Numbers 32
32
Request of Gad and Reuben. 1Now the Reubenites and Gadites had a very large number of livestock. Noticing that the land of Jazer and of Gilead#Gilead: the name of the western part of the plateau east of the Jordan, sometimes signifying the whole region from the Yarmuk to the Jordan, sometimes only the northern part of this region, and sometimes, as here, only its southern part. Jazer lay to the east of southern Gilead. was a place suited to livestock, 2the Gadites and Reubenites came to Moses and Eleazar the priest and to the leaders of the community and said, 3#The places named in this verse, as well as the additional ones given in vv. 34–38, were all in the former kingdom of Sihon, that is, in the region between the Jabbok and the Arnon. Cf. 21:23–24; Jos 13:19–21, 24–27. “The region of Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo and Baal-meon— 4the land which the Lord has laid low before the community of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.” 5They continued, “If we find favor with you, let this land be given to your servants as their possession. Do not make us cross the Jordan.”
Moses’ Rebuke. 6But Moses answered the Gadites and Reubenites: “Are your kindred, then, to go to war, while you remain here? 7Why do you wish to discourage the Israelites from crossing to the land the Lord has given them? 8That is just what your ancestors did when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to reconnoiter the land.#Nm 13:31–33; Dt 1:22. 9They went up to the Wadi Eshcol and reconnoitered the land, then so discouraged the Israelites that they would not enter the land the Lord had given them. 10#Dt 1:34–35. At that time the anger of the Lord flared up, and he swore: 11None of the men twenty years old or more who have come up from Egypt will see the land I promised under oath to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, because they have not followed me unreservedly— 12#Nm 14:24; Dt 1:36. except the Kenizzite#Kenizzite: a member of the clan of Kenaz, which, according to Gn 36:11, 15, 42, was Edomite; but, according to Nm 13:6; 34:19, Caleb belonged to the tribe of Judah; cf. also Jos 14:6, 14. Caleb, son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, and Joshua, son of Nun, since they have followed the Lord unreservedly. 13So the anger of the Lord flared up against the Israelites and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the whole generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord had disappeared. 14And now here you are, offspring of sinful stock, rising up in your ancestors’ place to add still more to the Lord’s blazing anger against the Israelites. 15If you turn away from following him, he will again abandon them in the wilderness, and you will bring about the ruin of this entire people.”
Counter Proposal. 16But they approached him and said: “We will only build sheepfolds here for our flocks and towns for our families; 17but we ourselves will march as troops in the vanguard before the Israelites,#Jos 4:12–13. until we have led them to their destination. Meanwhile our families will remain in the fortified towns because of the land’s inhabitants. 18We will not return to our homes until all the Israelites have taken possession of their heritage. 19#Jos 13:8. But we will not claim any heritage with them across the Jordan and beyond, because we have received a heritage for ourselves on the eastern side of the Jordan.”
Agreement Reached. 20#Since the ark of the Lord was carried into battle with the Israelite army, the vanguard was said to march before the Lord (see Jos 6:6–9). Moses said to them in reply: “If you do this—if you march as troops before the Lord into battle 21and cross the Jordan in full force before the Lord until he has driven his enemies out of his way 22and the land is subdued before the Lord, then you may return here, free from every obligation to the Lord and to Israel, and this land will be your possession before the Lord.#Jos 1:15. 23But if you do not do this, you will have sinned against the Lord, and you can be sure that the consequences of your sin will overtake you. 24Build the towns, then, for your families, and the folds for your flocks, but fulfill what you have promised.”
25The Gadites and Reubenites answered Moses, “Your servants will do as my lord commands. 26#Jos 1:14. While our wives and children, our livestock and other animals remain there in the towns of Gilead, 27all your servants will go across as armed troops before the Lord to battle, just as my lord says.”
28So Moses gave this command in their regard to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua, son of Nun, and to the heads of the ancestral houses of the Israelite tribes: 29He said to them, “If all the Gadites and Reubenites cross the Jordan with you in full force before the Lord into battle, the land will be subdued before you, and you will give them Gilead as a possession. 30But if they will not go across in force with you before the Lord, you will bring their wives and children and livestock across before you into Canaan, and they will possess a holding among you in the land of Canaan.”
31To this the Gadites and Reubenites replied, “We will do what the Lord has ordered your servants. 32We ourselves will go across in force before the Lord into the land of Canaan, but we will retain our hereditary property on this side of the Jordan.”#This side of the Jordan: lit., “beyond the Jordan”; the perspective in Hebrew is from the west bank looking toward the east bank where the Reubenites and Gadites finally settled. 33So Moses gave them—#The preceding is concerned solely with the two tribes of Gad and Reuben and with the land of the former kingdom of Sihon; it seems probable that the sudden reference here to the half-tribe of Manasseh and to their territory in Bashan, the former kingdom of Og, is a later addition to the text.the Gadites and Reubenites, as well as half the tribe of Manasseh, son of Joseph—the kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og, king of Bashan, the land with its towns, and the districts of the surrounding towns.#Dt 3:12; 29:7; Jos 12:6; 13:8.
34The Gadites rebuilt the cities of Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, 35Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, 36Beth-nimrah and Beth-haran—fortified cities—and sheepfolds. 37The Reubenites rebuilt Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, 38Nebo, Baal-meon (names to be changed!),#The phrase in parentheses is probably a gloss, warning the reader perhaps to substitute some other word for Nebo and Baal, the names of foreign deities mentioned in the last two city names. They called by their old names: lit., “they called by their names”; however, some understand the current Hebrew text to mean, “they called by new names,” or “their own names.” and Sibmah. These towns, which they rebuilt, they called by their old names.
Other Conquests. 39The descendants of Machir, son of Manasseh, went to Gilead and captured it, dispossessing the Amorites who were there. 40(Moses gave Gilead to Machir,#Dt 3:15. son of Manasseh, and he settled there.) 41Jair,#Dt 3:14. a descendant of Manasseh, went and captured their tent villages, and called them Havvoth-jair.#Havvoth-jair: that is, “villages of Jair.” 42Nobah went and captured Kenath with its dependencies and called it Nobah after his own name.
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Numbers 32: NABRE
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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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