Numberschapter 32
42 verses · Moses, by tradition · 15th to 13th century BC · The Law
not one except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun—because they did follow the LORD wholeheartedly.’
Introduction
Moses, by tradition, The Law, Numbers Overview.
Two tribes rich in cattle look at the grazing country east of the Jordan and ask to settle there. The land had already been taken from the kings Sihon and Og in chapter 21, and it lay empty of its old rulers. Moses hears the request as the fear of Kadesh coming back a generation later. The chapter was kept for tribes who would live across a river from their brothers for centuries. Listen for the terms of the bargain, for the promise the fighting men make, and for the warning Moses attaches to it. It shows how a people keeps one another in view across a border.
Context
- Who
- The tribes of Reuben and Gad, the clans of Manasseh who settled with them, and the whole congregation waiting to cross
- What
- The agreement that let Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh settle east of the Jordan if their soldiers first crossed and fought for the rest.
- Where
- The plains of Moab, with the land in question lying across the high tableland and the hills of Gilead east of the Jordan.
- When
- In the fortieth year after the Exodus, about 1406 BC on the traditional dating, between Aaron's death in the fifth month and Moses' last addresses in the eleventh, while other scholars date the writing of the book later.
- Why
- To settle the eastern land without breaking the unity of the tribes or repeating the refusal of their fathers at Kadesh.
Historical context
The chapter opens with the Reubenites and the Gadites making a request of Moses, Eleazar the priest and the leaders of the congregation. It is a negotiation recorded rather than a law given. It stands in the fortieth year, in the camp on the plains of Moab, after Israel had taken the kingdoms of Sihon and of Og. The occasion is the herds, since verse 1 says the two tribes had very large herds and flocks and saw that Jazer and Gilead were grazing country. Moses hears the request as the refusal of Kadesh-barnea starting again, which is why verses 8 to 13 rehearse the spies and the forty years first. A first hearer knew the ground they were asking for. The tableland east of the Jordan is open grazing country, and settling there meant living outside the Jordan valley the rest of Israel would hold. He also knew what the promise of verses 16 to 19 cost, since crossing armed ahead of their brothers meant years away from the fields they had asked for. Several towns named here stand again on the Mesha Inscription, the Moabite stone of about 840 BC found at Dhiban in 1868. It mentions Ataroth, Nebo, Dibon and Baal-meon, and says the men of Gad had lived in the land of Ataroth from of old.
Significance
The bargain settled what the tribes owed one another. Moses put the case as a question of whether brothers go to war while you sit here, and the answer was a written condition. Verse 23 attaches the consequence, that their sin would find them out. For a reader in Israel the chapter also explained the map, saying how Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh came to hold land across the river.
This chapter in Jewish lifeWhat this chapter is in Jewish life and reading.
How it is read
Rashi reads the request of Reuben and Gad as a test of the whole camp. The land they ask for is the land taken from Sihon and Og (Rashi on Numbers 32:3:1). He marks the opening words of Moses as a question rather than a statement (Rashi on Numbers 32:6:1). The danger Moses names is a danger of example. The rest of Israel will conclude that these two tribes are afraid to cross, because of the war ahead and the strength of the cities (Rashi on Numbers 32:7:1). That is why Moses sets the scouts of Kadesh-barnea beside them, and Rashi notes that the place is named in full because two places were called Kadesh (Rashi on Numbers 32:8:1).
The best known note of the chapter is on the order of the words. The two tribes named their cattle before their children, and Rashi holds that they valued their property above their sons and daughters. Moses answered them, "Make the chief thing the chief thing and what is subordinate subordinate". Build cities for the little ones first and folds for the flocks afterwards (Rashi on Numbers 32:16:1, citing Midrash Tanchuma, Matot 7). Rashi notes that Moses reverses the order himself when he grants the request at the twenty-fourth verse.
Sforno reads the warning of the twenty-third verse as a judgment on intent. If the two tribes fail to keep the undertaking, that failure will show "that you had sinful intent from the beginning" (Sforno on Numbers 32:23:1, the Munk translation, CC-BY). Rashi reads the answer of the tribes as unanimous, because the verb stands in the singular while the subject is plural (Rashi on Numbers 32:25:1). He also glosses the promise to arm themselves as a promise of speed (Rashi on Numbers 32:17:1).
Two smaller notes stand out. Rashi holds that Caleb was the stepson of Kenaz, and that his mother bore Othniel to Kenaz, which is how Othniel comes to be called Caleb's brother (Rashi on Numbers 32:12:1, citing Sotah 11b). He also gives his source for a point of spelling as the work of Rabbi Moses the Preacher, and says so in his own words (Rashi on Numbers 32:24:1).
Ibn Ezra comments at seven places here and Malbim at four, and the corpus carries none of their text. Ibn Ezra stands cited at Numbers 32:1:1, 32:2:1, 32:5:1, 32:9:1, 32:11:1, 32:21:1 and 32:22:1, held back by the licence Sefaria reports. Malbim stands cited at Numbers 32:10:1, 32:15:1, 32:18:1 and 32:20:1, because Sefaria holds no English version.
What the rabbis say
The corpus carries forty locators on this chapter and the text of none, so each is cited and linked here rather than quoted. Thirty-one of them are midrashic and nine are Talmudic. Bamidbar Rabbah stands at 13:20, 14:7, 15:24, 16:23 and 22:7. Midrash Lekach Tov stands at Numbers 32:17:1 and 32:31:1, at Exodus 3:6:2 and at Deuteronomy 33:21:1, with Midrash Lekach Tov on Ruth at 2:14:1. Midrash Aggadah stands at Numbers 32:3:1, 32:9:1 and 14:34:1, and at Genesis 44:18:1. Bereshit Rabbah stands at 1:15, 72:1 and 98:15, and Bereshit Rabbati at Parashat Vayigash 3 and Parashat Vayishlach 57.
The rest of the midrashic locators sit in eight works. Midrash Tanchuma Buber stands at Sh'lach 18:1 and Vaetchanan 6:2. Yalkut Shimoni on Torah stands at 786:11 and 830:3, the Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael at Tractate Pischa 1:7 and Tractate Bachodesh 9:15, and Otzar Midrashim at Sefer Tagin 5:303 and 8:50. Kohelet Rabbah stands at 4:6:1, Midrash Sekhel Tov at Shemot 12:9:4, Seder Olam Rabbah at 8:2, and Midrash Tehillim at 25:12. The Talmudic locators are fewer. The Jerusalem Talmud stands at Avodah Zarah 1:6:2 and 2:3:24, Peah 4:3:1 and Pesachim 4:3:2. Berakhot stands at 8b:1, Sotah at 3a:8, Bava Metzia at 94a:3, Kiddushin at 61b:2, and Avot DeRabbi Natan Recension B at 25:6. What each of them teaches is a saying of the rabbis, and is reported as theirs wherever this site quotes one. The quotations wait on a fetch that carries the text, because the corpus holds these locators without it.
Sources: Rashi, Rashi on Numbers 32:3:1 to 32:25:1, the Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary translated by M. Rosenbaum and A. M. Silbermann, 1929 to 1934, public domain; Sforno, Sforno on Numbers 32:23:1, the HaChut Hameshulash translation by Eliyahu Munk, CC-BY; Ibn Ezra, Ibn Ezra on Numbers 32:1:1, 32:2:1, 32:5:1, 32:9:1, 32:11:1, 32:21:1 and 32:22:1, cited by ref because the licence the corpus reports does not permit keeping the text; Malbim, Malbim on Numbers 32:10:1, 32:15:1, 32:18:1 and 32:20:1, cited by ref because Sefaria holds no English version; The Sefaria corpus, scripts/data/sources/sefaria/numbers/32.json, the 31 Midrash and 9 Talmud locators of this chapter, fetched 2026-09-19.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
A land that suits our cattle
Numbers 32:1-3
who had very large herds and flocks: The land is described by what the cattle need before anything else. The towns listed at verse 3 are the Amorite towns taken from Sihon in Numbers 21:25-30.
Numbers 32:1
“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.”
1 more voice on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Numbers 32:1
“The whole of this region is now called the Belka. It has always been famous for its rich and extensive pastures, and it is still the favorite resort of the Bedouin shepherds, who frequently contend for securing to their immense flocks the benefit of its luxuriant vegetation.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
came to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the congregation: Gad is now named before Reuben, and stays first for the rest of the chapter. The two tribes bring their case to the same bench that heard the daughters of Zelophehad at Numbers 27:2, Moses, Eleazar and the leaders. That earlier case also turned on who would hold land.
Adam Clarke notes that these towns belonged to the Amorite kings Sihon and Og, taken in the wars of Numbers 21. The list comes back at verses 34 to 38, where the same towns are rebuilt and settled. John Gill takes Nimrah as the Beth-nimrah of verse 36.
Numbers 32:3
“Ataroth, and Dibon, etc. - The places mentioned here belonged to Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan, which being conquered by the Israelites, constituted ever after a part of their territories, Num 32:33.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Numbers 32:4-5
which the LORD conquered before the congregation: They ground the request on what God did, the towns "which the LORD conquered before the congregation of Israel". Then they ask to be left out of the crossing: "Do not make us cross the Jordan".
John Gill hears the opening as modest and respectful, addressed to Moses as ruler of the congregation. The last clause alarms Moses. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown judge at verse 6 that if the tribes meant to fight all along, they ought to have said so at first.
Numbers 32:5
“And still it is too true that many seek their own things more than the things of Jesus Christ ( Phil. ii. 21 ), and that many are influenced by their secular interest and advantage to take up short of the heavenly Canaan.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Shall your brethren go to war while you sit?
Numbers 32:6-7
The word rendered discourage at verse 7 is rendered disallow in the vow law at Numbers 30:5, where a father cancels his daughter's vow. The charge is that these tribes would annul the will of the rest.
Numbers 32:6
“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)reformed
Why are you discouraging the Israelites: Moses fears the effect on the rest of Israel more than the loss of two tribes' fighting men. Discouragement had spread through the camp once before. At Deuteronomy 1:28 the people recall how their brothers made their hearts melt, and Numbers 14:1-4 shows the whole congregation weeping over a report.
Numbers 32:7
“Wherefore discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel....”
Numbers 32:8-9
This is what your fathers did: Moses takes a request about pasture and reads it as Kadesh starting over. Eshcol is where the cluster was cut at Numbers 13:23. The men who carried the fruit back are the men he charges with discouraging the heart.
Numbers 32:8
“Your fathers - The generation of the Exodus was now substantially extinct. Compare Num 26:64-65. Kadesh-barnea - See Num 13:26.”
went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land: Albert Barnes notes at verse 8 that the generation of the Exodus was by now almost wholly dead, as Numbers 26:64-65 records. Moses speaks of your fathers to their sons. The mission that brought back the cluster of Numbers 13:23 also produced the bad report of 13:32.
Numbers 32:10-12
anger of the LORD was kindled that day: The oath is that of Numbers 14:22-24 and 14:29-30. Moses gives as its reason a phrase those verses used only of Caleb, "follow Me wholeheartedly".
Numbers 32:10
“And the Lord's anger was kindled, the same time,.... Against the spies that brought the ill report, and against all the people that were disheartened and murmured upon it, and which, above all things, was to be dreaded now: and he sware, saying; as follows.”
The age of twenty is the census line of Numbers 14:29, so the sentence fell on every man numbered in the census. John Gill reads the failure to follow wholly as disobeying the order to go up at once and take the land, which Deuteronomy 1:21 records.
Numbers 32:11
“Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upwards,.... See Num 14:28. shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; the land of Canaan, which at various times he sware to give to them, and to their posterity: because they have not wholly followed me; the laws which he prescribed them, the directions he gave them, and particularly the orders they had to go up and possess the land at once, Deu 1:21.”
Albert Barnes explains the title Kenizzite: Kenaz at Genesis 36:11 is an Edomite name. Israel and Edom were of kindred origin, he notes, so shared names are no surprise. Caleb and Joshua appear together again at Numbers 34:17-19, where both men have a hand in dividing the land.
Numbers 32:12
“Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite - It was Jephunneh that was the Kenezite, and not Caleb. Kenaz was probably the father of Jephunneh.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Numbers 32:13-15
made them wander in the wilderness: Verse 13 sums the sentence of chapter 14, forty years "until the whole generation who had done evil in His sight was gone". Moses then turns it on the men before him, "a brood of sinners" risen "in place of your fathers".
a brood of sinners: Matthew Henry hears Moses charge the sons with rising in their fathers' place to despise the land, when he hoped they rose to possess it. Henry adds that Moses was glad to see these tribes so increased in men. He grieved that the increase was of sinful men.
He will once again leave this people in the wilderness: Moses reasons that two tribes' refusal brings judgment on the whole nation, and the same reasoning returns at Joshua 22:18-20. There the western tribes fear that the altar of Reuben, Gad and half Manasseh will bring anger on all Israel. Both times the eastern tribes stand accused of turning away.
We will go armed before our brethren
Numbers 32:16-17
Their word order puts the sheepfolds before the cities and the livestock before the little ones, and Moses turns both around at verse 24. To "go ahead of the Israelites" means the front rank, and Joshua 4:12-13 records "About 40,000 troops armed for battle" crossing that way.
Numbers 32:16
“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 defense 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 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.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
our little ones will remain in the fortified cities: Adam Clarke doubts that women and children could hold fortified towns alone, with Ammonites, Moabites and Idumeans for neighbours. From the census of Numbers 26 he reckons that many fighting men must have stayed behind. Joshua 4:13 counts about 40,000 who crossed.
Numbers 32:17
“We ourselves will go ready armed--that is, all of us in a collective body, or as many as may be deemed necessary, while the rest of our number shall remain at home to provide for the sustenance and secure the protection of our families and flocks.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Numbers 32:18-19
We will not return to our homes: The offer goes further than the question. Moses asked whether they would fight, and they bind themselves to stay in the field until every other tribe holds its inheritance. Joshua 22:1-4 records them doing so to the end.
They speak of the land as already theirs. Matthew Henry notes they promise to claim no share of the country still to be conquered west of the river. Numbers 34:14-15 states the grant as done, and Joshua 13:8 records the inheritance Moses gave them east of the Jordan.
Numbers 32:20-22
Moses sets a chain of conditions, each one set "before the LORD". To "be free of obligation to the LORD and to Israel" is the language of a debt discharged. The land is theirs only once subdued.
Numbers 32:20
“It is God's cause more than your brethren's, and to him you must have an eye, and not to them only." Before the Lord, that is, before the ark of the Lord, the token of his presence, which, it should seem, they carried about with them in the wars of Canaan, and immediately before which these two tribes were posted, as we find in the order of their march, ch. ii.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
2 more voices on this verse
Numbers 32:20
“Perhaps, however, the phrase is used merely in a general sense to denote their marching on an expedition, the purpose of which was blessed with the presence, and destined to promote the glory, of God.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Numbers 32:20
“Jazer - A city and country of the Amorites; Gilead - A mountainous country, famous for pasturage 6. Ye sit here - In ease and peace, while your brethren are engaged in a bloody war.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
until He has driven His enemies out before Him: Matthew Henry reads before the LORD as before the ark, noting that these two tribes marched immediately in front of it in chapter 2. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown allow a wider sense. The enemies driven out are called His enemies.
be free of obligation to the LORD and to Israel: Matthew Henry reads the phrase as a double discharge, with no sin before God and no blame before Israel. Joshua 22:2-4 records that release, when Joshua tells these tribes they have kept the charge and may go home. Henry counts it good to come to any possession that way.
The verse opens with a condition, "But if you do not do this". The sin Moses names is one particular failure, breaking this promise to cross over armed.
Numbers 32:23
“Be sure your sin will find you out - literally, “know ye your sin that it will find you out.” Moses implies that their sin would eventually bring its own punishment along with it.”
Build cities for your little ones: The closing charge, "do what you have promised", echoes the vow law of Numbers 30:2, "he must do everything he has promised". Their word binds them as a vow.
Numbers 32:24
“Build ye cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep,.... For their safety and security, as they proposed to do: and do that which proceedeth out of your mouth; all that they had promised.”
Numbers 32:25-27
The Hebrew verb behind their answer is singular. John Gill reads it as the two tribes speaking with one voice or through one spokesman.
Numbers 32:25
“And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben spake unto Moses, saying,.... In answer to his speech: thy servants will do as my lord commandeth; both with respect to their march before the Lord to battle, and with respect to their provision for their children and flocks.”
1 more voice on this verse
Numbers 32:25
“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.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Our children, our wives, our livestock: The tribes now name their families before their flocks, the order Moses gave at verse 24 rather than their own order at verse 16. John Gill takes the cities of Gilead as the towns listed at verse 3. Gill says they meant to repair and fortify them.
Numbers 32:26
“Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our cattle,.... Their families, and their substance: shall be there in the cities of Gilead; such as are before mentioned, Num 32:3 and which they proposed to repair and fortify, to preserve their families and possessions from the Amorites about them.”
every man will cross over to the battle before the LORD: Albert Barnes reads before the LORD as directly in front of the tokens of His presence, pointing to Numbers 10:17. Joshua 4:12-13 records the crossing in the same words. About 40,000 armed men crossed before the LORD into the plains of Jericho.
Numbers 32:27
“Before the Lord - i. e., immediately in front of the sacred tokens of the Lord’s presence; compare Num 10:17 note.”
The bargain spelled out before witnesses
Numbers 32:28-30
Moses gave orders about them to Eleazar: Moses puts the agreement into the hands of Eleazar, Joshua and the heads of the tribes, because he will be dead before it comes due. Joshua 22:1-4 records Joshua discharging them and sending them home.
Numbers 32:28
“So concerning them Moses commanded,.... That they should have a grant of the land they requested: this looks as if Moses determined the case himself, though perhaps it was by the vote, and with the consent of the whole court; only Moses strictly enjoined them to observe it, namely: Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the chief fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel; and the rather he did this, because he knew that he should die, and not see either the thing itself or the conditions of it performed.”
then you are to give them the land of Gilead as a possession: Moses states the terms to Eleazar, Joshua and the family heads, and John Gill notes he knew he would die before they fell due. Matthew Henry calls it an estate upon condition, left to Joshua to declare absolute once the condition was met. Joshua does so at Joshua 22:4.
Matthew Henry notes that Moses withholds only the inheritance they covet. John Gill explains that a refusal would send them to take their lot in Canaan with the other tribes. Their share in Israel is secure either way.
Numbers 32:30
“But if they will not pass over with you armed,.... Shall change their minds, and break their promise, and refuse to go over the river Jordan with the other tribes, and armed ready to engage in battle with the enemy: they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan; take their lot there, but have no inheritance or possessions on this side Jordan.”
Numbers 32:31-32
Their final answer names the LORD where their earlier answer named Moses. John Gill reads the change as their receiving the terms from Moses as terms from God himself.
Numbers 32:31
“And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered,...., The word is in the singular number, and shows their unanimity, that they agreed to what Moses said, and replied all of them as one man, as Jarchi expresses it; and it may be there was one that was the mouth of them all, and answered for them: saying, as the Lord hath said unto thy servants, so will we do; here they make use of the word Jehovah, taking what Moses had said unto them as from the Lord, and therefore should strictly and punctually observe it, as…”
armed before the LORD, that we may have our inheritance: John Gill notes that the pledge is repeated again and again to make it sure. It is the tribes' last word in the chapter. Joshua 22:3-4 records that they stayed with their brothers until the LORD gave them rest.
Numbers 32:32
“We will pass over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan,.... This is repeated again and again, for the confirmation of it, assuring that it should be strictly performed according to the true intent of it: that the possession of our inheritance on this side Jordan may be ours; that is, that the possession and inheritance they desired, and which had been granted them, on conditions to be performed by them, might be ratified and confirmed unto them on their fulfilment of them.”
Cities rebuilt east of the Jordan
So Moses gave to the Gadites: Half the tribe of Manasseh receives an allotment here without appearing in the request. Verses 39 to 42 supply the ground after the fact, since Machir's descendants had already taken Gilead.
Numbers 32:33
“Half the tribe of Manasseh - That is, (compare Num 32:39; Jos 17:1) the families of Machir. Moses, when assigning to the pastoral tribes the inheritance which they desired, appropriated to these Manassites especially the district they had already subdued, as a reward for their valour and exploits. Thus the whole of the conquered country was provisionally disposed of, and the forwardness anti valour of the Machirites rewarded. It seems clear from Num 32:39 and Jos 17:1, that the claims of the Machirites arose simply out of their exploits.”
Numbers 32:34-36
the Gadites built up Dibon: Dibon appears on the Moabite Stone, King Mesha's inscription found at Dhiban in 1868. Its tenth line says the men of Gad had lived in the land of Ataroth from of old. A hostile king names Gad in the towns this passage assigns to Gad.
Numbers 32:34
“The children of Gad built - Aroer - This was situated on the river Arnon, Deu 2:36; 2Ki 10:33. 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 possessed it till the captivity of their tribe, with that of Reuben and the half of the tribe of Manasseh, by the Assyrians, 2Ki 15:29, after which the Moabites appear to have repossessed it, as they seem to have occupied it in the days of Jeremiah, Jer 48:15-20.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Numbers 32:34
“And the children of Gad built--(See on Nu 32:16). Dibon--identified with Dheban, now in ruins, an hour's distance from the Arnon (Mojeb). Ataroth (Hebrew, "crowns")--There are several towns so called in Scripture, but this one in the tribe of Gad has not been identified.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah: Albert Barnes reads Atroth-shophan as Ataroth of Shophan, set apart from the Ataroth of verse 34. John Gill identifies Jazer with the town of verse 3, and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown place it near a spring about fifteen miles from Heshbon. Jogbehah returns at Judges 8:11 on Gideon's route.
Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran as fortified cities: John Gill takes Beth-nimrah as the Nimrah of verse 3 and Beth-haran as the Beth-haram of Joshua 13:27, a town Herod renamed Livias or Julias. The folds are the ones promised at verse 16. The Gadites built what they had said they would build.
Numbers 32:36
“And Bethnimrah, and Bethharan, fenced cities,.... The first of these is the same with Nimrah, Num 32:3, and the other is the same with Betharam, Jos 13:27, it is called in the Jerusalem Talmud (r), Bethramtha, and so by the Syrians, Bethramphta; and to the same place Herod gave the name of Livias or Julias (s): these cities the children of Gad built or repaired for their families: and folds for sheep; they also built for their cattle, as they promised to do, and Moses enjoined them, Num 32:16. (r) Sheviith, fol. 38. 4. (s) Vid. Reland. Palestin. Illustrat. par.”
Numbers 32:37-38
The Reubenites built up Heshbon: Two of Reuben's towns, Nebo and Baal-meon, carry the names of gods, and the text marks it: "whose names were changed". Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the change against Exodus 23:13, "You must not invoke the names of other gods".
Numbers 32:37
“The Reubenites established themselves more compactly than the Gadites. Elcalch (el-’Al) a mile to the northeast; Nebo (Nebbeh) probably three miles to the southwest; Baal-meon (Main) nearly two miles to the south; Kirjathaim (Kureiyat?): and Shibmah, more properly Sibmah, famous at a later period for its vines (compare Isa 16:8), four miles east of Heshbon; all clustered round the old Amorite Capital. The Reubenites probably retained at the partition all these cities with the exception of Heshbon, which, passing to the Levites, were thenceforth reckoned as within the tribe of Gad.”
(whose names were changed): Matthew Henry reads the renaming as an effort to bury the idols in oblivion. He sets it beside Hosea 2:17, where God removes the names of the Baals from Israel's lips. Albert Barnes notes that Sibmah later became famous for its vines, which Isaiah 16:8 mourns.
Numbers 32:38
“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, Num 32:42.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Numbers 32:39-42
The descendants of Machir son of Manasseh: The chapter closes with three men who take ground and name it: Machir, Jair and Nobah. Jair's towns are the Havvoth-jair of Deuteronomy 3:14. Albert Barnes notes that the name Nobah gave Kenath fell out of use.
Numbers 32:39
“The children of Machir - Machir, the son of Manasseh, was long since dead: even his sons had been brought up upon Joseph’s knees Gen 50:23. But the renown acquired by his descendants raised his family almost to the dignity of a tribe; and the Machirites are in the next verse styled Machir, just as the children of Judah or of Ephraim are often spoken of as Judah or Ephraim. So in Jdg 5:14 Machir is coupled with Ephraim and Zebulun.”
So Moses gave Gilead to the clan of Machir son of Manasseh: John Gill takes the gift as made to Machir's descendants, since Machir, had he left Egypt, would have died with his generation under verse 11. Albert Barnes notes that Machir's sons were raised on Joseph's knees, as Genesis 50:23 records. Joshua 17:1 remembers Machir as a man of war.
Numbers 32:40
“And Moses gave Gilead unto Machir the son of Manasseh,.... That is, to the children of Machir, who went and took it; though some say, as Aben Ezra observes, that Machir himself was now alive, and that it was given to him, but that is not probable; for, supposing him to be living when the children of Israel came out of Egypt, all that came from thence, who were twenty years old and upwards, died in the wilderness, excepting two, see Num 32:11, and he dwelt therein; that is, the family of the Macharite; see Num 26:29.”
called them Havvoth-jair: John Gill traces Jair to Judah through Hezron and Segub on his father's side, and to Manasseh through Machir's daughter, as 1 Chronicles 2:21-22 records. Albert Barnes renders Havvoth-jair as the tent villages of Jair. He takes Jair the judge of Judges 10:3 for a descendant.
Numbers 32:41
“And Jair the son of Manasseh,.... By his mother's side, otherwise he was of the family of Judah; for Hezron, of the family of Judah, married a daughter of Machir, the son of Manasseh, by whom he had a son called Segub, who was the father of Jair, 1Ch 2:21, the same went and took the small towns thereof; of that part of Gilead given to Machir: and called them Havothjair; after his own name: in Deu 3:14, they are called Bashanhavothjair.”
1 more voice on this verse
Numbers 32:41
“The exploits of Jair - he was the conqueror of Argob Deu 3:14 - gave new. luster to his name; and the fame of the family is attested by the history of Jair the Israelite judge, doubtless a descendant; perhaps also by the mention of Jairus Luk 8:41, the ruler of the synagogue at the neighboring city of Capernaum. Havoth-jair - That is, the villages, or rather groups of tents, or “kraals,” of Jair.”
called it Nobah, after his own name: John Wesley notes that Nobah the man is named nowhere else, though he was plainly a leading man of Manasseh. Israel later lost these towns. First Chronicles 2:23 records that Geshur and Aram took Havvoth-jair and Kenath with its sixty villages.
Numbers 32:42
“Kenath - Now Kenawat, an important site near the southern extremity of the tract el-Lejah, and on the western slopes of the mountains of the Hauran. The name given to it by its conqueror, as in other cases, fell ere long into disuse, and the old name has held its ground to this day. The notices, both Scriptural and traditional, of the conquest of northeastern Gilead and Bashan by the Machirites, plainly intimate that it was effected by a few chiefs of great military prowess, who overran rapidly a far larger district than they could colonize.”
1 more voice on this verse
Numbers 32:42
“Nobah - Who, though not else where named, was doubtless an eminent person of the tribe of Manasseh. 'Tis observable, that these tribes, as they were placed before the other tribes, so they were displaced before them.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
How this psalm is built
The form: Narrative of a negotiation, closing in a list of the towns the two tribes rebuilt, as Barnes classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| Shall your brothers go to war while you sit here | The centre of the chapter is a speech of rebuke at verses 6 to 15. Moses answers the request with a question, then rehearses the spies and the forty years before saying anything about the land. John Gill notes that the request at first sight looked like covetousness and cowardice.John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament, 1748 to 1763, on Numbers 32:6. | Numbers 32:6, Numbers 32:8-13, Numbers 32:14-15 |
| The towns named twice | The same country is listed at the start and at the end. Verse 3 names the places the tribes asked for, and verses 34 to 38 name the places they built up. Reading the two lists together shows what was asked and what was actually taken. | Numbers 32:3, Numbers 32:34-38 |
| The condition stated four times over | The terms are repeated by each party in turn. The tribes offer them at verses 16 to 19 and Moses sets them at verses 20 to 24. The tribes accept at verses 25 to 27, and Moses puts them to Eleazar and Joshua at verses 28 to 30. The repetition is how an agreement was made binding. | Numbers 32:16-19, Numbers 32:20-24, Numbers 32:25-27, Numbers 32:28-30 |
The sentence the chapter is known for
8 more paragraphs on the patterns
Verse 23 carries one of the best known warnings in the Torah. Albert Barnes gives the literal sense as know ye your sin that it will find you out, and takes Moses to mean that the sin would eventually bring its own punishment with it. John Wesley reads the finding out as the punishment of the sin, and turns it round on the reader: find out your sins first, so that your sins do not find you out.
The evidence from the ground
Several towns named in this chapter appear again on the Mesha Inscription, the Moabite stone of about 840 BC found at Dhiban in 1868. It mentions Ataroth, Nebo, Dibon and Baal-meon, and it records that the men of Gad had lived in the land of Ataroth from of old. Dhiban is the Dibon of verses 3 and 34, so the stone was found in one of the towns the chapter names.
The inscription is a Moabite king's account written for his own purposes. What it carries for this chapter is the presence of Gad in that district and the currency of those town names, and no more than that.
A small point where the commentators differ
Verse 12 calls Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite. Adam Clarke holds that it was Jephunneh who was the Kenizzite rather than Caleb, and suggests Kenaz was Jephunneh's father. Albert Barnes observes that Kenaz at Genesis 36:11 was one of the chiefs of Edom, and adds that Israel and Edom were of kindred origin, so a shared name is no surprise.
The renaming of conquered towns
Verse 38 says of Nebo and Baal-meon that their names were changed. Adam Clarke reads this as conquerors naming cities after themselves, and points to verse 42, where Nobah takes Kenath and calls it after his own name.
Keep studying
Studies6
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The form and classifications
Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments, 1832 to 1869, on Numbers 32:33; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871, on Numbers 32:1 and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament, 1748 to 1763, on Numbers 32:6.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on the Four Last Books of Moses Arranged in the Form of a Harmony; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch; MannaFest exposition and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.