The Reubenites and Gadites request Moses to give them their 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 over 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. B. C. 1451. An. Exod. Isr. A. M. 2553. 40. A. M. 2553. NOW the children of Reuben | of Eshcol, and saw the land, they and the children of Gad had discouraged the heart of the chil- An. Exod. Isr. a very great multitude of cattle: dren of Israel, that they should not and when they saw the land of a Jazer, and the go into the land which the LORD had given them. land of Gilead, that, behold, the place was a 10 * And the LORD's anger was kindled the place for cattle; same time, and he sware, saying, а 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, с n 3 Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nim-m they have not " wholly followed me: 4 Even the country which the LORD smote 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. 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? 7. And wherefore f discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the LORD hath given them? 8 Thus did your fathers, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. e 9 For when they went up unto the valley a Chap. xxi. 32; Josh. xiii. 25; 2 Sam. xxiv. 5.- NOTES ON CHAP. XXXII. Verse 5. Let this land be given unto thy servants] 12 Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed the LORD. 13 And the LORD's anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them P wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the LORD, was consumed. 14 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. 15 For if yes turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and ye shall destroy all this people. 16 And they came near unto him, and said, We will build sheepfolds here for our cattle, and cities for our little ones: D I Chap. xiv. 28, 29; Deut. i. 35.- m Chap. xiv. 24, 30. Heb. fulfilled after me. Chap. xiv. 24; Deut. i. 36; Josh. xiv. 8, 9.- -P Chap. xiv. 33, 34, 35.- - Chap. xxvi. 64, 65. Deut. i. 34.- Deut. xxx. 17; Josh. xxii. 16, 18; 2 Chron. vii. 19; xv. 2. Verse 12. Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite] It was Jephunneh that was the Kenezite, and not Caleb. Kenaz was probably the father of Jephunneh. Verse 16. We will build-cities for our little ones] It was impossible for these, numerous as they might be, to build cities and fortify them for the defence of their families in their absence. Calmet supposes they meant no more than repairing the cities of the Amorites which they had lately taken; which work might Conditions on which the request A. M. 2553. 40. NUMBERS. of Reuben and Gad is granted. 17 But t we ourselves will go d 27 But thy servants will pass 80 27 An. Exod. Isr. ready armed before the children over, every man armed for war, of Israel, until we have brought before the LORD to battle, as my them unto their place and our little ones shall dwell in the fenced cities because of the inhabitants of the land. 18 We will not return unto our houses, until the children of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance. 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. 20 And Moses said unto them, If ye will do this thing, if ye will go armed before the LORD to war, 21 And will go all of you armed over Jordan before the LORD, until he hath driven out his enemies from before him, b 24 Build you cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep; and do that which hath proceeded out of your mouth. 25 And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben spake unto Moses, saying, Thy servants will do as my lord commandeth. 26 Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our cattle, shall be there in the cities of Gilead: t Josh. iv. 12, 13.- u Josh. xxii. 4.- Ver. 33; 1; xiii. 8.w Deut. iii. 18; Josh. i. 14; iv. 12, 13.iii. 20; Josh. xi. 23; xviii. 1.- -y Josh. xxii. 4. 12, 15, 16, 18; Josh. i. 15; xiii. 8, 32; xxii. 4, 9. Josh. xii. - Deut. Deut. iii. have been very easily accomplished in the time which they spent on this side of Jordan, before they went over with their brethren, to put them in possession of the land. Verse 17. Because of the inhabitants of the land.] These were the Ammonites, Moabites, Idumeans, and the remains of the Midianites and Amorites. But could the women and children even keep the defenced cities, when placed in them? This certainly cannot be supposed possible. Many of the men of war must of course stay behind. In the last census, chap. xxvi., the tribe of Reuben consisted of 43,730 men; the tribe of Gad, 40,500; the tribe of Manasseh, 52,700; the half of which is 26,350. Add this to the sum of the other two tribes, and the amount is 110,580. lord saith. 28 So 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: 29 And Moses said unto them, If the chil dren 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: 30 But if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan. 31 And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying, As the LORD hath said unto thy servants, so will we do. 32 We 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. 33 And 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. Now from Joshua iv. 13 we learn that of the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half of the tribe of Manasseh, only 40,000 armed men passed over Jordan to assist their brethren in the reduction of the land : consequently the number of 70,580 men were left behind for the defence of the women, the children, and the flocks. This was more than sufficient to defend them against a people already panic struck by their late discomfitures and reverses. Verse 34. The children of Gad built-Aroer] This was situated on the river Arnon, Deut. ii. 36; 2 Kings x. 33. It was formerly inhabited by the Emim, a warlike and perhaps gigantic people. They were expelled by the Moabites; the Moabites by the Amorites; and the Amorites by the Israelites. The Gadites then Acount of the journeyings A. M. 2553. B. C. 1451. An.Exod. Isr. 40. 36 And Beth-nimrah, and dispossessed the Amorite which Beth-haran, m fenced cities: and was in it. folds for sheep. t 40 And Moses gave Gilead A. M. 2553. B. C. 1451. An. Exod. Isr. 40. And the children of Reuben " built Hesh-unto Machir the son of Manasseh; and he bon, and Elealeh, and Kirjathaim, dwelt therein. D38 And Nebo, and Baal-meon, (a their names being changed,) and Shibmah and gave the names unto the cities which they builded. 39 And the children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead, and took it, and Ver. 3, Nimrah. Ver. 24. Chap. xxi. 27.- LoIsa. vi. 1 Chap. xxii. 41. See ver. 3; Exod. xxiii. 13; Josh. xxin. 7. Heb. they called by names the names of the cities. possessed it till the captivity of their tribe, with that of Reuben and the half of the tribe of Manasseh, by habitations of Jair; and thus they should have been translated. As these two tribes and a half were the the Assyrians, 2 Kings xv. 29, after which the Moab- first, says Ainsworth, who had their inheritance as ites appear to have repossessed it, as they seem to have occupied it in the days of Jeremiah, chap. xlviii. 15-20 Verse 38. And Nebo-their names being changed] That is, Those who conquered the cities called them after their own names. Thus the city Kenath, being conquered by Nobah, was called after his name, ver. 42. Verse 41. Havoth-jair.] That is, the villages or signed to them in the promised land, so they were the first of all Israel that were carried captive out of their own land, because of their sins. "For they transgressed against the God of their fathers, and went a whoring after other gods. And God delivered them into the hands of Pul and Tiglath-Pilneser, kings of Assyria, and they brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and Gozan, unto this day." See 1 Chron. v. 25, 26. CHAPTER XXXIII. The journeyings of the Israelites written out by Moses, according to the commandment of the Lord, 1, 2. They depart from Rameses on the fifteenth day of the first month, on the day after the passover, the firstborn of the Egyptians having been slain, 3, 4. Their forty-two stations enumerated, 5-49. They are authorized to expel all the former inhabitants, and destroy all remnants of idolatry, 50–53. The land is to be divided by lot, 54. Should they not drive out the former inhabitants, they shall be to them as pricks in their eyes and thorns in their sides, 55. And if not obedient, God will deal with them as he has purposed to do with the Canaanites, 56. A. M. 2553. B. C. 1451. An. Exod. Isr. 40. are the journeys of 2 And Moses wrote their goa THESE the children of Israel, which ings out according to their jour- An. Exod. Isr. went forth out of the land of neys, by the commandment of Egypt with their armies, under the hand of Moses and Aaron. a Exod. xii. 38, 51; xiii. 18.- Josh. xxiv. 5. 40. the LORD and these are their journeys according to their goings out. c Chap. ix. 17-23; x. 6, 13; Deut. i. 2, 10, 11. Moses may point out the unsettled state of religion under the law. Their being brought, after the death of Moses, into the promised rest by Joshua, may point out the establishment, fixedness, and certainty of that salvation provided by Jesus Christ, of whom Joshua, in name and conduct, was a remarkable type. Mr. NOTES ON, CHAP. XXXIII. Verse 2. And Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys] We may consider the whole book of Numbers as a diary, and indeed the first book of travels ever published. Dr. Shaw, Dr. Pococke, and several others, have endeavoured to mark out the route of the Israelites through this great, dreary, and | Ainsworth imagines that the forty-two stations here trackless desert, and have ascertained many of the enumerated, through which the Israelites were brought stages here described. Indeed there are sufficient to the verge of the promised land, and afterwards taken evidences of this important journey still remaining, for over Jordan into the rest which God had promised, the descriptions of many are so particular that the point out forty-two generations from Abraham unto places are readily ascertained by them; but this is not Christ, through whom the Saviour of the world came, the case with all. Israel was the Church of God in by whose blood we have an entrance into the holiest, the wilderness, and its unsettled, wandering state under and enjoy the inheritance among the saints in light. |