Numbers 32:30
in Numbers 32But if they do not arm themselves and go across with you, then they must accept their possession among you in the land of Canaan.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
but if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.
KJV
But if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.
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This verse in Numbers 32
Commentary
7 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Moses gave orders about them to Eleazar
on Numbers 32:28-30
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.
This site's exposition
they must accept their possession among you in the land of Canaan
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.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
He gives them an estate upon condition, leaving it to Joshua, if they fulfilled the condition, to declare the estate absolute: "If they will not go over with you, " he does not say "you shall give them no inheritance at all," but "you shall not give them this inheritance which they covet.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
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.
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.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
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.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The pastoral country the two tribes had desired was to be granted them on condition that they would lend their aid to their brethren in the approaching invasion of Canaan. If they refused or failed to perform their promise, those possessions should be forfeited, and they themselves compelled to go across the Jordan and fight for a settlement like the rest of their brethren.
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאִם־ | veim- | and if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| לֹ֧א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יַֽעַבְר֛וּ | yaavru | they will pass over | H5674 → | 556 times |
| חֲלוּצִ֖ים | chalutzim | equipped | H2502 → | 44 times |
| אִתְּכֶ֑ם | ʾitekhem | with you | H854 → | 929 times |
| וְנֹֽאחֲז֥וּ | venochazu | and they will have possessions | H270 → | 67 times |
| בְתֹכְכֶ֖ם | vetokhekhem | in midst of you | H8432 → | 418 times |
| בְּאֶ֥רֶץ | beeretz | in [the] land of | H776 → | 2504 times |
| כְּנָֽעַן׃ | kenaan | Canaan | H3667 → | 94 times |
וְאִם־and if
veim-H518 →1069 times
לֹ֧אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יַֽעַבְר֛וּthey will pass over
yaavruH5674 →556 times
חֲלוּצִ֖יםequipped
chalutzimH2502 →44 times
אִתְּכֶ֑םwith you
ʾitekhemH854 →929 times
וְנֹֽאחֲז֥וּand they will have possessions
venochazuH270 →67 times
בְתֹכְכֶ֖םin midst of you
vetokhekhemH8432 →418 times
בְּאֶ֥רֶץin [the] land of
beeretzH776 →2504 times
כְּנָֽעַן׃Canaan
kenaanH3667 →94 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Joshua 22:19If indeed the land of your inheritance is unclean, then cross over to the land of the LORD’s possession, where the LORD’s tabernacle stands, and take possession of it among us. But do not…
it leads to
- Joshua 18:1
Then the whole congregation of Israel assembled at Shiloh and set up the Tent of Meeting there. And though the land was subdued before them,
- Leviticus 18:25–28
Even the land has become defiled, so I am punishing it for its sin, and the land will vomit out its inhabitants.
- Acts 10:14–15
“No, Lord!” Peter answered. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”
- Deuteronomy 12:5–6
Instead, you must seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go.
- Amos 7:17
Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword. Your land will be divided by a measuring…
- Joshua 18:1
Where this verse is studied
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 Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.