger burned against Israel,
and he made them wander back and forth
in the wilderness forty years, until all the
generation who had done evil in Yahweh’s
sight was consumed.
14 “Behold, you have risen up in your
fathers’ place, an increase of sinful men, to increase the
fierce anger of Yahweh toward Israel.
15 For if youturnaway fromafterhim, he
will yet againleave theminthe wilderness;
and you will destroy all these people.”
16 They came near to him, and said, “We
will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones;
17 but we ourselves will be ready armed
to go before the children of Israel, until
we have brought them to their place. Our
little ones shall dwell in the fortified cities
because of the inhabitants of the land.
18 We will not return to our houses until the children of Israel have all received
their inheritance.
19 For 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 eastward.”
20 Moses said to them: “If you will do
this thing, if you will arm yourselves to go
before Yahweh to the war,
21 and every one of your armed men will
pass over the Jordan before Yahweh until
he has driven out his enemies from before
him,
22 and the land is subdued before Yahweh; then afterward you shall return, and
be clear of obligation to Yahweh and to
Israel. Then this land shall be your possession before Yahweh.
23 “But if you will not do so, behold, you
have sinned against Yahweh; and be sure
your sin will find you out.
24 Build cities for your little ones, and
folds for your sheep; and do that which has
proceeded out of your mouth.”
25 The children of Gad and the children
of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying, “Your
servants will do as my lord commands.
26 Our little ones, our wives, our flocks,
and all our livestock shall be there in the
cities of Gilead;
27 but your servants will pass over, every
man who is armed for war, before Yahweh
to battle, as my lord says.”
28 So Moses commanded concerning
them to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua
the son of Nun, and to the heads of the
fathers’ households of the tribes of the
children of Israel.
29 Moses said to them, “If the children
of Gad and the children of Reuben will
pass with you over the Jordan, every man
who is armed to battle before Yahweh, and
the land is subdued before you, then you
shall give them the land of Gilead for a
possession;
30 but if they will not pass over with you
armed, they shall have possessions among
you in the land of Canaan.”
31 The children of Gad and the children
of Reuben answered, saying, “As Yahweh
has said to your servants, so will we do.
32 We will pass over armed before Yahweh into the land of Canaan, and the possession of our inheritance shall remain
with us beyond the Jordan.”
33 Moses gave to them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children 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, according to its cities and
borders, even the cities of the surrounding
land.
34 The children of Gad built Dibon,
Ataroth, Aroer,
35 Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah,
36 Beth Nimrah, and Beth Haran: fortified cities and folds for sheep.
37The children ofReubenbuilt Heshbon,
Elealeh, Kiriathaim,
38 Nebo, and Baal Meon, (their names
being changed), and Sibmah. They gave
other names to the cities which they built.
39 The children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead, took it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were therein.
40 Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of
Manasseh; and he lived therein.
41 Jair the son of Manasseh went and
took its villages, and called them Havvoth
Jair.
42 Nobah went and took Kenath and its
villages, and called it Nobah, after his own
name.