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. Then the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spoke to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the princes of the congregation, saying, “Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, the land which Yahweh struck before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock; and your servants have livestock.” 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.”
Moses said to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to war while you sit here? Why do you discourage the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which Yahweh has given them? Your fathers did so when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to see the land. For when they went up to the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, that they should not go into the land which Yahweh had given them. Yahweh’s anger burned in that day, and he swore, saying, ‘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, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, because they have followed Yahweh completely.’ 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.
“Behold, you have risen up in your fathers’ place, an increase of sinful men, to increase the fierce anger of Yahweh toward Israel. For if you turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and you will destroy all these people.”
They came near to him, and said, “We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones; 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. We will not return to our houses until the children of Israel have all received their inheritance. 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.”
Moses said to them: “If you will do this thing, if you will arm yourselves to go before Yahweh to the war, and every one of your armed men will pass over the Jordan before Yahweh until he has driven out his enemies from before him, 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.
“But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against Yahweh; and be sure your sin will find you out. Build cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep; and do that which has proceeded out of your mouth.”
The children of Gad and the children of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying, “Your servants will do as my lord commands. Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our livestock shall be there in the cities of Gilead; but your servants will pass over, every man who is armed for war, before Yahweh to battle, as my lord says.”
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. 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; but if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.”
The children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying, “As Yahweh has said to your servants, so will we do. 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.”
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. The children of Gad built Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, Beth Nimrah, and Beth Haran: fortified cities and folds for sheep. The children of Reuben built Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, Nebo, and Baal Meon, (their names being changed), and Sibmah. They gave other names to the cities which they built. The children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead, took it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were therein. Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh; and he lived therein. Jair the son of Manasseh went and took its villages, and called them Havvoth Jair. Nobah went and took Kenath and its villages, and called it Nobah, after his own name.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 28, 31, 33, 41 Reuben came of Leah, and Gad of Zilpah her…
Reuben came of Leah, and Gad of Zilpah her handmaid.
Which mountain was so named of the heap of stones that Jacob made as a sign of the covenant between him and Laban, Gen. 31:47.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1, 5, 11, 14, 16, 23, 38 Num 32:1 Now the children of Reuben and the…
Num 32:1 Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place [was] a place for cattle;
Ver. 1. A place for cattle.] Fat, and fit for the purpose; like those pastures in Ireland, so fertile and abounding with sweet grass, that the people are forced to drive their cattle to some other more barren grounds, at some time of the day, lest they should over eat. See Mic 7:14 Jer 50:19.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 12, 14, 15, 17, 20, 22, 23, 24, 26, 30, 31, 33, 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42 Jazer; a city and country taken from the Amorites,…
Jazer; a city and country taken from the Amorites, Num 21:32. Gilead; a mountainous country, famous for pasturage, Jer 1:19; Mic 7:14.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42 The children of Gad and the children of Reuben…
The children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spake unto Moses,.... The children of Gad are mentioned first, though Reuben was the firstborn, and had a standard under which Gad pitched: it may be, as Aben Ezra thinks, the Gadites were the first authors of this counsel, the contrivers of this scheme; who first moved it to the Reubenites, which they had an opportunity of doing, lying encamped by them; or however, they might be the most busy and active in this affair, or the best spokesmen; for it could be only some, in the name of the whole, that addressed Moses on this account, and spoke to him about it:
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:
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saying: as follows.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1, 6, 12, 15, 17, 20, 22, 23, 30, 31, 34, 38, 40, 42 The request of Reuben and Gad for an inheritance…
The request of Reuben and Gad for an inheritance on this side Jordan, ver. 1-5. Moses's misconstruction of it, ver. 6-15. Their explication of it, ver. 16-19. The grant of their petition, ver. 20-42.
Jazer - A city and country of the Amorites; Gilead - A mountainous country, famous for pasturage
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 5, 12, 16, 17, 34, 38, 41 The Reubenites and Gadites request Moses to give them…
CHAPTER XXXII
The Reubenites and Gadites request Moses to give them their
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inheritance on this side of Jordan, 1-5.
Moses expostulates with and reproves them, 6-15.
They explain themselves, and propose conditions, with which
Moses is satisfied-they are to build cities for their wives and
children, and folds for their cattle, and go ever Jordan armed
with the other tribes, and fight against their enemies till the
land is subdued; after which they are to return, 16-27.
Moses proposes the business to Eleazar, Joshua, and the elders,
28-30.
The Gadites and Reubenites promise a faithful observance of the
conditions, 31, 32;
on which Moses assigns to them, and the half tribe of Manasseh,
the kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of
Og, king of Bashan, 33.
The cities built by the Gadites, 34-36.
The cities built by the Reubenites, 37, 38.
The children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, expel the Amorites
from Gilead, 39,
which Moses grants to them, 40.
Jair, the son of Manasseh, takes the small towns of Gilead, 41.
And Nobah takes Kenath and its villages, 42.
NOTES ON CHAP. XXXII
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 4, 5, 12, 15, 17, 18, 20, 23, 30, 34, 38, 40 Num 32:1. The land of Jazer — A city…
Num 32:1. The land of Jazer — A city and country of the Amorites. Gilead — A mountainous country, famous for pasturage. These countries were lately taken from the two Amorite princes, Sihon and Og, (Num 21:24,) and were, by divine appointment, allowed to be inhabited by the Israelites, as well as the land of Canaan itself.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 8, 12, 23, 27, 33, 34, 37, 39, 41, 42 Jazer - Compare the marginal reference. This district, although…
Jazer - Compare the marginal reference. This district, although included in the land of Gilead, seems to have had special attractions for the Israelite settlers. All travelers in Gilead, the modern Belka, bear witness to its richness as compared with the country to the west of the Jordan. Its general character is that of an upland pasture, undulating and thickly timbered. In the last respect its northern portions excel its southern; but for fertility of soil the southern province is preferred by the Arabs, in whose lips it has passed into a proverb: “Thou canst not find a country like the Belka.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv3, 5, 7, 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 30, 34, 35, 36, 38, 40, 41, 42 Saban, and Nebo. These towns were afterwards retaken by…
Saban, and Nebo. These towns were afterwards retaken by the Moabites, Isaias xv. 2, 8. --- Beon. Perhaps the same with Mehon, or Beth Baal Mehon, Josue xiii. 17. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1 The grant of the conquered land beyond the Jordan…
NINTH SECTION
The grant of the conquered land beyond the Jordan to Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh
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Num_32:1-42
1Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle; 2The children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spake unto Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and unto the princes of the congregation, saying, 3Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, 4and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Shebam, and Nebo, and Beon, Even the country which the Lord smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and thy servants have cattle: 5Wherefore, said they, if we have found grace in thy sight, let this land be given unto thy servants for a possession, and bring us not over Jordan.
6And Moses said unto the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben, Shall 7your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here? And wherefore 1discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord hath given them? 8Thus did your fathers, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. 9For when they went up unto the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, that they should not go into 10the land which the Lord had given them. And the Lord’s anger was kindled the same time, and he sware, saying, 11Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly 2followed me: 12Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun: 13for they have wholly followed the Lord. And the Lord’s anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all 14the generation, that had done evil in the sight of the Lord, was consumed. And behold, ye are risen up in your fathers’ stead, an increase of sinful men, to augment yet the fierce anger of the Lord toward Israel. 15For if ye turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and ye shall destroy all this people.
16And they came near unto him, and said, We will build sheep-folds here for our cattle, and cities for our little ones: 17But we ourselves will go ready armed before the children of Israel, until we have brought them unto their place: and our little ones shall dwell in the fenced cities, because of the inhabitants of the land. 18We will not return unto our houses, until the children of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance: 19For we will not inherit with them on yonder side Jordan, or forward; because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side Jordan eastward.
20And Moses said unto them, If ye will do this thing, if ye will go armed before the Lord to war, 21And will go all of you armed over Jordan before the Lord, until he hath driven out his enemies from before him, 22And the land be subdued before the Lord: then afterward ye shall return, and be guiltless before the Lord, and before Israel; and this land shall be your possession before the Lord. 23But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the Lord: and be sure your sin will find you out. 24Build you cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep; and do that which hath proceeded out of your mouth. 25And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben spake unto Moses, saying, Thy servants will do as my lord commandeth. 26Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our cattle, shall be there in the cities of Gilead: 27But thy servants will pass over, every man armed for war, before the Lord to battle, as my lord saith. 28So concerning them 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 unto them, If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben will pass with you over Jordan, every man armed to battle, before the Lord, and the land shall be subdued before you; then ye shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession: 30But if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan. 31And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying, As the Lord hath said unto thy servants, so will we do. 32We will pass over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan, that the possession of our inheritance on this side Jordan may be ours. 33And Moses gave unto them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and unto 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 thereof in the coasts, even the cities of the country round about.
34, 35And the children of Gad built Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer, And Atroth, 36Shophan, and 3Jaazer, and Jogbehah, And 4Bethnimrah, and Beth-haran, fenced cities; and folds for sheep. 37And the children of Reuben built Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Kirjathaim, 38And Nebo, and Baal-meon, (their names being changed,) and Shibmah: and 5gave other names unto the cities which they builded. 39And the children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead, and took it, and dispossessed the Amorite which was in it. 40And Moses gave Gilead unto Machir the son of Manasseh; and he dwelt therein. 41And Jair the son of Manasseh went and took the small towns thereof, and called them Havoth-jair. 42And Nobah went and took Kenath, and the villages thereof, and called it Nobah, after his own name.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
[Num_32:7. תְנִואוּן to disallow or hinder. They withdrew their own support, and brought the people to abandon the purpose.—Hirsch. The Keri תְנִיאוּן is a preferable reading. See Num_32:9.—A. G.]
[Num_32:16. לְטַפֵנוּ, used here as in 2Ch_31:18; Gen_47:12, to include the whole family except the head; all the defenceless.—A. G.]
[Num_32:23. But ye shall know your sin, which shall overtake you; come upon you.—A. G.]
[Num_32:35. Should be Atroth Shophan; omit comm.—A. G.]
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
The key to the understanding of the short and strange conflict which threatened for a time to break out between the tribes, or rather a schismatic portion of the tribes, and the theocratic unity represented by Moses, lies, as Keil following O. Von Gerlach urges, by reading the imperfects in Num_32:39 seq. as pluperfects; thus the half tribe of Manasseh had gone and conquered the region of Og king of Bashan. As the half tribe of Manasseh were prominent in the conquest, so also it is assumed that the tribes of Reuben and Gad were conspicuous, in the earlier war with Sihon, and thus we may explain their present wealth in flocks and herds, following so soon upon their poverty in this respect. As they shared equally with the other tribes in the Midianitish plunder, their peculiar wealth in cattle may have resulted from their prominent part in the greater victories. Now, however, things took shape in such a way as to lead them to make their request, which at all events was expressed in a very faulty method. The land beyond the Jordan (this is already the style adopted in the narration), the land of Gilead, in the first place appeared to them from its rich pasturage to be peculiarly adapted to their uses, regarding their large possessions in cattle, and then in the second place this land seemed to be without an owner, as it was not included literally in the promised land, and still further they seemed to themselves to have acquired a special claim upon it. As to their peculiar relationship in the warlike camp, it may be noted that the tribes of Reuben and Gad belonged to the same division of the host which encamped upon the south (chap. 2), while the tribe of Manasseh lay upon their western border, in immediate contact with them. Already in the blessing of Jacob (Genesis 49) Reuben had been described as unstable as water, as a bubbling spring, and Gad was praised for his martial power, and Joseph, i. e. Ephraim and Manasseh together, is blessed also for his valiant qualities. The martial nature of Gad was celebrated again in the blessing of Moses. It is well known further that Gilead was glorified especially through its hero Jepthae, and Gideon also was sprung from Manasseh, although not from its east-Jordan division.
There was nothing in the way of the request of the two tribes, Reuben and Gad, if modestly and rightly proposed, as the result shows. For the request was granted. There is no allusion to any request by the half tribe of Manasseh. They may have been prevented from making any by their connection with the other half of the tribe. The more brilliant was the distinction which fell to their lot unsought. It may appear remarkable that Moses should have committed his arrangement in their favor, as a command to Joshua and the high-priest, without mentioning the lot. Perhaps the division of the inheritance of Israel by lot, may have been confined to the heritage in Canaan. However, the request of the two tribes sounded at first so equivocal that Moses felt that it deserved the strongest expression of his displeasure, and the denunciation of divine wrath upon them. Keil remarks: “The words bring us not over Jordan may be understood as meaning nothing more than the desire of the speakers not to receive their inheritance on the western side of Jordan, without desiring to withdraw their assistance from the other tribes in the conquest of Canaan, as they subsequently explain (Num_32:16), or they may be understood as expressing a wish to settle at once in the land east of Jordan, and leave the other tribes to conquer Canaan alone. Moses understood the words in the latter sense (Num_32:6 seq.), and probably they seem so intended, since when Moses reproved them, the speakers did not reply, that they had not entertained the meaning attributed to them, but simply restricted themselves to the promise of cooperation in the conquest of Canaan. But even in this sense their request did not manifest a “shamelessness which could not be historically true” (Knobel), but may be explained from the opinion they cherished, and which is perfectly intelligible after the rapid and easy defeat of the two mighty kings of the Amorites, Sihon and Og, that the other tribes were quite strong enough to conquer the land of Canaan on the west side of the Jordan.” Moreover, it is not necessary to suppose that the alternatives entered their minds. They might have uttered their wish without full reflection upon the two possible consequences; otherwise the reproof of Moses would scarcely have brought them to declare that they were ready to battle in the front of the Israelitish army until all Canaan should be conquered. This history is further a glorious example of the sacredness and blessing of national unity. [The attempt of Knobel to cut this chapter into pieces and to assign its parts severally to the Elohist and Jehovist, in the fashion of the critics, scarcely merits the notice which Keil gives it. It is a fair instance, however, of how violent and arbitrary a course these critics take. Num_32:1-2; Num_32:16-19; Num_32:24; Num_32:28-30; Num_32:33-38 are attributed to the Elohist, and the remainder, Num_32:3-15; Num_32:20-23; Num_32:25-27; Num_32:31-32; Num_32:39-42 to the Jehovist. The grounds upon which the assumption rests are some diversity in the language, especially in the proper names used, and mainly upon the notion of the critic that it is improbable that the two tribes would have been so shameless as to wish to remain on the eastern side of Jordan, and leave the conquest of Canaan to the other tribes; and that their subsequent willingness to help their brethren, which they afterwards express, is irreconcilable with their selfish intention in their earlier request. But history is not surely to be interpreted according to the fancy of critics—their notions of what men would do or not do thousands of years after the occurrences it relates—nor is it so strange a thing surely that an earlier and selfish intention should be abandoned when its real nature and consequences are seen and reflected upon. For the assumed diversities in the text, see the exegesis.—A. G.]
Num_32:1-5. The request of the two tribes. They call the land which they desire Jazer and Gilead, including southern Peræa, in which Jazer was situated, and the northern part of Peræa also. “Gilead was the land to the south and the north of Jabbok, the modern provinces of the Belka in the south, between the Jabbok and the Arnon, and Jebel Ajlun to the north of the Jabbok as far as Mandhur. Ancient Gilead still shows numerous traces of great fertility, even in its present desolation, covered over as it is with hundreds of ruins of old towns and hamlets.” Keil. [“All travellers in Gilead, the modern Belka, bear witness to its richness, as compared with the country to the west of the Jordan. Its general character is that of an upland pasture, undulating and thickly timbered. In the last respect its northern portion excels its southern; but for fertility of soil the southern province is preferred by the Arabs, in whose lips it has passed into a proverb: “Thou canst not find a country like the Belka.” Bib. Com. See Robinson’s Researches, App., Ritter, Erdk., Vol. XV., Tristram’s Land of Israel.—A. G.]
[Num_32:4. Which the Lord smote before the congregation, indicating that it was now unoccupied and ownerless, and therefore presented as a strong reason why it should be assigned to them.—A. G.] The offensive part of the request comes out in the final sentence: “Let us not go over Jordan, or so we will not cross the Jordan.” [They seem to have been half conscious that their proposal would not be favorably received. They gather up all their courage to put their request, and then, entreat for it as a signal favor. If they had been clear in their own minds, and without a sense that their proposition involved the forsaking of their brethren, they would have asked at once and without the frequent pauses with which they venture now to break their request.—A. G.] It is remarkable, that according to Num_32:2 the children of Gad take the lead. [The same thing is observable throughout the narrative. The Reubenites are named first (Num_32:1) because their ancestor was the elder; but, Num_32:6 (and see Deu_33:20-21), Gad assumes, what his greater vigor and boldness entitled him to, the position of a leader, and the instigator in the whole procedure.—A. G.] It is no less observable that their claim may have formed a prejudice against the merits of the half tribe of Manasseh.
Num_32:6-15. The reproof of Moses. Their request is taken in the strictest and most literal sense. Moses at first holds up their unbrotherly thought and its flagrant injustice (Num_32:6), and then the evil example which they would set for Israel (27). He compares their conduct with the cowardice of the spies who disheartened the people beforehand and brought upon them the judgment of God, by which the entire generation had fallen in the wilderness, the two well-known heroes excepted. It was their fault that Israel did not enter upon its inheritance, and you now arise as an aftergrowth, a propagation (תַּרבּוּת), a brood of such sinners (timid unbelievers), to arouse still once more the anger of Jehovah, to renew the doom of tarrying in the wilderness, and thus destroy the people altogether, now so near the goal of all their strivings. The Keri here is to be preferred to the Kethib. See Num_32:9. To turn or hold away the heart: a very remarkable expression (see Text. Note). The נוּעַ, Num_32:13, He drove them about in the desert, made them go here and there, corresponds with the נוּא here. See Jam_1:8. Num_32:15. If ye turn away from after him. Lange: If ye draw back behind Him. The recusants who draw back from the leading of God, destroy themselves, and the nation with them.
Num_32:16-19. The explanation of the tribes. They come near to Moses, as an expression of their good conscience. Their real thought is uttered in the words: We will go ready armed before the children of Israel; but we will not inherit with them beyond the Jordan, but let our inheritance fall to us on this side6 of Jordan eastward. They will first erect folds or pens for their cattle and build cities, i. e. fortify the cities already built, for their children, or families; but they themselves will arm themselves hastily in order to march before the children of Israel to the conquest of the land, and will not return until every tribe has secured its possession. [Hirsch: “The words of the sons of Gad and Reuben betray their overmastering love of their possessions. Their herds lie nearer their hearts than their children; hence first protect their herds, then when they were secure, their families. The alluring pastures led them to endanger their spiritual connection with the national unity and with the sanctuary. In the reply of Moses, Num_32:24, the order is carefully reversed.”—A. G.] The phraseology of their promise is purposely boastful and martial in its tone; but at the close of his campaigns Joshua (Num_22:1 seq.) could dismiss them with the testimony that they had fulfilled their word. Yet even then they gave occasion for reproof (Jos_22:10), which was, however, by their explanation proved to be groundless, but serves to show how jealously at that time the national unity was guarded. [It was not, however, as that narrative shows, merely the national unity which was concerned, but rather their loyalty to their faith and worship. The cases are not parallel. Here their boastfulness betrays a consciousness of the selfish motive in which their request took its origin, but which, detected and reproved, they now cover up with their conspicuous proffer of zeal and service. There was nothing of this when they returned from the conquest.—A. G.]
Num_32:20-24. The consent of Moses. He now grants their request upon their promise, but still impresses upon them the evil consequences which would surely come upon them if they should desert their brethren, and now in addition violate their word. The expression is solemn and earnest. If you arm yourselves for battle before Jehovah, i. e. in perfect sworn sincerity, then let every one bearing arms pass over Jordan, fully armed, determined, before Jehovah. No one should go with them for the sake of appearance, or with a half heart. Until the land is actually subdued before Jehovah, and not merely according to their judgment, biassed by their longing for their homes. That done, they may return and be held guiltless [i. e. freed from obligation, their duty discharged,—A. G.] before Jehovah as well as before Israel, and then also first will they have right to their land as a possession before the Lord. [Keil: “The expression ‘before the Lord’ may mean that in the war which they waged at the command of God, the Israelites were the army of Jehovah, with Jehovah in the midst. And hence we may easily see why the children of Gad and Reuben do not use these words in Num_32:17, because they only promised to go before the children of Israel, i. e. to help their brethren to conquer Canaan. Later they also, taught by Moses, adopt the expression before Jehovah, Num_32:32.”—A. G.] Then follows the threatening: if ye do not keep your word, you shall learn how your sin will find you out. A striking designation of the judgment. Upon the supposition of their truthfulness, they may now secure their families and flocks. [Be sure your sin will find you out. Bib. Com.: “Your sin will bring its own punishment along with it.” Keil: “Ye will have to make atonement for them.” Hirsch: “Sin follows in its results, the sinner.” They would in no way escape its punishment.—A. G.].7
Num_32:25-32. The agreement.—The children of Gad appear again in the front. Upon their renewed promise, Moses gives his assent in the shape of a command addressed to the high-priest, to Joshua, and to the heads of the houses of the fathers, since Moses knew that he would not live to see its accomplishment. The alternative which he adds in case the two tribes do not proceed before them, armed for the conquest, is altogether peculiar. They shall then be settled in the midst of the other tribes in the land of Canaan. This seems to imply not only that in such case, they should not be permitted to possess the land east of the Jordan, but also that they, according to the will of the people in Canaan—but not as two separate and independent tribes—should be distributed among the others. The two tribes recognize this decision as the word of Jehovah, and now comes the solemn vow that they will go armed before Jehovah over into Canaan, and that only under this provision will they hope or expect to have their possession on this side (east) of the Jordan. The compact is thus concluded. [Num_32:32. That the possession of our inheritance on the side of Jordan may be ours, not merely as Keil, “that it may remain to us;” east of Jordan rather than west. It is rather that they recognize and express the fact, that their possession is suspended upon their fulfilling the condition. Not until every tribe receives its inheritance will they receive theirs. Legally and formally they entered upon their inheritance when they returned from the wars of the conquest.—A. G.].
Num_32:33-42. The investiture. Comp. this Commentary upon Joshua 13. It is now that the half tribe of Manasseh is first named. Although they had not urged their claims upon the ground of their merits, Moses places them, the half tribe, by the side of the two tribes, as having equal claims, and the narrative dwells with pleasure upon the attribute of Manasseh, as “the son of Joseph.” The two conquered Amoritish kingdoms, constituted the grant in the main. Then follows a record of the fortification of the cities for their families, and the folds for their flocks and herds. [The first mention of the half-tribe of Manasseh here is just in its proper place. They had not urged their claims, but Moses in distributing the land, assigns to the half tribe its portion from a sense of right and justice. They had displayed signal valor, and had conquered that part of the land. He recognized the right which they had thus acquired. It is clear from Num_32:39 that this is the ground upon which they appear here, and also why only the half tribe or the children of Machir. It was that part of the tribe which had distinguished itself in the conquest and which now receives its reward.—A. G.].
1. The Gadites.—Dibon called also Dibon-Gad, an hour northward of the central Arnon. [“Its extensive ruins still bear the name Dhibân. It was here that the Moabite stone was discovered in 1868 by Rev. T. Klein. It is reckoned as a Reubenite town, Jos_13:9, while in Isa_15:2 it is spoken of as Moabite. Occupied on the first acquisition of the territory by the Gadites, and assigned by Joshua to the Reubenites when the boundaries of their respective allotments were determined, it was eventually recaptured by the Moabites, in whose hands it remained.”—A. G.].—Ataroth, i.e., crowns, preserved in the ruins of Attarus or Jebel Attarus, was seven miles north-east of Dibon.—Aroer of Reuben in the centre of the valley of Arnon. It was located on the brink of the rocky ravine through which that torrent flows, and must be distinguished from the Aroer before Rabbah—Ataroth Shophan. [Bib. Com.: “It probably lay near the Ataroth above, and had the name Shophan ‘of the burrow’ to distinguish it from the other Ataroth.”—A. G.].—Jaazer. The ruins Es Szir—Jogbehah, Jdg_8:11, preserved in the ruins of Jebeiha. Beth-Nimrah (Nimrah), Jos_13:27, also Num_32:3 in the valley of the Jordan now to be seen in the ruins Nimrein about five Roman miles north of Libias. Beth-haran (Jos_13:27, Beth-aram). [“According to Josephus called Julias, in honor of the wife of Augustus. It has been preserved in the ruins of Ramah not far from the mouth of the Wady-Hesban.” Keil.—A. G.].
2. The Reubenites. Heshbon, the residence of king Sihon, Jos_13:27. Keil. “It was relinquished to the Gadites because it lay upon the border of their territory, and by them given up to the Levites (Jos_21:39; 1Ch_6:66). It stood almost in the centre between the Arnon and the Jabbok, opposite to Jericho, and according to the Onomast., twenty Roman miles from the Jordan, where large ruins are now found bearing the ancient name of Hesban or Hüsban.” Elealeh, now El Aal the height—Kirjathaim probably the ruins et Teim about three miles south of Heshbon—Nebo on mount Nebo—Baal-meon with changed names. The city was called Beon or Beth-meon, avoiding the name Baal. The ruins Maein or Myun not far from Heshbon. [They changed the names of the last two cities probably from their connection with idolatrous worship. The other cities retained the names they had, or as some suppose, the Reubenites restored the old Moabite names which had been changed under the Amorite dominion. Keil, Bib. Com., regard Baal Meon as the present Myun. “The city must have fallen into the hands of the Moabites before the days of Mesha, who speaks of himself as having there built a temple, no doubt to Chemosh, and as having fortified it.”—A. G.]. Shibmah. According to Jerome, near Heshbon. It has apparently disappeared, not leaving a trace behind. [It seems however to be alluded to in Isa_16:8, where it appears as Sibmah, noted for its vines. On the difference in the names, Num_32:3; Num_32:36; Num_32:38, Keil remarks that it cannot be regarded as any proof, that Num_32:3 is Jehovistic, and the after verses Elohistic, since Baal-meon is itself a contraction for Beth-Baal-meon (Jos_13:17). The contraction of the names in Num_32:3 is accounted for by the fact that diplomatic exactness was not requisite in a historical account, the abbreviated forms in common use were quite sufficient.—A. G.].
3. The Manassites. Num_32:39. Went, had gone, and thus understood it gives the reason why the Manassites received this region, to wit, the kingdom of Bashan, and the northern part of Gilead—the Jebel-ajlun between the Jabbok and the Mandhur. We render with Keil, Num_32:39. “The sons of Machir the son of Manasseh, had gone and taken,” etc.; and Num_32:41, and Jair the son of Manasseh had gone and taken, etc.; and lastly, Num_32:42. And Nobah had gone and taken, etc. The sons of Machir parted into two divisions or lines, of which the one received northern Gilead (1Ch_5:24) while the other settled in Canaan proper (Joshua 17). Jair has descended on his father’s side through Segub, and Hezron from Judah, but through Hezron’s intermarriage with a daughter of Machir he passed over into the tribe of his mother, contrary to the general rule. See Deu_3:4; Deu_3:14 The villages which he had taken he named after his own name. Finally we have Nobah otherwise unknown, who took Kenath, with its daughters or dependent villages, and called them after his name Nobah. Kurtz applies the name Nobah to the village Newa, an ancient city of ruins. Kenath afterward lost to the Syrians, 1Ch_2:23, alluded to by Josephus, Jerome and Pliny, comes into light again in the extensive ruins called Kanwat and inhabited by Druses. [Porter, Giant cities of Bashan, gives a full and elaborate description of these ruins. Kunawat. “The general aspect of the city is very striking—temples, palaces, churches, theatres, and massive buildings whose original use we cannot tell, are grouped together in picturesque confusion, while beyond the walls, in the glen, on the summits and sides of wooded peaks, away in the midst of oak forests, are clusters of columns and massive towers and lofty tombs. A colossal head of Ashteroth, sadly broken, lies before a little temple, of which probably it was once the chief idol. The crescent moon which gave the goddess the name Carnaim (‘two-horned’) is on her brow. I saw in this a visible illustration of an incidental allusion to this ancient goddess in the very earliest historic reference to Bashan. We read in Gen_14:6 that ‘the kings of the east’ on their way to Sodom, “smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim.’ May not this be the very city?” pp. 42, 48. The Machirites who hold so prominent a place in this history, were only a part of the sons of Machir; but they won their way to distinction, so that they are called Machir. They drew away attention from the other member of the family. They were led by bold, energetic and skillful men, and the rapid conquest of the east Jordan country, especially its northern portion, was largely due to their instrumentality. And Jair the son of Manasseh went and took the small towns thereof, and called them Havoth-jair. And Nobah went and took Kenath, and the villages thereof, and called it Nobah after his own name. In Deu_3:14 this whole conquest and possession is ascribed to Jair alone. In Deu_3:4, the cities taken and named were sixty, while in 1Ch_2:22-23 we read Jair had twenty-three cities in Gilead, and Geshur and Aram took the towns of Jair (Havoth-Jair) from them, with Kenath and its daughters, sixty towns. This passage suggests at once the key to the solution of the difficulty. The twenty-three Havoth-Jair, with Kenath and its daughters form the sixty towns referred to in Deuteronomy. The term Havoth-Jair is used in a narrower and in a wider sense; in the strict or narrow sense it designates those which Jair himself took, who was the leading chief of the Machirites in Gilead, and in the wider sense these towns, with the thirty-seven of Kenath and its daughters. The passage here and in Deu_3:4; Deu_3:14, and in 1Ch_2:23, all fall into perfect harmony. As Keil says, “Consequently Bashan or the region of Argob, with its sixty fortified towns, was divided between two of the leading families of Machir the Manassite, the families of Jair and Nobah, each family receiving the districts it had conquered, viz., the family of Nobah Kenath and its daughters, thirty-seven towns in the eastern portion, and the family of Jair twenty-three towns in the western. In Deuteronomy when Moses is making a rapid survey, all the sixty towns are comprehended under the name Havoth-Jair—probably because Nobah was a subordinate branch of the family of Jair.” For the descent of Jair see Num_27:1, and comp. Jos_13:13; Jos_19:34, which latter passage finds its solution in the text 1Ch_2:22-23.—A. G.].
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
By the grant of the country east of the Jordan, Israel has already gained, as it were, a foothold in its inheritance; but no scope is given here for the process of disintegration.
[As the conquest of the Amorite kingdoms was preliminary to the conquest of the land of promise literally, so this distribution of the land was the pledge to Israel of its possessions. It was the earnest of the inheritance. The promise included more than the literal Canaan. There was nothing, therefore, wrong in the request itself, nothing premature or overhasty in the time at which it was made; nothing in the thought that it was peculiarly fitted to the tastes and habits of these two tribes, but in the spirit which led to the request—the intention expressed in these words, bring us not over this Jordan, to forsake their brethren, and to separate themselves from the leadership of Moses and of Jehovah.
Be sure your sin will find you out. The certainty of retribution. The statement of a principle which has been a working factor in all history, but which has its final application in the issues of the future, where sin itself becomes our avenger.—A. G.].
HOMILETICAL HINTS
The law of the unity in heart and conduct of the army of God, as the indispensable condition to the conquest of the promised land. How the Christian world has failed in this respect in its relations to the heathen world. The ancient Church as over against Mohammedanism. The Protestant world, especially in its theology, in its relations to Romanism and Jesuitism. The danger of the separation of the tribes is avoided, 1) By a mutual understanding; 2) by solemn warnings; 3) by brotherly sacrifices; 4) by wise concessions.
The demand of the tribes of Reuben and Gad was certainly, while unexplained, in the sense in which Moses understood it, in the highest degree dangerous. The reproof of Moses in its application to all times. The declaration of heroic faithfulness on the part of the reproved tribes. The peaceful and blessed reconciliation.—[Henry: “Two things common in this world induced these tribes to make this choice, and this motion upon it, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. The land was pleasant to the eye, and it was good for pasturage. Perhaps there was something of pride in it too. These tribes were all first-born. They may have been striving after precedence, and assuming that their claims must first be met. Too many seek their own things, and not the things of the public good, or of Christ, and so take up short of the heavenly Canaan. Their choice implied: 1. A contempt of the land of promise; 2. A distrust of the power of God. 3. A neglect of the interests of their brethren. 4. An undue consulting of their own convenience and wealth.—The good effect of plain, faithful dealing. Moses, by showing to them their sin and the danger of it, brought them to their duty without murmuring or disputing. 5. 23. Sin will without doubt find out the sinner sooner or later. It concerns us, therefore, to find out our sins, that we may repent of them and forsake them. It is observable that as these tribes were now first placed, before the other tribes, so long afterward they were displaced before the other tribes”. Then afterward ye shall return and this shall be your possession. No full and legal inheritance for any single tribe until all receive their possession. The people of God are not only one in their warfare and conquest, but in their possession. A common warfare and peril, a common triumph and inheritance.—A. G.]
Footnotes:
[1]Marg. break.
[2]Marg. fulfilled after me.
[3]Marg. Num_32:1; Num_32:3, Jazer.
[4]Marg. Num_32:3, Nimrah.
[5]Marg. they called by names the names of the cities.
[6][The Heb. uses the same word here מֵעִבֶר to designate the east and the west side of the Jordan. See also Num_32:32, which, however, does not refer to the western side of Jordan, as Bib. Com. says. It is clear, however, that the term is used with considerable freedom, and while usually applied to the eastern side, it had not yet acquired that strict and technical sense. See Deu_1:1.—A. G.]
[7][Hirsch: “This conditional agreement with the sons of Gad and Reuben is the classic example in the Jewish jurisprudence of the most binding form of an act upon a condition stated. It is necessary, a) that the condition, with its results fulfilled or unfulfilled, must be clearly stated, and not merely implied. b) The condition must precede the facts. c) That the affirmative case should precede the negative. d) The condition must not contain anything destructive of the facts, or which will prevent their accomplishment. e) That the facts must be such as can be accomplished, as were the division and possession of the land.”—A. G.].
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv6, 16, 17, 20, 28, 33, 34, 35, 38, 39, 41, 42 Moses said unto the children of Gad and to…
Moses said unto the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben, Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here--Their language was ambiguous; and Moses, suspicious that this proposal was an act of unbelief, a scheme of self-policy and indolence to escape the perils of warfare and live in ease and safety, addressed to them a reproachful and passionate remonstrance. Whether they had really meditated such a withdrawal from all share in the war of invasion, or the effect of their leader's expostulation was to drive them from their original purpose, they now, in answer to his impressive appeal, declared it to be their sincere intention to co-operate with their brethren; but, if so, they ought to have been more explicit at first.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 28, 30, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 41, 42 THE SUIT OF REUBEN AND GAD FOR THEIR ALLOTMENT,…
THE SUIT OF REUBEN AND GAD FOR THEIR ALLOTMENT, Num_32:1-5.
1. Jazer — We first hear of this city in the possession of the Amorites, from whom it was taken by the Israelites after Heshbon, on their way to Bashan. It was in or near to Gilead. It was rebuilt by the tribe of Gad, and was a prominent place in their territory. Jos_13:25, note. Gilead is a mountainous region east of the Jordan, south of Bashan, north of Moab and Ammon, and west of the Arabian plateau. Its name signifies hard, rocky. It stands in contrast to Bashan, which signifies level, fertile. Gilead shows traces of great fertility even in its present desolation, covered over as it is with hundreds of ruined cities. The modern provinces of Belka and Jebel Ajlun cover ancient Gilead. This region is the paradise of nomads, because of the abundance and richness of its pasturage.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 7, 8, 14, 17, 23, 24, 30, 33, 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42 1. the land of Jazer] Jazer always appears, elsewhere,…
1. the land of Jazer] Jazer always appears, elsewhere, as the name not of a district but of a town (see Num_32:3; Num_32:35 and notes on Num_21:24; Num_21:32). It is difficult to see any reason for its special mention here other than the fact that it marked the limit of Gilead on the east (cf. Jos_13:25).
the land of Gilead] The extent of country covered by the name Gilead varies in different passages. Here, and in Num_32:29, the name denotes the land south of the R. Jabbok, as is shewn by the towns enumerated in Num_32:3; Num_32:34-38; cf. Jos_13:24 f. The modern name of this tract is ‘the Belka.’ But in Num_32:39 f., Jos_17:1; Jos_17:5 f. the name Gilead is applied to land north of the Jabbok as far as the R. Jarmuk. Once more, these two tracts are sometimes treated as the two halves of Gilead (cf. Jos_12:2; Jos_12:5; Jos_13:31, Deu_3:12 f.), so that the name could be used in the widest sense of all the land occupied by Israel on the east of the Jordan (cf. Jos_22:9; Jos_22:13). Its borders on the north, east and south would vary from time to time, according as the neighbouring nations were weak or powerful; for example, at least ten of the fourteen towns in Num_32:34-38 were at times in possession not of Israel but of Moab. The northern half of Gilead, in the wide sense, is an agricultural territory, its hills covered with forests, and its valleys and plains with orchards, vineyards and cornfields. But the southern half consists of moorland, useless for agriculture but affording rich pasture for flocks. See G. A. Smith, Hist. Geog. ch. xxvii.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 5, 7, 12, 13, 16, 17, 19, 20, 22, 33, 34, 39, 41 (1) Now the children of Reuben and the children…
XXXII.
(1) Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad . . . —These tribes had occupied a contiguous position in their encampments for the space of thirty-eight years (Num_2:10; Num_2:14), and it was natural that they should desire to be permanently located near each other.
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The land of Jazer.—See Num_21:32. This district was remarkable for its rich pasture-land.
The land of Gilead.—This land lay north and south of the Jabbok, and even in its present desolation shows traces of its great fertility.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. H. Mackintosh 1880 · Public Domain On v1 Numbers 32
Numbers 32
The fact recorded in this chapter has given rise to considerable discussion. Various have been the opinions advanced in reference to the conduct of the two tribes and a half. Were they right or were they wrong in choosing their inheritance on the wilderness side of Jordan! This is the question. Was their acting in this matter, the expression of power or of weakness? How are we to form a sound judgement in this case?
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In the first place, where was Israel’s proper portion - their divinely destined inheritance? Most surely, on the other side of Jordan, in the land of Canaan. Well, then, ought not this fact to have sufficed? would or could a really true heart - a heart that thought, and felt, and judged with God - have entertained the idea of selecting a portion other than that which God had allotted and bestowed Impossible. Hence, then, we need not to go further, in order to have a divine judgement on this subject. It was a mistake, a failure, a stopping short of the divine mark, on the part of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, to choose any boundary line short of the river Jordan. They were governed, in their conduct, by worldly and selfish considerations - by the sight of their eyes - by carnal motives. They surveyed "the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead," and they estimated it entirely according to their own interests, and without any reference to the judgement and will of God. Had they been simply looking to God, the question of settling down short of the river Jordan would never have been raised at all.
But when people are not simple, not true-hearted, they get into circumstances which give rise to all sorts of questions. It is a great matter to be enabled, by Divine grace, to pursue a line of action, and to tread a path so unequivocal as that no question can be raised. It is our holy and happy privilege so to carry ourselves as that no complication may ever arise. The secret of so doing is to walk with God, and thus to have our conduct wholly governed by His word.
But that Reuben and Gad were not thus governed, is manifest from the entire history. They were half-and-half men; men of mixed principles; mere borderers; men that sought their own things, and not the things of God. Had these latter engrossed their hearts, nothing would have induced them to take up their position short of the true boundary line.
It is very evident that Moses had no sympathy with their proposal. It was a judgement upon his conduct that he was not allowed to go over. His heart was in the promised land; and he longed to go thither in person. How could he then approve of the conduct of men who were not only prepared, but actually desirous, to take up their abode somewhere else? Faith can never be satisfied with anything short of the true position and portion of God’s people. A single eye can only see - a faithful heart only desire - the inheritance given of God.
Hence, therefore, Moses at once condemned the proposition of Reuben and Gad. True, he afterwards relaxed his judgement and gave his consent. Their promise to cross the Jordan, ready armed, before their brethren, drew from Moses a kind of assent. It seemed an extraordinary manifestation of unselfishness and energy to leave all their loved ones behind, and cross the Jordan, only to fight for their brethren. But where had they left those loved ones? They had left them short of the divine mark. They had deprived them of a place and a portion in the true land of promise - that inheritance of the which God had spoken to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. and for what? Just to get good pasture for their cattle. For an object like this did the two tribes and a half abandon their place within the true limits of the Israel of God.
And now let us look at the consequences of this line of action. Let the reader turn to Joshua 22. Here we have the first sorrowful effect of the equivocal conduct of Reuben and Gad. They must needs build an altar - "a great altar to see to" lest in time to come their brethren might disown them. What does all this prove? It proves that they were all wrong in taking up their position on this side of Jordan. And only mark the effect upon the whole assembly - the disturbing, alarming effect of this altar. At the first blush, it wore the aspect of actual rebellion. "and when the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up to war against them. And the children of Israel sent unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh,* into the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and with him ten princes, of each chief house a prince throughout all the tribes of Israel; and each one was an head of the house of their fathers among the thousands of Israel. And they came unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, unto the land of Gilead, and they spake with them, saying, Thus saith the whole congregation of the Lord [Did not the two and a half belong to it?] what trespass is this that ye have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the Lord, in that ye have builded you an altar, that ye might rebel this day against the Lord? Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we are not cleansed until this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the Lord, but that ye must turn away this day from following the Lord and it will be, seeing ye rebel to-day against the Lord, that to-morrow he will be wroth with the whole congregation of Israel. Notwithstanding, if the land of your possession be unclean, then pass ye over unto the land of the possession of the Lord, wherein the Lord’s tabernacle dwelleth, [what burning words] and take possession among us: but rebel not against the Lord, nor rebel against us, in building you an altar beside the altar of the Lord our God." Joshua 22: 12-19.
{*As though the two tribes and a half were actually detached from the nation of Israel.}
Now all this serious misunderstanding, all this trouble and alarm, was the result of failure on the part of Reuben and Gad. True, they are able to explain themselves and satisfy their brethren, in reference to the altar. But then there would have been no need of the altar, no demand for explanation, no cause of alarm, had they not taken up an equivocal position.
Here was the source of all the mischief; and it is important for the Christian reader to seize this point with clearness, and to deduce from it the great practical lesson which it is designed to teach. It can hardly be questioned, by any thoughtful, spiritually minded person who fully weighs all the evidence in the case, that the two tribes and a half were wrong in stopping short of the Jordan, in taking up their position. This seems to us unquestionable, seen on the ground of what has already come before us; and if further proof were needed, it is furnished by the fact that they were the very first to fall into the enemy’s hands. See 1 Kings 22: 3.
But it may be that the reader is disposed to ask, "What has all this to say to us? Has this piece of history any voice, any instruction for us" unquestionably. It sounds in our ears, with accents of deep solemnity, "Beware of falling short of your proper position - your proper portion - of being content with the things which belong to this world - of taking any stand short of death and resurrection - the true, the spiritual Jordan."*
{*No doubt there are many sincere Christians who do not see the heavenly calling and position of the Church - who do not enter into the special character of truth taught in the Epistle to the Ephesians - who are, nevertheless, according to their light, earnest, devoted, and true-hearted; but we feel persuaded that such persons lose incalculable blessing in their own souls, and fall very short of the true Christian testimony.}
Such, we conceive, is the teaching of this portion of our book. It is a grand point to be whole-hearted, decided, and unequivocal in taking our stand for Christ. Serious damage is done to the cause of God and the testimony of Christ, by those who profess to be Christians denying their heavenly calling and character, and acting as though they were citizens of this world. This is a powerful engine in the hands of Satan. An undecided, half-and-half Christian is more inconsistent than an open out-and-out worldling or infidel. The unreality of professors is more injurious by far to the cause of God than all the forms of moral pravity put together. This may seem a strong statement; but it is too true. Christian professors who are only mere borderers - men of mixed principles - persons of doubtful deportment - these are the men who most seriously damage the blessed cause, and promote the designs of the enemy of Christ. What we want, just now, is a band of whole-hearted, thorough-going, unmistakable witnesses for Jesus Christ - men who shall declare plainly that they seek a country - earnest, unworldly men.
These are the men for the present crisis. What can be more deplorable, more saddening and discouraging, than to find those who make a lofty profession, who talk loudly of death and resurrection, who boast of their high doctrines and heavenly privileges, but whose walk and ways give the lie to their words? they love the world and the things of the world. They love money and are eager to grasp and hoard as much as possible.
Beloved Christian reader, let us see to these things. Let us honestly judge Ourselves as in the very presence of God, and put away from us everything, no matter what, that tends to hinder the complete devotion of ourselves in spirit and soul and body to him who loved us and gave Himself for us. May we, to use the language of Joshua 22 so carry ourselves as not to need any altar to see to, nor anything to declare where we belong to, where we worship, whose we are and whom we serve. Thus shall everything about us be transparent and unquestionable, our testimony shall be distinct, and the sound of our trumpet certain. Our peace, too, shall flow like an even river, and the entire bent of our course and character shall be to the praise of Him whose name is called upon us. May the good Lord stir up the hearts of His people, in this day of hateful indifferentism, lukewarmness, and easy-going profession, to more genuine self-surrender, true consecration to the cause of Christ, and unshaken faith in the living God. Will the reader join us in pleading for all this?
C. H. Mackintosh, Notes on the Pentateuch — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 23, 26, 28, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42 THE TWO AND A HALF TRIBES BEYOND JORDAN (verses…
THE TWO AND A HALF TRIBES BEYOND JORDAN (verses Num_2:10-14). Simeon, however, was at this time enfeebled and disgraced, and was not likely to assert himself in any way. The "great multitude of cattle" belonging to the two tribes probably point to pastoral habits of long standing, since the cattle of the Amorites and Midianites would be equally divided among all. The land of Jazer. Jazer, or Jaazer, probably stood near the northern source of the Wady Hesban, which enters the Jordan not far from its mouth. The "land of Jazer" would seem to mean the Mishor, or plateau, of Heshbon, over which the Israelites had passed on their way to the plains of Moab. (see on Deu_3:10, "all the cities of the Mishor The land of Gilead. Gilead as the name of a district only previously occurs in Gen_37:25. It is used with a considerable latitude of meaning in this and the following books. In its widest sense it stands for the whole territory to the east of Jordan (see on verses 26, 29), including even the rugged, volcanic districts of Bashan; (Deu_34:1 1Ch_5:16) but more properly it denoted the lands on both sides the Jabbok, from the Wady Hesban on the south, to the Yermuk and lake of Tiberias on the north, now known as the provinces of Belka and Jebel Ajlun. These lands are by no means uniformly flat, as the name "Mount Gilead" testifies, but include mountains and hills covered with fine open forests of oak (cf. 2Sa_18:8, 2Sa_18:9) as well as rolling downs and treeless plains. The soil is almost everywhere of great fertility, and the water supply, although very scanty in summer, is sufficient if carefully husbanded. Even now these provinces produce great store of grain, and are depastured by vast flocks of sheep. In Roman times, as the innumerable ruins testify, they were filled with a large and opulent population. Indeed there could be no comparison in point of agricultural and pastoral value between these open and fertile lands and the broken, stony country of Southern Palestine. If they ever enjoy again the blessing of a strong government and continuous peace they will again justify the choice of Reuben and Gad. A place for cattle. (Septuagint, topov ) is used here in the broader sense of district, (cf. Gen_1:9) and is equivalent to xra in verse 4.
Vers. 1-42. The mistaken choice.
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In this chapter we have, spiritually, the choice of those who do not (on the one hand) wish to sever themselves from the people of God, nor to desert their brethren, but who are (on the other hand) great]y disinclined to go the whole length to which the word of God would lead them, and are determined to abide in the middle ground between the Church and the world. And this choice is set before us both on its worse side, in that it is at once presumptuous and foolish, albeit not unnatural; and on its better side, as being consistent with a large measure of really good and honest principle. The whole spiritual value of the chapter turns upon the lesson thus taught. Consider, therefore
I THAT THE CHILDREN OF REUBEN AND GAD DESIRED TO STAY YON-SIDE OF JORDAN BECAUSE IT SUITED THEM; i.e., because
(1) they had much cattle,
(2) for which the rolling downs and plateau of that region were admirably adapted, whereas
(3) it would be a difficult matter to transport their scattered flocks and herds across the tangled valley and deep stream of Jordan, and
(4) the straiter limits of Canaan proper seemed unsuited to pastoral wealth.
Even so a multitude of Christians hang back from going all lengths with Christ because
(1) they have much wealth of this world,
(2) for the enjoyment of which a manner of life only partially limited and restrained by strict Christian principle is on the face of it very suitable, while
(3) there is a manifest difficulty about introducing this wealth into a strictly religious life, and
(4) an evident incongruity between the requisite attention to such wealth and the restraints and demands of such a life.
II THAT THESE TWO TRIBES WERE UNDOUBTEDLY INTENDED, LIKE THE REST, TO FIND THEIR INHERITANCE IN CANAAN PROPER. For this, and not the land beyond Jordan, was the land which the Lord had sworn to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; this was the land of the seven nations, the promised land, of which the land of Jaazer and Gilead formed no integral part, but only as it were a vestibule, an outlier, an annexe. These did indeed belong to the Holy Land, but were distinctly less holy than the rest. Even so it is the will of God that all Christians should press on unto perfection, i.e., to the perfect life of faith and duty spoken of in the New Testament. This is distinctly what God hath called them to, for it is to this that he hath attached his blessings and promises. Nevertheless there is in practice a vast tract of Christian living which is as clearly distinct from this as it is inferior to it; which lies outside of it in the strict sense, but yet in a wide sense is certainly united to it.
III THAT NATURE ITSELF JUSTIFIED THE DIVINE WISDOM IN CALLING THE PEOPLE INTO CANAAN PROPER. For this Holy Land is separated from all other lands by remarkable geographical features, especially by the deep cleft of Jordan from the children of the east; whereas the trans-Jordanic territory was wholly exposed to a multitude of heathen and hostile neighbours towards the east, and south, and north. Even so it is a matter which needs no discussion that a strict Christian life is by the very laws of human nature fenced from innumerable dangers and assaults to which a half-and-half religion lies completely open. Nothing indeed is more practically helpless, or at least more utterly unsafe, than the Christian life of a half-converted man.
IV THAT THE HISTORY OF ISRAEL SUPPLIES A MELANCHOLY COMMENTARY ON THE UNWISDOM OF THEIR CHOICE. The very places mentioned as the first settlements of Reuben all fell into the hands of the Moabites, with some of those of Gad. Amidst the uncertainties which overhang their history we can make out that these regions were a continual battle-field, never attained a settled prosperity, and were finally conquered before the rest. Even so all experience sets forth the sad results of such a life as is a compromise between the claims of religion and of the world. It is always and of necessity the first to go; the powers of evil strike upon it first, and with the greatest strength. In the day of temptation, when those who live most near to God can hardly stand, what chance is there (humanly speaking) for the halfhearted and half-converted?
V THAT THE CHOICE OF REUBEN AND GAD WAS AFTER ALL VERY NATURAL. Unquestionably the open lands which they had seen were then (as they are now) much more fertile and pleasant than the stony limestone ridges of Southern Palestine; and the deep, sullen stream of Jordan was a formidable obstacle. Even so there is to the natural man something very attractive about the comparative freedom of a life which claims the promises of Christ, and yet is not altogether constrained by his demands. To cross the gloomy-looking gulf of an entire conversion, and to be cooped within the apparently uninviting limits of a consecrated life, is repugnant to much that exists in all of us, and that reigns supreme in many of us.
VI THAT THEIR CHOICE REALLY SHOWED A WANT OF FAITH. For they knew that God had attached his promises to the land beyond Jordan, and they knew that the ark of God was going across, and that the chosen site of God"s presence would be on the other side, yet they deliberately risked the danger of being (to some real extent) separated from the presence and promises and protection of their Holy One. Even so when men settle down in a half-and-half Christianity, it is because they have no strong faith in the promises, and no great longing for the presence of God; they do not disbelieve or despise these, but they are in practice less concerned about them than about temporal advantages.
VII THAT THEIR CHOICE ALSO SHOWED A BLINDNESS TO THEIR ACTUAL DANGERS. Had they foreseen the swarms of enemies to whose assaults they would remain exposed, and realized their comparatively defenseless position, they would surely have petitioned to go over Jordan too. Even so men remain half converted with a light heart because they under-estimate their danger, and over-estimate their strength. Conscious that they intend what is right, they are content to abide far from the succours of Divine grace, at once more exposed to temptation and less able to resist it than more earnest Christians.
VIII THAT THE TWO TRIBES WHICH ASKED, AND THE HALF TRIBE WHICH SEEMS TO HAVE TAKEN WITHOUT ASKING, OBTAINED THEIR INHERITANCE WHERE THEY WISHED TO HAVE IT; and they were not cast out of the chosen people, nor treated with disdain. Even so a great multitude of Christians remain distinctly and deliberately below the level and outside the pale (so to speak) of the true Christian life as portrayed in the Gospels and Epistles. Their life and conversation is in fact governed half by the gospel, and half by the precepts and fashions of the world. Yet they are Christians, and, however great their danger and unsatisfactory their position, they are not and cannot be separated from the Church of God.
Consider more particularly, as to the petition of the two tribes
I THAT IT WAS PARTLY POSITIVE this land be given unto thy servants;" PARTLY NEGATIVE us not over this Jordan." Here we have the attraction of a life of apparent freedom and enjoyment, the repulsion of a concentrated effort, and of a life apparently limited and uninteresting.
II THAT THE CONQUESTS ALREADY MADE MIGHT SEEM THE NATURAL CONCLUSION OF THEIR LONG JOURNEYING AND WAITING. Why should they go further and perhaps fare worse? Here we have the secret of much imperfect religious life. Many stop far short of a thorough-going obedience because they have advanced far enough to feel themselves safe from judgment; and at rest from stings of conscience, and inheritors of the kingdom of heaven; and they have no mind (because they see no necessity) to go any further in the onward path.
III THAT THE TWO TRIBES, BECAUSE THEY HAD DETERMINED TO REMAIN WHERE THEY WERE, ASSUMED THAT THEY HAD DIVINE AUTHORITY TO DO SO: "Our inheritance is fallen to us on this side Jordan." Here we have that confidence which Christian people constantly express, that they are not called to "go on unto perfection." Other people have their own vocation, but it is given unto them to lead a life less strict and less devout because business, or society, or their own disposition requires it, i.e., because they choose to.
Consider again, as to Moses" treatment of their petition
I THAT HE JUDGED THEM HARSHLY AND UNFAIRLY, AS IF THEY HAD BEEN WILFUL REBELS AGAINST GOD AND COWARDLY BETRAYERS OF THEIR BRETHREN, which was not at all the case. Even so those who have the interests of God"s kingdom very much at heart are always tempted to judge too harshly those who show a want of earnestness and of forwardness, and to cast them out as unprincipled; whereas in fact there is often very much to thank God for in their character and conduct.
II THAT HAVING THUS PUT HIMSELF IN THE WRONG, HE COULD NOT TAKE UP THE TRUE GROUND OF REMONSTRANCE, i.e., the injury they would entail upon themselves. Even so to condemn imperfect Christians altogether is to prevent any effective appeal to their own highest interests and truest ambitions.
III THAT WHAT MOSES DID EXACT WAS AN ASSURANCE THAT THEY WOULD NOT ABANDON NOR WEAKEN THEIR BRETHREN PRESSING ON. Even so we have a right to require that those who are not willing themselves to go all lengths with Christ shall at least not hinder nor discourage those who are willing and are trying. Here is the crying evil and sin of our degenerate Christianity, that it not only falls short of the gospel standard, but practically sets up a standard of its own, and utterly discourages any attempt to rise above it; and this is certainly that wickedness against God and man which Moses mistakenly charged on the two tribes.
IV THAT THE EVIDENT POLICY OF MOSES WAS TO UNITE THE TRIBES WHICH REMAINED BEYOND JORDAN BY AS MANY TIES AS POSSIBLE TO THE REST. Even so it is our wisdom to unite all Christian people, especially those who are lukewarm, in common enterprises for good, and in common labours for the Church, so that they may not be more separated from one another than is unavoidable.
Consider again, on the words, "bring us not over this Jordan
1. That "this Jordan" is the accepted figure of the narrow stream of death, which divides us from the promised land wherein God dwelleth.
2. That the trans-Jordanic territory represents the less perfect holiness of life here as contrasted with the more perfect holiness of life there.
3. That this saying, therefore, represents the shrinking which so many feel from that death which is the gate of true life, and their desire to remain amid the familiar and congenial scenes of this world.
4. That this saying, although very natural (since this life is sweet, and death awful, and the land beyond unknown), is certainly due to a want of faith (since the kingdom prepared for us is there, not here), and betrays a certain presumption, since as long as we live here we are in danger of separation from God.
5. That we justify the saying on the ground that life here is holy (as indeed it is), not sufficiently remembering that life there is holier, and that we are only here on the march with a view to crossing Jordan and reaching the true rest.
6. That however good may be the land on this side, "Jerusalem," the place which God hath chosen, the center of Israel"s life and happiness, is beyond Jordan. "Absent from the body," "present with the Lord.
Consider again, on the words, "be sure your sin will find you out
1. That it is indeed true, as the heathen witnessed in many remarkable ways. "Nemesis" is a fact.
2. That it is not what Moses meant to say; rather, "Ye will recognize your sin when it overtakes you.
3. That men fail to recognize their sin at the time; often, that it is a sin at all; generally, how great a sin it is in deed.
4. Then when it overtakes them in its consequences, then they see it in its true light. The awfulness of sin is not due to its awful consequences, but it is manifested by them.
5. That the particular sin against which Moses warned them was the sin of selfishly deserting their brethren, and thereby discouraging and enfeebling them. And this is a sin as great as it is common, the disastrous consequences of which are most sadly evident.
Consider again, with respect to the "cities" which the children of Reuben and Gad "built
I THAT AT THE TIME, AS COMPARED WITH THE TENTS AND BOOTHS OF THE WILDERNESS, THEY SEEMED NO DOUBT TO BE IMPORTANT AND PERMANENT SETTLEMENTS, BUT THEY PROVED TO BE VERY TEMPORARY. Even so there is nothing fixed or abiding in any religious life short of that perfect life unto which we are called. It is not only the "fashion of this world," but "the fashion" of the "religious world," which passeth away, because it is in truth only partly and provisionally Christian.
II THAT IN AFTER DAYS THEY MOSTLY FELL INTO THE HANDS OF THE CRUEL AND IDOLATROUS MOAB, AND RESUMED THEIR OLD HEATHEN NAMES. Even so a manner of life which is not distinctly Christian, albeit lived by Christians, is for ever slipping back into practical heathenism, and reverting to the evil and sinful conditions from which it seemed to have been rescued.
III THAT THE CURSE OF REUBEN (Gen_49:4) BEGAN NOW TO BE FULFILLED THROUGH UNHAPPY CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH WERE YET ENTIRELY OF HIS OWN SEEKING.
It was he that settled himself close upon the frontier of Moab, where he could not have peace or prosperity for any length of time. Even so that incapacity to excel in anything which seems to cling to some Christian people like a curse is after all due to their own precipitate unwisdom in placing themselves at a permanent disadvantage for the sake of immediate gain or ease.
Consider once more, with respect to Machir
I THAT THEY SEEM TO HAVE ACTED INDEPENDENTLY OF MOSES, AND TO HAVE TAKEN THEIR OWN WAY. Even so there are those in the Church whose great natural abilities and singular daring lead them to act without much reference to the taw of Christ, and yet it is not easy to condemn them, or to refuse their aid.
II THAT THEY DID LITTLE GOOD TO THEMSELVES BY CONQUESTS SO REMOTE, BUT THEY DID MUCH GOOD IN MANY WAYS TO ISRAEL. Even so these irregular champions of the Church gain little spiritual profit to themselves, but they are often the means of manifold gain unto their brethren at large.
HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG Vers. 1-5. A bird in the hand worth two in the bush.
This common proverb, so limited in the scope of its application, and so liable to be misused by timid and selfish people, is clearly illustrated in the conduct of these two tribes. Doubtless it is a sound principle to hold a small certainty rather than run the bare chance of a large possibility. But principles are nothing unless we rightly apply them, and the children of Reuben and Gad were forsaking the most certain and enduring of all precious things, and leaning to their own frail understanding. It is a poor exchange to leave the path of Divine providence for that of purblind human prudence.
CONSIDER HERE THE MISTAKEN PRACTICAL NOTIONS BY WHICH REUBEN AND GAD WERE LED INTO THIS REQUEST.
1. An exaggerated estimate of the importance of temporal possessions. Reuben and Gad had a great multitude of cattle; the lands of Jazer and Gilead were places for cattle; and so the way is straight to the conclusion that these lands were the proper habitation of these tribes. It is the man of the world"s view that the place which is good for one"s property must be good for oneself, seeing that a man"s abundance is in the things he possesses. The thought of the cattle so filled the minds of the two tribes that they could give no weight whatever to any other consideration. How hardly shall they that have riches enter the kingdom of heaven! That faith which is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen finds no room to grow in a heart choked up with the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches. At this time, indeed, Reuben and Gad had many cattle, but it by no means followed that they would always have cattle. Job had many cattle, but in a few hours Sabeans and Chaldeans swept them all away. Consider well the thoughts that filled the mind of Lot, (Gen_13:10) as illustrating the foolish, partial, and short-sighted views of the children of Reuben and Gad. The Dead Sea was no great distance from these very lands of Jazer and Gilead.
2. They acted on the presumption that a man is himself the best judge of his own interests. They did not stop to consider that if God had meant this territory for them, he would have indicated his meaning in unmistakable fashion. He had made no sign, and this was in itself a proof that he judged their true home to be on the Canaan side of Jordan. It is the highest wisdom of man to wait, in simplicity and humility, on the indispensable directions of the All-Wise; even as the mariner finds his position by looking heavenward, and by the aid of the compass confidently finds his path across pathless waters. In an unfamiliar place you can gain no knowledge of the points of the compass by the minutest consideration of terrestrial circumstances, but get a glimpse of the sun and know the time of day, and the information is yours at once. The heavens declare the glory of God in this, that they never mislead us; and the God who made them is like them in ministering to the needs of our spirits. We cannot do without him. Instinct, so kind, so all-helpful to the brute, does little or nothing for us. God made us so that he might guide us with his eye. The great bulk of men act as these children of Reuben and Gad acted. The way of God, with all its real advantages, is yet so unpromising to the carnal eye that few there be who find it.
3. Especially they had forgotten that the purposes of God were to be the great rule of life to them. The great multitude of cattle was not theirs, but his. If they had made this proposition with a sense of stewardship in their minds, the proposition might have been not only excusable, but laudable. But the sense of stewardship was the very furthest of all feelings from their hearts. It is a late, a hard, and perhaps always an imperfect discovery, that a man only gains his right position when he manifests the glory of God. The earth is the Lord"s and the fullness thereof. These people had not risen to the thought of Canaan as being the very best land simply because it was God"s choice. Their minds were not full of Canaan, but of their own cattle. A great deal depends on our conception of heaven. If we think of it as the place and state where God is all in all, where law and life exactly correspond, and Christ is glorified in the perfection of all his people, then heaven is begun already. Caleb and Joshua had been waiting forty years for the promised land, yet in a certain sense it had been theirs all the time. It was not simple habitation that made Canaan a promised land, else the Canaanites would have been as blessed as the true Israel. Rightful possession, honest spiritual inheritance, these constituted the full and abiding enjoyment of Canaan. Y.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv1, 6, 16, 23, 38 The children of Gad, and the children of Reuben,…
Num_32:1-6
The children of Gad, and the children of Reuben, came and spake unto Moses.
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The selfish request of the Reubenites and Gadites
I. Mean selfishness. In the competitions of business and of professional and social life there is often very much of mean selfishness, and that even amongst persons who are avowedly Christians. But selfishness is utterly opposed to the spirit of Jesus Christ.
II. Predominant worldliness. In this day there are many, who regard themselves as Christians, who resemble the Reubenites and Gadites--many who are chiefly influenced by temporal and worldly considerations in--
1. The selection and conduct of their business.
2. The formation of matrimonial alliances; and
3. The determination of their residence.
Temporal gain, social surroundings, salubrity of atmosphere, and similar things are often deeply considered, while sacred and spiritual things are well-nigh overlooked.
III. Disregard of the interests and bights of their brethren.
IV. Disparagement of their Divine calling and destiny. What vast numbers practically despise their exalted spiritual calling in the Gospel for the passing and perishing things of this world!
V. Want of faith in the Divine promise. It is not improbable that they had their doubts as to their taking the good land beyond Jordan, and therefore sought to secure for themselves what the nation had already conquered. Such unbelief is a grievous dishonour to God. Conclusion: Mark the folly of this request of the Reubenites and Gadites. The country which they desired had very grave disadvantages. A selfish policy is generally a self-defeating policy. (W. Jones.)
Reuben and Gad
This is too often the prayer of prosperous men. They find upon the earth what they regard as heaven enough. If they could but double their income, they would sigh for no bluer heaven; if they could but have health without increasing the income--simply increase of physical energy--they would desire no better paradise than they can find on earth. Who likes to cross the Jordan that lies before every man? There is a point at which it becomes very difficult to say to God, We are still ready to go on; whatever next may come--great wilderness or cold river, or high stony mountain--we are still ready to go on; Thy will be done, and Thy way be carried out to its last inch. Yet, until we reach the resignation which becomes triumph and the triumph which expresses itself, not in loud sentiment but in quiet and deep obedience, we have not begun to realise the meaning of the kingdom of heaven. What was the answer of Moses? Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here? (Num_32:6). What suggestion there is in the colour of every tone! What sublime mockery! What a hint of cowardice! What an infliction of judgment upon meanness! Sometimes the only way in which we can put a rational rebuke is in the form of an inquiry. But there was more to be considered. And wherefore discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord hath given them? (Num_32:7). Take the word discourage in any sense, and it is full of meaning. Perhaps a stronger word might have been inserted here--a word amounting to aversion and utter dislike to the idea of going forward. Our actions have social effects. There are no literal individualities now; we are not separate and independent pillars; we are parts of a sum-total; we are members one of another. Then Moses utilised history (Num_32:8-13). The past speaks in the present. Our fathers come up in a kind of resurrection in our own thinking and our own propositions. Meanness of soul is handed down; disobedience is not buried in the grave with the man who disobeyed. This is a broad law; were it rightly understood and applied, many a mans conduct would be explained which to-day appears to be quite inexplicable. Appetites descend from generation to generation; diseases may sleep through one generation, and arise in the next with aggravated violence. Men should take care what they do. Then Reuben and Gad said they would fight; they would build sheepfolds for their cattle, and cities for their little ones: but they themselves would go ready armed before the children of Israel, until they had brought them unto their place, and then their little ones should dwell in the fenced cities because of the inhabitants of the land. Moses said, in effect, So be it: if you complete the battle you shall locate yourselves here; but you must complete the battle, and when the conquest is won, you may return and enjoy what you can here of green things and flowing water; but, let me tell you, if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the Lord; this is not a covenant between you and me--between man and man; but your sin will be against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out. The matter was not easily arranged; Heaven was invoked, tones of judgment were employed, a covenant was entered into which bore the seal eternal. That law still continues. Supposing there to be no Bible, no altar, no invisible judgment-seat, no white throne--as has been conceived by sacred poetry--there is still, somehow, at work, in this mysterious scheme of things, a law of a constabulary kind which arrests the evil-doer, which makes the glutton sick, which makes the voluptuary weak, which stings the plotter in the very time which he had planned for his special joy. There is, account for it as we may, a ghostliness that looks upon us through the cloud, so that we feel the blood receding from the face, or feel it returning in violent torrents, making the face red with shame. But there is the law, give it what name we may, shuffle out of religious definitions as we like: the wrong-doer lays his head on a hard pillow; the bad man stores his property in unsafe places. (J. Parker, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v1 In this chapter we have the account of the…
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES
In this chapter we have the account of the allotment of the territory conquered by Israel on the east of the Jordan to the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh.
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Num_32:1. Jazer (see on Num_21:32).
Gilead, “a mountainous region east of the Jordan; bounded on the north by Bashan, on the east by the Arabian plateau, and on the south by Moab and Ammon (Gen_31:21; Deu_3:12-17.)”—Bibl. Dict.
A place for cattle; a district of “rich pasture land, with shady forests, and copious streams.”—Ibid.
Num_32:3. Ataroth, &c. (see on Num_32:34-38).
Num_32:8-13 (see chaps. 13 and 14).
Num_32:8. Kadesh-barnea (see on Num_13:26).
Num_32:9. Eshcol (see on Num_13:23).
Num_32:17. Go ready armed. Keil and Del.: “Equip ourselves hastily.”
Num_32:23. Be sure your sin will find you out. “Lit.: ‘Know ye of your sin that it will find you out.’ ”—speaker’s Comm.
Num_32:28. Moses commanded Eleazar, &c. (comp. Num_34:17-29).
Num_32:33. And unto half the tribe of Manasseh. “The participation of this half tribe in the possession is accounted for in Num_32:39”—O. v. Gerlach (see also Jos_17:1). At this time Moses only gave to the two tribes and a half a general promise of this country. The determination of their respective allotments, and the taking possession of them, was not effected until some time afterwards.
Num_32:34-36. Places restored and fortified by the Gadites.
Num_32:34. Dibon (see on Num_21:30).
Ataroth—“crowns,” probably identical with the ruins Attarus, on Jebel Attarus, and seven miles north-west of Dibon.
Aroer—“ruins,” now in ruins and called Arâir, upon the very edge of the precipitous north bank of the ravine through which the Arnon flows. Not to be confounded with “Aroer that is before Rabbah” (Jos_13:25).
Num_32:35. Atroth, Shophan. This should be written Atroth Shophan; Shophan being added to distinguish it from the Ataroth of the preceding verse. The situation has not been identified.
Jaaser, or Jazer (see on Num_21:32).
Jogbehah, now in ruins and called Jebeiha, seven miles north-west of Jazer.
Num_32:36. Beth-nimrah—“house of sweet water;” in Num_32:3 contracted into Nimrah; situated five miles north of Libias; now in ruins and called Nahr Nimrin, where the waters of the Wady Shoaib enter the Jordan.
Beth-haran, the same as Beth-aram, which should be Beth-haram (Jos_13:27). Herod Antipas named it Libias, in honour of Livia, the wife of Augustus Cæsar. It is now in ruins, and is called Ramch; situated not far from the mouth of the Wady Hesbân.
Num_32:37-38. Places restored and fortified by the Reubenites.
Num_32:37. Heshbon (see on Num_21:25).
Elealeh, now called El-A’al, a little more than a mile north-east of Heshbon.
Kirjathaim, was probably situated three miles south of Heshbon, where the ruins of et-Teym are now found.
Num_32:38. Nebo, a town on or near Pisgah, in the mountains of Abarim (see Num_21:20). “A ruined village of the name Neba has been mentioned by travellers as still existing in those parts, and from the latest account seems to be on the most elevated of the crests” of Pisgah, “due west of Baal-meon, and three miles south-west of Heshbon.”—Speaker’s Comm.
Baal-meon, called Beon in Num_32:3; Beth-Baal-meon in Jos_13:17, and Beth-meon in Jer_48:23, was probably about two miles south-east of Heshbon, where the ruins of Myun are now found.
Shibmah, more correctly Sibmah (Isa_16:8), probably four miles east of Heshbon, and now marked by the ruins es-Sameh. “All the places built by the Reubenites were but a short distance from Heshbon, and surrounded this capital.… The insertion of the words their names being changed, before Shibmah, is an indication that the latter place did not receive any other name. Moreover, the new names which the builders gave to these towns did not continue in use long, but were soon pressed out by the old ones again.”—Keil and Del.
And gave other names, &c. Margin: “Heb., ‘they called by names the names of the cities.’ ” “A roundabout way of saying, they called the towns by (other, or new) names.”—Ibid.
Num_32:39. Machir the son of Manasseh (comp. Gen_1:23).
Went. Rather “had gone.” “The imperfects in Num_32:39 are to be understood in the sense of pluperfects.”—Keil and Del.
Gilead. “More strictly part of north Gilead” (comp. Deu_3:13).
Num_32:41. Jair the son of Manasseh. “Jair was the grandson of a daughter of Machir the son of Manasseh, and therefore a great-grandson of Manasseh on the mother’s side. His father, Segub, was the son of Hezron of the tribe of Judah, who had married a daughter of Manasseh (1Ch_2:21-22); so that Jair, or rather Segub, had gone over with his descendants unto the maternal tribe, contrary to the ordinary rule, and probably because Machir had portioned his daughter with a rich dowry like an heiress.”—Keil and Del.
Took the small towns (comp. Deu_3:14).
Havoth jair—villages of Jair.
Num_32:42. Nobah. This is the only mention of him in the Scriptures.
Kenath Now “Kenawât, a ruined town at the southern extremity of the Lejah, about 20 miles north of Bŭsrah.”—Bibl. Dict.
THE SELFISH REQUEST OF THE REUBENITES AND GADITES
(Num_32:1-5)
This request exhibits—
I. Mean selfishness.
It is marked by an utter absence of regard for the interests of others. These two tribes think and plan, and petition solely for themselves. In the competitions of business and of professional and social life there is often very much of mean selfishness, and that even amongst persons who are avowedly Christians. But selfishness is utterly opposed to the spirit of Jesus Christ; and “if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.” (a)
II. Predominant worldliness.
“Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle,” &c. (Num_32:1). The one consideration which actuated them was this, “The country is a land for cattle, and thy servants have cattle.” They had no care for the unity and prosperity of the nation. Their patriotism utterly succumbed to the force of their worldliness. They had no solicitude as to the relation of the coveted country to the institutions of national worship. Religion was not sufficiently strong in them to bear up against their eagerness for worldly gain. They resembled Lot in this respect, that they had so keen an eye for worldly gain as to be almost blind to every other consideration (comp. Gen_13:10-13). In this day there are many, who regard themselves as Christians, who resemble the Reubenites and Gadites,—many who are chiefly influenced by temporal and worldly considerations in
(1) the selection and conduct of their business;
(2) the formation of matrimonial alliances; and
(3) the determination of their residence. Temporal gain, social surroundings, salubrity of atmosphere, and similar things, are often deeply considered, while sacred and spiritual things are well-nigh overlooked. (b)
III. Disregard of the interests and rights of their brethren.
They manifest no concern for the settlement of their brethren of the other tribes in suitable inheritances; and silently they ignore their equal claim to the country which they sought for themselves. The brethren whom the Reubenites and Gadites thus disregard had shared with them all the toils, hardships, and dangers of the battles by which the land they sought for themselves had been secured; but in their selfishness the two tribes pay no heed to this fact. The tendency of selfishness is to produce disregard of the claims of others, which is often most unjust. (c)
IV. Disparagement of their Divine calling and destiny.
“Let this land be given unto thy servants,” &c. (Num_32:5). Contrast their, “Bring us not over Jordan,” with the fervent prayer of Moses, “O Lord God, I pray Thee, let me go over,” &c. (Deu_3:25). If they did not actually despise the glorious destiny which had been the hope of their ancestors for ages previous, yet they grievously depreciated it. What vast numbers practically despise their exalted spiritual calling in the Gospel for the passing and perishing things of this world!
V. Want of faith in the Divine promise.
It is not improbable that they had their doubts as to their taking the good land beyond Jordan, and therefore sought to secure for themselves what the nation had already conquered. Such unbelief is a grievous dishonour to God.
Conclusion.
Mark the folly of this request of the Reubenites and Gadites. The country which they desired had very grave disadvantages. It was most exposed to the attacks of their enemies; and it was very difficult of united and successful defence, because the Jordan to some extent cut them off from the great bulk of their nation. Their position very speedily gave rise to misunderstanding between them and their brethren on the other side of Jordan. Their association with heathen neighbours led them into idolatry; and they were the first of the Israelites that were carried into captivity (1Ch_5:25-26). How foolish did Lot’s choice of Sodom prove! (Gen_14:12; Gen_19:15-26). He who renounces spiritual and eternal advantages for material and temporal prosperity makes a fool’s choice. “For what is a man profited?” &c. (Mat_16:26). A selfish policy is generally a self-defeating policy. (d)
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) What amazing selfishness visibly appears in the general conduct of mankind, and how little are they, amidst all the culture of education and humanity, all the restraints of law, and all the illuminations, injunctions, and threatenings of religion, disposed to act agreeably to the dictates of truth, righteousness, and benevolence towards each other! A little prosperity, a little power, a very humble office, or some other trifling object of ambition, will at any time make those who have been for life bosom friends. vehement and irreconcilable enemies. In the common bargains between men, again, how rarely is it the design to exchange an equivalent for that which is received, although the only possible rule of honesty; and how generally to make what is called a good, and what is in reality a fraudulent, bargain. How many persons obtain their whole living, and spend their whole lives, in this kind of fraud! What pains are taken to conceal or belie the state of the markets! of our own circumstances, our real intentions, or our ability to fulfil the engagements into which we enter! What base deceptions are practised in cases of bankruptcy; and what frauds perpetrated in order to attain legally the character and immunities of a bankrupt! How difficult has it been even to make a law which can at all secure to creditors an equitable share in the actual remains of a bankrupt’s property! How strange would these observations appear in a world of honest, virtuous beings. Timothy Dwight, D.D.
I warn every aspirant for wealth against the infernal canker of selfishness. It will eat out of the heart with the fire of hell, or bake it harder than a stone. The heart of avaricious old age stands like a bare rock in a bleak wilderness, and there is no rod of authority, no incantation of pleasure, which can draw from it one crystal drop to quench the raging thirst for satisfaction.—H. W. Beecher.
(b) There are business men in our city today who have schemed for a future which, if analysed, would disclose nothing but a careful regard for personal and domestic comfort. I can give you the brief programme of such men; it runs after this fashion—Country, Garden, Quietness, Out-door amusements. I thought I could have mentioned a fifth object of pursuit, but I believe this exhausts the whole scheme. Now it is for them to say whether they will persist in urging this re quest. They are at perfect liberty to leave the City, to abandon the poor, to get away from all that is fœtid, noisome, and otherwise offensive; but let them beware lest, in reaching the supposed heaven, they find that they have gone in the wrong direction, and that where they expected heaven to begin they find that they have only reached the outward edge of earth. Men who make arrangements exclusively with a view to physical comfort never ask the questions which are the chief Inquiries of souls that truly live. They do not say, What kind of preaching shall we have in the locality to which we propose to move? What scholastic advantages will he available? What libraries will be accessible? No! What they want is Country Garden, Quickness Out door amusements—and they get them; but the fruit which they had coveted so eagerly turns to ashes in their mouths—Joseph Parker, D.D.
Another illustration on this point appears on p. 166
(c) You would he indignant if you saw a strong man walk into a theatre or lecture-room, and calmly choosing the best place, take his feeble neighbour by the shoulder, and turn him out of it into the back seats or the streets. You would be equally indignant if you saw a stout fellow thrust, himself up to a table where some hungry children were being fed, and reach his arm over their heads and take their bread from them. But you are not the least indignant if, when a man has stoutness of thought and swiftness of capacity and, instead of being long-around only, has the much greater gift of being long-headed—you think it perfectly just that he should use his intellect to take the bread out of the mouths of all the other men in the town who are of the same trade with him; or use his breadth and sweep of sight to gather some branch of the commerce of the country into one great cobweb of which he is himself to he the central spider, making every thread vibrate with the points of his claws and commanding every avenue with the facets of his eyes. You see no injustice in this.—John Ruskin, M.A.
(d) It is a singular thing this: That men by grasping lose; that by scraping they got nothing; that by having great bunches of keys to lock up seven-fold doors they can’t find what they have locked away—there must be some way inside from the back, some way spirits get into it—at all events the thing goes. God has many ways of turning selfish man’s very success to failure and disappointment. The darkness, the mildew, the locust, the frost, the lightning, the winds, are His servants. Thou shalt carry much seed into the field and shalt gather but little in, for the locusts shall consume it. “Ye have sown much and bring in little; ye cat but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm. He that earneth wages, earneth wages to put into a bag with holes.” “Ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver your bread again by weight, and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.” How God mocks the bad man! How He can turn the wicked man’s very success into failure and how out of selfish ambition He can bring the scorpion whose sting is death.—Joseph Parker, D.D.
THE FAITHFUL REBUKE OF MOSES TO THE REUBENITES AND GADITES
(Num_32:6-15)
In this rebuke Moses indicates—
I. The injustice of their proposal.
“Moses said unto the children of Gad and the children of Reuben, Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here?” Their request, or proposal, was unjust towards their brethren. Why should they have as their inheritance that country which all had assisted to conquer, and leave their brethren to conquer other possessions for themselves without their aid? But did Moses misinterpret their request as regards their intentions in this matter? Some think that he did, and that the Reubenites and Gadites intended to aid their brethren in the conquest of Canaan. This view of their conduct does not commend itself to our judgment; for, “when Moses reproved them, the speakers did not reply that they had not cherished the intention attributed to them, but simply restricted themselves to the promise of co-operation in the conquest of Canaan.” It is probable that, from “the rapid and easy defeat of the two mighty kings of the Amorites, Sihon and Og,” they had come to the conclusion “that the remaining ten tribes were quite strong enough to conquer the land of Canaan on the west of Jordan.” Whatever view may be taken of their request in this respect, they cannot be acquitted of a want of brotherly feeling, and of interest in the welfare of the nation as a whole: and, therefore, they deserved the rebuke which Moses addressed to them.
Selfishness gravitates towards injustice. (a)
II. The tendency of their proposal to dishearten their brethren.
“Wherefore discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord hath given them?” Their request was calculated to produce discouragement, because if it were granted it would be likely to—
1. Reduce their numbers. They would have fewer soldiers with which to conquer the land.
2. Engender dissatisfaction. The ten tribes would feel that they had reason for dissatisfaction and complaint.
In entering upon any course of public action, we are morally bound to consider what its probable effect will be on the community at large. “None of us liveth to himself.” (b)
III. The wickedness of their proposal.
“And, behold, ye are risen up in your fathers’ stead, an increase of sinful men,” &c. Their request was a sin against God, inasmuch as it involved—
1. Unbelief of His word. They doubted His promise to give them the good land.
2. Depreciation of His goodness. They practically disparaged the inheritance to which God had called them. (See the preceding homily, in which these points are noticed.) (c)
IV. The tendency of their proposal to call down the wrath of God.
1. The cause of His anger. “Ye are risen up in your fathers’ steal, an increase of sinful men, to augment yet the fierce anger of the Lord.” With awful intensity His wrath ever burns against sin. It is the “abominable thing which He hates.” (d)
2. The expression of His anger. “For if ye turn away from after Him, He will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and ye shall destroy all this people.” If the unworthy desires of the Reubenites and Gadites had spread to the other tribes, it would have been most just that God should exclude them from Canaan. The expressions of the Divine wrath are ever perfectly just and right.
3. The subjects of His anger. “All this people.” The sad consequences of sin are not confined to the actual transgressors. One member of a family sins, and all the members suffer by reason of that sin. In the nation, one class or party pursues an evil course, and all classes or parties suffer loss or pain. An argument against sin. (e)
V. The solemn example by which Moses enforced his rebuke. (Num_32:8-13.)
See our exposition of chapters 13, 14.
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) For an illustration on Injustice see p. 550.
(b) Illustrations on this point appear on pp. 428, 485.
(c) Illustrations on this point may be found on p. 252.
(d) God Himself, we have always understood, hates sin with a most authentic, celestial, and eternal hatred. A hatred, a hostility, inexorable, unappeasable, which blasts the scoundrel, and all scoundrels ultimately, into black annihilation and disappearance from the sum of things. The path of it is the path of a flaming sword: he that has eyes may see it, walking inexorable, divinely beautiful and divinely terrible, through the chaotic gulf of human history, and everywhere burning, as with unquenchable fire, the false and the deadworthy from the true and lifeworthy; making all human history, and the biography of every man, a God’s Cosmos in the place of a Devil’s Chaos. So it is in the end; even so to every man who is a man, and not a mutinous beast, and has eyes to see.—Thos. Carlyle.
Other illustrations on the Wrath of God appear on pp. 220, 221.
(e) Sages of old contended that no sin was ever committed whose consequences rested on the head of the sinner alone; that no man could do ill and his fellows not suffer. They illustrated it thus:—“A vessel sailing from Joppa, carried a passenger, who, beneath his berth, cut a hole through the ship’s side. When the men of the watch expostulated with him, ‘What doest thou, O miserable man?’ the offender calmly replied, ‘What matters it to you? The hole I have made lies under my own berth.’ ”
The ancient parable is worthy of the utmost consideration. No man perishes alone in his iniquity; no man can guess the full consequences of his transgression.—C. H. Spurgeon
THE AMENDED PROPOSAL OF THE REUBENITES AND GADITES
(Num_32:16-27)
Our subject has three main branches—
I. The amended proposal made.
“And they came near unto him, and said, we will build,” &c. (Num_32:16-19). The chief terms of the proposal are these—
1. That they should provide at once for the safe settlement of their families and their flocks and herds. “We will build sheepfolds here for our cattle, and cities for our little ones, and our little ones shall dwell in the fenced cities because of the inhabitants of the land.” A reasonable proposal: for it was their duty to look to the safety of their wives and little ones and possessions; and when this was done, they would be more free to go forth to the conquest of the land.
2. That they would assist their brethren in the onquest of Canaan. “We ourselves will go ready armed before the children of Israel until we have brought them unto their place.” They would take their full share in the hardships and dangers which were to be encountered in taking the country.
3. That they would not leave their brethren until that conquest was completely effected. “We will not return unto our houses, until the children of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance.” They would not return unto their homes until their brethren ceased to require their services.
4. That they would not seek for any inheritance with their brethren on the other side of the Jordan. “We will not inherit with them on yonder side Jordan, or forward; because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side Jordan eastward.” They would not seek for any additional territory as compensation for helping their brethren in their wars, but would be content with the inheritance for which they were now asking.
Such are the chief terms of the amended proposal of the Reubenites and the Gadites; and they are manifestly reasonable and equitable.
II. The amended proposal accepted.
“And Moses said unto them, if ye will do this,” &c. (Num_32:20-24).
1. Moses re-affirms the chief terms of their proposal. He “said unto them, if ye will do this thing, if ye will go armed before the Lord to war, and will go all of you armed over Jordan,” &c. (Num_32:20-22). In this way he would impress them with the importance of the engagements they were making, and the solemnity of the obligations incurred by them.
2. He accepts their proposal as righteous. “Then afterwards ye shall return, and be guiltless before the Lord, and before Israel; and this land shall be your possession before the Lord. Build you cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep: and do that which hath proceeded out of your mouth.”
3. He warns them that if they fail to faithfully fulfil its terms punishment will overtake them. “But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the Lord: and be sure your sin will find you out.” “The guilt will haunt you at heels, as a bloodhound, and the punishment will overtake you.” Their sin would certainly bring its own punishment. (a)
III. The amended proposal confirmed.
“And the children of God and the children of Reuben spake unto Moses, saying, Thy servants will do as my lord commandeth. Our little ones,” &c. (Num_32:25-27). And the proposal thus ratified was faithfully fulfilled (Jos_4:12-13).
Lessons.
i. The duty of manifesting a practical regard for the rights and interests of others. “We are members one of another.” “The members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer,” &c. (1Co_12:25-26). It behoves us not merely to cultivate kind feelings towards others, but also to render practical help in the toils and trials of life. (b)
ii. The importance of faithfully fulfilling the engagements into which we enter. Our covenants we should always keep. Our promises should always be translated into performances. (c)
iii. The delusiveness of the notion that any one can sin and escape the punishment of sin. The penalty follows the transgression as an inevitable consequence. (d)
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) A vessel was going from Bassorah to Bagdad, the author of Persian Stories relates, with several passengers on board. In the course of the voyage the sailors, by way of a joke, put a man in irons, as he lay asleep, and he became a subject of diversion to the whole party till they drew near to the capital. But when the sailors wanted to let him loose the key was nowhere to be found, and after a long and fruitless search they were compelled to send for a blacksmith to knock off the fetters. When, however, the blacksmith came, he refused to do what they wanted till he had authority of the magistrate, for he thought the man might be some criminal whom the officers of justice had laid hold of, and that his friends wished to favour his escape. To the magistrate they accordingly went, who sent down one of his attendants to see into it. But the officer, when he had beard their story, and had taken the evidence of some of the most respectable among the passengers, shook his head, and with a look of solemnity said it was much too serious a case for him to decide. So they repaired in a body to the magistrate, and carried the poor captive with them. So strange a procession was sure to attract notice, and a crowd soon collected about them, each curious to know the prisoner’s offence, and to catch a sight of him; till at length one man, springing forward, seized the captive by the throat and exclaimed,” Here is the villain I have been looking for these two years ever since he robbed and murdered my poor brother!” Nor would he quit his hold till they came before the magistrate, and the murder being clearly proved, the man who had been confined in joke only was given up to death, as punishment for the blood he had shed.—The Sunday School Teacher.
Another illustration on this point is given on p. 90.
(b) “Two,” says Solomon, “are better than one; for if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him who is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.” The cobbler could not paint the picture, but he could tell Apelles that the shoe latchet was not quite right, and the painter thought it well to take his hint. Two neighbours, one blind and the other lame, were called to a place at a great distance. What was to be done? The blind man could not see, and the lame man could not walk. Why, the blind man carried the lame one; the blind one assisted by his legs, the other by his eyes. Say to no one, then, “I can do without you;” but be ready to help those who ask your aid, and then, when it is needed, you may ask theirs. Mankind are so much indebted to one another, that they owe mutual attention.—Anon.
Man is not himself his own work; he is precisely the most wonderful piece of God’s workmanship extant. In this best piece not only he is bound to take delight, but cannot, in a right state of thought, take delight, in anything else, otherwise than through himself. Through himself, however, as the sun of creation, not as the creation. In himself, as the light of the world; not as being the world. Let him stand in his due relation to other creatures, and to inanimate things—know them all and love them, as made for him, and he for them; and he becomes himself the greatest and holiest of them. But let him cast off this relation, despise and forget the less creation round him, and instead of being the light of the world, he is as a sun in space—a fiery ball, spotted with storm.
All the diseases of mind leading to fatalest ruin consist primarily in this isolation. They are the concentration of man upon himself; whether his heavenly interests or his worldly interests, matters not; it is the being his own interests which makes the regard of them so mortal. Every form of asceticism on one side, of sensualism on the other, is an isolation of his soul or of his body; the fixing his thoughts upon them alone: while every healthy state of nations and of individual minds consists in the unselfish presence of the human spirit everywhere, energizing over all things; speaking and living through all things—John Ruskin, M.A.
(c) When Justice North, afterwards the Lord Keeper Guildford, during one of his circuits, visited the Duke of Beaufort, at his princely seat at Badminton, the Lord Arthur, then a child about five years old, was very angry with the judge (he said) for hanging men. The judge replied, “that if they were not hung, they would kill and steal.” “No,” said the little boy, “you should make them promise upon their honour they would not do so, and then they would not.” How delicate must the noble principle have been in the breast of this infant noble, and how rich a soil wherein to plant and to cherish it.—Biblical Museum.
I have somewhere met with an anecdote of Lord Chatham, who had promised that his son should be present at the pulling down of a garden wall. The wall was, however, taken down during his absence, through forgetfulness; but, feeling the importance of his word being held sacred, Lord Chatham ordered the workmen to rebuild it, that his son might witness its demolition, according to his father’s promise.—F. F. Trench.
(d) Illustrations on this topic are given on pp. 89, 225, 318, 374.
CONFLICT THE CONDITION OF ATTAINMENT, AND SUFFERING THE CONSEQUENCE OF SIN
(Num_32:20-23)
Old Testament histories are New Testament instructions. “Whatsoever things were written aforetime,” &c. (Rom_15:4). They teach that human nature is the same in all ages; that God’s government is the same, &c.
I. A truth to be confirmed—that those who would share in the inheritance must engage in the conflict.
In this warfare not to fight is to perish. To obtain the possession we must “go armed before the Lord to war.” Life is a scene of conflict between the seed of the Serpent, &c.
1. This is opposed to the thoughtless impiety of the worldling; who, intent upon present objects, has no sympathy with the claims of Truth, the designs of God, or the conflicts of the Church.
They forget that in the great struggle always going on between truth and error, holiness and sin, Christ and Belial, heaven and hell, every man must take a part—for Christ against Satan, or for Satan against Christ. The moment that the life of faith begins, the fight of faith begins. We cannot put off our armour till we put on our shroud. It was a striking saying of a celebrated captain: “There’s the enemy; if you don’t kill them, they will kill you.”
They forget that this war, like that against Canaan, is divinely appointed. Six times in this connection it is stated that it was “before the Lord” they were to “go armed to war.” The conflict was begun at His command; and not to end but with His permission.
Reuben and Gad are fitting types of worldly men. They had a fine eye for worldly gain. They would willingly engage with the warriors up to the point of securing their inheritance, and then fall back. Every unconverted man is a Reubenite at heart. For the world all eagerness, &c.
2. This is opposed to the sinister and selfish designs of the hypocrite; who is always pursuing some secondary object. We are to guard against “all the deceits of the world.” Calvin, speaking of the Reubenites, thinks there was “much amiss in the principle they went upon, preferring their own ease to the Church’s good, and having no such regard to the honour of God and the Covenant of Promise, as they ought to have had.” Their request seemed to arise from contempt of the good land, or doubt of God’s power to bring them through. It argued a culpable neglect of their brethren. But the men of Reuben, like other hypocrites, had other ends. No man acts on a single motive. Reuben had lost his birthright, and could not claim a first inheritance. Manasseh, though the elder, was always eclipsed and overshadowed by Ephraim, the recognised head of ten tribes. And Gad had a blot on his escutcheon, being descended from Zilpah, Leah’s handmaid. Each of these, therefore, had a reason for wishing an inheritance on that side the Jordan.
3. As opposed to the baseness of the Antinomian; who is all for privilege, and nothing for obligation.
II. A warning to be applied—that sin brings punishment; and that those who think to sin with impunity, under a dispensation of mercy, will find themselves fearfully disappointed. “Be sure your sin will find you out.”
No impression seems more common than the hope of escape; but none more fallacious. Some think they can stop a a certain point; others that they can skilfully conceal their transgression; or that they can repent in time. Sinning on a plan.
But the certain connexion between crime and punishment is part of the public creed of all nations. Hence the tendency to convert calamities into judgments. We look for and record any token of retributive justice, by which the consequences of men’s actions are brought home to themselves.
1. In the way of natural consequence. The law that regulates the succession of the seasons is not more certain than that which regulates the just recompense of reward that follows sin. God who gives to every seed its own body, makes the harvest of guilt answerable to the seed time. The interval may be long, but the result is certain. The man who is undutiful to his parents, may be visited by the equal undutifulness of his own child. Jacob, who deceived Isaac, was himself deceived by Laban and Leah, and by his own sons. Agag, who made mothers childless, was slam by Samuel, and his mother made childless.
2. In the way of Providential dispensation. God sees sin wherever it exists: He is angry with the wicked. For sin He drowned one world, &c.
See it in guilty nations. The Jews crucified our Lord: they were crucified by the Romans in the siege, &c. The Roman emperors persecuted the Christians: they themselves came to untimely deaths. Spain founded the Inquisition: she has been sunk to the level of a third-rate power. France persecuted the Huguenots: she has been a hot-bed of revolutions.
See it in guilty men. Cain, Joseph’s brethren, Gehazi, Achan, David.
3. In, the way of final retribution.
III. A personal application to be made.
Samuel Thodey.
THE CERTAINTY THAT SIN WILL FIND US OUT
(Num_32:23)
The fear of punishment, if not the best, is certainly the most common preservative from sin. Under the Mosaic dispensation, it was the principal motive with which the Divine commands were enforced. Nor did St. Paul think it wrong to “persuade men by the terrors of the Lord.” Consider—
I. In what manner we have sinned against the Lord.
It would be useless to attempt an enumeration of all the sins we have committed.
1. We shall confine ourselves to that view of them which the context suggests. The sin against which Moses cautioned the two tribes was unfaithfulness to their engagements: and a preferring of their present ease to the executing of the work which God had assigned them. Now, we promised to renounce the world, &c., but how have we kept the covenant which we solemnly entered into? &c.
2. But the sin referred to in the text will scarcely bear any comparison with ours. The Israelites were to maintain a warfare with men; we with the devil (Eph_6:11-12). They were to fight for an earthly portion; we, an heavenly (1Co_9:25). They might have urged that their aid was unnecessary when God was engaged; and that after all the prize was an inadequate reward for such fatigue and danger. But can we hope to conquer without exerting our own powers? Or can we say that the prize held out to us is not worth the contest? If our engagements be more solemn, our work more noble, and our reward more glorious than theirs our sin in disregarding all must be proportionably greater. Yet who amongst us must not confess that he has forgotten all his vows? Then we may say to all, “Ye have sinned against the Lord.”
II. What assurance we have that our sin shall find us out.
1. Sin may be said to find us out when it brings down the Divine judgments upon us. Conscience, stupefied or seared, often forgets to execute its office; nor speaks till God, by His providence or grace, awaken it. Sometimes years elapse before it reproves our iniquities (Gen_42:21-22). Sometimes it testifies to our face as soon as our sin is committed (Mat_26:74-75; Mat_27:3-4). Whenever it thus condemns us, our sins may be said to find us out. But the expression in the text imports rather the visitation of God for sin. There is a punishment annexed to every violation of God’s law (Eze_18:4). And sin then finds us out effectually when it brings that punishment upon us.
2. That it will find us out, we have the fullest possible assurance.
(1) The perfections of God’s nature absolutely preclude all hope of impunity. If He be omnipresent He must see; if omniscient, remember; if holy, hate; and if just, punish the violations of His law. If He be possessed of veracity and power, He must execute the judgments He has denounced
(2) The declarations of His Word abundantly confirm this awful truth (Psa_21:8; Pro_11:21; Isa_3:11; Rom_2:6; Rom_2:9). Sin leaves a track which can never be effaced; and evil, however slow-paced, will surely overtake it (Psa_140:11; Pro_13:21). However scoffers may exult in their security, their ruin is fast approaching (Deu_29:19-20; 2Pe_2:3; 2Pe_3:4; 2Pe_3:9).
(3) The remarkable instances of sin being detected and punished in this world afford strong additional testimony (Jos_7:14-18; 2Sa_12:9-12; 2Ki_5:26-27). How much more then shall the most hidden things be brought to light hereafter!
(4) The appointment of a day of final retribution puts the matter beyond a possibility of doubt (Ecc_12:14). We may, then, say to every sinner, “Be sure your sin,” &c.
INFER—
i. How earnest should we be in searching out our own sins! (Psa_50:21; Luk_13:3.)
ii. How thankful should we be that a way of escape is provided for us! The Man Christ Jesus is an hiding place from the impending storm. Every perfection of Deity is pledged to save a believing penitent (1Jn_1:9). We are confirmed in this hope by the most positive declarations of Scripture (Isa_44:22; Mic_7:18-19; Heb_8:12). We have most authentic and astonishing instances of sin forgiven (2Sa_12:13; Luk_7:47; Luk_23:43). Let this blessed assurance encourage us to take refuge under the Saviour’s wings (Mat_23:37).—C. Simeon, M.A.
THE SELF-RETRIBUTIVE NATURE OF SIN
(Num_32:23)
“Be sure your sin will find you out.”
The text teaches the solemn and admonitory truth that sin carries with it its own punishment, which will eventually seize upon the sinner. This truth is confirmed by—
I. The germinal character of human actions.
Every action of life resembles a seed, which brings forth fruit after its kind. “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap;” &c. (a)
II. The exercise of memory.
In the exercise of its retentive function, memory holds all the sins we have ever committed; and in the exercise of its reproductive function, it may at any moment bring them forth, an awful procession, in clear and terrible aspects. Memory is “the bane of the wicked;” for it torments them by vividly appalling representations of their evil deeds. In this way the sin overtakes and smites the sinner. (b)
III. The operations of conscience.
The awakening of conscience to a sense of its guilt is the kindling of a hell within the breast from which there is no escape, except through the Cross of Christ. Guilt made Macbeth, the noble and brave soldier, cry out:—
“How is’t with me when every noise appals me!”
“The wicked flee when no man pursueth.” “The sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them: and they shall flee, as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when none pursueth.” “Terrors take hold on him as waters.”
“That pang where more than madness lies!
The worm that will not sleep, and never dies.
Thought of the gloomy day and ghastly night,
That dreads the darkness, and yet loathes the light:
That winds around, and tears the quivering heart,
Ah! wherefore not consume it and depart?”
—Byron. (c)
IV. The power of habit.
“Habit,” says Sir W. Hamilton, “is formed by the frequent repetition of the same action, or passion, and this repetition is called consuetude, or custom.”
“All habits gather by unseen degrees,
As brooks make rivers, rivers run to seas.”
—Dryden.
“Habit is at first like a spider’s web; if neglected, it becomes a thread of twine; next, a cord or rope, and eventually a cable; and then who can break it?” “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil.” “His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.” (d)
Conclusion—
i. Warning against sin. Let the certainty of its punishment deter you from the commission of sin.
ii. Motive to trust in Christ. Through Him we may obtain forgiveness of sin, cleansing from its stains, and freedom from its power.
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) This topic is illustrated on pp. 89, 265, 481.
(b) I knew a man who said, that in falling twenty feet, when he expected to die, the thoughts of a lifetime seemed to pass through his mind. He thought of his business, of his wife, of his children, and of that eternity to which he was going. A life seemed to pass through his mind and nothing was lost. So it will be when memory summons the acts of a life at the last tribunal. Nothing is lost. Thoughts once impressed, but apparently lost, will come out again. A life is written on our memory, as with invisible ink. It is apparently lost to our frail sight while here; but, in the judgment light, it will be seen enveloped around us, and will be unroll d till every line and letter is made visible. I knew a sailor once, who said, that when in a storm, on the giddy mast, while trying to furl a sail, and could not, he cursed God. It passed out of his mind for twenty years; but then, in a season of excitement, he said, “Now I remember it. I am lost.”—H. W. Beecher.
Let a man try to forget any dreadful thing, of which he hates the remembrance, and the more he tries to forget it, the more surely he remembers it, the more he bodies it forth, and every thrust he makes at it causes it to glare up anew, reveals some new horror in it. Doubtless, this peculiarity in our mental constitution is destined to play a most terrific part in the punishment of men’s sins in eternity; for there can be nothing so dreadful as the remembrance of sin, and nothing which men will strive with more intense earnestness to hide from and forget, than the recollection of their sins; and yet every effort they make at such forgetfulness only gives to such sins a more terrible reality, and makes them blaze up in a more lurid light to the conscience. Oh, if they could but be forgotten! But the more intense is the earnestness of this wish, the more impossible becomes the forgetfulness, the more terribly the dreaded evil stands out. There are cases, even in this life, in which men would give ten thousand worlds, if they possessed them, could they only forget; but how much more in eternity! The man that has committed a secret midnight murder, how often, think you, though perhaps not a human being suspects it, would he give the riches of the material universe, if he had them at command could he but forget that one moment’s crime! But it is linked to his very constitution; and every time he tries to cut the chain, he does but rattle and rouse the crime out of its grave into a new existence.—G. B. Cheever, D.D.
Will no remorse, will no decay,
O Memory, soothe thee into peace?
When life is ebbing fast away,
Will not thy hungry vultures cease?
Ah, no! as weeds from fading free,
Noxious and rank, yet verdantly
Twine round a ruined tower;
So to the heart, untamed, will cling
The memory of an evil thing
In life’s departing hour:
Green is the weed when grey the wall,
And thistles rise while turrets fall.
Yet open Memory’s book again—
Turn o’er the lovelier pages now,
And find that balm for present pain
Which past enjoyment can bestow:
Delusion all, and void of power!
For e’en in thought’s serenest hour,
When past delights are felt,
And Memory shines on scenes of woe,
’Tis like the moonbeam on the snow,
That gilds, but cannot melt;
That throws a mocking lustre o’er,
But leaves it cheerless as before.
—J. A. Heraud.
(c) My dream was lengthened after life;
O, then began the tempest to my soul!
I passed, methought, the melancholy flood,
With that grim ferryman which poets write of
Unto the kingdom of perpetual night.
The first that there did greet my stranger soul,
Was my great father-in-law, renowned Warwick,
Who cried aloud—What scourge for perjury
Can this dark monarchy afford false Clarence?
And so he vanished: Then came wand’ ring by
A shadow like an angel, with bright hair
Dabbled in blood; and he shrieked out aloud,
Clarence is come,—false, fleeting, perjured Clarence—
That stabb’d me in the field by Tewkesbury;
Seize on him, furies, take him to your torments!
With that, methought, a legion of foul fiends
Environed me, and howled in mine ears
Such hideous cries, that, with the very noise,
I trembling waked, and, for a season after,
Could not believe but that I was in hell;
Such terrible impression made my dream.
I have done these things
That now give evidence against my soul.
—Shakespeare, Richard III. i. 4.
My conscience hath a thousand several tongues,
And every tongue brings in a several tale,
And every tale condemns me for a villain.
Perjury, perjury, in the high’st degree;
Murder, stern murder, in the driest degree;
All several sins all used in each degree,
Throng to the bar crying all—Guilty! guilty!
I shall despair. There is no creature loves me,
And, if I die, no soul will pity me—
Nay, wherefore should they? since that I myself
Find in myself no pity to myself.
Methought the souls of all that I had murder’d
Came to my tent; and every one did threat
Tomorrow’s vengeance on the head of Richard.
—Ibid. Num_32:3.
(d) Here is a young man who says, “I cannot see why they make such a fuss about the intoxicating cup. Why, it is exhilarating. It makes me feel well. I can talk better, think better, feel better. I cannot see why people have such a prejudice against it.” A few years pass on, and he wakes up, and finds himself in the clutches of an evil habit which he tries to break, but cannot; and he cries out, “O Lord God, help me!” It seems as though God would not hear his prayer, and in agony of body and soul he cries out, “It biteth like a serpent, and it stingeth like an adder.” How bright it was at the start! how black it was at the last!—T. De Witt Talmage, D.D.
SIN WILL COME TO LIGHT
(Num_32:23)
“Be sure your sin will find you out.”
Men, when they commit sin, wish to think that they are done with the thing for ever. Few succeed in convincing themselves of this huge error; but some do think that the Most High doth not regard, and will never call them to account. Others think that the day of God’s dealing with them will not come till by some means, not sanctioned by Scripture, not approved by sound reason, they will make all right. In many ways sinners practise deceit on themselves and harden themselves in iniquity. Men are not done with sin when they have committed it. After sin comes a dread account. “Be sure your sin will find you out.”
I. God certainly shows His purpose to punish sin by the way He causes woe to come on some sinners here.
The drunkard, the glutton, and the cheat, the liar and the lewd, are not the only examples. Most frauds are exposed. Nearly all murders are brought to light. Men may plot very secretly, and think their crimes are hid. But Providence calls on stones and beams of timber, on tracks and pieces of paper, to be witnesses of the crime. Then all that class of sins which are not punishable by human laws, God often punishes with a loss of respect, esteem, or confidence. After twenty-four years of concealment, Joseph’s brethren are brought to feel and say that God had found out their iniquity. Ibycus, a famous Grecian poet, was going to Corinth. Robbers attacked and murdered him. As he was falling and dying, he looked around to see if there were no witnesses or avengers. All he could see was a flock of cranes high in the air. He called on them to avenge his blood. You may think that was an idle call. The robbers thought so. They got their prey, and came to Corinth. They went to the open theatre. As they sat there, they looked up and saw above them a flight of cranes, and one scoffingly said, “Lo, there are the avengers of Ibycus.” The words were heard by some one near them. Already fears of the poet’s safety began to be common. The gang, on being questioned, betrayed themselves, and The Cranes of Ibycus became a proverb, like that we have in English, Murder will out.
II. Men might be sure that their sin will find them out by the sore judgments which God sometimes sends on men for their sins.
On this matter we should exercise candour, caution, and charity, and not call that an angry judgment which is but a dark doing of love. Still there are on earth sore and marked judgments. Look at the history of Achan, of Korah, &c. Of thirty Roman Emperors, Proconsuls, and high officials, who distinguished themselves by their zeal and rage against the early Christians, it is recorded that one became speedily deranged after an act of great cruelty; one was slain by his own son; one became blind; the eyes of one started out of his head; one was drowned; one was strangled; one died in a miserable captivity; one fell dead in a manner that will not bear to be told: one died of so loathsome a disease that several of his physicians were put to death, because they could not abide the stench that filled his room; two committed suicide; a third attempted it, but had to call for help to finish the bloody work; five were assassinated by their own servants or people; five others died the most horrible deaths, having many and strange diseases; and eight were killed in battle, or after being taken prisoners. Men have more to do with sin than to commit it.
III. One may escape detection and strange judgments, and still his sins may find him out in the fears, and clam ours, and remorse of conscience.
Remorse is remorseless. Like fire, it burns all around it. No man can protect himself against his sins flashing him in the face at any moment. The Bible, preaching, singing, praying, a marriage, a trial in court, the sight of the man he has injured, or one that looks like him, or anything may arouse his conscience into fury at the most inconvenient time.
IV. But even if one escape all these things, yet if he dies unpardoned his sins will find him out in the next world.
Luk_12:2; 1Ti_5:24; Ecc_10:20.
Why do not men admit the force of these truths, and act accordingly? The reasons are very clear.
1. Some think their sins will not find them out because. God has not yet called them to account (Ecc_8:11). Such men forget that with the Lord one day is “as a thousand years,” &c. (2Pe_3:8-10).
2. In this world sinners often forget their sins, and think God has also forgotten them (Psa_10:11). But God forgets nothing.
3. Some think their sin will not find them out because they doubt whether God is holy and just, and whether He takes notice of human actions (Psa_94:5; Psa_94:7). But that is practical atheism (Pro_15:3; Ecc_12:14).
4. Some think their sin will not find them out because God is merciful. But mercy slighted and rejected can save no man. All the cooling fountains can do no good to him who does not drink them.
O sinner, “be sure your sin will find you out.” You may now live in ease and in error. You may now harden your heart in pride. But you must meet your sins at God’s tribunal. Remember that. O be wise, be wise unto salvation.—W. S. Plumer, D.D.
THE ARRANGEMENTS FOR CARRYING OUT THE PROPOSAL OF THE REUBENITES AND GADITES
(Num_32:28-42)
In these verses there are several things which require a brief notice.
I. The arrangements made by Moses for carrying out the agreement into which he had entered with the Reubenites and Gadites.
1. His command to Eleazar and Joshua. “Moses commanded Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun,” &c. (Num_32:28-30). Knowing that before the engagements could be fulfilled he would “be gathered unto his people,” he charges the authorities of the nation to carry them out.
2. His grant of the land to the two and a half tribes. “Moses gave unto them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben,” &c. Thus he provides as carefully and completely as possible for the fulfilment of the agreement into which, as the head of the nation, he had entered. Learn from the conduct of Moses—
i. That men drawing near to the close of life should provide for the fulfilment of the engagements which they have made. It behoves them “to set their house in order,” &c. (comp. 2Ki_20:1). (a)
ii. That men should not enter into engagements for the fulfilment of which they are unable to make provision.
II. The renewal of the promise of the Reubenites and Gadites.
“And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered,” &c. Here are two considerations—
1. The engagement which they renew. They pledge themselves, for the third time, to do the will of Jehovah by aiding their brethren in the conquest of Canaan. “As the Lord hath said unto thy servants, so will we do,” &c.
2. The object which they had in view in renewing the engagement. “That the possession of our inheritance on this side Jordan may be ours.”
III. The bestowment upon the half tribe of Manasseh of northern Gilead and Bashan.
“And Moses gave Gilead unto Machir the son of Manasseh,” &c. (Num_32:40-42). This half tribe of Manasseh had not asked for their inheritance east of the Jordan. Wherefore, then, was it assigned to them there? Of the three tribes “who had elected to remain on that side of the Jordan, Reuben and Gad had chosen their lot because the country was suitable to their pastoral possessions and tendencies. But Machir, Jair, and Nobah, the sons of Manasseh, were no shepherds. They were pure warriors, who had taken the most prominent part in the conquest of those provinces which up to that time had been conquered, and whose deeds are constantly referred to (Num_32:39; Deu_3:13-15) with credit and renown. ‘Jair the son of Manasseh took all the tract of Argob … sixty great cities’ (Deu_3:14; Deuteronomy 4). ‘Nobah took Kenath, and the daughter towns thereof, and called it after his own name’ (Num_32:42). ‘Because Machir was a man of war, therefore he had Gilead and Bashan’ (Jos_17:1). The district which these ancient warriors conquered was among the most difficult, if not the most difficult, in the whole country. It embraced the hills of Gilead, with their inaccessible heights and impassable ravines, and the almost impregnable tract of Argob, which derives its modern name of Lejah from the secure ‘asylum’ it affords to those who take refuge within its natural fortifications” (Bibl. Dict). Thus their inheritance may have been assigned to them there—
1. As an acknowledgment of their bravery. The words of Num_32:39 suggest this, “The children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, had gone to Gilead, and taken it, and dispossessed the Amorite which was in it. And Moses gave Gilead,” &c.
2. As a precaution for the common safety. The occupation of this frontier country by these bold and valiant warriors would tend to promote the security of the nation. Moses might have had this in view in settling them there.
IV. The alteration of the names of the places.
“Nebo and Baal-meon (their names being changed), and Shibmah; and gave other names unto the cities which they builded.” The alteration of the names of the towns arose probably from—
1. A desire not to mention the names of the heathen deities after which some of them were called. Nebo and Baal are such names. The Israelites were commanded not to utter the name of false gods (Exo_23:13; Jos_23:7).
2. A desire to perpetuate their own names. “Nobah took Kenath, and called it Nobah, after his own name.” “They call their lands after their own names” (Psa_49:11). Deep is the desire of men to be remembered on the earth when they have passed away from it for ever. (b)
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) Illustrations on the Fulfilment of promises appear on p. 554.
In connection with the important subject of preparation for death—for we have all to die, and the sooner we distinctly understand what it requires to do so honourably and safely, the better,—allow me to mention, first, a wise and equitable arrangement of your temporal affairs. “Have you made your will?” There is an admirable tract with this title. I wish it were better known, and more generally read. He who has property that will survive him, and a family possessing indisputable claims on his remembrance, ought not to give sleep to his eyes nor slumber to his eyelids, till he has made such a testamentary disposition of his estate as shall be to the honour of his Christian character, and save his family from contention, litigation, and strife, in the event of his removal.—Thos. Ruffles D.D., LL.D.
But not that way do all men make their departure. Men ought to have their worldly affairs settled, so that the executors and administrators will not be confounded; and so that what they have honestly earned be not scattered among those who have no right to it. If the sudden announcement should be made to you to-night what would be the state of your families? Have you done all that you can to fit them for heaven? Could you feel, “Whatever I, as father or mother, could do, I have done. They will remember how I prayed for them and talked with them; and when they look at my picture, they will say: ‘That was a Christian parent. I want to go in the same way, and gain the same heaven’ ”? The keys of this organ are twelve feet from the organ-pipes; but every time those keys are touched the pipes resound. So these parents are now exercising influences which will respond far on in the eternity of their children. If they play an anthem now, it will be an anthem then. If they play a dirge now, it will be a dirge for ever.—T. De Witt Talmage, D.D.
(b) Various are the contrivances of vain men to have their names written on earth, and to procure, after their deaths, an imaginary immorality, for themselves and their families, in the memory and conversation of posterity; which is not often obtained; and, it obtained, is of no value; when, with less trouble, they might have had their names written in heaven, and have secured to themselves a blessed immortality, in the glorious kingdom of their Redeemer.—Bp. Home.
“Some sink outright.
O’er them and o’er their names the billows close,
Tomorrow knows not they were ever born.
Others a short memorial leave behind;
Like a flag floating when the bark’s engulfed,
It floats a moment, and is seen no more.
One Cæsar lives; a thousand are forgot.”
—Young.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain On v1 I. Every sin brings its punishment.
Num 32:23
I. Every sin brings its punishment.
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II. Every sinner will ultimately be found out by his sin, and be obliged to confront it.
III. There is a way of escape from the punishment of sin. It must be one or the other—salvation by faith in Christ, and sin put away by an atoning sacrifice, or sin finding us out either in time or eternity.
A. G. Brown, Penny Pulpit, No. 1080.
The text leads us to consider the consequences of a single sin, such as a breach of their engagement would have been to the Reubenites and Gadites.
I. It is natural to reflect on the probable influence upon us of sins committed in our childhood and even infancy, which we never realised or have altogether forgotten. Children’s minds are impressible in a very singular way, such as is not common afterwards. The passing occurrences which meet them rest upon their imagination as if they had duration, and days or hours, having to them the semblance, may do the work, of years.
II. What is true in infancy and childhood is in its degree true in after-life. At particular moments in our later life, when the mind is excited, thrown out of its ordinary state, as if into the original unformed state when it was more free to choose good or evil, then, in like manner, it takes impressions, and those indelible ones, after the manner of childhood. This is one reason why a time of trial is often such a crisis in a man’s spiritual history.
III. To these single or forgotten sins are not improbably to be traced the strange inconsistencies of character which we often witness in our experience of life.
IV. Single sins indulged or neglected are often the cause of other defects of character, which seem to have no connection with them, but which, after all, are rather symptomatic of the former than themselves at the bottom of the mischief.
V. A man may be very religious in all but one infirmity, and this one indulged infirmity may produce most disastrous effects on his spiritual state, without his ever being aware of it. His religious excellencies are of no avail against wilful sin. The word of Scripture assures us that such sin shuts us out from God’s presence and obstructs the channels by which He gives us grace.
J. H. Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons, vol. iv., p. 37; also Selection from the same, p. 331.
References: Num 32:23.—G. Matheson, Moments on the Mount, p. 43; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iv., p. 120; J. Wells, Bible Echoes, p. 79; R. Newton, Bible Warnings: Addresses to Children, p. 138; C. Kingsley, Village Sermons, p. 52; T. Hammond, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xix., p. 333; G. Lifting, Thirty Children’s Sermons, p. 34; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxii., No. 1916; R. C. Trench, Brief Thoughts and Meditations, p. 1. Num 32:38.—Parker, vol. iv., p. 64. Num 33:1-49.—Ibid., p. 24. Num 33:50-56.—Ibid., p. 32. Num 34:1-12.—Ibid., p. 41. Num 35:33.—A. Lindesie, The Gospel of Grace, p. 11. Deu 1:6.—Parker, vol. iv., p. 69. Deu 1:19.—Parker, vol. iv., p. 76.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 Allotment of Territory to the Tribes of Gad and…
Allotment of Territory to the Tribes of Gad and Reuben and the Halftribe of Manasseh
1-5. The tribes of Reuben and Gad request that the land of Gilead lying on the E. side of the Jordan be assigned to them, on the ground that it is very fertile and therefore particularly well adapted to their large flocks and herds. These two tribes were associated as neighbours in the camp and on the march (Num_2:10-16), hence their desire to be settled near each other.
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1. Gilead lay to the S. and W. of Bashan, and shared the characteristic fertility of that region: see on Num_21:33-35.
6-15. Moses understands their request as indicating a disinclination on the part of these two tribes to enter the promised land. He reminds them that their fathers suffered the penalty of a similar faintheartedness at Kadesh (Numbers 14) and, fearing that the example of Beuben and Gad may discourage the rest of the people, he refuses their request.
16-33. The two tribes assure Moses that they will not separate themselves at present from the rest of the people, but will go over Jordan with them, and assist in the conquest of Canaan. After that they will return and settle on the E. side. Moses is satisfied with this assurance, and enjoins Eleazar and Joshua to see that the two tribes fulfil their promise before receiving the inheritance they desire.
28. Moses lays this injunction on Joshua his successor, as he himself will not live to pass over Jordan: see Num_27:12-23.
33. The half tribe of Manasseh is not said to have made any request similar to that of the Reubenites and Gadites; but, seeing that they had been specially engaged in the conquest of Gilead (Num_32:30), a place was assigned to them also in that district: cp. Deu_3:13-15.
34-42. These vv. are inserted here by way of anticipation. The building, or rather the repairing of these cities, for some of them at least are mentioned as already existing (Num_21:30; Num_33:8), took place after the conquest of Canaan: cp. Num_32:41 with Jdg_10:3, Jdg_10:4. In Jos_22:1-9 we read that, after fulfilling their promise, the two and a half tribes were dismissed to their inheritance by Joshua with his blessing. Owing to their position on the eastern frontier of the holy land they were the first to be carried into captivity by the king of Assyria (1Ch_5:26), so that it was not an unmitigated advantage to them to obtain this fertile district.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v1 The Reubenites
The Reubenites
The Reubenites, Gadites, and half-tribe of Manasseh, who chose their inheritance just outside the land, are types of world-borderers--carnal Christians. What their descendants were when Messiah came is seen in Mar 5:1-17.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 8. The Tribes of Reuben, Gad, Half-Manasseh and their…
8. The Tribes of Reuben, Gad, Half-Manasseh and their Portion
CHAPTER 32
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1. The petition of Reuben and Gad (Num 32:1-5)
2. The rebuke by Moses (Num 32:6-15)
3. Their answer (Num 32:16-19)
4. Moses’ reply (Num 32:20-24)
5. The final agreement (Num 32:25-41)
Failure is now again manifested. Reuben and Gad looked upon the beautiful territory which had been taken from the two Amorite kings, Sihon and Og. As Reuben and Gad were especially rich in cattle and the territory was one of great fertility, they were anxious to possess the land. The half-tribe Manasseh evidently made the same request and joined Reuben and Gad (verse 33). A lengthy controversy followed between Moses and these tribes. Moses saw at once the evil which was connected with such a request. They despised the land of promise. God had commanded them to possess that land. By their request they showed readiness to disobey God. Furthermore by desiring the land of Jazer and Gilead they would become separated from their brethren; they would let them go to fight alone in the land. The whole request manifested selfishness.
Compare them with Lot and his selfish choice (Gen. 13). He lifted up his eyes and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered, even as the garden of the Lord, He then chose the plain of Jordan. How he suffered for it we know well from the divine record. Reuben and Gad also looked upon the good land and with the same selfishness as Lot requested the land. Consult 1Ch 5:25-26 and 2Ki 15:29, to find out how their descendants had to pay for the selfishness of their ancestors. They went a whoring after the gods of the people of the land and were the first carried away into captivity.
We see in their behaviour the picture of the Christian who is worldly-minded, who walks according to the flesh. He does not enter into the promised land and prefers earthly things to spiritual things. The story of Christendom is also written here.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv1, 20 The Petition of the Reubenites and Gadites
The Petition of the Reubenites and Gadites
v. 1. Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle, having apparently gained great wealth in this respect by the recent conquests of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan; and when they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle, for they had become acquainted with this great country east of the Jordan on their recent campaigns,
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v. 2. the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spake unto Moses, and to Eleazar, the priest, and unto the princes of the congregation, saying,
v. 3. Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Shebam, and Nebo, and Beon,
v. 4. even the country which the Lord smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, a very rich and fertile country, especially for purposes of stock-raising, and thy servants have cattle;
v. 5. wherefore, said they, if we have found grace in thy sight, let this land be given unto thy servants for a possession, and bring us not over Jordan. Even if this request was made in consequence of the supposition that the other tribes would be fully able to conquer the land west of the Jordan, the real Canaan, it was an evidence of selfishness on the part of these two tribes and showed that they did not feel the bond of unity which held them together with the other tribes. It seems that at this time the two tribes did not even have the intention of aiding their brethren in gaining possession of the Land of Promise.
v. 6. And Moses said unto the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben, Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here? To think of enjoying peace, security, and plenty while the other tribes were still engaged in warfare did not give evidence of much brotherly feeling.
v. 7. And wherefore discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel, make their heart heavy with apprehension and fear, from going over into the land which the Lord hath given them? For this effect their action was likely to have, to turn or hold away the hearts of the people, to make them unwilling, to draw them away from the leadership of God.
v. 8. Thus did your fathers, the spies, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land.
v. 9. For when they went up into the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, turned it away from the Lord by filling it with fear, that they should not go into the Land which the Lord had given them. Cf Numbers 13.
v. 10. And the Lord’s anger was kindled the same time, and He sware, saying,
v. 11. Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, because they have not wholly followed Me, they had not done their full duty in following the Lord;
v. 12. save Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, the Eenezite, and Joshua, the son of Nun; for they have wholly followed the Lord.
v. 13. And the Lord’s anger was kindled against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, driving them about, causing them to wander back and forth aimlessly, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord was consumed.
v. 14. And, behold, ye are risen up in your fathers stead, an increase of sinful men, a brood carrying on the tradition of your fathers, to augment yet the fierce anger of the Lord toward Israel.
v. 15. For if ye turn away from after Him, He will yet again leave them in the wilderness, that would be the consequence of their refusal to take part in the conquest of Canaan proper, and ye shall destroy all this people, the entire nation would suffer as a result of their willfulness.
v. 16. And they came near unto him, to show that they had a good conscience, and that they were perfectly willing to amend their first thoughtless and selfish proposition, and said, We will build sheepfolds here for our cattle and cities for our little ones, rebuild and fortify the towns for their wives and children;
v. 17. but we ourselves will go ready armed before the children of Israel, they would arm themselves in haste and act as a vanguard of champions before the army of Israel, until we have brought them unto their place, until every tribe has secured its possession; and our little ones shall dwell in the fenced cities because of the inhabitants of the land, for the latter had not been utterly uprooted and annihilated, as had the Midianites.
v. 18. We will not return unto our houses until the children of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance.
v. 19. For we will not inherit with them on yonder side Jordan or forward, because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side Jordan eastward, toward sun-rising. These two tribes, therefore, in a manner of speaking, would not receive a clear title to the land for which they asked until they had fulfilled their promise. That is the rule in the kingdom of God: first war and battle, then the inheritance. He who will not battle need expect no inheritance.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 4, 6, 8, 10, 13, 16, 18, 20, 23, 26, 28, 31, 33, 34, 37, 40 This word is used here to mark a break…
Now
This word is used here to mark a break in the main story line. Here Moses tells background information about the tribes of Reuben and Gad. (See: Background Information)
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Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon
These are names of cities. (See: How to Translate Names)
translationWords
descend
Reuben
Gad
livestock
Gilead
Moses
Eleazar
priest
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 3, 6, 12, 16, 20, 25, 28, 31, 33, 34, 37, 39 32:1-5 From the time that Israel occupied the central…
32:1-5 From the time that Israel occupied the central part of the area east of the Jordan—during the military encounters described in ch 21—Israel had been preparing to invade Canaan. At a moment when the Hebrews needed to safeguard their unity, two tribes asked to settle east of the Jordan River.
32:1 vast numbers of livestock: The Israelites had flocks and herds when they left Egypt (cp. Exod 12:38); they acquired many more animals as loot in the war with Midian (cp. Num 31:32-33) and perhaps in their victories over Sihon and Og (21:21-35). • Gilead can refer either to the whole northern region of the plateau east of the Jordan (e.g., 32:29) or only to the part of that territory between the Jabbok and the Arnon.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.