Bemiḏbar (Numbers) 32
32
1And the children of Re’uḇĕn and the children of Gaḏ had much livestock, a large number. And they saw the land of Ya‛zĕr and the land of Gil‛aḏ and saw that the place was a place for livestock.
2So the children of Gaḏ and the children of Re’uḇĕn came and spoke to Mosheh, and to El‛azar the priest, and to the leaders of the congregation, saying,
3“Ataroth, and Diḇon, and Ya‛zĕr, and Nimrah, and Ḥeshbon, and El‛alĕh, and Seḇam, and Neḇo, and Be‛on,
4“the land which יהוה had stricken before the congregation of Yisra’ĕl, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.
5And they said, “If we have found favour in your eyes, let this land be given to your servants as a possession, and do not let us pass over the Yardĕn.”
6And Mosheh said to the children of Gaḏ and to the children of Re’uḇĕn, “Are your brothers to go into the battle while you yourselves sit here?
7“Now why do you discourage the heart of the children of Yisra’ĕl from passing over into the land which יהוה has given them?
8“Thus your fathers did when I sent them away from Qaḏĕsh Barnĕa to see the land.
9“For when they went up to the wadi Eshkol and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Yisra’ĕl, so that they did not go into the land which יהוה had given them.
10Then the displeasure of יהוה burned on that day, and He swore an oath, saying,”
11Not one of the men who came up from Mitsrayim, from twenty years old and above, is to see the land of which I swore to Aḇraham, Yitsḥaq, and Ya‛aqoḇ, because they did not follow Me completely,
12except Kalĕḇ son of Yephunneh, the Qenizzite, and Yehoshua son of Nun, for they have followed יהוה completely.’
13“So the displeasure of יהוה burned against Yisra’ĕl, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the eyes of יהוה was destroyed.
14“And see, you have risen in your father’s place, an increase of men, sinners, to add still more the burning displeasure of יהוה against Yisra’ĕl.
15For if you turn away from following Him, He shall once again leave them in the wilderness, and you shall destroy all these people.
16Then they came near to him and said, “Let us build sheep-enclosures here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones,
17but let us ourselves be armed, hastening before the children of Yisra’ĕl until we have brought them to their place. And our little ones shall dwell in the walled cities because of the inhabitants of the land.
18“We shall not return to our homes until every one of the children of Yisra’ĕl has received his inheritance.
19“For we shall not inherit with them on the other side of the Yardĕn and beyond, because our inheritance has fallen to us on this eastern side of the Yardĕn.”
20And Mosheh said to them, “If you make this promise: if you arm yourselves before יהוה for battle,
21and all your armed ones pass over the Yardĕn before יהוה until He has driven out His enemies from before Him,
22and the land has been subdued before יהוה, then afterward you shall return, and be guiltless before יהוה and before Yisra’ĕl. And this land shall be your possession before יהוה.
23“But if you do not do so, then see, you shall sin against יהוה, and know: your sin is going to find you out.
24“Build cities for your little ones and enclosures for your sheep, and do what you have promised.”
25And the children of Gaḏ and the children of Re’uḇĕn spoke to Mosheh, saying, “Your servants are going to do as my master commands.
26“Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our livestock are going to be there in the cities of Gil‛aḏ,
27“but your servants are passing over, every armed one of the army, before יהוה, to battle, as my master says.
28And Mosheh gave command concerning them to El‛azar the priest, to Yehoshua son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Yisra’ĕl.
29And Mosheh said to them, “If the children of Gaḏ and the children of Re’uḇĕn pass over the Yardĕn with you, every man armed for battle before יהוה, and the land has been subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gil‛aḏ as a possession.
30But if they do not pass over armed with you, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Kena‛an.
31Then the children of Gaḏ and the children of Re’uḇĕn answered, saying, “As יהוה has said to your servants, so we do.
32We ourselves are passing over armed before יהוה into the land of Kena‛an, but the possession of our inheritance remains with us beyond the Yardĕn.
33So Mosheh gave to the children of Gaḏ, to the children of Re’uḇĕn, and to half the tribe of Menashsheh, son of Yosĕph, the reign of Siḥon sovereign of the Amorites and the reign of Oḡ sovereign of Bashan, the land with its cities within the borders, the cities of the land round about.
34And the children of Gaḏ built Diḇon and Ataroth and Aro‛ĕr,
35and Atroth, Shophan and Ya‛zĕr and Yoḡbehah,
36and Bĕyth Nimrah and Bĕyth Haran, walled cities, and enclosures for sheep.
37And the children of Re’uḇĕn built Ḥeshbon and El‛alĕh and Qiryathayim,
38Neḇo and Ba‛al Me‛on – the names being changed – and Shiḇmah. And they gave other names to the cities which they built.
39And the sons of Maḵir son of Menashsheh went to Gil‛aḏ and took it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were in it.
40So Mosheh gave Gil‛aḏ to Maḵir, son of Menashsheh, and he dwelt in it.
41And Ya’ir son of Menashsheh went and took its small towns, and called them Ḥawoth Ya’ir.
42And Noḇaḥ went and took Qenath and its villages, and he called it Noḇaḥ, after his own name.
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Bemiḏbar (Numbers) 32: TS2009
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Numbers 32
32
Land east of the River Jordan is settled
(Deuteronomy 3.12-22)
1The tribes of Reuben and Gad owned a lot of cattle and sheep, and they saw that the regions of Jazer and Gilead had good pasture land. 2So they went to Moses, Eleazar, and the other leaders of Israel and said, 3-4“The LORD has helped us capture the land around the towns of Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon. That's good pasture land, and since we own cattle and sheep, 5would you let us stay here east of the River Jordan and have this land as our own?”
6Moses answered:
You mean you'd stay here while the rest of the Israelites go into battle? 7If you did that, it would discourage the others from crossing over into the land the LORD promised them. 8This is exactly what happened when I sent your ancestors from Kadesh-Barnea to explore the land.#Nu 13.17-33. 9They went as far as Eshcol Valley, then returned and told the people that we should not enter it. 10The LORD became very angry.#Nu 14.26-35. 11And he said that no one who was twenty years or older when they left Egypt would enter the land he had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Not one of those people believed in the LORD's power, 12except Caleb and Joshua.#32.12 Caleb and Joshua: Hebrew “Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun”. They remained faithful to the LORD, 13but he was so angry with the others that he forced them to wander around in the desert forty years. By that time everyone who had sinned against him had died.
14Now you people of Reuben and Gad are doing the same thing and making the LORD even angrier. 15If you reject the LORD, he will once again abandon his people and leave them here in the desert. And you will be to blame!
16The men from Reuben and Gad replied:
Let us build places to keep our sheep and goats, and towns for our wives and children, 17where they can stay and be safe. Then we'll prepare to fight and lead the other tribes into battle. 18We will stay with them until they have settled in their own tribal lands. 19The land on this side of the River Jordan will be ours, so we won't expect to receive any on the other side.
20Moses said:
You promised that you would be ready to fight for the LORD. 21You also agreed to cross the Jordan and stay with the rest of the Israelites, until the LORD forces our enemies out of the land. If you do these things, 22then after the LORD helps Israel capture the land, you can return to your own land. You will no longer have to stay with the others. 23But if you don't keep your promise, you will sin against the LORD and be punished.
24Go ahead and build towns for your wives and children, and places for your sheep and goats. Just be sure to do what you have promised.
25The men from Reuben and Gad answered:
Sir, we will do just what you have said. 26Our wives and children and sheep and cattle will stay here in the towns in Gilead. 27But those of us who are prepared for battle will cross the Jordan and fight for the LORD.
28Then Moses said to Eleazar, Joshua, and the family leaders,#Js 1.12-15. 29“Make sure that the tribes of Gad and Reuben prepare for battle and cross the River Jordan with you. If they do, then after the land is in your control, give them the region of Gilead as their tribal land. 30But if they break their promise, they will receive land on the other side of the Jordan, like the rest of the tribes.”
31The tribes of Gad and Reuben replied, “We are your servants and will do whatever the LORD has commanded. 32We will cross the River Jordan, ready to fight for the LORD in Canaan. But the land we will inherit as our own will be on this side of the river.”
33So Moses gave the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and half of Manasseh#32.33 half of Manasseh: Or “East Manasseh”. the territory and towns that King Sihon the Amorite had ruled, as well as the territory and towns that King Og of Bashan had ruled.#32.33 ruled: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 33.
34The tribe of Gad rebuilt the towns of Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, 35Atroth-Shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, 36Beth-Nimrah, and Beth-Haran. They built walls around them and also built places to keep their sheep and goats.
37The tribe of Reuben rebuilt Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, 38Sibmah, as well as the towns that used to be known as Nebo and Baal-Meon. They renamed all those places.
39The clan of Machir from the tribe of East Manasseh went to the region of Gilead, captured its towns, and forced out the Amorites. 40So Moses gave the Machirites the region of Gilead, and they settled there.
41Jair from the Manasseh tribe captured villages and renamed them “Villages of Jair”.#32.41 Villages of Jair: Or “Havvoth-Jair”.
42Nobah captured the town of Kenath with its villages and renamed it Nobah.
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012