Numbers 32:20
in Numbers 32Moses replied, “If you will do this—if you will arm yourselves before the LORD for battle,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Moses said unto them, If ye will do this thing, if ye will arm yourselves to go before Jehovah to the war,
KJV
And Moses said unto them, If ye will do this thing, if ye will go armed before the Lord to war,
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This verse in Numbers 32
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
If you will do this
on 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.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
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.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
13 And the L ORD 's anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, that had done evil in the sight of the L ORD , 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 L ORD toward Israel.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:91%@v13-14
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.
And Moses said unto them,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
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.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
FOR OUR INHERITANCE HAS COME TO US — “we have already received it on the eastern side [of the Jordan].” This is Rashi’s language.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 7 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֤אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲלֵיהֶם֙ | ʾaleihem | to them | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מֹשֶׁ֔ה | mosheh | Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| אִֽם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| תַּעֲשׂ֖וּן | taasun | you will do ! | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַדָּבָ֣ר | hadavar | the thing | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| הַזֶּ֑ה | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| תֵּחָֽלְצ֛וּ | techaltzu | you will equip yourselves | H2502 → | 44 times |
| לִפְנֵ֥י | lifnei | <to> before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| לַמִּלְחָמָֽה׃ | lamilchamah | for <the> battle | H4421 → | 320 times |
וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אֲלֵיהֶם֙to them
ʾaleihemH413 →5510 times
מֹשֶׁ֔הMoses
moshehH4872 →765 times
אִֽם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
תַּעֲשׂ֖וּןyou will do !
taasunH6213 →2628 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַדָּבָ֣רthe thing
hadavarH1697 →1440 times
הַזֶּ֑ה<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
תֵּחָֽלְצ֛וּyou will equip yourselves
techaltzuH2502 →44 times
לִפְנֵ֥י<to> before
lifneiH6440 →2123 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
לַמִּלְחָמָֽה׃for <the> battle
lamilchamahH4421 →320 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
On this verse
About Numbers
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 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 (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.