Numbers 32
32
The Tribes Settling in Gilead
1#Nu 21:32; 32:3Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great number of livestock, and when they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead was a place for livestock, 2the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spoke to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the leaders of the assembly, saying, 3#Nu 32:34–38; Jos 13:17“Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Sebam, and Nebo, and Beon, 4#Nu 21:34; 21:24the land which the Lord defeated before the assembly of Israel is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.” 5And they said, “If we have found mercy in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession, and do not take us over the Jordan.”
6Moses said to the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben, “Will your brothers go to war, and you will dwell here? 7And why would you discourage the hearts of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord has given to them? 8Thus your fathers did, when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to see the land. 9When they went up to the Valley of Eshkol and saw the land, they discouraged the hearts of the children of Israel so they would not go into the land which the Lord had given them. 10#Nu 14:11And the anger of the Lord was inflamed on that day, and He swore, saying, 11#Nu 14:28–30‘Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and older, will see the ground which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they did not completely follow Me, 12#Dt 1:36; Nu 14:24except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, because they completely followed the Lord.’ 13#Nu 14:33–35The anger of the Lord was inflamed against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that did evil in the eyes of the Lord was finished.
14“Behold, you have risen up in your fathers’ place, an increase of sinful men, to increase more the burning anger of the Lord toward Israel. 15#2Ch 15:2If you turn away from following Him, He will again abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all this people.”
16They approached him and said, “We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock and cities for our children. 17#Jos 4:12–13But we ourselves will be armed, ready before the children of Israel, until we have brought them to their place. Our little ones will dwell in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. 18We will not return to our houses until all the children of Israel have inherited their inheritance. 19#Jos 13:8We will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan or beyond, because our inheritance fell to us on this side of the Jordan to the east.”
20#Jos 4:12–13Moses said to them, “If you will do this thing, if you will be armed before the Lord for war, 21and all of you, each armed, will go over the Jordan before the Lord until He has driven out His enemies from before Him 22#Jos 22:9; Dt 3:20and the land is subdued before the Lord, then after that you will return and be exempt before the Lord and before Israel, and this land will be your possession before the Lord.
23#Ge 44:16; Isa 59:12“But if you will not do so, you have sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out. 24#Nu 32:16Build for yourselves cities for your children and folds for your sheep, and do that which has proceeded out of your mouth.”
25The children of Gad and the children of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying, “Your servants will do as my lord commands. 26#Jos 1:14Our children, our wives, our flocks, and all our livestock will be there in the cities of Gilead, 27#Jos 4:12but your servants will cross over, each man armed for war, before the Lord to battle, as my lord says.”
28#Jos 1:13So Moses commanded Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the chief fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel. 29And Moses said to them, “If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben will cross over the Jordan with you, each man armed for battle before the Lord, and the land will be subdued before you, you are to give them the land of Gilead as a possession. 30But if they do not cross over with you armed, they will have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.”
31The children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying, “As the Lord has said to your servants, so we will do. 32We will cross over, armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan, so the possession of our inheritance on this side of the Jordan may be ours.”
33#Jos 12:6; Dt 3:12–17Moses gave to the children of Gad, to the children of Reuben, and to half the 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 with the cities within the borders, the cities of the surrounding land.
34#Dt 2:36; Nu 32:3The children of Gad built Dibon and Ataroth and Aroer, 35#Nu 32:1; 32:3Atroth Shophan and Jazer and Jogbehah, 36#Nu 32:3Beth Nimrah and Beth Haran, fortified cities, and folds for sheep. 37#Nu 21:27; 32:3And the children of Reuben built Heshbon and Elealeh and Kiriathaim, 38#Nu 32:3; Isa 46:1Nebo and Baal Meon (their names being changed) and Sibmah; and they named the other cities which they built.
39#Ge 50:23The children of Makir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and captured it and drove out the Amorites who were in it. 40#Jos 17:1Moses gave Gilead to Makir the son of Manasseh, and he lived in it. 41#Dt 3:14; Jdg 10:4Jair the son of Manasseh went and captured its small towns and called them Havvoth Jair. 42Nobah went and captured Kenath and its villages and called it Nobah, after his own name.
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Military Bible Association
Numbers 32
32
Tribes East of the Jordan River
1The tribes of Reuben and Gad had many cattle. These people looked at the land near Jazer and Gilead. They saw that this land was good for their cattle. 2So the people from the tribes of Reuben and Gad came to Moses. They spoke to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the people. 3-4They said, “We, your servants, have many cattle. And the land that the Lord let the people of Israel capture is good land for cattle. This land includes the area around Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sibmah,#32:3-4 Sibmah Or “Sebam.” Nebo, and Beon. 5If it pleases you, we would like this land to be given to us. Don’t take us to the other side of the Jordan River.”
6Moses told the people from the tribes of Reuben and Gad, “Will you let your brothers go and fight while you settle here? 7Why are you trying to discourage the Israelites? You will make them not want to cross the river and take the land that the Lord has given to them! 8Your fathers did the same thing to me. In Kadesh Barnea I sent spies to look at the land. 9These men went as far as Eshcol Valley. They saw the land, and they discouraged the Israelites. These men made the Israelites not want to go into the land that the Lord had given to them. 10The Lord became very angry with the people. He made this promise: 11‘None of the people who came from Egypt and are 20 years old or older will be allowed to see this land. I made a promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I promised to give this land to these people, but they did not really follow me. 12Only Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun really followed the Lord!’
13“The Lord was very angry with the Israelites. So he made the people stay in the desert for 40 years. He made them stay there until all the people who had sinned against the Lord were dead. 14And now you are doing the same thing that your fathers did. You sinful people, do you want the Lord to be even more angry with his people? 15If you stop following the Lord, he will make Israel stay even longer in the desert. Then you will destroy all these people!”
16But the people from the tribes of Reuben and Gad went to Moses. They said, “We will build cities for our children and barns for our animals here. 17Then our children can be safe from the other people who live in this land. But we will gladly come and help the other Israelites. We will bring them to their land. 18We will not come back home until everyone in Israel has taken his part of the land. 19We will not take any of the land west of the Jordan River. No, our part of the land is east of the Jordan River.”
20So Moses told them, “If you do all these things, this land will belong to you. But your soldiers must go before the Lord into battle. 21Your soldiers must cross the Jordan River and be ready to fight for the Lord until he forces the enemy to leave. 22After the Lord helps us all take the land, you can go back home. Then the Lord and Israel will not think that you are guilty. And the Lord will let you have this land. 23But if you don’t do these things, you will be sinning against the Lord. And know for sure that you will be punished for your sin. 24Build cities for your children and barns for your animals. But then, you must do what you promised.”
25Then the people from the tribes of Gad and Reuben said to Moses, “We are your servants. You are our master, so we will do what you say. 26Our wives, children, and all our animals will stay in the cities of Gilead. 27But we, your servants, will cross the Jordan River. We will march before the Lord into battle, as our master says.”
28So Moses, Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and all the leaders of the tribes of Israel heard them make that promise. 29Moses said to them, “The people of Gad and Reuben will cross the Jordan River. They will march before the Lord into battle. They will help you take the land. And you will give the land of Gilead as their part of the country. 30But if they do not cross the river with you ready to fight, they will not get any land on this side. They will get only a share of the land of Canaan with the rest of you.”
31The people of Gad and Reuben answered, “We promise to do what the Lord commanded. 32We will cross the Jordan River and march before the Lord into the land of Canaan. And our part of the country is the land east of the Jordan River.”
33So Moses gave that land to the people of Gad, to the people of Reuben, and to half the tribe of Manasseh. (Manasseh was Joseph’s son.) That land included the kingdom of Sihon the Amorite and the kingdom of King Og of Bashan and all the cities around that area.
34The people of Gad built the cities of Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, 35Atroth Shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, 36Beth Nimrah, and Beth Haran. They built cities with strong walls, and they built barns for their animals.
37The people of Reuben built Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, 38Nebo, Baal Meon, and Sibmah. They used the names of the cities that they rebuilt. But they changed the names of Nebo and Baal Meon.
39People from Makir’s family group went to Gilead.#32:39 Gilead Here, this seems to refer to a city, perhaps Ramoth Gilead. But it might refer to the whole area. See Hos. 6:8. (Makir was Manasseh’s son.) They defeated the city. They defeated the Amorites who lived there. 40So Moses gave Gilead to Makir from the tribe of Manasseh, and his family settled there. 41Jair, from the family of Manasseh, defeated the small towns there. Then he called them Towns of Jair. 42Nobah defeated Kenath and the small towns near it. Then he called that place by his own name.
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