Numbers 32

Updated
2001-05-26; 14:32:32utc

III. The Conquest and Division of Israel 31:1-36:13B. Division of the Land East of Jordan 32:1-42

Matthew Henry's Commentary gives the outline of this chapter as follows:

I. The humble request of the tribes of Reuben and Gad for an inheritance on that side Jordan where Israel now lay encamped [v. 1-5].

II. Moses' misinterpretation of their request [v. 6-15].

III. Their explication of it, and stating it aright [v. 16-19].

IV. The grant of their petition under the provisos and limitations which they themselves proposed [v. 20, etc.].

We read in the opening verse of this chapter that the tribes of Reuben and Gad specialized in animal husbandry. The acquisition of the spoil, described in the previous chapter, which provided each of the men of the tribe with more than 28,000 sheep, would be a likely cause to have triggered the request for the pasture land which had been conquered from the Midianites, and the Moabites, although it is true that every one of the tribes acquired a similar flock.

It is obvious that the Israelites had to leave an occupational force behind in the territory they had conquered, and in the light of this fact, the proposition of the men of Gad and Reuben seems to be a reasonable one. What, probably, triggered Moses' strong reaction was the words: "Do not make us cross the Jordan." This gave the impression that the men would not participate in the conquest of Canaan.

Much has been written about the motives of the Gadites and Reubenites in the making of this request. Some commentators have launched serious accusations at the address of the two tribes. Matthew Henry's Commentary says: "The judicious Calvin thinks there was much amiss in the principle they went upon, and that they consulted their own private convenience more than the public good, that they had not such regard to the honour and interest of Israel, and the promise made to Abraham of the land of Canaan (strictly so called), as they ought to have had." Matthew Henry further comments: "This land which they coveted was not only beautiful for situation, and pleasant to the eye, but it was good for food, food for cattle; and they had a great multitude of cattle, above the rest of the tribes, it is supposed because they brought more out of Egypt, than the rest did; but that was forty years before, and stocks of cattle increase and decrease in less time than that; therefore I rather think they had been better husbands of their cattle in the wilderness, had tended them better, had taken more care of the breed, and not been so profuse as their neighbours in eating the lambs out of the flock and the calves out of the midst of the stall. Now they, having these large stocks, coveted land proportional. Many scriptures speak of Bashan and Gilead as places famous for cattle; they had been so already, and therefore these tribes hoped they would be so to them, and whatever comes of it here they desire to take their lot."

It is difficult to deduct from this account whether the people who requested this were really driven by selfish motives, and that they changed their mind after hearing Moses' impassioned outburst, or whether they meant well, and Moses misunderstood their intentions. It seems quite permissible to give those men the benefit of the doubt.

On the other hand we understand Moses' reaction. The attitude of the people forty years ago, which prevented them from entering the land, was still fresh in his mind. It must have been one of the most traumatic experiences of his life. The request of the two tribes triggered flashbacks in him, and he bursts out in vehement accusations. He calls them "a brood of sinners," and he speaks as if the two tribes had already deserted the rest of the nation. We read in vs. 14: "And here you are, a brood of sinners, standing in the place of your fathers and making the LORD even more angry with Israel." And in vs. 7: "Why do you discourage the Israelites from going over into the land the LORD has given them?"

The first thing we learn from this is that God's promises are not self-fulfilling. If we do not act upon them in faith, nothing of what God wants us to be and to have will come to pass. There are many examples in Scripture that show us that God's promises did not materialize, or never came to complete fulfillment, because the people did not live up to their potential. A strange phenomenon in this chapter is that the Lord is not consulted in this matter; at least we do not read that He is. The Reubenites and Gadites come up with their request because it seems to be a good plan, and Moses takes recourse to his memories of previous disasters, instead of asking the Lord if that is what He wanted. It seems clear that the territories of Bashan and part of the land of the Midianites had been given by God to the Israelites for them to use. Yet, the whole matter is dealt with on a human level.

Moses compares these men unjustly with the twelve spies who spied out the land forty years earlier, ten of which spread false reports about the land, and told Israel that the conquest of Canaan was impossible. The men of Reuben and Gad never said anything detrimental about Canaan itself. So the comparison was unfair.

Although we do not read about this, Moses' reaction would indicate that there were some ambiguous feelings among the Israelites regarding their entry into the promised land, so that the danger of discouragement may not have been imaginary. And Moses must have felt uneasy about the public sentiment, otherwise he would not have reacted the way he did. His attitude in this is quite different from the one Joshua would later demonstrate. When, at one point some of the tribes showed reluctance to conquer certain territories, we read: "But Joshua said to the house of Joseph-- to Ephraim and Manasseh—'You are numerous and very powerful. You will have not only one allotment but the forested hill country as well. Clear it, and its farthest limits will be yours; though the Canaanites have iron chariots and though they are strong, you can drive them out.' "[ 1 ] Whether there really was a lack of faith on the side of Moses, we cannot tell from the record that is left to us. It seem, however, that the whole matter was never brought before the Lord.

The Reubenites and Gadites pledge to go ahead of the whole Israelite army, taking the brunt of enemy fire, so to speak, and lead the whole nation to victory. This promise may have been hyperbolic more than realistic. The Adam Clarke Commentary reflects about his by saying: "Could the women and children even keep the defensed 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, [Num. 26], 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. Now from [Joshua 4:13] 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 defense 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." The reference mentioned from the book of Joshua reads: "The men of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over, armed, in front of the Israelites, as Moses had directed them. About forty thousand armed for battle crossed over before the LORD to the plains of Jericho for war." So, not all the men of those tribes crossed the Jordan to fulfil the pledge they had made, only about one third of them did. It may not have been necessary for all to go, but in not going they broke, non-the-less, their promise.

As history would prove, they paid for this in becoming the first tribes in being carried away into captivity, never to return. We read in II Kings: "In the time of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel Beth Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh and Hazor. He took Gilead and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali, and deported the people to Assyria."[ 2 ] In the light of this global picture, we would tend to think that the Reubenites and Gadites made the wrong choice, and that they settled for less than what the Lord had in stock for them. It is difficult to come to the right conclusion though, for when we turn to the book of Joshua, we come to understand that Joshua felt that those tribes had fulfilled their obligation. We read: "Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh and said to them, 'You have done all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded, and you have obeyed me in everything I commanded. For a long time now-- to this very day-- you have not deserted your brothers but have carried out the mission the LORD your God gave you. Now that the LORD your God has given your brothers rest as he promised, return to your homes in the land that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side of the Jordan. But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to obey his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and all your soul.' Then Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their homes. (To the half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given land in Bashan, and to the other half of the tribe Joshua gave land on the west side of the Jordan with their brothers.) When Joshua sent them home, he blessed them, saying, 'Return to your homes with your great wealth-- with large herds of livestock, with silver, gold, bronze and iron, and a great quantity of clothing-- and divide with your brothers the plunder from your enemies.' So the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh left the Israelites at Shiloh in Canaan to return to Gilead, their own land, which they had acquired in accordance with the command of the LORD through Moses."[ 3 ] The main problem, of course was that those tribes did not "love the LORD [their] God, to walk in all his ways, to obey his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all [their] heart and all [their] soul."

There still remains the issue of the allotment to the half of the tribe of Manasseh. The Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary says about this point: "[Half the tribe of Manasseh.] It is nowhere explained in the record how they were incorporated with the two tribes, or what broke this great tribe into two parts, of which one was left to follow the fortunes of its brethren in the settled life of the western hills, while the other was allowed to wander as a nomadic tribe over the pasture lands of Gilead and Bashan. They are not mentioned as accompanying Reuben and Gad in their application to Moses, neither were they included in his first directions [Num. 32:25]; but as they also were a people addicted to pastoral pursuit, and possessed as immense flocks as the other two, Moses invited the half of them to remain, in consequence, probably, of finding that this region was more than sufficient for the pastoral wants of the others, and gave them the preference, as some have conjectured, for their valorous conduct in the contests with the Amorites."

The last part of this chapter, the verses 34-42, may be a compilation of facts that took place at a later date. It seems doubtful that the tribes that received the territory East of the Jordan would have been given enough time to completely rebuild the places they had destroyed in the conquest. But they must have made the territory safe enough for their women and children to be settled. It is true, of course, that if more than 70,000 men remained behind, they would rebuild the destroyed cities while the other soldiers entered Canaan.

The Adam Clarke Commentary writes about the rebuilding of the cities: "[The children of Gad built Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer] This was situated on the river Arnon, [Deut. 2:36; 2 Kings 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, [2 Kings 15:29], after which the Moabites appear to have repossessed it, as they seem to have occupied it in the days of Jeremiah, [Num. 48:15-20]."

And Matthew Henry's Commentary adds to this: "They changed the names of them (v. 38), either to show their authority, that the change of the names might signify the change of their owners, or because their names were idolatrous, and carried in them a respect to the dunghill-deities that were there worshipped. Nebo and Baal were names of their gods, which they were forbidden to make mention of [Ex. 23:13], and which, by changing the names of these cities, they endeavored to bury in oblivion; and God promises to take away the names of Baalim out of the mouths of his people, [Hos. 2:17]."

[ 1 ] Josh. 17:17,18

[ 2 ] II Kings 15:29

[ 3 ] Josh. 22:1-9