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Joshua 13:15–23 — Reuben’s Inheritance. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

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Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

DESCRIPTION OF THE TERRITORY DISTRIBUTED BY MOSES ON THE EAST OF JORDAN ( Joshua 13:15-33 ). (15) Reuben. —See also Numbers 32:33-42 and Deuteronomy 3:16 , &c.

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Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

According to their families — Dividing the inheritance into as many parts as they had families. But this is only spoken of the greater families; for the lesser distributions to the several small families were made by inferior officers, according to the rules which Moses had given them.

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Matthew HenryConcise Commentary on the Whole Bible1706

It is the will of God that every man should know his own, and not take that which is another's. The world must be governed, not by force, but right. Wherever our habitation is placed, and in whatever honest way our portion is assigned, we should consider them as allotted of God; we should be thankful for, and use them as such

Matthew Henry’s note runs on the whole section (13:7–33); this excerpt is its general principle, applied here to Reuben’s grant.

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

The historian now gives us, on the faith of the ancient registers, the several boundaries of the tribes east of the Jordan. Reuben ] Reuben naturally comes first. His boundaries are more briefly given, Numbers 32:33-42 .

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This is what Moses had given to the clans of the tribe of Reuben:

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

mō·šeh way·yit·tên lə·miš·pə·ḥō·ṯām lə·maṭ·ṭêh ḇə·nê- rə·’ū·ḇên

Word by word6 · parsed

מֹשֶׁ֔הmō·šeh[This is what] MosesH4872

√ Môsheh — Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiverNounpropermasculine singular

מֹשֶׁה — Moses, here in his last office as land-divider east of Jordan. Ellicott heads the whole section “Description of the territory distributed by Moses on the east of Jordan,” cross-referencing Numbers 32 and Deuteronomy 3. The grants of chs. 13–14 were Moses’ work; Joshua only records and confirms them.

וַיִּתֵּ֣ןway·yit·tênhad givenH5414

√ nâthan — to give, used with greatest latitude of application (put, make, etcConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

The verb “gave” (וַיִּתֵּן, nāthan) — the governing act of the whole division-of-the-land section. The inheritance is never seized; it is given. Matthew Henry: “we should consider them as allotted of God; we should be thankful for, and use them as such.”

לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָֽם׃lə·miš·pə·ḥō·ṯāmto the clansH4940

√ mishpâchâh — a family, iPreposition-lNounfeminine plural constructthird person masculine plural

“to the tribe of the sons of Reuben” — Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, is named first among the trans-Jordan tribes. Cambridge: “Reuben naturally comes first.” The birthright dignity of being listed first survives even as the tribe’s history (Genesis 49:4) shrinks toward insignificance.

לְמַטֵּ֥הlə·maṭ·ṭêhof the tribeH4294

√ maṭṭeh — a branch (as extending)Preposition-lNounmasculine singular construct

בְנֵֽי־ḇə·nê-vvvH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct

רְאוּבֵ֖ןrə·’ū·ḇênof ReubenH7205

√ Rᵉʼûwbên — Reuben, a son of JacobNounpropermasculine singular

רְאוּבֵן — Reuben, “see, a son” (Genesis 29:32). The firstborn who forfeited the double portion (Genesis 49:3–4; 1 Chronicles 5:1) here still receives a real, bounded land — grace surviving the loss of pre-eminence.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-gave Moses to-the-tribe-of the-sons-of Reuben [an inheritance] by-their-clans.”

Where the English smooths the original

וַיִּתֵּ֣ן The Hebrew opens with the wayyiqtol verb וַיִּתֵּן, “and he gave,” from nāthan — the verb stands first, so the sentence is built around the act of giving, not (as BSB’s opening “This is what Moses had given”) around the thing given. The original foregrounds the giver and the deed.
מֹשֶׁ֔ה מֹשֶׁה, Moses, is the explicit subject: “Moses gave.” BSB’s “This is what Moses had given” recasts the live verb as a relative description of an estate. The Hebrew keeps Moses as the acting hand that apportioned the trans-Jordan.
לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָֽם׃ לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָם is one word — preposition lə- + mishpāḥāh (“clan/family”) + 3 m.pl. suffix: “by-their-clans.” Benson and Poole both note this is “dividing the inheritance into as many parts as they had families” — the apportionment is family by family, a single dense word English must unfold into a phrase.

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Albert BarnesNotes on the Bible1834

This territory was the most southerly of the trans-Jordanic possessions of Israel, and adjoined Moab, which lay only on the other side of the Arnon. Hence, the Reubenites became in after times much intermixed with the Moabites, who in fact eventually acquired much of the land, and several, if not all, of the cities here named as belonging to Reuben.

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

The portion of country this tribe selected, under its modern name of the Belka , is still esteemed beyond all others by the Arab sheepmasters. It was the southernmost and smallest portion of the district east of the Jordan.

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

The tribe of Reuben received its inheritance in the south-namely, the territory from Aror in the Arnon valley, and from Ar in that valley, onwards, and the plain (table-land) by Medeba (see Joshua 13:9 ), with Heshbon the capital and her towns, i.e., the towns dependent upon it, in the plain.

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

And their coast was from Aroer that is on the bank of the river Arnon,.... As the country of Sihon is described, Joshua 13:9 ; from whence it appears that it was his country which was given to Reuben, though not all of it

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The territory from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along with the city in the middle of the valley, to the whole plateau beyond Medeba,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·hî lā·hem hag·gə·ḇūl mê·‘ă·rō·w·‘êr ’ă·šer ‘al- śə·p̄aṯ- ’ar·nō·wn na·ḥal wə·hā·‘îr ’ă·šer bə·ṯō·wḵ- han·na·ḥal wə·ḵāl ham·mî·šōr ‘al- mê·ḏə·ḇā

Word by word17 · parsed

וַיְהִ֨יway·hîH1961

√ hâyâh — to exist, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

לָהֶ֜םlā·hem

Preposition-lPronounthird person masculine plural

הַגְּב֗וּלhag·gə·ḇūlThe territoryH1366

√ gᵉbûwl — properly, a cord (as twisted), iArticleNounmasculine singular

הַגְּבוּל, “the territory / border” — from gəbûl, a twisted cord, hence a boundary. Cambridge traces the English word “coast” (older versions) through Latin costa, “a rib, side,” to “a border generally”; the Hebrew already means the bounded edge.

מֵעֲרוֹעֵ֡רmê·‘ă·rō·w·‘êrfrom AroerH6177

√ ʻĂrôwʻêr — Aroer, the name of three places in or near PalestinePreposition-mNounproperfeminine singular

“from Aroer” (מֵעֲרוֹעֵר) — the southern anchor of Reuben on the Arnon’s north rim. Keil & Delitzsch: the inheritance ran “from Aror in the Arnon valley… onwards, and the plain (table-land) by Medeba.”

אֲשֶׁר֩’ă·šerH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

עַל־‘al-onH5921

√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition

שְׂפַת־śə·p̄aṯ-the rimH8193

√ sâphâh — the lip (as a natural boundary)Nounfeminine singular construct

אַרְנ֜וֹן’ar·nō·wnof the ArnonH769

√ ʼArnôwn — the Arnon, a river east of the Jordan, also its territoryNounproperfeminine singular

אַרְנוֹן — the Arnon, the deep wadi that formed the historic Moab–Amorite frontier (Numbers 21:13). Reuben’s south boundary is a river-gorge, fixing the tribe against Moab — the seam where, Barnes warns, the Reubenites later “became in after times much intermixed with the Moabites.”

נַ֨חַלna·ḥalValleyH5158

√ nachal — a stream, especially a winter torrentNounmasculine singular construct

וְהָעִ֨ירwə·hā·‘îralong with the cityH5892

√ ʻîyr — a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the widest sense (even of a mere encampment or post)Conjunctive waw, ArticleNounfeminine singular

“the city that is in the midst of the valley” — Cambridge and Poole identify it with Ar of Moab (cf. Joshua 13:9; Deuteronomy 3:16), a town set down in the very bed of the gorge.

אֲשֶׁ֧ר’ă·šerH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

בְּתוֹךְ־bə·ṯō·wḵ-in the middleH8432

√ tâvek — a bisection, iPreposition-bNounmasculine singular construct

הַנַּ֛חַלhan·na·ḥalof the valleyH5158

√ nachal — a stream, especially a winter torrentArticleNounmasculine singular

וְכָל־wə·ḵālto the wholeH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeConjunctive wawNounmasculine singular construct

הַמִּישֹׁ֖רham·mî·šōrplateauH4334

√ mîyshôwr — a level, iArticleNounmasculine singular

עַל־‘al-beyondH5921

√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition

מֵידְבָֽא׃mê·ḏə·ḇāMedebaH4311

√ Mêydᵉbâʼ — Medeba, a place in PalestineNounproperfeminine singular

מֵידְבָא — Medeba, named on the ninth-century Moabite Stone as a town King Mesha recovered. The Pulpit Commentary reads the whole list against that monument: these Reubenite towns “had fallen into the hands of Mesha at the rebellion.”

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-was for-them the-territory from-Aroer that [is] on the-rim-of the-Arnon Valley, and-the-city that [is] in-the-midst-of the-valley, and-all the-tableland by Medeba.”

Where the English smooths the original

הַגְּב֗וּל הַגְּבוּל (gəbûl) is rendered “territory,” but its root sense is a cord (as twisted), a boundary-line. The same word recurs in v. 23 for the border; Hebrew uses one word for both the line and the land it encloses. BSB’s “territory” here vs. “border” there hides that it is the same term.
שְׂפַת־ שְׂפַת (śəphath) literally means “lip” — the rim of the Arnon gorge is called its lip, the natural-boundary metaphor of a mouth’s edge. BSB’s “rim” is apt but loses the bodily image: Strong’s glosses it “the lip (as a natural boundary).”
הַמִּישֹׁ֖ר הַמִּישֹׁר (mîshôr) is the technical name of the Moabite tableland — a level, flat upland — not just any “plateau.” The Pulpit Commentary presses the precision: where the English flattens everything to “plain,” the Hebrew distinguishes Mishor (uplands) from Arabah, Shephelah, Bik‘ah, and Ciccar — “almost of a necessity lost in a translation.”

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Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685

Heshbon: this city and Dibon and Ataroth were upon the borders of Reuben and Gad, and therefore sometimes are ascribed to Reuben, as here, and Numbers 32:37 , sometimes to Gad, as Numbers 32:34 1 Chronicles 6:80 ,81 , by whom Heshbon, is said to be given to the Levites, Joshua 21:39 . Possibly it and the rest were jointly inhabited by both tribes, as Jerusalem was by Jews and Benjamites.

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

Bamoth Baal. The high places or altars of Baal. The frequent mention of Baal in this passage shows how common the worship of Baal was in Palestine. The Moabites worshipped him under the name of Chemosh, to whom Mesha, on the Moabite stone, attributes all his victories

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

Bamothbaal signifies the high places of Baal; see Numbers 22:41 ; perhaps this is the same with Bamoth in the valley, Numbers 21:20 ; and Bethbaalmeon is the same with Baalmeon in Numbers 32:38 ; where it is highly probable was a temple of Baal, since both "beth" signifies an house, and "meon" an habitation.

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

Beth-baal-meon ] At the first approach of the Israelites to this part of Palestine ( Numbers 32:38 ) it is called Baal-Meon , or in its contracted form Beon ( Numbers 32:3 ). The Beth is probably a Hebrew addition, and the word denotes “ the House of Baal of the den .”

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to Heshbon and all its cities on the plateau, including Dibon, Bamoth-baal, Beth-baal-meon,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ḥeš·bō·wn wə·ḵāl ‘ā·re·hā ’ă·šer bam·mî·šōr dî·ḇō·wn ū·ḇā·mō·wṯ ba·‘al ū·ḇêṯ ba·‘al mə·‘ō·wn

Word by word11 · parsed

חֶשְׁבּ֥וֹןḥeš·bō·wnto HeshbonH2809

√ Cheshbôwn — Cheshbon, a place East of the JordanNounproperfeminine singular

חֶשְׁבּוֹן — Heshbon, the head town of the plateau. Keil & Delitzsch: “almost in the centre between the Arnon and the Jabbok,” on Reuben’s border and later ceded to Gad, then to the Levites.

וְכָל־wə·ḵāland allH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeConjunctive wawNounmasculine singular construct

עָרֶ֖יהָ‘ā·re·hāits citiesH5892

√ ʻîyr — a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the widest sense (even of a mere encampment or post)Nounfeminine plural constructthird person feminine singular

אֲשֶׁ֣ר’ă·šerH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

בַּמִּישֹׁ֑רbam·mî·šōron the plateauH4334

√ mîyshôwr — a level, iPreposition-b, ArticleNounmasculine singular

“on the tableland” (בַּמִּישֹׁר, mîshôr) — the flat Moabite upland again (cf. v. 16). The cities are gathered by their shared terrain, the level high country.

דִּיבוֹן֙dî·ḇō·wnincluding DibonH1769

√ Dîybôwn — Dibon, the name of three places in PalestineNounproperfeminine singular

Dibon (דִּיבוֹן) — called Dibon of Gad in Numbers 33:45 because Gad fortified it; named on the Moabite Stone as Mesha’s citadel-capital. Keil & Delitzsch place it “only an hour from Aror, on the Arnon.”

וּבָמ֣וֹתū·ḇā·mō·wṯvvvH1120

√ Bâmôwth — Bamoth or Bamoth-Baal, a place East of the Jordan

בַּ֔עַלba·‘alBamoth-baalH1168

√ Baʻal — Baal, a Phoenician deityConjunctive wawNounproperfeminine singular

בַּעַל — Baal, the Canaanite-Phoenician storm-deity. Its appearance twice in this single verse of place-names is itself a warning: Israel is settling a land saturated with the worship it is commanded to tear down (Deuteronomy 12:2–3). The Moabites, says the Pulpit Commentary, served him “under the name of Chemosh.”

וּבֵ֖יתū·ḇêṯvvvH1010

√ Bêyth Baʻal Mᵉʻôwn — Beth-Baal-Meon, a place in Palestine

בַּ֥עַלba·‘alvvvH1010

√ Bêyth Baʻal Mᵉʻôwn — Beth-Baal-Meon, a place in PalestinePreposition

מְעֽוֹן׃mə·‘ō·wnBeth-baal-meonH1010

√ Bêyth Baʻal Mᵉʻôwn — Beth-Baal-Meon, a place in PalestineConjunctive wawNounproperfeminine singular

“Beth-baal-meon” — later contracted to Beth-meon (Jeremiah 48:23) and Baal-meon (Ezekiel 25:9). Poole: “part of the name being cut off, as is usual with the Hebrews.” The same town wears several truncations across the prophets.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Heshbon and-all her-cities that [are] on the-tableland, Dibon and-Bamoth-baal and-Beth-baal-meon.”

Where the English smooths the original

חֶשְׁבּ֥וֹן חֶשְׁבּוֹן — Heshbon — was Sihon’s former capital (v. 21). Poole notes it lay “upon the borders of Reuben and Gad,” so it is ascribed to Reuben here, to Gad elsewhere (Numbers 32:34), and given to the Levites (Joshua 21:39). The town’s shifting attribution is a real datum the bare BSB list cannot show.
וּבָמ֣וֹת בַּ֔עַל בָּמוֹת בַּעַל means literally “the high places of Baal.” BSB transliterates it as a place-name, Bamoth-baal, but The Pulpit Commentary insists the words name a thing — “the high places or altars of Baal,” evidence of “how common the worship of Baal was.” Reuben inherits towns whose very names are pagan shrines.
וּבֵ֖ית בַּ֥עַל מְעֽוֹן׃ בֵּית בַּעַל מְעוֹן — “House of Baal of the den/dwelling.” Gill unpacks it: “‘beth’ signifies an house, and ‘meon’ an habitation,” a likely temple of Baal. The single BSB token Beth-baal-meon conceals a three-word phrase naming a Baal-sanctuary.

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

And Jahazah,.... Called Jahaz, Numbers 21:23 , where the battle was fought between Sihon and Israel: and Kedemoth; near to which was a wilderness, which took its name from it, from whence Moses sent messengers with words of peace to Sihon, Deuteronomy 2:26 , and Mephaath; thought to be the Maipha of Ptolemy

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

and Jahazah ] Also called Jahaz and Jahaza and Jahzah , in the Hebrew Yahats and Yahtsah . Here the decisive battle was fought between the Israelites and Sihon king of the Amorites ( Numbers 21:23 ). and Kedemoth ] Given to the Merarite Levites ( Joshua 21:37 ). Mephaath ] Lying in the district of the Mishor (see Jeremiah 48:21 ).

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

Mephaath, where there was a garrison stationed (according to the Onom.) as a defence against the inhabitants of the desert, is to be sought for in the neighbourhood of Jahza, with which it is always associated ( Jeremiah 48:21 ). Kedemoth and Mephaath were given up to the Levites ( Joshua 21:37 ; 1 Chronicles 6:64 ).

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Albert BarnesNotes on the Bible1834

See the marginal references for some of these names. Heshbon, Kedemoth, and Mephaath became eventually Levitical cities.

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Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath,

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·yah·ṣāh ū·qə·ḏê·mōṯ ū·mê·p̄ā·‘aṯ

Word by word3 · parsed

וְיַ֥הְצָהwə·yah·ṣāhJahazH3096

√ Yahats — Jahats or Jahtsah, a place East of the JordanConjunctive wawNounproperfeminine singularthird person feminine singular

יַהְצָה — Jahaz, the field of the decisive Sihon battle. Cambridge: “Here the decisive battle was fought between the Israelites and Sihon king of the Amorites.” The conquest that won this land happened on a spot now listed as one of its towns.

וּקְדֵמֹ֖תū·qə·ḏê·mōṯKedemothH6932

√ Qᵉdêmôwth — Kedemoth, a place in eastern PalestineConjunctive wawNounproperfeminine singular

קְדֵמֹת — Kedemoth, given to the Merarite Levites (Joshua 21:37). Gill: near its wilderness “Moses sent messengers with words of peace to Sihon, Deuteronomy 2:26.”

וּמֵפָֽעַת׃ū·mê·p̄ā·‘aṯMephaathH4158

√ Môwphaʻath — Mophaath or Mephaath, a place in PalestineConjunctive wawNounproperfeminine singular

מֵפָעַת — Mephaath, in the Mishor district, “always associated” with Jahaz (Jeremiah 48:21, per Keil & Delitzsch). The two desert-edge towns are a recurring pair from Reuben’s allotment to the Levitical lists to the prophets’ lament over Moab.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-Jahaz and-Kedemoth and-Mephaath.”

Where the English smooths the original

וְיַ֥הְצָה יַהְצָה (Yahtsāh) is the site where, Gill and Cambridge note, “the battle was fought between Sihon and Israel” (Numbers 21:23). The BSB Jahaz is the same place spelled Jahaz / Jahaza / Jahzah elsewhere — a name whose vowels wander across the books.
וּקְדֵמֹ֖ת קְדֵמֹת (Qədêmôth) shares the root qedem, “east / before.” From its namesake wilderness Moses sent peace-envoys to Sihon (Deuteronomy 2:26). BSB Kedemoth gives only the bare label; the name itself means “eastern parts.”
וּמֵפָֽעַת׃ מֵפָעַת (Mêphá‘ath) was, per Keil & Delitzsch, a garrisoned outpost “as a defence against the inhabitants of the desert.” Together with Kedemoth it became a Levitical city (Joshua 21:37) — a fact invisible in the plain BSB enumeration.

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Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

In the mount of the valley — In the mount which overlooked the great plain before mentioned, or which bordered upon the valley, a mount which, it seems, was then famous among the Israelites; whether that where Moses was buried, which was near to Beth-peor, or some other.

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

Sibmah (see Numbers 32:38 ). The vine of Sibmah forms a feature in the lament of Isaiah ( Isaiah 16:8 ) and Jeremiah ( Jeremiah 48:32 ) over Moab. It was close by Heshbon, on the borders of Reuben and Gad

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

Zereth-hashachar, i.e., splendor aurorae, which is only mentioned here, was situated "upon a mountain of the valley." According to Joshua 13:27 , the valley was the Jordan valley, or rather (according to Genesis 14:3 , Genesis 14:8 ) the vale of Siddim, a valley running down on the eastern side of the Dead Sea.

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

and Zareth-shahar ] = “the Splendour of the Dawn,” in Mount Ira-Emak = “the Mountain of the Valley.” Menke places it west of Mount Pisgah, towards the Dead Sea.

Cambridge quotes Tristram’s Land of Moab at length on Zara/Zareth-shahar; this excerpt is the entry’s own gloss on the name and site.

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Kiriathaim, Sibmah, Zereth-shahar on the hill in the valley,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·qir·yā·ṯa·yim wə·śiḇ·māh wə·ṣe·reṯ haš·ša·ḥar bə·har hā·‘ê·meq

Word by word6 · parsed

וְקִרְיָתַ֣יִםwə·qir·yā·ṯa·yimKiriathaimH7156

√ Qiryâthayim — Kirjathaim, the name of two placed in PalestineConjunctive wawNounproperfeminine singular

קִרְיָתַיִם — Kiriathaim, a dual form (“twin cities”), named on the Moabite Stone. Cambridge: found “among the proper names recorded on the now celebrated ‘Moabite stone,’” identified with modern Kureiyât.

וְשִׂבְמָ֔הwə·śiḇ·māhSibmahH7643

√ Sᵉbâm — Sebam or Sibmah, a place in MoabConjunctive wawNounproperfeminine singular

שִׂבְמָה — Sibmah, famed for its vineyards. The Pulpit Commentary: “The vine of Sibmah forms a feature in the lament of Isaiah (16:8) and Jeremiah (48:32) over Moab.” The land Reuben loses becomes the subject of the prophets’ grief.

וְצֶ֥רֶתwə·ṣe·reṯvvvH6890

√ Tsereth hash-Shachar — Tsereth-hash-Shachar, a place in Palestine

הַשַּׁ֖חַרhaš·ša·ḥarZereth-shaharH6890

√ Tsereth hash-Shachar — Tsereth-hash-Shachar, a place in PalestineConjunctive wawNounproperfeminine singular

הַשַּׁחַר — shaḥar, “dawn / daybreak.” The town Zereth-shahar means “the splendour of the dawn,” and the Pulpit Commentary connects the name to the place’s real light: Tristram saw there “the most gorgeous colouring… more beautiful and varied, no doubt, at dawn.” The same root names the “morning star” (Isaiah 14:12) and the Lord who comes “as the dawn” (Hosea 6:3).

בְּהַ֥רbə·haron the hillH2022

√ har — a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figuratively)Preposition-bNounmasculine singular construct

“on the mountain of the valley” (בְּהַר הָעֵמֶק) — a height over the rift. Keil & Delitzsch tie “the valley” to the Jordan/Dead-Sea trough, the vale of Siddim of Genesis 14.

הָעֵֽמֶק׃hā·‘ê·meqin the valleyH6010

√ ʻêmeq — a vale (iArticleNounmasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-Kiriathaim and-Sibmah and-Zereth-shahar on the-hill-of the-valley.”

Where the English smooths the original

וְקִרְיָתַ֣יִם קִרְיָתַיִם carries a Hebrew dual ending (-ayim): “the two cities / twin-towns.” Cambridge notes the dual: “The twin hills explain the Hebrew dual and plural terminations.” BSB’s single name Kiriathaim erases the built-in “double” the morphology declares.
וְצֶ֥רֶת הַשַּׁ֖חַר צֶרֶת הַשַּׁחַר is a meaningful phrase, not a bare label: Keil & Delitzsch render it “splendor aurorae,” and Cambridge “the Splendour of the Dawn.” BSB’s transliterated Zereth-shahar hides that שַׁחַר, shaḥar, means dawn — a town named for first light over the Dead Sea hills.
בְּהַ֥ר הָעֵֽמֶק׃ בְּהַר הָעֵמֶק = “on the mountain of the valley,” not a flat “hill in the valley.” Benson reads it as “the mount which overlooked the great plain,” possibly the very mount near Beth-peor where Moses was buried — a height standing over the rift, not a rise within it.

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

And Bethpeor,.... So called from Peor, the idol of the Moabites, and where very likely there had been a temple built to the honour of it; over against this place was a valley, where Israel abode some time, Deuteronomy 3:29 , and Ashdodpisgah; of which see Deuteronomy 3:17 , and Bethjeshimoth; of which see Numbers 33:49 .

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

and Beth-peor ] A place dedicated to the god Baal-peor, on the east of the Jordan opposite Jericho, about six miles above Libias or Beth-haran. Comp. Deuteronomy 3:29 ; Deuteronomy 4:46 . and Ashdoth-pisgah ] See ch. Joshua 12:3 .

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

Beth-peor, opposite to Jericho, six Roman miles higher than (to the east of) Libias: see at Numbers 23:28 . The "slopes of Pisgah" ( Joshua 12:3 ; Deuteronomy 3:17 ): to the south of the former, on the north-eastern shore of the Dead Sea

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Beth-peor, the slopes of Pisgah, and Beth-jeshimoth—

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ū·ḇêṯ pə·‘ō·wr wə·’aš·dō·wṯ hap·pis·gāh ū·ḇêṯ hay·ši·mō·wṯ

Word by word6 · parsed

וּבֵ֥יתū·ḇêṯvvvH1047

√ Bêyth Pᵉʻôwr — Beth-Peor, a place East of the Jordan

פְּע֛וֹרpə·‘ō·wrBeth-peorH1047

√ Bêyth Pᵉʻôwr — Beth-Peor, a place East of the JordanConjunctive wawNounproperfeminine singular

פְּעוֹר — Peor, the Moabite idol of Numbers 25. Gill: “very likely there had been a temple built to the honour of it.” Reuben’s list runs straight through the scene of Israel’s most shameful seduction; the place of the plague is now a deeded inheritance.

וְאַשְׁדּ֥וֹתwə·’aš·dō·wṯthe slopesH794

√ ʼăshêdâh — a ravineConjunctive wawNouncommon plural construct

“the slopes of Pisgah” (אַשְׁדּוֹת הַפִּסְגָּה) — the watered declivities of the mountain. Keil & Delitzsch set them “to the south… on the north-eastern shore of the Dead Sea.”

הַפִּסְגָּ֖הhap·pis·gāhof PisgahH6449

√ Piçgâh — Pisgah, a Mountain East of JordanArticleNounproperfeminine singular

הַפִּסְגָּה — Pisgah, the ridge from whose top Moses was shown the whole land and then died (Deuteronomy 34:1). Reuben’s eastern grant touches the very height where the lawgiver’s eyes closed on a land he could not enter — the giver of the inheritance (v. 15) buried within sight of it.

וּבֵ֥יתū·ḇêṯvvvH1020

√ Bêyth ha-Yshîy-môwth — Beth-ha-Jeshimoth, a town East of the Jordan

הַיְשִׁמֽוֹת׃hay·ši·mō·wṯand Beth-jeshimothH1020

√ Bêyth ha-Yshîy-môwth — Beth-ha-Jeshimoth, a town East of the JordanConjunctive wawNounproperfeminine singular

Beth-jeshimoth (הַיְשִׁמוֹת) — “House of the Desolations,” Israel’s last wilderness camp before the plains of Moab (Numbers 33:49). Keil & Delitzsch: “in the Ghor el Seisaban, on the north-east side of the Dead Sea.”

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-Beth-peor and-the-slopes-of Pisgah and-Beth-jeshimoth.”

Where the English smooths the original

וּבֵ֥ית פְּע֛וֹר בֵּית פְּעוֹר — “House of Peor.” Gill: “so called from Peor, the idol of the Moabites.” This is the very district of Israel’s apostasy with Baal-Peor (Numbers 25) and near Moses’ unmarked grave (Deuteronomy 34:6). BSB’s Beth-peor is a place-name; the Hebrew is a confession of what was worshipped there.
וְאַשְׁדּ֥וֹת הַפִּסְגָּ֖ה אַשְׁדּוֹת הַפִּסְגָּה (’ashdôth ha-Pisgāh) — Strong’s glosses ’ăshêdâh as “a ravine,” so the phrase is the “ravines / springs of Pisgah,” the watered declivities below the mountain. BSB’s “slopes of Pisgah” is a fair smoothing of a more rugged term for the gorges that drain the height.
וּבֵ֥ית הַיְשִׁמֽוֹת׃ בֵּית הַיְשִׁמוֹת — “House of the Wastes / Desolations,” from yəshîmôth (cf. yeshîmôn, “wilderness”). BSB Beth-jeshimoth hides the bleak meaning; Keil & Delitzsch place it in the Ghor on the Dead Sea’s north-east — a town named for desolation at the wilderness’ edge.

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Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

The Midianites were “dukes of Sihon,” and a part of his government. Through them he appears to have exercised his dominion over the conquered territory which he had taken from Moab. This land Israel had now, in turn, taken from him. But in order to its complete subjugation, the removal of Sihon’s dukes, the princes or kings of Midian, was also necessary.

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Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

All the kingdom of Sihon — A great part of it; in which sense we read of all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan, Matthew 3:5 ; and all Galilee, Matthew 4:23 . Whom Moses smote — Not in the same time or battle, as appears by comparing Numbers 21:23-24 , with Numbers 31:8 , but in the same manner.

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Albert BarnesNotes on the Bible1834

Dukes of Sihon - Rather "vassals of Sihon," probably those "dedicated" or "appointed" with a libation.

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

"Dukes of Sihon," properly vassals of Sihon; נסיכים does not signify anointed, however, but means literally poured out, i.e., cast, moulded, enfeoffed. The word points to the "creation of a prince by the communication or pouring in of power" (Gusset, s. v.).

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all the cities of the plateau and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon until Moses killed him and the chiefs of Midian (Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba), the princes of Sihon who lived in the land.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·ḵōl ‘ā·rê ham·mî·šōr wə·ḵāl mam·lə·ḵūṯ sî·ḥō·wn me·leḵ hā·’ĕ·mō·rî ’ă·šer mā·laḵ bə·ḥeš·bō·wn ’ă·šer mō·šeh ’ō·ṯōw wə·’eṯ- hik·kāh nə·śî·’ê miḏ·yān ’eṯ- ’ĕ·wî wə·’eṯ- re·qem wə·’eṯ- ṣūr wə·’eṯ- ḥūr wə·’eṯ- re·ḇa‘ nə·sî·ḵê sî·ḥō·wn yō·šə·ḇê hā·’ā·reṣ

Word by word32 · parsed

וְכֹל֙wə·ḵōlallH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeConjunctive wawNounmasculine singular construct

עָרֵ֣י‘ā·rêthe citiesH5892

√ ʻîyr — a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the widest sense (even of a mere encampment or post)Nounfeminine plural construct

הַמִּישֹׁ֔רham·mî·šōrof the plateauH4334

√ mîyshôwr — a level, iArticleNounmasculine singular

וְכָֽל־wə·ḵāland allH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeConjunctive wawNounmasculine singular construct

מַמְלְכ֗וּתmam·lə·ḵūṯthe kingdomH4468

√ mamlâkûwth — {dominion, iNounfeminine singular construct

סִיחוֹן֙sî·ḥō·wnof SihonH5511

√ Çîychôwn — Sichon, an Amoritish kingNounpropermasculine singular

סִיחוֹן — Sihon, the Amorite king of Heshbon whose defeat (Numbers 21:21–31) opened the trans-Jordan to Israel. His whole realm is the substance of Reuben’s and Gad’s grants; the conquered enemy’s kingdom becomes the covenant inheritance.

מֶ֣לֶךְme·leḵkingH4428

√ melek — a kingNounmasculine singular construct

הָאֱמֹרִ֔יhā·’ĕ·mō·rîof the AmoritesH567

√ ʼĔmôrîy — an Emorite, one of the Canaanitish tribesArticleNounpropermasculine singular

אֲשֶׁ֥ר’ă·šerwhoH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

מָלַ֖ךְmā·laḵreignedH4427

√ mâlak — to reignVerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular

“who reigned” (מָלַךְ, mālak) — the verb of human kingship. Sihon reigned; now his throne-towns are parceled out by Moses’ hand under the LORD’s grant. Earthly sovereignty undone and re-given.

בְּחֶשְׁבּ֑וֹןbə·ḥeš·bō·wnin HeshbonH2809

√ Cheshbôwn — Cheshbon, a place East of the JordanPreposition-bNounproperfeminine singular

אֲשֶׁר֩’ă·šer[until]H834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

מֹשֶׁ֜הmō·šehMosesH4872

√ Môsheh — Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiverNounpropermasculine singular

מֹשֶׁה — Moses as the agent of judgment, “whom Moses struck.” Ellicott finds here “another example of undesigned agreement between Joshua and the Pentateuch”: the Midianite chiefs are called “dukes of Sihon,” explaining why Israel warred on Midian (Numbers 31).

אֹת֣וֹ׀’ō·ṯōwH853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object markerthird person masculine singular

וְאֶת־wə·’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Conjunctive wawDirect object marker

הִכָּ֨הhik·kāhkilled himH5221

√ nâkâh — to strike (lightly or severely, literally or figuratively)VerbHifilPerfectthird person masculine singular

נְשִׂיאֵ֣יnə·śî·’êand the chiefsH5387

√ nâsîyʼ — properly, an exalted one, iNounmasculine plural construct

“the chiefs of Midian” (נְשִׂיאֵי מִדְיָן, nəśî’ê) — exalted ones. The Pulpit Commentary distinguishes nāśî’ (civil rank) from śar (more absolute authority). The five named — Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, Reba — recur in the same order in Numbers 31:8, the Verifier’s strongest cross-link.

מִדְיָ֗ןmiḏ·yānof MidianH4080

√ Midyân — Midjan, a son of AbrahamNounpropermasculine singular

אֶת־’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker

אֱוִ֤י’ĕ·wîEviH189

√ ʼĔvîy — Evi, a Midianitish chiefNounpropermasculine singular

וְאֶת־wə·’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Conjunctive wawDirect object marker

רֶ֙קֶם֙re·qemRekemH7552

√ Reqem — Rekem, the name of a place in Palestine, also of a Midianite and an IsraeliteNounpropermasculine singular

וְאֶת־wə·’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Conjunctive wawDirect object marker

צ֤וּרṣūrZurH6698

√ Tsûwr — Tsur, the name of a Midianite and of an IsraeliteNounpropermasculine singular

וְאֶת־wə·’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Conjunctive wawDirect object marker

חוּר֙ḥūrHurH2354

√ Chûwr — Chur, the name of four Israelites and one MidianiteNounpropermasculine singular

וְאֶת־wə·’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Conjunctive wawDirect object marker

רֶ֔בַעre·ḇa‘and RebaH7254

√ Rebaʻ — Reba, a MidianiteNounpropermasculine singular

נְסִיכֵ֣יnə·sî·ḵêthe princesH5257

√ nᵉçîyk — properly, something poured out, iNounmasculine plural construct

נְסִיכֵי — nəsîkê, “princes / vassals,” from a root meaning poured out. Keil & Delitzsch reject “anointed” and read “enfeoffed.” These Midianite kings were Sihon’s tributaries — which is why their fall belongs to the account of his.

סִיח֔וֹןsî·ḥō·wnof SihonH5511

√ Çîychôwn — Sichon, an Amoritish kingNounpropermasculine singular

יֹשְׁבֵ֖יyō·šə·ḇêwho livedH3427

√ yâshab — properly, to sit down (specifically as judgeVerbQalParticiplemasculine plural construct

הָאָֽרֶץ׃hā·’ā·reṣin the landH776

√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)ArticleNounfeminine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-all the-cities-of the-tableland, and-all the-kingdom-of Sihon king-of the-Amorites who reigned in-Heshbon, whom Moses struck with the-chiefs-of Midian — Evi and-Rekem and-Zur and-Hur and-Reba — princes-of Sihon dwelling-in the-land.”

Where the English smooths the original

הִכָּ֨ה הִכָּה is a Hifil of nākāh — “struck / smote,” the standard conquest-verb. BSB’s “killed him” is the result, but the Hebrew word is the blow itself; the same verb describes God striking Egypt and Israel striking the nations. Note too: the original says Moses struck them, not that he killed them at one time — Benson stresses “not in the same time or battle.”
נְסִיכֵ֣י נְסִיכֵי (nəsîkê), BSB “princes of Sihon,” is a rare word literally meaning “poured-out ones.” Barnes: “probably those ‘dedicated’ or ‘appointed’ with a libation.” Keil & Delitzsch: “enfeoffed… the creation of a prince by the communication or pouring in of power.” The smooth “princes” loses the picture of vassals installed by a poured rite.
וְכָֽל־מַמְלְכ֗וּת וְכָל מַמְלְכוּת = “and all the kingdom,” but Poole and Gill read it as synecdoche — “a great part of it,” as “all Judea” in Matthew 3:5 means the region broadly. The Hebrew kōl (“all”) is here a totalizing idiom, not arithmetic — the rest of Sihon’s realm went to Gad (v. 27).

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Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

Were slain by them — This was recorded before, ( Numbers 31:8 ,) and is here repeated, because the defeating of Balaam’s purpose to curse Israel, and the turning that curse into a blessing, was such an instance of the power and goodness of God, as was fit to be had in everlasting rememberance.

Benson prints “rememberance”; quoted verbatim as in the public-domain source.

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Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685

The soothsayer; so he was in truth, though a prophet { 2 Peter 2:16 } in title and profession. See Numbers 24:25 .

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Geneva Study BibleMarginal Notes1599

So that both they who obeyed wicked counsel and the wicked counsellor perished by the just judgment of God.

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

The mention of these “vassals of Sihon” leads the historian to record also at this point the death of Balaam, which took place at the same time as that of these vassals ( Numbers 31:8 ). He is here called a “soothsayer” ( kosem ); “the fals divynor” (Wyclif); like ( a ) the diviners of the Philistines ( 1 Samuel 6:2 ), and ( b ) the necromancers ( 1 Samuel 28:8-9 ) whom Saul had “cut off.”

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The Israelites also killed the diviner Balaam son of Beor along with the others they put to the sword.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ben- ḇə·nê- yiś·rā·’êl wə·’eṯ- haq·qō·w·sêm bil·‘ām bə·‘ō·wr hā·rə·ḡū ba·ḥe·reḇ ’el- ḥal·lê·hem

Word by word11 · parsed

בֶּן־ben-The IsraelitesH1121

בְנֵֽי־ḇə·nê-H1121

יִשְׂרָאֵ֛לyiś·rā·’êl. . .H3478

√ Yisrâʼêl — Jisrael, a symbolical name of JacobNounpropermasculine singular

וְאֶת־wə·’eṯ-also [killed]H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Conjunctive wawDirect object marker

הַקּוֹסֵ֑םhaq·qō·w·sêmthe divinerH7080

√ qâçam — properly, to distribute, iArticleVerbQalParticiplemasculine singular

הַקּוֹסֵם — the diviner. Cambridge ranks Balaam with “the diviners of the Philistines (1 Samuel 6:2)” and the necromancers Saul cut off. The label exposes what the Numbers narrative only hinted: the famous oracle-speaker was, at heart, a man for hire seeking knowledge “from below.”

בִּלְעָ֥םbil·‘āmBalaamH1109

√ Bilʻâm — Bilam, a Mesopotamian prophetNounpropermasculine singular

בִּלְעָם — Balaam son of Beor, the Mesopotamian seer who could not curse Israel (Numbers 22–24) but taught Balak to seduce them (Numbers 31:16; Revelation 2:14). Benson: his death is recorded again “because the defeating of Balaam’s purpose to curse Israel… was such an instance of the power and goodness of God, as was fit to be had in everlasting remembrance.”

בְּע֖וֹרbə·‘ō·wrson of BeorH1160

√ Bᵉʻôwr — Beor, the name of the father of an Edomitish kingNounpropermasculine singular

הָרְג֧וּhā·rə·ḡū[ along with the others] they putH2026

√ hârag — to smite with deadly intentVerbQalPerfectthird person common plural

“they slew” (הָרְגוּ, hārag) — the judgment falls. Geneva draws the lesson: “both they who obeyed wicked counsel and the wicked counsellor perished by the just judgment of God.” Balaam dies by the sword he tried to turn against Israel.

בַּחֶ֖רֶבba·ḥe·reḇto the swordH2719

√ chereb — droughtPreposition-b, ArticleNounfeminine singular

“with the sword” (בַּחֶרֶב, ḥereb) — the same instrument named in v. 21’s war on Sihon. The seer who sold oracles ends among the pierced; 2 Peter 2:15 and Jude 11 make him the type of the prophet-for-pay whose “way” later teachers follow.

אֶל־’el-. . .H413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition

חַלְלֵיהֶֽם׃ḥal·lê·hem. . .H2491

√ châlâl — pierced (especially to death)Nounmasculine plural constructthird person masculine plural

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-Balaam son-of-Beor the-diviner the-sons-of Israel slew with-the-sword among their-slain.”

Where the English smooths the original

הַקּוֹסֵ֑ם הַקּוֹסֵם (haqqôsēm) is a Qal participle of qāsam, “the one divining” — BSB’s “the diviner.” Poole sharpens the irony: “so he was in truth, though a prophet in title and profession.” The same root underlies Numbers 22:7 (“the reward of divination”); the man who spoke God’s oracles is labelled by Scripture a soothsayer.
הָרְג֧וּ הָרְגוּ (hārəgû), “they slew,” from hārag, “to kill with deadly intent.” BSB renders it “they put to the sword,” folding subject and object into a smoother English clause; the Hebrew is a blunt active verb — Israel killed him.
אֶל־חַלְלֵיהֶֽם׃ אֶל חַלְלֵיהֶם = “among their slain / pierced ones” (ḥālāl, “pierced, fatally wounded”). BSB’s “along with the others they put to the sword” spreads one terse phrase into a clause; the Hebrew lays Balaam down literally among the corpses of the Midianites he had counselled.

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Albert BarnesNotes on the Bible1834

Jordan ... - i. e. the Jordan and its territory (compare similar expressions in Numbers 34:6 ; Deuteronomy 3:16 ). The portion of the tribe of Reuben at its northern extremity touched the Jordan; the main part of his inheritance lay on the east of the Dead Sea.

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

Here the tribe settled, “preferring pasturage to agriculture.” His subsequent history fulfils the prophecy of Jacob. “Unstable (or swelling) as water” ( Genesis 49:4 ), he vanishes away into a mere Arabian tribe; “his men are few” ( Deuteronomy 33:6 ); it is all he can do “to live and not die.”

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

"And (this) was the boundary of the sons of Reuben, the Jordan and its territory," i.e., the Jordan, or rather land adjoining it. The meaning is, that the territory of Reuben, viz., with the places mentioned last ( Joshua 13:20 ), reached to the territory of the Jordan

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Matthew HenryConcise Commentary on the Whole Bible1706

And happy are those who have the Lord God of Israel for their inheritance, though little of this world falls to their lot. His providences will supply their wants, his consolations will support their souls, till they gain heavenly joy and everlasting pleasures.

Henry’s note covers the whole section (13:7–33); this closing sentence is applied to Reuben’s inheritance-formula in v. 23.

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And the border of the Reubenites was the bank of the Jordan. This was the inheritance of the clans of the Reubenites, including the cities and villages.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

gə·ḇūl bə·nê rə·’ū·ḇên way·hî ū·ḡə·ḇūl hay·yar·dên zōṯ na·ḥă·laṯ lə·miš·pə·ḥō·ṯām bə·nê- rə·’ū·ḇên he·‘ā·rîm wə·ḥaṣ·rê·hen

Word by word13 · parsed

גְּבוּל֙gə·ḇūlAnd the borderH1366

√ gᵉbûwl — properly, a cord (as twisted), iNounmasculine singular construct

גְּבוּל — “border,” the same gəbûl as v. 16. Reuben is bounded west by the Jordan, the natural-boundary idiom Keil & Delitzsch and the Pulpit Commentary both stress: “the natural boundary marked out by the river or sea and its banks.”

בְּנֵ֣יbə·nêof the ReubenitesH1121

רְאוּבֵ֔ןrə·’ū·ḇên. . .H7205

√ Rᵉʼûwbên — Reuben, a son of JacobNounpropermasculine singular

וַיְהִ֗יway·hîwasH1961

√ hâyâh — to exist, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

וּגְב֑וּלū·ḡə·ḇūlthe bankH1366

√ gᵉbûwl — properly, a cord (as twisted), iConjunctive wawNounmasculine singular

הַיַּרְדֵּ֖ןhay·yar·dênof the JordanH3383

√ Yardên — Jarden, the principal river of PalestineArticleNounproperfeminine singular

הַיַּרְדֵּן — the Jordan, Reuben’s western limit. Barnes: the tribe’s portion only “at its northern extremity touched the Jordan; the main part… lay on the east of the Dead Sea.” The river that the western tribes crossed is here the back wall of the eastern grant.

זֹ֣אתzōṯThisH2063

√ zôʼth — this (often used adverb)Pronounfeminine singular

נַחֲלַ֤תna·ḥă·laṯwas the inheritanceH5159

√ nachălâh — properly, something inherited, iNounfeminine singular construct

נַחֲלַת — naḥălath, “inheritance.” The defining word of the whole land-division. Matthew Henry: the believer’s truest portion is to “have the Lord God of Israel for their inheritance, though little of this world falls to their lot.” Reuben’s deeded plot is a figure of a greater klēronomia.

לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָ֔םlə·miš·pə·ḥō·ṯāmof the clansH4940

√ mishpâchâh — a family, iPreposition-lNounfeminine plural constructthird person masculine plural

בְּנֵֽי־bə·nê-of the ReubenitesH1121

רְאוּבֵן֙rə·’ū·ḇên. . .H7205

√ Rᵉʼûwbên — Reuben, a son of JacobNounpropermasculine singular

הֶעָרִ֖יםhe·‘ā·rîmincluding the citiesH5892

√ ʻîyr — a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the widest sense (even of a mere encampment or post)ArticleNounfeminine plural

וְחַצְרֵיהֶֽן׃פwə·ḥaṣ·rê·henand villagesH2691

√ châtsêr — a yard (as inclosed by a fence)Conjunctive wawNouncommon plural constructthird person feminine plural

חַצְרֵיהֶן — “their villages / unwalled hamlets.” Cambridge closes the tribe’s record with its history: this is land where Reuben settled “preferring pasturage to agriculture,” and where, fulfilling Jacob’s word, the firstborn tribe “vanishes away into a mere Arabian tribe… no judge, no prophet, no hero of the tribe is handed down to us.”

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-the-border of-the-sons-of Reuben was the-Jordan and-[its-]border. This [was] the-inheritance of-the-sons-of Reuben by-their-clans, the-cities and-their-villages.”

Where the English smooths the original

וּגְב֑וּל גְּבוּל (gəbûl) appears twice in this verse — “border… and border” — the same word that opened the territory in v. 16. Keil & Delitzsch: “the Jordan, or rather land adjoining it,” the river and its banks as a natural frontier. BSB’s “bank of the Jordan” renders the second occurrence; the doubling marks a fixed boundary-formula.
נַחֲלַ֤ת נַחֲלַת (naḥălath) is the key word of the section: “inheritance” — something received as a possession by lot/descent, not earned. It seals Reuben’s entry as it sealed v. 15. The land is, root and branch, a nakhalah: a gift held in trust, not a conquest banked.
וְחַצְרֵיהֶֽן׃ חַצְרֵיהֶן (ḥaṣrêhen), BSB “villages,” means enclosures / unwalled settlements (ḥāṣêr, “a yard fenced in”). Keil & Delitzsch: “farm premises… places not enclosed by a wall.” The Pulpit Commentary argues “villages can hardly be the correct one” — the word means hedged hamlets, not towns.

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. The firstborn, listed first, given a real land — 13:15–16

The trans-Jordan division opens with Reuben, and the opening word is a verb: “and Moses gave” (וַיִּתֵּן, nāthan). Ellicott heads the whole section as the “DESCRIPTION OF THE TERRITORY DISTRIBUTED BY MOSES ON THE EAST OF JORDAN,” and Cambridge notes the historian works “on the faith of the ancient registers” — these are deeds, not conquest-trophies. Reuben “naturally comes first” (Cambridge), the dignity of the firstborn surviving even Jacob’s demotion of him (Genesis 49:4). The land itself is fixed by a gəbûl (גְּבוּל), a “twisted cord” become a boundary, running from Aroer on the “lip” (שְׂפַת) of the Arnon across the Moabite Mishor by Medeba. Barnes already hears the tragedy coming: this is “the most southerly of the trans-Jordanic possessions… adjoined Moab,” so that the Reubenites “became in after times much intermixed with the Moabites,” who reclaimed the towns one by one.

ii. A roll of towns that name their idols — 13:17–20

The town-list is no neutral gazetteer. The Pulpit Commentary presses what the English flattens: where BSB writes “plain,” the Hebrew distinguishes Mishor, Arabah, Shephelah, Bik‘ah, Ciccar — “almost of a necessity lost in a translation.” And the names confess what was worshipped on this ground. Bamoth-baal is, Gill notes, “the high places of Baal”; Beth-baal-meon the “House of Baal of the den” (Cambridge); Beth-peor “So called from Peor, the idol of the Moabites” (Gill) — the very scene of Israel’s plague-bringing apostasy (Numbers 25). Even the lovely names carry weight: Zereth-shahar is “the splendour of the dawn” (Keil & Delitzsch; Cambridge), Kiriathaim a dual “twin-cities,” and the list runs up to Pisgah, the ridge where Moses — the very giver of this inheritance — was shown the land and died (Deuteronomy 34). The plateau Reuben receives is haunted ground: a gift inside the territory of the gods Israel was told to tear down.

iii. Sihon, his vassals, and the diviner among the slain — 13:21–22

The mention of Sihon’s kingdom pulls the narrative back to the war that won it. The five Midianite chiefs — “Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba” — are called “vassals of Sihon” (נְסִיכֵי), a rare word Keil & Delitzsch read as “enfeoffed… the creation of a prince by the communication or pouring in of power,” and Barnes as those “‘dedicated’ or ‘appointed’ with a libation.” Ellicott calls this “another example of undesigned agreement between Joshua and the Pentateuch”: it is precisely because these kings were Sihon’s men that Israel’s war on Midian (Numbers 31) belongs to Sihon’s story. Then the historian lays Balaam down among their slain. Scripture brands him הַקּוֹסֵם, “the diviner” — Poole: “so he was in truth, though a prophet… in title and profession.” Geneva draws the moral with a level hand: “both they who obeyed wicked counsel and the wicked counsellor perished by the just judgment of God,” and Benson sees the repetition itself as a memorial of grace — “the defeating of Balaam’s purpose to curse Israel… was fit to be had in everlasting remembrance.”

iv. The inheritance sealed — and a tribe that fades — 13:23

The entry closes as it opened, on the word inheritance (נַחֲלַת, naḥălath) “by their clans,” bounded west by “the Jordan and its territory.” Keil & Delitzsch read the closing ḥaṣêr precisely — not romantic “villages” but “farm premises… places not enclosed by a wall,” and Cambridge turns the deed into elegy: here Reuben settled, “preferring pasturage to agriculture,” and “his subsequent history fulfils the prophecy of Jacob. ‘Unstable (or swelling) as water’… he vanishes away into a mere Arabian tribe… No judge, no prophet, no hero of the tribe is handed down to us.” Against that fading, Matthew Henry sets the only inheritance that does not erode: “happy are those who have the Lord God of Israel for their inheritance, though little of this world falls to their lot.”

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

Reading under Sola Scriptura — fallible, to be tested. A list of border-towns is the last place one expects a sermon, yet this one preaches by what it cannot hide. Every governing word in the passage is a word of gift: Moses gave (v. 15), and what he gave is a naḥălath, an inheritance (vv. 15, 23) — something received by lot, never earned. And the gift is given to the firstborn who had already forfeited his birthright (Genesis 49:4): Reuben is listed first, granted a bounded land, and treated with full dignity, though Scripture knows and Cambridge says plainly that the firstborn tribe “vanishes away into a mere Arabian tribe.” So the deed is grace, not reward. Yet the same towns whose names are written into Reuben’s charter are named for Baal and Peor — the inheritance is real land, but it is land thick with the idols that will, in time, draw the tribe back across the very border Sihon once held against them, so that the Moabites “reoccupied nearly the whole” (Barnes). The lesson is sober on both sides. A people can be given everything and still lose it by drifting toward the gods their own map is named after. To hold an inheritance is not the same as to keep it; only the One who is Himself the inheritance (Matthew Henry; Psalm 16:5) cannot be lost. Weigh this against the text itself.

To be given a land is not yet to keep it; the only inheritance that cannot be lost is the One who gives it.

⚙

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

The five chiefs of Midian — Numbers 31 named again, in order verbal / quotation — confirmed

The clearest cross-link in the unit. Verse 21 names Sihon’s vassal-kings — “Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba” — and Numbers 31:8 names the same five, in the same order, slain in Israel’s war on Midian. Benson and Poole both reconcile the two notices: Moses smote them “not in the same time or battle… but in the same manner.” The Verifier surfaces the rare personal names Evi (אֱוִי, only 2 vv), Reba (רֶבַע, only 2 vv), Zur (5 vv) and Rekem (6 vv) shared between the verses — low-frequency proper names that make this a genuine verbal/quotation tie, not a chance overlap.

Numbers 31:8

basis: Verifier (Joshua 13:21 ↔ Numbers 31:8): shared rare proper names H189 ʼĔvîy (2 vv), H7254 Rebaʻ (2 vv), H6698 Tsûwr (5 vv), H7552 Reqem (6 vv), plus H2354 Chûwr, H4080 Midyân — the same five chiefs in the same order; rare-lexeme verbal link, though not a literary citation.

Balaam the diviner, slain among the pierced verbal / quotation — confirmed

Verse 22’s second notice of Balaam’s death answers to Numbers 31:8, where “Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.” Cambridge reads the placement as deliberate: “The mention of these ‘vassals of Sihon’ leads the historian to record also at this point the death of Balaam, which took place at the same time.” The Verifier finds the rare name-pair Bilʻâm (בִּלְעָם) + Bᵉʻôwr (בְּעוֹר, only 10 vv) shared with the killing-verbs hārag and ḥālāl — a verbal tie, the same event told twice.

Numbers 31:8 · Numbers 31:16

basis: Verifier (Joshua 13:22 ↔ Numbers 31:8): shared H1160 Bᵉʻôwr (10 vv), H1109 Bilʻâm (57 vv), H2491 châlâl, H2026 hârag, H2719 chereb — the rare Beor/Balaam name-pair with the killing-vocabulary; the same death recorded in both books. (Numbers 31:16 added by the commentators as the counsel that occasioned it; no rare-lexeme claim there.)

The border-formula — Aroer, Arnon, and the Mishor (Joshua 13:9) structural / thematic — confirmed

Reuben’s description (vv. 16, 21) repeats verbatim the boundary-language of Joshua 13:9, the earlier summary of Sihon’s realm: Aroer on the Arnon, the city in the valley, and the whole Mishor by Medeba. Keil & Delitzsch and Gill both cross-reference v. 9 explicitly. The Verifier finds the toponyms ʻĂrôwʻêr, ʼArnôwn, Mêydᵉbâʼ and mîshôr shared — but since this is the same author re-using his own boundary-template within one chapter, the link is a structural recurrence of the surveying formula, not an independent quotation.

Joshua 13:9 · Numbers 21:30

basis: Verifier (Joshua 13:16 ↔ 13:9): shared H4311 Mêydᵉbâʼ, H6177 ʻĂrôwʻêr, H769 ʼArnôwn, H4334 mîyshôwr — the same boundary-template repeated by the same author within one chapter; structural recurrence of the survey formula, not a citation. (Numbers 21:30 shares Medeba/Heshbon/Dibon, the conquest these bounds record.)

Reuben’s towns become Moab’s lament — Kiriathaim, Sibmah, Beth-baal-meon verbal / quotation — confirmed

The towns deeded to Reuben here resurface centuries later in the prophets’ oracles against Moab — proof that the Reubenites lost them. Jeremiah 48:23 and Isaiah 15:2 and Ezekiel 25:9 name Kiriathaim, Beth-baal-meon / Beth-meon, Dibon, Medeba; the Pulpit Commentary traces the whole reversal through the Moabite Stone, where Mesha records recapturing “Medeba, Dibon, Baalmeon, Kiriathaim… Aroer.” The Verifier confirms the rare toponyms Beth-baal-meon (בֵּית בַּעַל מְעוֹן, 2 vv) and Kiriathaim (7 vv) shared with Jeremiah 48:23 — the same place-names, a tribe’s charter turned into a dirge.

Jeremiah 48:23 · Isaiah 15:2 · Ezekiel 25:9

basis: Verifier (Joshua 13:17/19 ↔ Jeremiah 48:23): shared rare toponyms H1010 Bêyth Baʻal Mᵉʻôwn (2 vv) and H7156 Qiryâthayim (7 vv); with Ezekiel 25:9 also H1020 Bêyth ha-Yshîy-môwth. A verbal/lexical tie on rare place-names — the same towns named in Reuben’s grant and in the oracles against Moab — though geographical recurrence, not literary quotation.

Levitical cities out of Reuben — Kedemoth and Mephaath verbal / quotation — confirmed

Verse 18’s pair Kedemoth and Mephaath reappears in the Levitical-city lists of Joshua 21:37 and 1 Chronicles 6:79: Reuben’s towns given over to the sons of Merari. Barnes and Keil & Delitzsch both flag it — “Kedemoth and Mephaath were given up to the Levites.” The Verifier finds both rare toponyms (Qᵉdêmôwth and Môwphaʻath, each only 4 vv) shared across the three texts — a verbal/lexical tie on rare place-names, the same towns re-deeded to the Levites.

Joshua 21:37 · 1 Chronicles 6:79

basis: Verifier (Joshua 13:18 ↔ Joshua 21:37 / 1 Chronicles 6:79): shared rare toponyms H4158 Môwphaʻath (4 vv) and H6932 Qᵉdêmôwth (4 vv) — the same two Reubenite towns reassigned to the Levites; rare-lexeme verbal tie, geographical recurrence rather than quotation.

Jacob’s word over Reuben — ‘unstable as water’ flagged — verify source

The closing register of Reuben (v. 23) invites the verdict every commentator reaches: the firstborn’s grant is real, but his story shrinks to nothing. Cambridge states it outright — “his subsequent history fulfils the prophecy of Jacob. ‘Unstable (or swelling) as water’ (Genesis 49:4)… No judge, no prophet, no hero of the tribe is handed down to us.” This is a thematic connection argued by the human voices, not a verbal one: the Verifier finds no shared original-language lexeme between Joshua 13:23 and Genesis 49:4, so the link is the interpretive judgment of Jacob’s oracle laid over Reuben’s fading history — offered as the commentators’ reading, to be weighed, not asserted as a lexical tie.

Genesis 49:3-4 · Deuteronomy 33:6

basis: Verifier (Joshua 13:23 ↔ Genesis 49:4): NO shared original-language lexeme — the connection is thematic/interpretive (Jacob’s ‘unstable as water’ read as fulfilled in Reuben’s insignificance, per Cambridge), argued by the commentators, not lexically demonstrable. Flagged so the reader weighs it as exposition.

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The inheritance given by lot — a shadow of the eternal inheritance widely-held

The governing word of the whole division is naḥălath (נַחֲלַת, vv. 15, 23) — an inheritance received, not earned. Matthew Henry reads the land-grant typologically without strain: “Joshua must be herein a type of Christ, who has not only conquered the gates of hell for us, but has opened to us the gates of heaven, and having purchased the eternal inheritance for all believers, will put them in possession of it.” The Septuagint renders naḥălah with klēronomia, the very word the New Testament uses for the believer’s portion in Christ — “an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, that does not fade away, reserved in heaven” (1 Peter 1:4; cf. Ephesians 1:11, 14; Colossians 3:24). Reuben’s bounded plot, given to a firstborn who forfeited his birthright, is a figure of the unforfeitable inheritance Christ secures for those who had no claim. This typological reading is the long-held Christian tradition; it is offered as figure, not as a verbal link.

Joshua 13:23 · 1 Peter 1:4 · Ephesians 1:11 · Colossians 3:24

Balaam the hireling diviner — the way Christ’s sheep do not follow widely-held

Scripture lays Balaam down as “the diviner” (הַקּוֹסֵם, v. 22) among the slain — the prophet-for-pay whose blessing God forced from his mouth but whose heart sought gain. Poole already cross-references 2 Peter 2:16, and the New Testament makes him a fixed type of the false teacher: “the way of Balaam… who loved the wages of unrighteousness” (2 Peter 2:15), “the error of Balaam” (Jude 11), “the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel” (Revelation 2:14). Against this stands the Good Shepherd who is no hireling (John 10:11–13) and the prophet who cannot be bought. This is a cross-Testament, figural reading — Greek text against Hebrew, with no shared original-language lexeme — so it is offered as the canon’s own typology to be tested, not as a confirmed verbal tie. Balaam’s body among Midian’s slain is the wages of his way; the Shepherd lays down His life rather than take wages for it.

Joshua 13:22 · 2 Peter 2:15-16 · Jude 1:11 · Revelation 2:14

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible (1834)
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1810s)
Keil & Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1860s)
Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1685)
The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

This unit (Joshua 13:15–23, the entry for Reuben) is a boundary-and-town register, so the public-domain commentary is heavily geographical and several sources repeat a single block across the verses: Matthew Henry carries one chapter-level note (13:7–33) on every verse — quoted only where its principle bears on the verse at hand and flagged as section-wide; Keil & Delitzsch’s long topographical note likewise runs across vv. 16–22; and Jamieson, Fausset & Brown’s page-text here is actually their comment on v. 8 (the antecedent of ‘with him’) repeated verbatim on every verse of the chapter, so it is not quoted for any verse in this unit because it does not bear on Reuben’s register. Two voices preserve printer’s artifacts verbatim from the source: Benson’s “rememberance” (for “remembrance”), noted at v. 22. The unit does not contain Joshua 1:5, so the standing Joshua 1:5 → Hebrews 13:5 flag does not apply here. On the cross-references: the Hebrew↔Hebrew links to Numbers 31:8 (the five chiefs and Balaam) rest on genuinely rare proper names and rise to a verbal/quotation tier; the toponym links (Kiriathaim/Beth-baal-meon to the Moab oracles; Kedemoth/Mephaath to the Levitical lists) are verbal in the lexical sense but are geographical recurrences of place-names, not literary citations, and the basis lines say so. The Joshua 13:9 border-formula is the same author re-using his own survey template within one chapter, so it is tiered structural, not verbal. The link to Jacob’s oracle (Genesis 49:4) and the New-Testament Balaam/inheritance readings share no original-language lexeme with this Hebrew unit; they are therefore flagged or offered as widely-held typology to be tested, never as confirmed verbal ties.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)