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Numbers 32:1–42 — The Tribes East of the Jordan. 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.

The Voices✦ 4 public domain

Matthew HenryConcise Commentary on the Whole Bible1706

Two things common in the world might lead these tribes to make this choice; the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. There was much amiss in the principle they went upon; they consulted their own private convenience more than the public good.

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Albert BarnesNotes on the Bible1834

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.

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

מאד עצוּם, "very strong," is an apposition introduced at the close of the sentence to give emphasis to the רב.

K&D parsing the Hebrew word-order: the strength of the herds is the syntactic climax of the verse.

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Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

These tribes had occupied a contiguous position in their encampments for the space of thirty-eight years ( Numbers 2:10 ; Numbers 2:14 ), and it was natural that they should desire to be permanently located near each other.

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Now the Reubenites and Gadites, who had very large herds and flocks, surveyed the lands of Jazer and Gilead, and they saw that the region was suitable for livestock.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

liḇ·nê rə·’ū·ḇên wə·liḇ·nê- ḡāḏ hā·yāh mə·’ōḏ ‘ā·ṣūm ū·miq·neh raḇ way·yir·’ū ’eṯ- ’e·reṣ ya‘·zêr wə·’eṯ- ’e·reṣ gil·‘āḏ wə·hin·nêh ham·mā·qō·wm mə·qō·wm miq·neh

Word by word20 · parsed

לִבְנֵ֧יliḇ·nêNow the ReubenitesH1121

√ 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, etcPreposition-lNounmasculine plural construct

liḇnê — "to/for the sons of" (preposition-l + bên, H1121). The construct "sons of Reuben" is the formal tribal name; the Geneva note recalls the lineage: "Reuben came from Leah, and Gad from Zilpah her handmaid."

רְאוּבֵ֛ןrə·’ū·ḇên. . .H7205

√ Rᵉʼûwbên — Reuben, a son of JacobNounpropermasculine singular

וְלִבְנֵי־wə·liḇ·nê-and GaditesH1121

√ 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, etcConjunctive waw, Preposition-lNounmasculine plural construct

גָ֖דḡāḏ. . .H1410

√ Gâd — Gad, a son of Jacob, including his tribe and its territoryNounpropermasculine singular

הָיָ֞הhā·yāhwho hadH1961

√ hâyâh — to exist, iVerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular

מְאֹ֑דmə·’ōḏveryH3966

√ mᵉʼôd — properly, vehemence, iAdverb

עָצ֣וּם‘ā·ṣūmlargeH6099

√ ʻâtsûwm — powerful (specifically, a paw)Adjectivemasculine singular

ʿatsum (H6099) — "mighty, powerful," an adjective of strength, not bulk; paired with the adverb meʾod ("very") it doubles the intensity.

וּמִקְנֶ֣ה׀ū·miq·nehherds and flocksH4735

√ miqneh — something bought, iConjunctive wawNounmasculine singular

רַ֗בraḇH7227

√ rab — abundant (in quantity, size, age, number, rank, quality)Adjectivemasculine singular

וַיִּרְא֞וּway·yir·’ūsurveyedH7200

√ râʼâh — to see, literally or figuratively (in numerous applications, direct and implied, transitive, intransitive and causative)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

wayyirʾu (H7200) — "and they saw." This act of seeing fertile land is morally neutral here, but the same root will indict the spies (vv. 8–9) who "saw the land" and lost heart. The land is seen twice in this chapter: once with desire, once with dread.

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

אֶ֤רֶץ’e·reṣthe landsH776

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

יַעְזֵר֙ya‘·zêrof JazerH3270

√ Yaʻăzêyr — Jaazer or Jazer, a place East of the JordanNounproperfeminine singular

yaʿzêr (H3270, Jazer) — a town east of the Jordan; the Verifier finds this rare place-name shared with Numbers 21:32 and the later prophetic laments over Moab.

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

אֶ֣רֶץ’e·reṣH776

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

גִּלְעָ֔דgil·‘āḏand GileadH1568

√ Gilʻâd — Gilad, a region East of the JordanNounproperfeminine singular

וְהִנֵּ֥הwə·hin·nêhand they sawH2009

√ hinnêh — lo!Conjunctive wawInterjection

הַמָּק֖וֹםham·mā·qō·wmthat the regionH4725

√ mâqôwm — properly, a standing, iArticleNounmasculine singular

maqom (H4725) — "place, standing-place." The Pulpit Commentary observes it "is used here in the broader sense of district… and is equivalent to ʾerets in verse 4."

מְק֥וֹםmə·qō·wmwas suitableH4725

√ mâqôwm — properly, a standing, iNounmasculine singular construct

מִקְנֶֽה׃miq·nehfor livestockH4735

√ miqneh — something bought, iNounmasculine singular

miqneh (H4735) — repeated to close the verse: the place is a place for the very thing the tribes possess. Form mirrors motive.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And to the sons of Reuben and to the sons of Gad there was livestock very mighty; and they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, and behold, the place — a place of livestock.

Where the English smooths the original

מִקְנֶה (miqneh) The BSB "herds and flocks" renders one noun miqneh (H4735), literally "a possession that is bought" — wealth on the hoof. The chapter's whole drama hangs on this word, which recurs as place-of-miqneh at the verse's end.
עָצוּם מְאֹד (ʿatsum meʾod) "Very large herds" flattens ʿatsum meʾod — "very mighty / very strong." Keil notes the phrase is "an apposition introduced at the close of the sentence to give emphasis"; the cattle are not merely many but a force.
וַיִּרְאוּ (wayyirʾu) "Surveyed" tames wayyirʾu, plainly "and they saw" (H7200, raʾah) — the same verb of seeing used of the spies who "saw the land" in v. 9. The echo is deliberate; English loses it.
וְהִנֵּה (wehinneh) The flat "and they saw that" drops wehinneh, "and behold!" — the particle that frames the land through the tribes' own eager eyes, not a neutral report.

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

The children of Gad are mentioned first, though Reuben was the firstborn, and had a standard under which Gad pitched: it may be, as Aben Ezra thinks, the Gadites were the first authors of this counsel, the contrivers of this scheme

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

The Reubenites and Gadites, who had very large flocks and herds, petitioned Moses, Eleazar, and the princes of the congregation, to give them the conquered land of Gilead for a possession, as a land that was peculiarly adapted for flocks, and not to make them pass over the Jordan.

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Jamieson, Fausset & BrownCommentary Critical and Explanatory1871

In the camp of ancient Israel, Reuben and Gad were pre-eminently pastoral; and as these two tribes, being placed under the same standard, had frequent opportunities of conversing and arranging about their common concerns, they united in preferring a request that the trans-jordanic region, so well suited to the habits of a pastoral people, might be assigned to them.

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So the Gadites and Reubenites came to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the congregation, and said,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ḇə·nê- ḡāḏ ū·ḇə·nê rə·’ū·ḇên way·yā·ḇō·’ū way·yō·mə·rū ’el- mō·šeh wə·’el- ’el·‘ā·zār hak·kō·hên wə·’el- nə·śî·’ê hā·‘ê·ḏāh lê·mōr

Word by word15 · parsed

בְנֵֽי־ḇə·nê-So the GaditesH1121

√ 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

גָ֖דḡāḏ. . .H1410

√ Gâd — Gad, a son of Jacob, including his tribe and its territoryNounpropermasculine singular

וּבְנֵ֣יū·ḇə·nêand ReubenitesH1121

רְאוּבֵ֑ןrə·’ū·ḇên. . .H7205

√ Rᵉʼûwbên — Reuben, a son of JacobNounpropermasculine singular

וַיָּבֹ֥אוּway·yā·ḇō·’ūcameH935

√ bôwʼ — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

wayyaboʾu (H935, boʾ) — "and they came." A formal approach to the seat of authority; the verb of coming will be turned against them when Moses asks whether they will refuse to "come" into the land (v. 9, "entering").

וַיֹּאמְר֤וּway·yō·mə·rūH559

√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

אֶל־’el-toH413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition

מֹשֶׁה֙mō·šehMosesH4872

√ Môsheh — Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiverNounpropermasculine singular

וְאֶל־wə·’el-. . .H413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongConjunctive wawPreposition

אֶלְעָזָ֣ר’el·‘ā·zārEleazarH499

√ ʼElʻâzâr — Elazar, the name of seven IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular

ʾelʿazar hakkohen — Eleazar the priest. Gill notes the addressees "with Moses the chief ruler, and Eleazar the high priest, made up the grand sanhedrim, or great council of the nation."

הַכֹּהֵ֔ןhak·kō·hênthe priestH3548

√ kôhên — literally one officiating, a priestArticleNounmasculine singular

וְאֶל־wə·’el-. . .H413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongConjunctive wawPreposition

נְשִׂיאֵ֥יnə·śî·’êand the leadersH5387

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

nesiʾê haʿedah — princes of the congregation; the construct binds the leaders to the body they represent. The same officers reappear in v. 28 as those charged with executing the agreement after Moses' death.

הָעֵדָ֖הhā·‘ê·ḏāhof the congregationH5712

√ ʻêdâh — a stated assemblage (specifically, a concourse, or generally, a family or crowd)ArticleNounfeminine singular

לֵאמֹֽר׃lê·mōrand saidH559

√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Preposition-lVerbQalInfinitive construct

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben came and said to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the princes of the congregation, saying,

Where the English smooths the original

בְנֵי־גָד (benê-gad) BSB keeps the birth-order reversal but smooths the surprise: Gad, not the firstborn Reuben, is named first. Gill: "The children of Gad are mentioned first, though Reuben was the firstborn… it may be, as Aben Ezra thinks, the Gadites were the first authors of this counsel."
נְשִׂיאֵי (nesiʾê) "The leaders" renders nesiʾê (H5387), the "exalted ones" or tribal princes — the constitutional council, not informal headmen. They petition the whole governing body, lending the request legal weight.
הָעֵדָה (haʿedah) "The congregation" is ʿedah (H5712), the covenant assembly of Israel as a single legal person — the same word that names the body the spies once "discouraged" (vv. 4, 7, 9).

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Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685

Ataroth; different from that Ataroth , Joshua 16:2 ,7 , which was on the other side of Jordan. Nimrah, called Beth-nimrah , Numbers 22:36 Joshua 13:27 ; and the waters of Nimrim , Isaiah 15:6 . Shebam , called Shibmah , Numbers 32:38 .

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

All these names recur in Numbers 32:34-38 , three of them in a slightly different form (see R.V. marg.). Beon is probably a mere scribal slip for Meon .

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

the clause "the country which the Lord smote before the congregation of Israel," in which the defeat of Sihon is referred to, describes it as one that was without a ruler, and therefore could easily be taken possession of.

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

They all lie to the south of Gilead, properly so called, within a comparatively short distance of the route by which the main body of the Israelites had advanced.

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“Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

‘ă·ṭā·rō·wṯ wə·ḏî·ḇōn wə·ya‘·zêr wə·nim·rāh wə·ḥeš·bō·wn wə·’el·‘ā·lêh ū·śə·ḇām ū·nə·ḇōw ū·ḇə·‘ōn

Word by word9 · parsed

עֲטָר֤וֹת‘ă·ṭā·rō·wṯAtarothH5852

√ ʻĂṭârôwth — Ataroth, the name (thus simply) of two places in PalestineNounproperfeminine singular

ʿataroth (H5852) — "crowns." Poole distinguishes it from "that Ataroth, Joshua 16:2,7, which was on the other side of Jordan"; the same name marks places on both banks.

וְדִיבֹן֙wə·ḏî·ḇōnDibonH1769

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

וְיַעְזֵ֣רwə·ya‘·zêrJazerH3270

√ Yaʻăzêyr — Jaazer or Jazer, a place East of the JordanConjunctive wawNounproperfeminine singular

וְנִמְרָ֔הwə·nim·rāhNimrahH5247

√ Nimrâh — Nimrah, a place East of the JordanConjunctive wawNounproperfeminine singular

וְחֶשְׁבּ֖וֹןwə·ḥeš·bō·wnHeshbonH2809

√ Cheshbôwn — Cheshbon, a place East of the JordanConjunctive wawNounproperfeminine singular

וְאֶלְעָלֵ֑הwə·’el·‘ā·lêhElealehH500

√ ʼElʻâlêʼ — Elale or Elaleh, a place east of the JordanConjunctive wawNounproperfeminine singular

ʾelʿalêh (H500, Elealeh) — a rare town-name (5 verses). Gill: "but a mile from Heshbon." Its rarity is what makes the later prophetic echo verifiable rather than coincidental.

וּשְׂבָ֥םū·śə·ḇāmSebamH7643

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

וּנְב֖וֹū·nə·ḇōwNeboH5015

√ Nᵉbôw — Nebo, the name of a Babylonian deity, also of a mountain in Moab, and of a place in PalestineConjunctive wawNounproperfeminine singular

nevo (H5015, Nebo) — "the name of a Babylonian deity, also of a mountain in Moab, and of a place." The tribes will rename it in v. 38 precisely because the name honors a false god.

וּבְעֹֽן׃ū·ḇə·‘ōnand BeonH1194

√ Bᵉʻôn — Beon, a place East of the JordanConjunctive wawNounproperfeminine singular

which the LORD conquered before the congregation of Israel, are suitable for livestock—and your servants have livestock.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

hā·’ā·reṣ ’ă·šer Yah·weh hik·kāh lip̄·nê ‘ă·ḏaṯ yiś·rā·’êl ’e·reṣ miq·neh hî wə·la·‘ă·ḇā·ḏe·ḵā miq·neh

Word by word12 · parsed

הָאָ֗רֶץhā·’ā·reṣH776

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

אֲשֶׁ֨ר’ă·šerwhichH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

יְהוָה֙Yah·wehthe LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

YHWH (H3068) — the covenant name. By naming Yahweh as the one who smote the land, the tribes acknowledge the conquest was a gift, which sharpens Moses' later charge that they would be sinning "against the LORD" (v. 23) if they keep the gift and shirk the war.

הִכָּ֤הhik·kāhconqueredH5221

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

hikkah (Hifil perfect of nakah) — "he struck." The causative stem makes the LORD the sole agent; Benson: "whose inhabitants we, by God's peculiar aid, routed and destroyed."

לִפְנֵי֙lip̄·nêbeforeH6440

√ pânîym — the face (as the part that turns)Preposition-lNouncommon plural construct

עֲדַ֣ת‘ă·ḏaṯthe congregationH5712

√ ʻêdâh — a stated assemblage (specifically, a concourse, or generally, a family or crowd)Nounfeminine singular construct

יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לyiś·rā·’êlof IsraelH3478

√ Yisrâʼêl — Jisrael, a symbolical name of JacobNounpropermasculine singular

אֶ֥רֶץ’e·reṣare suitableH776

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

מִקְנֶ֖הmiq·nehfor livestockH4735

√ miqneh — something bought, iNounmasculine singular

הִ֑ואhî. . .H1931

√ hûwʼ — he (she or it)Pronounthird person feminine singular

hiwʾ (H1931) — the feminine pronoun "it [is]," agreeing with ʾerets (land); a verbless clause of pure assertion: "a land of livestock — it is."

וְלַֽעֲבָדֶ֖יךָwə·la·‘ă·ḇā·ḏe·ḵāand your servantsH5650

√ ʻebed — a servantConjunctive waw, Preposition-lNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine singular

מִקְנֶֽה׃סmiq·nehhave livestockH4735

√ miqneh — something bought, iNounmasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

the land which the LORD smote before the congregation of Israel — a land of livestock it is; and to your servants is livestock.

Where the English smooths the original

הִכָּה (hikkah) "Conquered" softens hikkah (H5221, nakah), "smote / struck down." The land is described not as won by Israel but as struck by the LORD — a confession the tribes make even while angling for it. Poole: "Which the Lord smote… and gave to them for a possession, in the same manner as he will give the land of Canaan."
לִפְנֵי (lipnê) "Before the congregation" renders lipnê, "to the face of." The same idiom ("before the LORD," "before you") will be repeated nine times in this chapter; here it quietly credits the victory to God's presence, not the army's prowess.
מִקְנֶה … מִקְנֶה (miqneh … miqneh) The verse opens and the argument closes on the same noun: a land of miqneh, and your servants have miqneh. The logic is bare self-interest dressed as observation — possession seeking possession.

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Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

their language indicated a selfish consideration of their own interests, and it was calculated to discourage and dishearten their brethren, and consequently it was strongly reproved by Moses.

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

The two tribes have been charged on the strength of these words with "shameless selfishness," but there is nothing to justify such an accusation.

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Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

Bring us not over Jordan — To give us our possession there; but let this land, on this side Jordan, be our whole possession.

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

Moses understood them in the latter sense ( Numbers 32:6 .), and it is probable that this was their meaning, as, when Moses reproved them, the speakers did not reply that they had not cherished the intention attributed to them, but simply restricted themselves to the promise of co-operation in the conquest of Canaan.

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“If we have found favor in your sight,” they said, “let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Do not make us cross the Jordan.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

’im- mā·ṣā·nū ḥên bə·‘ê·ne·ḵā way·yō·mə·rū haz·zōṯ hā·’ā·reṣ yut·tan ’eṯ- la·‘ă·ḇā·ḏe·ḵā la·’ă·ḥuz·zāh ’al- ta·‘ă·ḇi·rê·nū ’eṯ- hay·yar·dên

Word by word15 · parsed

אִם־’im-IfH518

√ ʼim — used very widely as demonstrative, lo!Conjunction

מָצָ֤אנוּmā·ṣā·nūwe have foundH4672

√ mâtsâʼ — properly, to come forth to, iVerbQalPerfectfirst person common plural

חֵן֙ḥênfavorH2580

√ chên — graciousness, iNounmasculine singular

בְּעֵינֶ֔יךָbə·‘ê·ne·ḵāin your sightH5869

√ ʻayin — an eye (literally or figuratively)Preposition-bNouncdcsecond person masculine singular

וַיֹּאמְר֗וּway·yō·mə·rūthey saidH559

√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

הַזֹּ֛אתhaz·zōṯlet thisH2063

√ zôʼth — this (often used adverb)ArticlePronounfeminine singular

הָאָ֧רֶץhā·’ā·reṣlandH776

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

יֻתַּ֞ןyut·tanbe givenH5414

√ nâthan — to give, used with greatest latitude of application (put, make, etcVerbQalPassImperfectthird person masculine 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

לַעֲבָדֶ֖יךָla·‘ă·ḇā·ḏe·ḵāto your servantsH5650

√ ʻebed — a servantPreposition-lNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine singular

לַאֲחֻזָּ֑הla·’ă·ḥuz·zāhas a possessionH272

√ ʼăchuzzâh — something seized, iPreposition-lNounfeminine singular

ʾachuzzah (H272) — "possession," from ʾachaz, "to seize." It denotes land held as permanent, heritable property under the covenant, distinct from naḥalah (inheritance, v. 18). The tribes want the grip without the crossing.

אַל־’al-Do notH408

√ ʼal — not (the qualified negation, used as a deprecative)Adverb

תַּעֲבִרֵ֖נוּta·‘ă·ḇi·rê·nūmake us crossH5674

√ ʻâbar — to cross overVerbHifilImperfectsecond person masculine singularfirst person common plural

taʿavirênu — Hifil imperfect of ʿavar with first-person suffix: "cause us to pass over." Keil weighs whether the words mean only a request to settle east, or "a wish to settle at once… and leave the other tribes to conquer Canaan alone."

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

הַיַּרְדֵּֽן׃hay·yar·dênthe JordanH3383

√ Yardên — Jarden, the principal river of PalestineArticleNounproperfeminine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And they said, "If we have found favor in your eyes, let this land be given to your servants for a possession; do not make us cross the Jordan."

Where the English smooths the original

לַאֲחֻזָּה (laʾachuzzah) "As a possession" renders ʾachuzzah (H272), literally "a thing seized / held fast." The word is heavier than "property": it is the legal grip of inheritance. The same noun crowns Moses' grant in v. 22 — "this land will be your ʾachuzzah before the LORD."
אַל־תַּעֲבִרֵנוּ (ʾal-taʿavireinu) "Do not make us cross" is a single causative verb taʿavirênu (H5674, ʿavar, Hifil) — "do not cause-us-to-cross." The verb of crossing the Jordan, ʿavar, is the chapter's pivot; here the tribes ask to be exempted from it, and Moses will make their whole inheritance hang on doing it (vv. 21, 27, 29).
חֵן בְּעֵינֶיךָ (chên beʿênêkha) "Found favor in your sight" is the deferential chên beʿênêkha, "grace in your eyes" — courtly speech that the Pulpit Commentary defends against the charge of "shameless selfishness."

The Voices✦ 4 public domain

Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

Moses first of all blames their want of brotherly feeling: "Shall your brethren go into the war, and ye sit here?"

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Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685

In case and peace, whilst your brethren are engaged in a bloody war. Their words were ambiguous, and Moses thought this to be an act of unbelief and sloth and self-love and policy.

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Matthew HenryConcise Commentary on the Whole Bible1706

It will becomes any of God's Israel to sit down unconcerned about the difficult and perilous concerns of their brethren, whether public or personal.

Henry's antique "It will becomes" is preserved verbatim from the public-domain text.

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

Once already the faith and courage of the people had failed them on the very threshold of the promised land, and a slight discouragement might bring about a similar calamity.

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But Moses asked the Gadites and Reubenites, “Shall your brothers go to war while you sit here?

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

mō·šeh way·yō·mer liḇ·nê- ḡāḏ wə·liḇ·nê rə·’ū·ḇên ha·’a·ḥê·ḵem yā·ḇō·’ū lam·mil·ḥā·māh wə·’at·tem tê·šə·ḇū p̄ōh

Word by word12 · parsed

מֹשֶׁ֔הmō·šehBut MosesH4872

√ Môsheh — Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiverNounpropermasculine singular

וַיֹּ֣אמֶרway·yō·meraskedH559

√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

לִבְנֵי־liḇ·nê-the GaditesH1121

גָ֖דḡāḏ. . .H1410

√ Gâd — Gad, a son of Jacob, including his tribe and its territoryNounpropermasculine singular

וְלִבְנֵ֣יwə·liḇ·nêand ReubenitesH1121

רְאוּבֵ֑ןrə·’ū·ḇên. . .H7205

√ Rᵉʼûwbên — Reuben, a son of JacobNounpropermasculine singular

הַאַֽחֵיכֶ֗םha·’a·ḥê·ḵemShall your brothersH251

√ ʼâch — a brother (used in the widest sense of literal relationship and metaphorical affinity or resemblance (like father))ArticleNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine plural

ʾacheikhem (H251, ʾach) — "your brothers," the covenant family. Moses frames the request not as bad real estate strategy but as a fracture of solidarity.

יָבֹ֙אוּ֙yā·ḇō·’ūgoH935

√ bôwʼ — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)VerbQalImperfectthird person masculine plural

yavoʾu lammilchamah — "shall come to the war." The verb boʾ ("come/go") and milchamah ("battle") set the alternative: the brothers go to war while these two tribes "sit."

לַמִּלְחָמָ֔הlam·mil·ḥā·māhto warH4421

√ milchâmâh — a battle (iPreposition-l, ArticleNounfeminine singular

וְאַתֶּ֖םwə·’at·temwhile youH859

√ ʼattâh — thou and thee, or (plural) ye and youConjunctive wawPronounsecond person masculine plural

תֵּ֥שְׁבוּtê·šə·ḇūsitH3427

√ yâshab — properly, to sit down (specifically as judgeVerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine plural

têshevu poh — "sit here." The adverb poh ("here," H6311) localizes the offense: comfort on the wrong side of the river while the kingdom is contested on the other.

פֹֽה׃p̄ōhhereH6311

√ pôh — this place (French ici), iAdverb

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And Moses said to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben, "Shall your brothers go to the war, and you sit here?"

Where the English smooths the original

הַאַחֵיכֶם (haʾacheikhem) "Shall your brothers" leads with the emphatic word Moses leads with: ʾacheikhem, "your brothers" (H251). The whole rebuke is built on kinship betrayed; Keil: "Moses first of all blames their want of brotherly feeling."
תֵּשְׁבוּ (têshevu) "Sit" renders têshevu (H3427, yashav) — "sit / dwell / remain." The verb of comfortable settling is hurled as accusation. Poole: "In case and peace, whilst your brethren are engaged in a bloody war."
וְאַתֶּם (weʾattem) The blunt pronoun weʾattem, "and you" — emphatic and adversative — sets the two tribes over against their brothers. English "while you" loses the jab of the standalone pronoun.

The Voices✦ 4 public domain

Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

The verb which is rendered discourage, and which occurs again in Numbers 32:9 , means rather to “alienate,” or “avert.”

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

translated "discourage" here and in verse 9, is of somewhat doubtful meaning.

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

discourage ] lit. ‘oppose.’ The word is the same as in Numbers 30:5 [Hebrews 6].

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

it might be thought that this request of theirs not only proceeded from selfish views and a love of ease, which might set a bad example to others, but carried in it a distrust of ever being able to enter into, at least to conquer and possess, the land of Canaan

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Why are you discouraging the Israelites from crossing into the land that the LORD has given them?

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·lām·māh ṯə·nū·ʾūn ’eṯ- lêḇ bə·nê yiś·rā·’êl mê·‘ă·ḇōr ’el- hā·’ā·reṣ ’ă·šer- Yah·weh nā·ṯan lā·hem

Word by word13 · parsed

וְלָ֣מָּהwə·lām·māhWhyH4100

√ mâh — properly, interrogative what? (including how? why? when?)Conjunctive wawInterrogative

תְנוּאוּןṯə·nū·ʾūnare you discouragingH5106

√ nûwʼ — to refuse, forbid, dissuade, or neutralizeVerbHifilImperfectsecond person masculine pluralParagogic nun

tenuʾun (Hifil, nuʾ, H5106) — "to make averse, frustrate, restrain." The Kethib/Qere wobble between forms; Keil prefers the reading that matches v. 9, treating both verses as one charge: you do now what your fathers did then.

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

לֵ֖בlêḇH3820

√ lêb — the heartNounmasculine singular construct

lêv (H3820) — "heart," Hebrew for the inner command-center of mind and will. The idiom "turn away the heart" is the technical sin of the spies, repeated verbatim in v. 9.

בְּנֵ֣יbə·nêthe IsraelitesH1121

יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לyiś·rā·’êl. . .H3478

√ Yisrâʼêl — Jisrael, a symbolical name of JacobNounpropermasculine singular

מֵֽעֲבֹר֙mê·‘ă·ḇōrfrom crossingH5674

√ ʻâbar — to cross overPreposition-mVerbQalInfinitive construct

אֶל־’el-intoH413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition

הָאָ֔רֶץhā·’ā·reṣthe landH776

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

אֲשֶׁר־’ă·šer-thatH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

יְהוָֽה׃Yah·wehthe LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

נָתַ֥ןnā·ṯanhas givenH5414

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

natan (H5414) — "has given" (Qal perfect). The grammatical past tense treats the conquest as already accomplished in God's intent; unbelief is the refusal to act on an accomplished gift.

לָהֶ֖םlā·hemthem

Prepositionthird person masculine plural

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And why do you turn away the heart of the sons of Israel from crossing over to the land which the LORD has given them?

Where the English smooths the original

תְנוּאוּן (tenuʾun) "Are you discouraging" is too weak for tenuʾun (H5106, nuʾ). Ellicott: the verb "means rather to 'alienate,' or 'avert.'" The Pulpit Commentary: "Why do ye draw away the heart?" — Moses charges them with actively bending Israel's will away from the land.
אֶת־לֵב (ʾet-lêv) The object is lêv, "the heart" (H3820) — the seat of courage and will, omitted entirely in the smooth English. They are not just lowering morale; they are turning Israel's heart, exactly as the spies did (v. 9).
נָתַן לָהֶם (natan lahem) "Has given them" renders a perfect verb natan (H5414): the land is already a settled gift. To shrink from it is to refuse a thing God has already deeded — the theological core of Moses' alarm.

This is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to inspect the land.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

kōh ’ă·ḇō·ṯê·ḵem ‘ā·śū bə·šā·lə·ḥî ’ō·ṯām miq·qā·ḏêš bar·nê·a‘ lir·’ō·wṯ ’eṯ- hā·’ā·reṣ

Word by word10 · parsed

כֹּ֥הkōhThis is whatH3541

√ kôh — properly, like this, iAdverb

koh (H3541) — "thus." A demonstrative of manner that fuses two generations: the deictic force is the rebuke.

אֲבֹתֵיכֶ֑ם’ă·ḇō·ṯê·ḵemyour fathersH1

√ ʼâb — father, in a literal and immediate, or figurative and remote applicationNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine plural

עָשׂ֖וּ‘ā·śūdidH6213

√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationVerbQalPerfectthird person common plural

בְּשָׁלְחִ֥יbə·šā·lə·ḥîwhen I sentH7971

√ shâlach — to send away, for, or out (in a great variety of applications)Preposition-bVerbQalInfinitive constructfirst person common singular

אֹתָ֛ם’ō·ṯāmH853

√ 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 plural

מִקָּדֵ֥שׁmiq·qā·ḏêšthemH6947

√ Qâdêsh Barnêaʻ — Kadesh-Barnea, a place in the DesertPreposition

miqqadêsh barnêaʿ (H6947) — Kadesh-barnea. The Pulpit Commentary notes this spelling "forms a link between the closing chapters of Numbers… and the two following books," Deuteronomy and Joshua.

בַּרְנֵ֖עַbar·nê·a‘from Kadesh-barneaH6947

√ Qâdêsh Barnêaʻ — Kadesh-Barnea, a place in the DesertPrepositionNounproperfeminine singular

לִרְא֥וֹתlir·’ō·wṯto inspectH7200

√ râʼâh — to see, literally or figuratively (in numerous applications, direct and implied, transitive, intransitive and causative)Preposition-lVerbQalInfinitive construct

lirʾoth ʾet-haʾarets — "to see the land." The spy mission of Numbers 13 is recalled by its defining verb; the sin began with a seeing that bred fear.

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

הָאָֽרֶץ׃hā·’ā·reṣthe landH776

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

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel; by telling them that there were giants in the land, and that the people in common were strong, and their cities walled, and that they were not able to go up against them and overcome them; and by this means they disheartened the people

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

Moses, indeed, in the heat of his displeasure, seemed to charge their "fathers" generally with the wickedness of ten men. No further proof is needed to show that Moses was often disposed to speak unadvisedly with his lips.

The Pulpit Commentary's blunt judgment that Moses sometimes "spoke unadvisedly" is its own fallible reading, recorded as found.

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

who led away the heart of the people into rebellion through their unfavourable account of the inhabitants of Canaan, and brought so severe a judgment upon the congregation.

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For when your fathers went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the Israelites from entering the land that the LORD had given them.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·ya·‘ă·lū ‘aḏ- na·ḥal ’eš·kō·wl way·yir·’ū ’eṯ- hā·’ā·reṣ way·yā·nî·’ū ’eṯ- lêḇ bə·nê yiś·rā·’êl lə·ḇil·tî- ḇō ’el- hā·’ā·reṣ ’ă·šer- Yah·weh nā·ṯan lā·hem

Word by word20 · parsed

וַֽיַּעֲל֞וּway·ya·‘ă·lūFor when [your fathers] went upH5927

√ ʻâlâh — to ascend, intransitively (be high) or actively (mount)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

עַד־‘aḏ-toH5704

√ ʻad — as far (or long, or much) as, whether of space (even unto) or time (during, while, until) or degree (equally with)Preposition

נַ֣חַלna·ḥalthe ValleyH5158

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

nachal (H5158) — "a stream, especially a winter torrent," hence the seasonal valley of Eshcol; the place-name means "cluster."

אֶשְׁכּ֗וֹל’eš·kō·wlof EshcolH812

√ ʼEshkôl — Eshcol, the name of an Amorite, also of a valley in PalestineNounproperfeminine singular

וַיִּרְאוּ֙way·yir·’ūand sawH7200

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

הָאָ֔רֶץhā·’ā·reṣthe landH776

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

וַיָּנִ֕יאוּway·yā·nî·’ūthey discouragedH5106

√ nûwʼ — to refuse, forbid, dissuade, or neutralizeConjunctive wawVerbHifilConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

wayyaniʾu ʾet-lêv — "and they turned away the heart," repeated from v. 7. The doubling welds the spy generation and the Reuben-Gad generation into one cautionary type.

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

לֵ֖בlêḇH3820

√ lêb — the heartNounmasculine singular construct

בְּנֵ֣יbə·nêthe IsraelitesH1121

יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לyiś·rā·’êl. . .H3478

√ Yisrâʼêl — Jisrael, a symbolical name of JacobNounpropermasculine singular

לְבִלְתִּי־lə·ḇil·tî-fromH1115

√ biltîy — properly, a failure of, iPreposition-l

בֹא֙ḇōenteringH935

√ bôwʼ — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)VerbQalInfinitive construct

אֶל־’el-. . .H413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition

הָאָ֔רֶץhā·’ā·reṣthe landH776

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

אֲשֶׁר־’ă·šer-thatH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

יְהוָֽה׃Yah·wehthe LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

נָתַ֥ןnā·ṯanhad givenH5414

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

natan lahem — "had given them," the same perfect of giving as v. 7; the land was a finished gift refused. The Pulpit Commentary remarks Moses "seemed to charge their 'fathers' generally with the wickedness of ten men."

לָהֶ֖םlā·hemthem

Prepositionthird person masculine plural

Literal — word-for-word from the original

For they went up as far as the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, and they turned away the heart of the sons of Israel, so as not to enter the land which the LORD had given them.

Where the English smooths the original

וַיָּנִיאוּ (wayyaniʾu) "They discouraged" is again the strong wayyaniʾu (H5106, nuʾ) — "and they turned away / made averse" — verbatim the verb Moses used of the present tribes in v. 7. The repetition is the indictment: same verb, same heart, same sin.
לְבִלְתִּי־בֹא (levilti-voʾ) "From entering" renders levilti voʾ, "so as not to come/go in" — the negated infinitive of boʾ. The fathers' sin was a refusal to come in; Moses fears the sons' settling east is the same refusal in a new dress.
נַחַל אֶשְׁכּוֹל (nachal ʾeshkol) "The Valley of Eshcol" is nachal ʾeshkol (H5158) — a wadi/torrent-valley, the place from which the spies carried the great cluster of grapes. Gill: "so called from the cluster of grapes they there cut down." The very richness they saw became the occasion of their fear.

So the anger of the LORD was kindled that day, and He swore an oath, saying,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

’ap̄ Yah·weh way·yi·ḥar- ha·hū bay·yō·wm way·yiš·šā·ḇa‘ lê·mōr

Word by word7 · parsed

אַ֥ף’ap̄So the angerH639

√ ʼaph — properly, the nose or nostrilNounmasculine singular construct

ʾaf YHWH (H639) — "the nose/anger of the LORD," the visceral Hebrew metaphor for divine wrath. The construct opens the verse with the very heat the tribes risk rekindling (v. 14).

יְהוָ֖הYah·wehof the LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

וַיִּֽחַר־way·yi·ḥar-was kindledH2734

√ chârâh — to glow or grow warmConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

wayyichar (charah, H2734) — "and it grew hot." The combustion verb that governs the chapter's recurring image of fire (vv. 10, 13, 14).

הַה֑וּאha·hūthatH1931

√ hûwʼ — he (she or it)ArticlePronounthird person masculine singular

בַּיּ֣וֹםbay·yō·wmdayH3117

√ yôwm — a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb)Preposition-b, ArticleNounmasculine singular

וַיִּשָּׁבַ֖עway·yiš·šā·ḇa‘and He swore an oathH7650

√ shâbaʻ — to seven oneself, iConjunctive wawVerbNifalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

wayyishavaʿ (shavaʿ, H7650) — "and He swore." The oath is a self-binding act; what follows in vv. 11–12 is its sworn content, recalling Numbers 14:21–23.

לֵאמֹֽר׃lê·mōrsayingH559

√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Preposition-lVerbQalInfinitive construct

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And the anger of the LORD was kindled on that day, and He swore an oath, saying,

Where the English smooths the original

אַף (ʾaf) "Anger" renders ʾaf (H639), literally "nostril, nose" — the flaring of the nose that pictures wrath. Hebrew locates anger in the body's heat, not an abstraction; "the anger of the LORD" is, idiomatically, "the nose of the LORD" flushed.
וַיִּחַר (wayyichar) "Was kindled" is wayyichar (H2734, charah), "grew hot, burned." Anger as combustion — the same verb returns in v. 13 ("burned against Israel") and the noun charon ("burning") in v. 14. The chapter tracks a fire.
וַיִּשָּׁבַע (wayyishavaʿ) "He swore an oath" is wayyishavaʿ (H7650, shavaʿ), built on the number seven — "to seven oneself," to bind by the sacred seven. The wrath issues not in a blow but in a binding oath, which is why its sentence is irreversible (v. 11).

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

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, Deuteronomy 1:21 .

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

Here is another instance of the haste and inaccuracy with which Moses spoke. The Divine sentence of exclusion had been pronounced upon all who were numbered at Sinai as being then over twenty ( Numbers 14:29 ).

The Pulpit Commentary alleges "inaccuracy" in Moses' summary; recorded as the commentator's own claim, not a verdict of this apparatus.

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Geneva Study BibleMarginal Notes1599

Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me:

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‘Because they did not follow Me wholeheartedly, not one of the men twenty years of age or older who came out of Egypt will see the land that I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

kî lō- ’a·ḥă·rāy mil·’ū ’im- hā·’ă·nā·šîm ‘eś·rîm mib·ben šā·nāh wā·ma‘·lāh ’êṯ hā·‘ō·lîm mim·miṣ·ra·yim yir·’ū hā·’ă·ḏā·māh ’ă·šer niš·ba‘·tî lə·’aḇ·rā·hām lə·yiṣ·ḥāq ū·lə·ya·‘ă·qōḇ

Word by word20 · parsed

כִּ֥יkîBecauseH3588

√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction

לֹא־lō-they did notH3808

√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absAdverbNegative particle

אַחֲרָֽי׃’a·ḥă·rāyfollow MeH310

√ ʼachar — properly, the hind partPrepositionfirst person common singular

מִלְא֖וּmil·’ūwholeheartedlyH4390

√ mâlêʼ — to fill or (intransitively) be full of, in a wide application (literally and figuratively)VerbPielPerfectthird person common plural

milʾu (Piel of maleʾ, H4390) — "they filled / fulfilled." The phrase "filled after" is the technical covenant idiom for whole-hearted allegiance; its negation is the spies' defining failure (cf. Numbers 14:24).

אִם־’im-not oneH518

√ ʼim — used very widely as demonstrative, lo!Conjunction

הָאֲנָשִׁ֜יםhā·’ă·nā·šîmof the menH582

√ ʼĕnôwsh — a man in general (singly or collectively)ArticleNounmasculine plural

עֶשְׂרִ֤ים‘eś·rîmtwentyH6242

√ ʻesrîym — twentyNumbercommon plural

מִבֶּ֨ןmib·benyears of ageH1121

שָׁנָה֙šā·nāh. . .H8141

√ shâneh — a year (as a revolution of time)Nounfeminine singular

וָמַ֔עְלָהwā·ma‘·lāhor olderH4605

√ maʻal — properly, the upper part, used only adverbially with prefix upward, above, overhead, from the top, etcConjunctive wawAdverbthird person feminine singular

אֵ֚ת’êṯH853

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

הָעֹלִ֣יםhā·‘ō·lîmwho cameH5927

√ ʻâlâh — to ascend, intransitively (be high) or actively (mount)ArticleVerbQalParticiplemasculine plural

מִמִּצְרַ֗יִםmim·miṣ·ra·yimout of EgyptH4714

√ Mitsrayim — Mitsrajim, iPreposition-mNounproperfeminine singular

יִרְא֨וּyir·’ūwill seeH7200

√ râʼâh — to see, literally or figuratively (in numerous applications, direct and implied, transitive, intransitive and causative)VerbQalImperfectthird person masculine plural

הָאֲדָמָ֔הhā·’ă·ḏā·māhthe landH127

√ ʼădâmâh — soil (from its general redness)ArticleNounfeminine singular

ʾadamah (H127) — "ground, soil," emphasizing arable land; the oath denies the faithless the very earth they could have tilled.

אֲשֶׁ֥ר’ă·šerthatH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

נִשְׁבַּ֛עְתִּיniš·ba‘·tîI sworeH7650

√ shâbaʻ — to seven oneself, iVerbNifalPerfectfirst person common singular

nishbaʿti (Nifal of shavaʿ, H7650) — "I swore." God's oath to the patriarchs and God's oath of exclusion meet in one verb: the same fidelity that promises the land withholds it from unbelief.

לְאַבְרָהָ֥םlə·’aḇ·rā·hāmto give AbrahamH85

√ ʼAbrâhâm — Abraham, the later name of AbramPreposition-lNounpropermasculine singular

לְיִצְחָ֖קlə·yiṣ·ḥāqIsaacH3327

√ Yitschâq — Jitschak (or Isaac), son of AbrahamPreposition-lNounpropermasculine singular

וּֽלְיַעֲקֹ֑בū·lə·ya·‘ă·qōḇand JacobH3290

√ Yaʻăqôb — Jaakob, the Israelitish patriarchConjunctive waw, Preposition-lNounpropermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

"Surely the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall not see the ground that I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob — because they did not wholly follow Me."

Where the English smooths the original

אִם־ (ʾim-) "Not one" renders an oath-formula ʾim (H518): in a sworn statement "if they see…" is an elliptical curse meaning "they shall surely NOT see." The English flattens a Hebrew self-imprecation into a plain negative.
מִלְאוּ אַחֲרָי (milʾu ʾacharai) "Follow Me wholeheartedly" is the idiom milʾu ʾacharai — literally "they did not fill after Me," i.e. did not go full / complete behind the LORD. To "fill" (maleʾ) is to follow without reservation; their following was hollow.
הָאֲדָמָה (haʾadamah) "The land" here is ʾadamah (H127), "the ground / soil" (from its redness), a different word from ʾerets used elsewhere in the chapter. The promise is rooted in tillable earth — the very fertility the tribes craved, now sworn away from a faithless generation.

not one except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun—because they did follow the LORD wholeheartedly.’

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bil·tî kā·lêḇ ben- yə·p̄un·neh haq·qə·niz·zî wî·hō·wō·šu·a‘ bin- nūn kî ’a·ḥă·rê Yah·weh mil·’ū

Word by word12 · parsed

בִּלְתִּ֞יbil·tînot one exceptH1115

√ biltîy — properly, a failure of, iPreposition

כָּלֵ֤בkā·lêḇCalebH3612

√ Kâlêb — Caleb, the name of three IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular

בֶּן־ben-sonH1121

יְפֻנֶּה֙yə·p̄un·nehof JephunnehH3312

√ Yᵉphunneh — Jephunneh, the name of two IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular

הַקְּנִזִּ֔יhaq·qə·niz·zîthe KenizziteH7074

√ Qᵉnizzîy — a Kenizzite or descendant of KenazArticleNounpropermasculine singular

haqqenizzi (H7074, Kenizzite) — Caleb's clan-name. Barnes notes Kenaz "was the name of one of the 'dukes of Edom,'" yet Caleb is reckoned wholly within Israel — grace grafting an outsider's line into the faithful remnant.

וִיהוֹשֻׁ֖עַwî·hō·wō·šu·a‘and JoshuaH3091

√ Yᵉhôwshûwaʻ — Jehoshua (iConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular

wîhoshuaʿ (H3091, Joshua) — "Yah is salvation." The future conqueror of Canaan is here named as the second exception; the man who will lead the crossing is the model of the whole-hearted following the eastern tribes are being summoned to imitate.

בִּן־bin-sonH1121

נ֑וּןnūnof NunH5126

√ Nûwn — Nun or Non, the father of JoshuaNounpropermasculine singular

כִּ֥יkîbecauseH3588

√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction

אַחֲרֵ֥י’a·ḥă·rêthey did followH310

√ ʼachar — properly, the hind partPreposition

יְהוָֽה׃Yah·wehthe LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

מִלְא֖וּmil·’ūwholeheartedlyH4390

√ mâlêʼ — to fill or (intransitively) be full of, in a wide application (literally and figuratively)VerbPielPerfectthird person common plural

milʾu (maleʾ, H4390) — "they filled." Repeated from v. 11 with the opposite verdict; the verb is the hinge between judgment and reward.

The anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the whole generation who had done evil in His sight was gone.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

’ap̄ Yah·weh way·yi·ḥar- bə·yiś·rā·’êl way·ni·‘êm bam·miḏ·bār ’ar·bā·‘îm šā·nāh ‘aḏ- kāl- had·dō·wr hā·‘ō·śeh hā·ra‘ Yah·weh bə·‘ê·nê tōm

Word by word16 · parsed

אַ֤ף’ap̄The angerH639

√ ʼaph — properly, the nose or nostrilNounmasculine singular construct

יְהוָה֙Yah·wehof the LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

וַיִּֽחַר־way·yi·ḥar-burnedH2734

√ chârâh — to glow or grow warmConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֔לbə·yiś·rā·’êlagainst IsraelH3478

√ Yisrâʼêl — Jisrael, a symbolical name of JacobPreposition-bNounpropermasculine singular

וַיְנִעֵם֙way·ni·‘êmand He made them wanderH5128

√ nûwaʻ — to waver, in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively (as subjoined)Conjunctive wawVerbHifilConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singularthird person masculine plural

wayniʿêm (Hifil of nuaʿ, H5128) — "and He made them totter." The causative makes God the agent of the wandering; the wilderness is sentence, not accident.

בַּמִּדְבָּ֔רbam·miḏ·bārin the wildernessH4057

√ midbâr — a pasture (iPreposition-b, ArticleNounmasculine singular

אַרְבָּעִ֖ים’ar·bā·‘îmfortyH705

√ ʼarbâʻîym — fortyNumbercommon plural

שָׁנָ֑הšā·nāhyearsH8141

√ shâneh — a year (as a revolution of time)Nounfeminine singular

עַד־‘aḏ-untilH5704

√ ʻad — as far (or long, or much) as, whether of space (even unto) or time (during, while, until) or degree (equally with)Preposition

כָּל־kāl-the wholeH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct

הַדּ֔וֹרhad·dō·wrgenerationH1755

√ dôwr — properly, a revolution of time, iArticleNounmasculine singular

הָעֹשֶׂ֥הhā·‘ō·śehwho had doneH6213

√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationArticleVerbQalParticiplemasculine singular

הָרַ֖עhā·ra‘evilH7451

√ raʻ — bad or (as noun) evil (natural or moral)ArticleAdjectivemasculine singular

haʿoseh (participle of ʿasah, H6213) — "the one doing," i.e. the generation "that had done the evil"; the participle stresses settled, habitual evil-doing, not a single lapse.

יְהוָֽה׃Yah·wehin [His]H3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

בְּעֵינֵ֥יbə·‘ê·nêsightH5869

√ ʻayin — an eye (literally or figuratively)Preposition-bNouncdc

תֹּם֙tōmwas goneH8552

√ tâmam — to complete, in a good or a bad sense, literal, or figurative, transitive or intransitiveVerbQalInfinitive construct

tom (tamam, H8552) — "to be finished/consumed." The infinitive marks the terminus of the forty years: the judgment ends only when its object is wholly spent.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done the evil in the eyes of the LORD was finished.

Where the English smooths the original

וַיְנִעֵם (wayniʿêm) "He made them wander" renders wayniʿêm (H5128, nuaʿ), "He made them stagger / waver to and fro." Keil: "caused them to wander backwards and forwards." It is not a stately journey but an aimless tottering — the bodily shape of a sworn judgment.
תֹּם (tom) "Was gone" renders tom (H8552, tamam), "to be complete, finished, consumed." The generation is not merely deceased but used up to the last — the oath of v. 10 ran to completion. The verb of finishing closes the forty years.
הָרַע בְּעֵינֵי (haraʿ beʿênê) "Evil in His sight" is haraʿ beʿênê YHWH, "the evil in the eyes of the LORD" — the same organ of seeing (ʿayin) by which the tribes "saw" the land. What the people saw with desire, the LORD saw as evil.

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

a brood of sinful men . In angry rebuke Moses uses a contemptuous term. The subst. is not found elsewhere in the O.T.; but a similar word (R.V. ‘increase’) occurs in 1 Samuel 2:33 .

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

"Behold, ye rise up instead of your fathers," i.e., ye take their place, "an increase (תּרבּוּת, from רבה; equivalent to a brood) of sinners, to augment yet the burning of the wrath of Jehovah against Israel."

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

The strong language of Moses was not justified by the reality, although it was excused by the appearance, of the case.

A frank editorial demurral from the commentator: he judges Moses' rhetoric stronger than the facts warranted — his fallible reading, not this apparatus' verdict.

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

like fathers like sons: to augment yet the fierce anger of the Lord toward Israel; to make it greater and fiercer towards that nation than even their fathers had by their many sins and transgressions.

source ↗

Now behold, you, a brood of sinners, have risen up in place of your fathers to further stoke the burning anger of the LORD against Israel.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·hin·nêh tar·būṯ ’ă·nā·šîm ḥaṭ·ṭā·’îm qam·tem ta·ḥaṯ ’ă·ḇō·ṯê·ḵem ‘ō·wḏ lis·pō·wṯ ‘al ḥă·rō·wn ’ap̄- Yah·weh ’el- yiś·rā·’êl

Word by word15 · parsed

וְהִנֵּ֣הwə·hin·nêhNow beholdH2009

√ hinnêh — lo!Conjunctive wawInterjection

תַּרְבּ֖וּתtar·būṯyou, a broodH8635

√ tarbûwth — multiplication, iNounfeminine singular construct

tarbut (H8635) — a unique noun, "increase, brood." Its strangeness is the point: Moses invents a word harsh enough for the moment. The Pulpit Commentary calls his "strong language… not justified by the reality, although it was excused by the appearance, of the case."

אֲנָשִׁ֣ים’ă·nā·šîmH582

√ ʼĕnôwsh — a man in general (singly or collectively)Nounmasculine plural

חַטָּאִ֑יםḥaṭ·ṭā·’îmof sinnersH2400

√ chaṭṭâʼ — a criminal, or one accounted guiltyAdjectivemasculine plural

קַמְתֶּ֗םqam·temhave risen upH6965

√ qûwm — to rise (in various applications, literal, figurative, intensive and causative)VerbQalPerfectsecond person masculine plural

תַּ֚חַתta·ḥaṯin placeH8478

√ tachath — the bottom (as depressed)Preposition

אֲבֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם’ă·ḇō·ṯê·ḵemof your fathersH1

√ ʼâb — father, in a literal and immediate, or figurative and remote applicationNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine plural

ע֗וֹד‘ō·wḏto furtherH5750

√ ʻôwd — properly, iteration or continuanceAdverb

לִסְפּ֣וֹתlis·pō·wṯstokeH5595

√ çâphâh — properly, to scrape (literally, to shavePreposition-lVerbQalInfinitive construct

lispot (saphah, H5595) — "to add / heap up." The infinitive of purpose: the sons exist, in Moses' rhetoric, only to enlarge the blaze.

עַ֛ל‘al. . .H5921

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

חֲר֥וֹןḥă·rō·wnthe burningH2740

√ chârôwn — a burning of angerNounmasculine singular construct

charon (H2740) — "burning," construct with ʾaf ("anger/nose"); the fullest expression of divine fury, deliberately echoing the kindling of v. 10.

אַף־’ap̄-angerH639

√ ʼaph — properly, the nose or nostrilNounmasculine singular construct

יְהוָ֖הYah·wehof the LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

אֶל־’el-againstH413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition

יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃yiś·rā·’êlIsraelH3478

√ Yisrâʼêl — Jisrael, a symbolical name of JacobNounpropermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

"And behold, you have risen up in your fathers' place — a brood of sinful men — to add still more to the burning of the anger of the LORD against Israel."

Where the English smooths the original

תַּרְבּוּת (tarbut) "A brood" renders the hapax tarbut (H8635), from rabah ("to multiply"). Cambridge: "In angry rebuke Moses uses a contemptuous term. The subst. is not found elsewhere in the O.T." It is a coined slur — "a multiplication of sinners," sin breeding true.
לִסְפּוֹת (lispot) "To further stoke" renders lispot (H5595, saphah), "to add, scrape together, heap on." The sons do not start a new fire; they pile fuel on their fathers' still-warm wrath. Keil: "to add to, or increase."
חֲרוֹן אַף (charon ʾaf) "The burning anger" is charon ʾaf (H2740) — "the heat of the nose," the most intense Hebrew term for wrath, kin to the verb of v. 10 (wayyichar). The image of fire that opened the spy-judgment now blazes again.

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Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

Thus all who rest satisfied with visible and temporal things, and evidently show by their conduct that they prefer earth to heaven, not only stop short themselves of the rest that remaineth for the people of God, but greatly discourage others in their journey thither, and lay stumbling-blocks in their way.

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

"If ye draw back behind Him," i.e., resist the fulfilment of the will of God, to bring Israel to Canaan, "He will leave it (Israel) still longer in the desert, and ye prepare destruction for all this nation."

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Geneva Study BibleMarginal Notes1599

he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and {d} ye shall destroy all this people. (d) By your occasion.

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For if you turn away from following Him, He will once again leave this people in the wilderness, and you will be the cause of their destruction.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

kî ṯə·šū·ḇun mê·’a·ḥă·rāw wə·yā·sap̄ ‘ō·wḏ lə·han·nî·ḥōw haz·zeh hā·‘ām bam·miḏ·bār wə·ši·ḥat·tem lə·ḵāl

Word by word11 · parsed

כִּ֤יkîFor ifH3588

√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction

תְשׁוּבֻן֙ṯə·šū·ḇunyou turn awayH7725

√ shûwb — to turn back (hence, away) transitively or intransitively, literally or figuratively (not necessarily with the idea of return to the starting point)VerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine pluralParagogic nun

teshuvun (shuv, H7725) — "turn back." The hinge-verb of the chapter: apostasy here (v. 15), homecoming there (v. 18), discharge after victory there (v. 22). The same motion is sin or fidelity depending on its direction.

מֵֽאַחֲרָ֔יוmê·’a·ḥă·rāwfrom following HimH310

√ ʼachar — properly, the hind partPreposition-mthird person masculine singular

וְיָסַ֣ףwə·yā·sap̄He will once againH3254

√ yâçaph — to add or augment (often adverbial, to continue to do a thing)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectthird person masculine singular

ע֔וֹד‘ō·wḏ. . .H5750

√ ʻôwd — properly, iteration or continuanceAdverb

לְהַנִּיח֖וֹlə·han·nî·ḥōwleaveH5117

√ nûwach — to rest, iPreposition-lVerbHifilInfinitive constructthird person masculine singular

הַזֶּֽה׃סhaz·zehthisH2088

√ zeh — the masculine demonstrative pronoun, this or thatArticlePronounmasculine singular

הָעָ֥םhā·‘āmpeopleH5971

√ ʻam — a people (as a congregated unit)ArticleNounmasculine singular

haʿam (H5971) — "the people," the covenant nation as a unit; one tribe's faithlessness is reckoned as the potential undoing of all.

בַּמִּדְבָּ֑רbam·miḏ·bārin the wildernessH4057

√ midbâr — a pasture (iPreposition-b, ArticleNounmasculine singular

וְשִֽׁחַתֶּ֖םwə·ši·ḥat·temand you will be the cause of their destructionH7843

√ shâchath — to decay, iConjunctive wawVerbPielConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine plural

weshichattem (shachat, H7843) — "and you will destroy." Keil: "ye prepare destruction for all this nation." The verb is used of moral corruption and physical ruin alike; the eastern tribes' choice could undo the whole people.

לְכָל־lə·ḵāl. . .H3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholePreposition-lNounmasculine singular construct

Literal — word-for-word from the original

"For if you turn back from after Him, He will again leave them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all this people."

Where the English smooths the original

תְשׁוּבֻן (teshuvun) "Turn away" renders teshuvun (H7725, shuv), "turn back, return, apostatize." The same verb means "return [home]" in the tribes' own promise (v. 18) and "return" after the war (v. 22). Here it is the spiritual turning-back of apostasy — to face away from the God they follow.
וְשִׁחַתֶּם (weshichattem) "You will be the cause of their destruction" compresses weshichattem (H7843, shachat) — "and you will ruin / corrupt." The Piel makes the two tribes active agents: not merely an occasion but a cause of national ruin. Geneva: "By your occasion."
מֵאַחֲרָיו (mêʾacharaw) "From following Him" is mêʾacharaw, "from after Him" — the spatial idiom of discipleship (walking behind the LORD, cf. the pillar of cloud). To turn from "after Him" is to abandon the march God leads.

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Jamieson, Fausset & BrownCommentary Critical and Explanatory1871

The suppliants had shrunk back, dreading from the undisguised emotions of their leader that their request would be refused. But, perceiving, from the tenor of his discourse, that his objection was grounded only on the supposition that they would not cross the Jordan to assist their brethren, they became emboldened to approach him with assurances of their goodwill.

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Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

The word which is rendered “build ” often means to “build up” or “repair,” and it probably has that meaning in this place, as applied to the cities. (See Numbers 32:26 .)

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

These were rude enclosures built of loose stones piled on one another, into which the flocks were driven at night for safety.

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Matthew HenryConcise Commentary on the Whole Bible1706

Moses, by showing their sin, and the danger of it, brought them to their duty, without murmuring or disputing.

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Then the Gadites and Reubenites approached Moses and said, “We want to build sheepfolds here for our livestock and cities for our little ones.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yig·gə·šū ’ê·lāw way·yō·mə·rū niḇ·neh giḏ·rōṯ ṣōn pōh lə·miq·nê·nū wə·‘ā·rîm lə·ṭap·pê·nū

Word by word10 · parsed

וַיִּגְּשׁ֤וּway·yig·gə·šūThen [the Gadites and Reubenites] approachedH5066

√ nâgash — to be or come (causatively, bring) near (for any purpose)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

wayyiggeshu (nagash, H5066) — "and they drew near," the language of approaching a superior with a careful word (cf. Genesis 44:18, which Gill cites). Their bearing has changed from petition to pledge.

אֵלָיו֙’ê·lāw[Moses]H413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPrepositionthird person masculine singular

וַ֣יֹּאמְר֔וּway·yō·mə·rūand saidH559

√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

נִבְנֶ֥הniḇ·nehWe want to buildH1129

√ bânâh — to build (literally and figuratively)VerbQalImperfectfirst person common plural

גִּדְרֹ֥תgiḏ·rōṯsheepfoldsH1448

√ gᵉdêrâh — enclosure (especially for flocks)Nounfeminine plural construct

gidroth tsoʾn (H1448) — "sheepfolds," rough drystone enclosures. The Pulpit Commentary: "rude enclosures built of loose stones piled on one another, into which the flocks were driven at night for safety."

צֹ֛אןṣōn. . .H6629

√ tsôʼn — a collective name for a flock (of sheep or goats)Nouncommon singular

פֹּ֑הpōhhereH6311

√ pôh — this place (French ici), iAdverb

לְמִקְנֵ֖נוּlə·miq·nê·nūfor our livestockH4735

√ miqneh — something bought, iPreposition-lNounmasculine singular constructfirst person common plural

וְעָרִ֖יםwə·‘ā·rîmand citiesH5892

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

לְטַפֵּֽנוּ׃lə·ṭap·pê·nūfor our little onesH2945

√ ṭaph — a family (mostly used collectively in the singular)Preposition-lNounmasculine singular constructfirst person common plural

taph (H2945) — "little ones," collectively the non-combatant household; the word frames the whole bargain as care for the vulnerable behind the line of war.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And they drew near to him and said, "We will build sheepfolds for our flocks here, and cities for our little ones;"

Where the English smooths the original

וַיִּגְּשׁוּ (wayyiggeshu) "Approached" renders wayyiggeshu (H5066, nagash), "and they drew near." JFB catches the drama: "The suppliants had shrunk back, dreading… that their request would be refused. But, perceiving… they became emboldened to approach him." The verb marks a turn from rebuke to reconciliation.
נִבְנֶה (nivneh) "We want to build" is the cohortative nivneh (H1129, banah), "let us build." Several commentators stress this means "rebuild / repair": Ellicott notes the verb "often means to 'build up' or 'repair.'" The cities already stood; the tribes propose to make them defensible, not to found them.
לְטַפֵּנוּ (letappênu) "For our little ones" renders taph (H2945) — Ellicott and K&D note the word covers "all the defenceless portion of the nation," women and dependents, not only children. The men will fight; the taph are what they fight to shelter.

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Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

Will go ready armed . . . — Or, will equip ourselves in haste.

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Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

Accordingly we find that forty thousand of the Reubenites and Gadites went over with their brethren, ready armed for war, to the plains of Jericho, Deuteronomy 3:18 ; Joshua 4:12 .

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

will arm ourselves in battle array ; cf. Exodus 13:18 , Joshua 1:14 ; Joshua 4:12 . our little ones ] Including, of course, the wives and all members of the family who were not fighting men.

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

טף, the children, including the women, and such other defenceless members of the family as were in need of protection (see at Exodus 12:37 ).

source ↗

But we will arm ourselves and be ready to go ahead of the Israelites until we have brought them into their place. Meanwhile, our little ones will remain in the fortified cities for protection from the inhabitants of the land.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wa·’ă·naḥ·nū nê·ḥā·lêṣ ḥu·šîm lip̄·nê bə·nê yiś·rā·’êl ‘aḏ ’ă·šer ’im- hă·ḇî·’ō·num ’el- mə·qō·w·mām ṭap·pê·nū wə·yā·šaḇ ham·miḇ·ṣār bə·‘ā·rê mip·pə·nê yō·šə·ḇê hā·’ā·reṣ

Word by word19 · parsed

וַאֲנַ֜חְנוּwa·’ă·naḥ·nūBut weH587

√ ʼănachnûw — weConjunctive wawPronounfirst person common plural

נֵחָלֵ֣ץnê·ḥā·lêṣwill arm ourselvesH2502

√ châlats — to pull offVerbNifalImperfectfirst person common plural

chalats (H2502) — "to equip, arm, draw out for battle." This root is the legal pivot of the agreement; to be chaluts ("armed," passive participle) before the LORD is the condition of keeping the eastern grant.

חֻשִׁ֗יםḥu·šîmand be readyH2363

√ chûwsh — to hurryVerbQalQalPassParticiplemasculine plural

לִפְנֵי֙lip̄·nêto go ahead ofH6440

√ pânîym — the face (as the part that turns)Preposition-lNouncommon plural construct

בְּנֵ֣יbə·nêthe IsraelitesH1121

יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לyiś·rā·’êl. . .H3478

√ Yisrâʼêl — Jisrael, a symbolical name of JacobNounpropermasculine singular

עַ֛ד‘aḏuntilH5704

√ ʻad — as far (or long, or much) as, whether of space (even unto) or time (during, while, until) or degree (equally with)Preposition

אֲשֶׁ֥ר’ă·šerH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

אִם־’im-H518

√ ʼim — used very widely as demonstrative, lo!Conjunction

הֲבִֽיאֹנֻ֖םhă·ḇî·’ō·numwe have brought themH935

√ bôwʼ — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)VerbHifilPerfectfirst person common pluralthird person masculine plural

אֶל־’el-intoH413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition

מְקוֹמָ֑םmə·qō·w·māmtheir placeH4725

√ mâqôwm — properly, a standing, iNounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine plural

טַפֵּ֙נוּ֙ṭap·pê·nūMeanwhile, our little onesH2945

√ ṭaph — a family (mostly used collectively in the singular)Nounmasculine singular constructfirst person common plural

taph (H2945) — again "little ones / households," now to "remain" (yashav) behind walls while the warriors cross. Benson notes some 40,000 of these tribes "went over with their brethren, ready armed for war."

וְיָשַׁ֤בwə·yā·šaḇwill remainH3427

√ yâshab — properly, to sit down (specifically as judgeConjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectthird person masculine singular

הַמִּבְצָ֔רham·miḇ·ṣārin the fortifiedH4013

√ mibtsâr — a fortification, castle, or fortified cityArticleNounmasculine singular

mivtsar (H4013) — "fortified [city]." The detail answers Moses' fear: the families are not abandoned but garrisoned, freeing every able man to honor the pledge.

בְּעָרֵ֣יbə·‘ā·rêcitiesH5892

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

מִפְּנֵ֖יmip·pə·nêfor protection fromH6440

√ pânîym — the face (as the part that turns)Preposition-mNouncommon plural construct

יֹשְׁבֵ֥יyō·šə·ḇêthe inhabitantsH3427

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

הָאָֽרֶץ׃hā·’ā·reṣof the landH776

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

Literal — word-for-word from the original

"But we ourselves will arm, hastening, before the sons of Israel until we have brought them to their place; and our little ones shall remain in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land."

Where the English smooths the original

נֵחָלֵץ (nêchalêts) "We will arm ourselves" renders nêchalêts (H2502, chalats), whose root means "to draw off, equip for war" — the chapter's keyword for going as a battle-vanguard. It recurs in vv. 20, 21, 27, 29, 30, 32; the tribes' whole acquittal turns on this verb.
חֻשִׁים (chushim) "And be ready" renders chushim (H2363), "hastening, in haste." The Pulpit Commentary: "we will equip ourselves in haste." The Cambridge Bible flags the word as textually "doubtful." The plain force is urgency: no delay to the forward march.
הַמִּבְצָר (hammivtsar) "The fortified cities" renders mivtsar (H4013), "fortification, stronghold." The defenseless taph are to be sealed behind walls precisely because the conquered land is not yet pacified — "because of the inhabitants of the land."

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Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

Herein they showed both faith in God and love to their brethren, thus to go in the front of the battle, and generously risk their lives against such powerful enemies, without any further benefit to themselves, leaving their weak families behind them to the divine protection.

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

accordingly they did not return until the land was wholly subdued, nor even until every lot came up, and the land was divided by it, and the inheritance of the several tribes fixed, and even the cities of the Levites assigned to them out of the several tribes; see Joshua 22:1 .

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Matthew HenryConcise Commentary on the Whole Bible1706

the law of love requires us to labour, venture, or suffer for each other as there may be occasion.

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We will not return to our homes until every Israelite has taken possession of his inheritance.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

lō nā·šūḇ ’el- bāt·tê·nū ‘aḏ ’îš bə·nê yiś·rā·’êl hiṯ·na·ḥêl na·ḥă·lā·ṯōw

Word by word10 · parsed

לֹ֥אlōWe will notH3808

√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absAdverbNegative particle

נָשׁ֖וּבnā·šūḇreturnH7725

nashuv (shuv, H7725) — "we will return." The vow not to return until the conquest is complete is the moral reversal of the spies, who wished to "return to Egypt" (Numbers 14:4).

אֶל־’el-toH413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition

בָּתֵּ֑ינוּbāt·tê·nūour homesH1004

√ bayith — a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etcNounmasculine plural constructfirst person common plural

עַ֗ד‘aḏuntilH5704

√ ʻad — as far (or long, or much) as, whether of space (even unto) or time (during, while, until) or degree (equally with)Preposition

אִ֖ישׁ’îševeryH376

√ ʼîysh — a man as an individual or a male personNounmasculine singular

בְּנֵ֣יbə·nêIsraeliteH1121

יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לyiś·rā·’êl. . .H3478

√ Yisrâʼêl — Jisrael, a symbolical name of JacobNounpropermasculine singular

הִתְנַחֵל֙hiṯ·na·ḥêlhas taken possession ofH5157

√ nâchal — to inherit (as a (figurative) mode of descent), or (generally) to occupyVerbHitpaelInfinitive construct

hitnachêl (Hithpael of nachal, H5157) — "to take for oneself as inheritance." The reflexive emphasizes personal, completed possession by each tribe.

נַחֲלָתֽוֹ׃na·ḥă·lā·ṯōwhis inheritanceH5159

√ nachălâh — properly, something inherited, iNounfeminine singular constructthird person masculine singular

nachalah (H5159) — "inheritance," the land as covenant gift passed down. The word will recur in v. 19 and v. 32 as the tribes define where their own inheritance lies.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

"We will not return to our houses until each of the sons of Israel has taken possession of his inheritance."

Where the English smooths the original

נָשׁוּב (nashuv) "Return" renders nashuv (H7725, shuv) — the same verb that named apostasy in v. 15. Here the tribes turn it to a vow: we will not "return" home prematurely. The verb of turning-back, condemned earlier, is pledged into faithfulness.
הִתְנַחֵל (hitnachêl) "Has taken possession of" renders hitnachêl (H5157, nachal, Hithpael), "has caused himself to inherit / has secured his inheritance." The reflexive stem makes each Israelite the active heir; the eastern tribes bind their homecoming to every brother's settled estate.
נַחֲלָתוֹ (nachalato) "His inheritance" is nachalah (H5159), the heritable allotment of the covenant — distinct from ʾachuzzah ("held possession," v. 5). They renounce rest until the whole inheritance of Israel is distributed.

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Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

the application of the same word to the country on both sides of the Jordan shows that it cannot be inferred, with any degree of certainty, from the use of this word, whether the position of the writer was on the eastern or western side of the river.

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

the awkward use of the phrase in two opposite meanings, with words of clearer definition added, points more or less strongly towards a probability that the passage as it stands was written or revised at a later date.

A source-critical conjecture about the text's date; offered as the Pulpit Commentary's fallible inference, not a settled conclusion of this apparatus.

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

they were not of that selfish and covetous disposition as to desire any part on the other side Jordan, if it was but granted them to continue on this side, and possess the land they requested

source ↗

Yet we will not have an inheritance with them across the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has come to us on the east side of the Jordan.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

kî lō nin·ḥal ’it·tām mê·‘ê·ḇer lay·yar·dên wā·hā·lə·’āh kî ḇā·’āh na·ḥă·lā·ṯê·nū ’ê·lê·nū miz·rā·ḥāh mê·‘ê·ḇer hay·yar·dên

Word by word14 · parsed

כִּ֣יkîYetH3588

√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction

לֹ֤אlōwe will notH3808

√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absAdverbNegative particle

נִנְחַל֙nin·ḥalhave an inheritanceH5157

√ nâchal — to inherit (as a (figurative) mode of descent), or (generally) to occupyVerbQalImperfectfirst person common plural

ninchal (nachal, H5157) — "we will inherit." The tribes formally waive any claim west of the river; their renunciation is the counterweight to their request, answering the charge of greed.

אִתָּ֔ם’it·tāmwith themH854

√ ʼêth — properly, nearness (used only as a preposition or an adverb), nearPrepositionthird person masculine plural

מֵעֵ֥בֶרmê·‘ê·ḇeracrossH5676

√ ʻêber — properly, a region acrossPreposition-mNounmasculine singular construct

mêʿêver (H5676, ʿêver) — "region across, opposite side." The Pulpit Commentary judges the awkward double use "points more or less strongly towards a probability that the passage as it stands was written or revised at a later date" — a textual-historical conjecture recorded as the commentator's own.

לַיַּרְדֵּ֖ןlay·yar·dênthe JordanH3383

√ Yardên — Jarden, the principal river of PalestinePreposition-l, ArticleNounproperfeminine singular

וָהָ֑לְאָהwā·hā·lə·’āhand beyondH1973

√ hâlᵉʼâh — to the distance, iConjunctive wawAdverb

כִּ֣יkîbecauseH3588

√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction

בָ֤אָהḇā·’āh. . .H935

√ bôwʼ — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)VerbQalPerfectthird person feminine singular

נַחֲלָתֵ֙נוּ֙na·ḥă·lā·ṯê·nūour inheritanceH5159

√ nachălâh — properly, something inherited, iNounfeminine singular constructfirst person common plural

אֵלֵ֔ינוּ’ê·lê·nūhas come to usH413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPrepositionfirst person common plural

מִזְרָֽחָה׃פmiz·rā·ḥāhon the eastH4217

√ mizrâch — sunrise, iNounmasculine singularthird person feminine singular

mizrachah (H4217) — "eastward," from zarach, "to rise (of the sun)"; the Verifier links this directional noun to Joshua 13:27, which fixes the same eastern boundary.

מֵעֵ֥בֶרmê·‘ê·ḇersideH5676

√ ʻêber — properly, a region acrossPreposition-mNounmasculine singular construct

הַיַּרְדֵּ֖ןhay·yar·dênof the JordanH3383

√ Yardên — Jarden, the principal river of PalestineArticleNounproperfeminine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

"For we will not inherit with them across the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has come to us across the Jordan eastward."

Where the English smooths the original

מֵעֵבֶר … מֵעֵבֶר (mêʿêver … mêʿêver) The same phrase mêʿêver layyarden is used twice in opposite senses — "the far side" (west) and "this side" (east). Ellicott: "the application of the same word to the country on both sides of the Jordan shows that it cannot be inferred… whether the position of the writer was on the eastern or western side." The Hebrew is genuinely ambiguous; the English picks a side the original does not.
וָהָלְאָה (wahalʾah) "And beyond" renders wahalʾah (H1973), "and onward, farther off." It defines the western "beyond" as the open frontier of conquest — westward, southward, northward — which the tribes here renounce in favor of the settled east.
מִזְרָחָה (mizrachah) "On the east" renders mizrachah (H4217), "toward the sunrise" — the qualifier that disambiguates the otherwise reversible "across the Jordan." Their chosen inheritance lies where the sun comes up, behind the army's westward advance.

The Voices✦ 4 public domain

Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

It may be inferred from this expression that the army of the Israelites was regarded as the army of the Lord; and it seems probable that there is a reference to the ark of the Lord as being carried on certain occasions into the war.

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Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

Before the Lord — Before the ark, which was the token of God’s presence.

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

in the war which they waged at the command of their God, the Israelites were the army of Jehovah, with Jehovah in the midst. Hence the ark of the covenant was taken into the war, as the vehicle and substratum of the presence of Jehovah

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Jamieson, Fausset & BrownCommentary Critical and Explanatory1871

The displeasure which Moses had felt on the first mention of their proposal had disappeared on the strength of their solemn assurances. But a lurking suspicion of their motives seems still to have been lingering in his mind

source ↗

Moses replied, “If you will do this—if you will arm yourselves before the LORD for battle,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

mō·šeh way·yō·mer ’ă·lê·hem ’im- ta·‘ă·śūn ’eṯ- had·dā·ḇār haz·zeh ’im- tê·ḥā·lə·ṣū lip̄·nê Yah·weh lam·mil·ḥā·māh

Word by word13 · parsed

מֹשֶׁ֔הmō·šehMosesH4872

√ Môsheh — Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiverNounpropermasculine singular

וַיֹּ֤אמֶרway·yō·merrepliedH559

√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

אֲלֵיהֶם֙’ă·lê·hemH413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPrepositionthird person masculine plural

אִֽם־’im-IfH518

√ ʼim — used very widely as demonstrative, lo!Conjunction

תַּעֲשׂ֖וּןta·‘ă·śūnyou will doH6213

√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationVerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine pluralParagogic nun

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

הַדָּבָ֣רhad·dā·ḇārH1697

√ dâbâr — a wordArticleNounmasculine singular

הַזֶּ֑הhaz·zehthisH2088

√ zeh — the masculine demonstrative pronoun, this or thatArticlePronounmasculine singular

אִם־’im-ifH518

√ ʼim — used very widely as demonstrative, lo!Conjunction

תֵּחָֽלְצ֛וּtê·ḥā·lə·ṣūyou will arm yourselvesH2502

√ châlats — to pull offVerbNifalImperfectsecond person masculine plural

têchaletsu (chalats, H2502) — "you arm yourselves." The Nifal here matches the tribes' Nifal in v. 17; Moses accepts their language and makes it the legal condition.

לִפְנֵ֥יlip̄·nêbeforeH6440

√ pânîym — the face (as the part that turns)Preposition-lNouncommon plural construct

יְהוָ֖הYah·wehthe LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

lipnê YHWH — "before the LORD." Ellicott and Poole both connect it to the ark, the "token of God's presence," carried at the head of the host (cf. Joshua 4:13). The campaign is reframed as worship in arms.

לַמִּלְחָמָֽה׃lam·mil·ḥā·māhfor battleH4421

√ milchâmâh — a battle (iPreposition-l, ArticleNounfeminine singular

lammilchamah (H4421) — "for the battle." The definite article makes it the war — the appointed conquest of Canaan, not war in general.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And Moses said to them, "If you will do this thing — if you will arm yourselves before the LORD for the war,"

Where the English smooths the original

לִפְנֵי יְהוָה (lipnê YHWH) "Before the LORD" replaces the tribes' own phrase "before the children of Israel" (v. 17). Keil marks the substitution as deliberate: the war is "the army of Jehovah, with Jehovah in the midst," so the ark went into battle. Moses lifts the campaign from a fraternal favor to a sacred service done in God's presence.
תֵּחָלְצוּ (têchaletsu) "You will arm yourselves" is again chalats (H2502) — the same equipping-verb of v. 17, now in Moses' conditional. He takes up their word and binds the grant to it: the land is theirs only if they truly go armed.
הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה (haddavar hazzeh) "This" renders haddavar hazzeh, "this word / this thing" (davar, H1697). The whole agreement is reduced to one "word" to be done; Moses' repeated "if… if…" makes the inheritance contingent on performance.

and if every one of your armed men crosses the Jordan before the LORD, until He has driven His enemies out before Him,

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

kāl- ḥā·lūṣ ’eṯ- wə·‘ā·ḇar lā·ḵem hay·yar·dên lip̄·nê Yah·weh ‘aḏ hō·w·rî·šōw ’eṯ- ’ō·yə·ḇāw mip·pā·nāw

Word by word13 · parsed

כָּל־kāl-and if every oneH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct

חָל֛וּץḥā·lūṣof your armed menH2502

√ châlats — to pull offVerbQalQalPassParticiplemasculine 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

וְעָבַ֨רwə·‘ā·ḇarcrossesH5674

√ ʻâbar — to cross overConjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectthird person masculine singular

weʿavar (ʿavar, H5674) — "and he crosses over." Gill: "Moses tries them thoroughly… requiring them not only to go armed… but to go over Jordan, and not some of them only, but all."

לָכֶ֧םlā·ḵem

Prepositionsecond person masculine plural

הַיַּרְדֵּ֖ןhay·yar·dênthe JordanH3383

√ Yardên — Jarden, the principal river of PalestineArticleNounproperfeminine singular

לִפְנֵ֣יlip̄·nêbeforeH6440

√ pânîym — the face (as the part that turns)Preposition-lNouncommon plural construct

יְהוָ֑הYah·wehthe LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

עַ֧ד‘aḏuntilH5704

√ ʻad — as far (or long, or much) as, whether of space (even unto) or time (during, while, until) or degree (equally with)Preposition

הוֹרִישׁ֛וֹhō·w·rî·šōwHe has drivenH3423

√ yârash — to occupy (by driving out previous tenants, and possessing in their place)VerbHifilInfinitive constructthird person masculine singular

horish (yarash, H3423) — "to dispossess / drive out." The Hifil of inheritance-by-conquest; the LORD is the subject — He dispossesses, the tribes accompany.

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

אֹיְבָ֖יו’ō·yə·ḇāwHis enemiesH341

√ ʼôyêb — hatingVerbQalParticiplemasculine plural constructthird person masculine singular

ʾoyevaw (H341, ʾoyev) — "His enemies." Gill: "the Canaanites, who were the enemies of the Lord, as well as of his people." The war is framed as God's quarrel before it is Israel's.

מִפָּנָֽיו׃mip·pā·nāwout before HimH6440

√ pânîym — the face (as the part that turns)Preposition-mNouncommon plural constructthird person masculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

"and every armed man of you crosses the Jordan before the LORD until He has dispossessed His enemies from before Him,"

Where the English smooths the original

וְעָבַר (weʿavar) "Crosses" renders weʿavar (H5674, ʿavar) — the very crossing the tribes had asked to be spared (v. 5). Moses now makes it mandatory: every chaluts must ʿavar the Jordan. The word they tried to evade becomes their bond.
הוֹרִישׁוֹ (horisho) "He has driven out" renders horish (H3423, yarash, Hifil), "to dispossess, drive out the previous tenants and take their place." The same verb describes Machir's conquest of the Amorites in v. 39. The war's aim is not slaughter but dispossession — the LORD evicting His enemies.
מִפָּנָיו (mippanaw) "Out before Him" is mippanaw, "from His face." The enemies are driven from before the LORD's own presence; the campaign is His eviction of squatters from His land, the tribes merely His armed agents.

then when the land is subdued before the LORD, you may return and be free of obligation to the LORD and to Israel. And this land will belong to you as a possession before the LORD.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

hā·’ā·reṣ wə·niḵ·bə·šāh lip̄·nê Yah·weh wə·’a·ḥar tā·šu·ḇū wih·yî·ṯem nə·qî·yîm Yah·weh ū·mî·yiś·rā·’êl haz·zōṯ hā·’ā·reṣ wə·hā·yə·ṯāh lā·ḵem la·’ă·ḥuz·zāh lip̄·nê Yah·weh

Word by word17 · parsed

הָאָ֜רֶץhā·’ā·reṣthen when the landH776

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

וְנִכְבְּשָׁ֨הwə·niḵ·bə·šāhis subduedH3533

√ kâbash — to tread downConjunctive wawVerbNifalConjunctive perfectthird person feminine singular

kavash (H3533) — "to subdue, bring into bondage." The same verb as the creation-mandate to subdue the earth (Genesis 1:28); the land's submission "before the LORD" is dominion exercised on God's behalf.

לִפְנֵ֤יlip̄·nêbeforeH6440

√ pânîym — the face (as the part that turns)Preposition-lNouncommon plural construct

יְהוָה֙Yah·wehthe LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

וְאַחַ֣רwə·’a·ḥarH310

√ ʼachar — properly, the hind partConjunctive wawAdverb

תָּשֻׁ֔בוּtā·šu·ḇūyou may returnH7725

וִהְיִיתֶ֧םwih·yî·ṯemand beH1961

√ hâyâh — to exist, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine plural

נְקִיִּ֛יםnə·qî·yîmfreeH5355

√ nâqîy — innocentAdjectivemasculine plural

neqiyyim (H5355) — "innocent, free." The plural adjective marks the tribes' legal acquittal once the condition is met; sin in v. 23 is its exact inverse.

מֵיְהוָ֖הYah·wehof obligation to the LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodPreposition-mNounpropermasculine singular

וּמִיִּשְׂרָאֵ֑לū·mî·yiś·rā·’êland to IsraelH3478

√ Yisrâʼêl — Jisrael, a symbolical name of JacobConjunctive waw, Preposition-mNounpropermasculine singular

הַזֹּ֥אתhaz·zōṯAnd thisH2063

√ zôʼth — this (often used adverb)ArticlePronounfeminine singular

הָאָ֨רֶץhā·’ā·reṣlandH776

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

וְ֠הָיְתָהwə·hā·yə·ṯāhwill belongH1961

√ hâyâh — to exist, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectthird person feminine singular

לָכֶ֛םlā·ḵemto you

Prepositionsecond person masculine plural

לַאֲחֻזָּ֖הla·’ă·ḥuz·zāhas a possessionH272

√ ʼăchuzzâh — something seized, iPreposition-lNounfeminine singular

laʾachuzzah (H272) — "for a possession," answering the tribes' request in v. 5. Geneva: "The Lord will grant you this land which you request, Jos 1:15." The grant is conditional but real.

לִפְנֵ֥יlip̄·nêbeforeH6440

√ pânîym — the face (as the part that turns)Preposition-lNouncommon plural construct

יְהוָֽה׃Yah·wehthe LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

"then the land shall be subdued before the LORD, and afterward you shall return and be guiltless before the LORD and before Israel; and this land shall be yours for a possession before the LORD."

Where the English smooths the original

וְנִכְבְּשָׁה (wenikhbeshah) "Is subdued" renders wenikhbeshah (H3533, kavash), "is trodden down, brought into subjection" — the dominion-verb of Genesis 1:28 ("subdue the earth"). The conquest of Canaan is framed in creation's mandate language: the land brought under the rule of the LORD.
נְקִיִּים (neqiyyim) "Free of obligation" renders neqiyyim (H5355), "innocent, clean, acquitted." Keil: "free from guilt before Jehovah and before Israel." Only when the pledge is kept are the tribes legally clean — toward God and toward their brothers both.
לִפְנֵי יְהוָה (lipnê YHWH) "Before the LORD" tolls three times in this single verse — subdued before the LORD, guiltless before the LORD, possession before the LORD. Poole reads the third as "by his presence, and gracious and powerful assistance." The whole transaction is sealed under God's face.

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Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

Your sin will find you out — The punishment of your sin. Sin will certainly find out the sinner, sooner or later. It concerns us therefore to find our sins out, that we may repent of them, lest our sins find us out to our confusion and destruction.

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

is based upon an ancient notion that sin, like a curse, has so to speak an individual existence. The sinner cannot escape its consequences; it will search and find him wherever he may hide himself. Cf. Genesis 4:7 ‘sin coucheth at the door.’

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Albert BarnesNotes on the Bible1834

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.

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

When they had cause to rue their folly, then they would recognize their sin.

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But if you do not do this, you will certainly sin against the LORD—and be assured that your sin will find you out.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·’im- lō ṯa·‘ă·śūn kên hin·nêh ḥă·ṭā·ṯem Yah·weh ū·ḏə·‘ū ḥaṭ·ṭaṯ·ḵem ’ă·šer tim·ṣā ’eṯ·ḵem

Word by word12 · parsed

וְאִם־wə·’im-But ifH518

√ ʼim — used very widely as demonstrative, lo!Conjunction

לֹ֤אlōyou do notH3808

√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absAdverbNegative particle

תַעֲשׂוּן֙ṯa·‘ă·śūndoH6213

√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationVerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine pluralParagogic nun

כֵּ֔ןkênthisH3651

√ kên — properly, set uprightAdverb

הִנֵּ֥הhin·nêhyou will certainlyH2009

√ hinnêh — lo!Interjection

חֲטָאתֶ֖םḥă·ṭā·ṯemsinH2398

√ châṭâʼ — properly, to missVerbQalPerfectsecond person masculine plural

לַיהוָ֑הYah·wehagainst the LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodPreposition-lNounpropermasculine singular

וּדְעוּ֙ū·ḏə·‘ūand be assured thatH3045

√ yâdaʻ — to know (properly, to ascertain by seeing)Conjunctive wawVerbQalImperativemasculine plural

udeʿu (yadaʿ, H3045) — "and know." The imperative turns a threat into a summons to self-knowledge; Benson: "It concerns us therefore to find our sins out, that we may repent of them, lest our sins find us out to our confusion."

חַטַּאתְכֶ֔םḥaṭ·ṭaṯ·ḵemyour sinH2403

√ chaṭṭâʼâh — an offence (sometimes habitual sinfulness), and its penalty, occasion, sacrifice, or expiationNounfeminine singular constructsecond person masculine plural

chattatkhem (H2403) — "your sin," personified here as a pursuer. The same noun denotes both the offense and its penalty, which is why "sin" can be said to "find" the sinner.

אֲשֶׁ֥ר’ă·šerH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

תִּמְצָ֖אtim·ṣāwill find you outH4672

√ mâtsâʼ — properly, to come forth to, iVerbQalImperfectthird person feminine singular

timtsaʾ (matsaʾ, H4672) — "it will find / overtake." Pointedly the same verb as the tribes' opening "if we have found (matsaʾnu) favor" in v. 5: they sought to find favor; unkept, their sin will find them.

אֶתְכֶֽם׃’eṯ·ḵemH853

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

Literal — word-for-word from the original

"But if you do not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD; and know your sin — that it will find you out."

Where the English smooths the original

וּדְעוּ (udeʿu) "Be assured" renders the imperative udeʿu (H3045, yadaʿ), "and know!" The famous proverb is, more exactly, "know your sin, that it will find you" — a command to recognize an inevitability. The Pulpit Commentary: "When they had cause to rue their folly, then they would recognize their sin."
תִּמְצָא אֶתְכֶם (timtsaʾ ʾetkhem) "Will find you out" renders timtsaʾ (H4672, matsaʾ), "it will come upon / overtake you." The Cambridge Bible notes the verse rests on "an ancient notion that sin, like a curse, has so to speak an individual existence" — sin hunts the sinner like a living pursuer (cf. Genesis 4:7, "sin coucheth at the door").
חֲטָאתֶם … חַטַּאתְכֶם (chataʾtem … chattatkhem) The verb chataʾtem ("you have sinned," H2398) and noun chattatkhem ("your sin," H2403) frame the warning. Both share the root meaning "to miss the mark"; to keep the gift and shirk the war is to miss God's aim and be tracked down by the miss itself.

Build cities for your little ones and folds for your flocks, but do what you have promised.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nū- ‘ā·rîm lā·ḵem lə·ṭap·pə·ḵem ū·ḡə·ḏê·rōṯ lə·ṣō·na·’ă·ḵem ta·‘ă·śū wə·hay·yō·ṣê mip·pî·ḵem

Word by word9 · parsed

בְּנֽוּ־bə·nū-BuildH1129

√ bânâh — to build (literally and figuratively)VerbQalImperativemasculine plural

benu (banah, H1129) — "build!" Imperative; Moses ratifies the tribes' building plan as a command, sealing the conditional grant with a concrete task.

עָרִים֙‘ā·rîmcitiesH5892

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

לָכֶ֤םlā·ḵemfor your

Prepositionsecond person masculine plural

לְטַפְּכֶ֔םlə·ṭap·pə·ḵemlittle onesH2945

√ ṭaph — a family (mostly used collectively in the singular)Preposition-lNounmasculine singular constructsecond person masculine plural

וּגְדֵרֹ֖תū·ḡə·ḏê·rōṯand foldsH1448

√ gᵉdêrâh — enclosure (especially for flocks)Conjunctive wawNounfeminine plural

לְצֹנַאֲכֶ֑םlə·ṣō·na·’ă·ḵemfor your flocksH6792

√ tsônêʼ — a flockPreposition-lNounmasculine singular constructsecond person masculine plural

tsoneʾ (H6792) — "flock." The Verifier records this as a rare shared lexeme with Psalm 8:7, the only other verse where it occurs; a genuinely verbal (not merely thematic) link between this pastoral grant and the psalm of human dominion over flocks.

תַּעֲשֽׂוּ׃ta·‘ă·śūbut doH6213

√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationVerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine plural

וְהַיֹּצֵ֥אwə·hay·yō·ṣêwhat you have promisedH3318

√ yâtsâʼ — to go (causatively, bring) out, in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively, direct and proximConjunctive waw, ArticleVerbQalParticiplemasculine singular

hayyotseʾ mippikhem (yatsaʾ, H3318) — "that which proceeds from your mouth." Poole cross-references the vow-language of Numbers 30; Cambridge to Numbers 30:2. The mouth's word is law to the one who speaks it.

מִפִּיכֶ֖םmip·pî·ḵem. . .H6310

√ peh — the mouth (as the means of blowing), whether literal or figurative (particularly speech)Preposition-mNounmasculine singular constructsecond person masculine plural

Literal — word-for-word from the original

"Build for yourselves cities for your little ones and folds for your flocks, and what goes out of your mouth — do!"

Where the English smooths the original

וְהַיֹּצֵא מִפִּיכֶם (wehayyotseʾ mippikhem) "What you have promised" renders the vivid idiom hayyotseʾ mippikhem — "that which goes out of your mouth." The Cambridge Bible ties it to the vow-law of Numbers 30:2. A spoken pledge is treated as a binding utterance one must perform; words have weight.
בְּנוּ (benu) "Build" renders the imperative benu (H1129, banah) — Moses now commands what the tribes proposed in v. 16. The same "build" (rebuild/fortify) is granted back to them as a charge; their plan becomes their duty.
לְצֹנַאֲכֶם (letsonaʾakhem) "For your flocks" uses the rare noun tsoneʾ (H6792), "a flock" — a word found in only two verses of the whole Hebrew Bible. The Verifier ties this verse to Psalm 8:7 by this very lexeme; here it names the livestock the folds will shelter.

The Gadites and Reubenites said to Moses, “Your servants will do just as our lord commands.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê- ḡāḏ ū·ḇə·nê rə·’ū·ḇên way·yō·mer ’el- mō·šeh lê·mōr ‘ă·ḇā·ḏe·ḵā ya·‘ă·śū ka·’ă·šer ’ă·ḏō·nî mə·ṣaw·weh

Word by word13 · parsed

בְּנֵי־bə·nê-The GaditesH1121

גָד֙ḡāḏ. . .H1410

√ Gâd — Gad, a son of Jacob, including his tribe and its territoryNounpropermasculine singular

וּבְנֵ֣יū·ḇə·nêand ReubenitesH1121

רְאוּבֵ֔ןrə·’ū·ḇên. . .H7205

√ Rᵉʼûwbên — Reuben, a son of JacobNounpropermasculine singular

וַיֹּ֤אמֶרway·yō·mersaidH559

√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

wayyomer (singular) — "and he said." Keil reads the singular verb plus the singular "my lord" (v. 27) as proof of a single spokesman answering for both tribes — a small grammatical clue to the scene's choreography.

אֶל־’el-toH413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition

מֹשֶׁ֖הmō·šehMosesH4872

√ Môsheh — Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiverNounpropermasculine singular

לֵאמֹ֑רlê·mōr. . .H559

√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Preposition-lVerbQalInfinitive construct

עֲבָדֶ֣יךָ‘ă·ḇā·ḏe·ḵāYour servantsH5650

√ ʻebed — a servantNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine singular

ʿavadeikha (H5650, ʿeved) — "your servants." The self-designation of submission; the tribes now frame themselves as Moses' (and the LORD's) servants, the opposite of the self-willed petitioners of v. 5.

יַעֲשׂ֔וּya·‘ă·śūwill doH6213

√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationVerbQalImperfectthird person masculine plural

כַּאֲשֶׁ֥רka·’ă·šerjust asH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPreposition-kPronounrelative

אֲדֹנִ֖י’ă·ḏō·nîour lordH113

√ ʼâdôwn — sovereign, iNounmasculine singular constructfirst person common singular

מְצַוֶּֽה׃mə·ṣaw·wehcommandsH6680

√ tsâvâh — (intensively) to constitute, enjoinVerbPielParticiplemasculine singular

Our children, our wives, our livestock, and all our animals will remain here in the cities of Gilead.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ṭap·pê·nū nā·šê·nū miq·nê·nū wə·ḵāl bə·hem·tê·nū yih·yū- šām bə·‘ā·rê hag·gil·‘āḏ

Word by word9 · parsed

טַפֵּ֣נוּṭap·pê·nūOur childrenH2945

√ ṭaph — a family (mostly used collectively in the singular)Nounmasculine singular constructfirst person common plural

taph (H2945) — "little ones," here paired with nashim ("wives") and the herds; the comprehensive list answers Moses' fear by accounting for every dependent and possession left in the garrisoned cities.

נָשֵׁ֔ינוּnā·šê·nūour wivesH802

√ ʼishshâh — a womanNounfeminine plural constructfirst person common plural

מִקְנֵ֖נוּmiq·nê·nūour livestockH4735

√ miqneh — something bought, iNounmasculine singular constructfirst person common plural

וְכָל־wə·ḵāland allH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeConjunctive wawNounmasculine singular construct

בְּהֶמְתֵּ֑נוּbə·hem·tê·nūour animalsH929

√ bᵉhêmâh — properly, a dumb beastNounfeminine singular constructfirst person common plural

יִֽהְיוּ־yih·yū-will remainH1961

√ hâyâh — to exist, iVerbQalImperfectthird person masculine plural

שָׁ֖םšāmhereH8033

√ shâm — there (transferring to time) thenAdverb

בְּעָרֵ֥יbə·‘ā·rêin the citiesH5892

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

הַגִּלְעָֽד׃hag·gil·‘āḏof GileadH1568

√ Gilʻâd — Gilad, a region East of the JordanArticleNounproperfeminine singular

haggilʿad (H1568, Gilead) — used elastically for the eastern territory at large; the Verifier ties this widely-attested name across the trans-Jordan narratives (1 Chronicles 2:23; 1 Kings 4:13).

But your servants are equipped for war, and every man will cross over to the battle before the LORD, just as our lord says.”

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wa·‘ă·ḇā·ḏe·ḵā ḥă·lūṣ ṣā·ḇā kāl- ya·‘aḇ·rū lam·mil·ḥā·māh lip̄·nê Yah·weh ka·’ă·šer ’ă·ḏō·nî dō·ḇêr

Word by word11 · parsed

וַעֲבָדֶ֨יךָwa·‘ă·ḇā·ḏe·ḵāBut your servantsH5650

√ ʻebed — a servantConjunctive wawNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine singular

חֲל֥וּץḥă·lūṣare equippedH2502

√ châlats — to pull offVerbQalQalPassParticiplemasculine singular construct

chaluts (chalats, H2502) — "armed, equipped," the passive participle that recurs through vv. 17–32 as the badge of the faithful warrior; here joined to tsavaʾ ("host") for total mobilization.

צָבָ֛אṣā·ḇāfor warH6635

√ tsâbâʼ — a mass of persons (or figuratively, things), especially regNouncommon singular

כָּל־kāl-and every manH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct

יַֽעַבְר֜וּya·‘aḇ·rūwill cross overH5674

√ ʻâbar — to cross overVerbQalImperfectthird person masculine plural

לַמִּלְחָמָ֑הlam·mil·ḥā·māhto the battleH4421

√ milchâmâh — a battle (iPreposition-l, ArticleNounfeminine singular

לִפְנֵ֥יlip̄·nêbeforeH6440

√ pânîym — the face (as the part that turns)Preposition-lNouncommon plural construct

יְהוָ֖הYah·wehthe LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

lipnê YHWH — "before the LORD." Barnes: "immediately in front of the sacred tokens of the Lord's presence." Their uptake of the phrase signals real submission, not mere compliance.

כַּאֲשֶׁ֥רka·’ă·šerjust asH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPreposition-kPronounrelative

אֲדֹנִ֖י’ă·ḏō·nîour lordH113

√ ʼâdôwn — sovereign, iNounmasculine singular constructfirst person common singular

דֹּבֵֽר׃dō·ḇêrsaysH1696

√ dâbar — perhaps properly, to arrangeVerbQalParticiplemasculine singular

dover (davar, H1696) — "speaks," participle of continuing speech; the tribes bind themselves to Moses' word as a living command, not a one-time order.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

"but your servants will cross over, every man armed for the host, before the LORD to the war, just as my lord says."

Where the English smooths the original

חֲלוּץ צָבָא (chaluts tsavaʾ) "Equipped for war" renders chaluts tsavaʾ — "armed for the host/army" (chalats, H2502 + tsavaʾ, H6635). The participle chaluts ("armed one") is the legal status that earns the eastern land; tsavaʾ is the marshaled army. The tribes pledge full muster, not a token contingent.
לִפְנֵי יְהוָה (lipnê YHWH) "Before the LORD" — the tribes now adopt Moses' phrase. Gill: "instead of saying 'before the children of Israel', a phrase they first used, they say, 'before the Lord', as Moses had expressed it." Their language has been converted; they speak God's terms back to him.
דֹּבֵר (dover) "Says" renders the participle dover (H1696, davar), "is speaking" — Moses' word treated as ongoing authority. They will do as my lord "keeps speaking," binding themselves to his standing command.

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

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.

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Geneva Study BibleMarginal Notes1599

Moses gave charge that his promise made to the Reubenites, and other, would be performed after his death so that they would not break theirs.

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

Moses thereupon commanded Eleazar, Joshua, and the heads of the tribes of Israel, i.e., the persons entrusted in Numbers 34:17 . with the division of the land of Canaan

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Matthew HenryConcise Commentary on the Whole Bible1706

A spirit of selfishness, of seeking our own, not the things of Christ, when each one ought to assist others, is as dangerous as it is common.

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So Moses gave orders about them to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua son of Nun, and to the family leaders of the tribes of Israel.

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

mō·šeh way·ṣaw lā·hem ’êṯ ’el·‘ā·zār hak·kō·hên wə·’êṯ yə·hō·wō·šu·a‘ bin- nūn wə·’eṯ- ’ă·ḇō·wṯ rā·šê ham·maṭ·ṭō·wṯ liḇ·nê yiś·rā·’êl

Word by word16 · parsed

מֹשֶׁ֔הmō·šehSo MosesH4872

√ Môsheh — Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiverNounpropermasculine singular

וַיְצַ֤וway·ṣawgave ordersH6680

√ tsâvâh — (intensively) to constitute, enjoinConjunctive wawVerbPielConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

waytsaw (tsavah, H6680) — "and he commanded." Geneva: "Moses gave charge that his promise made to the Reubenites… would be performed after his death so that they would not break theirs." The charge outlasts the lawgiver.

לָהֶם֙lā·hemabout them

Prepositionthird person masculine plural

אֵ֚ת’êṯH853

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

אֶלְעָזָ֣ר’el·‘ā·zārto EleazarH499

√ ʼElʻâzâr — Elazar, the name of seven IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular

הַכֹּהֵ֔ןhak·kō·hênthe priestH3548

√ kôhên — literally one officiating, a priestArticleNounmasculine singular

וְאֵ֖תwə·’êṯH853

√ 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

יְהוֹשֻׁ֣עַyə·hō·wō·šu·a‘to JoshuaH3091

√ Yᵉhôwshûwaʻ — Jehoshua (iNounpropermasculine singular

yehoshuaʿ (H3091, Joshua) — the appointed successor; his presence here ties Numbers 32 forward to Joshua 1 and 22, where this agreement is honored and reckoned at the conquest's end.

בִּן־bin-sonH1121

נ֑וּןnūnof NunH5126

√ Nûwn — Nun or Non, the father of JoshuaNounpropermasculine 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

אֲב֥וֹת’ă·ḇō·wṯand to the familyH1

√ ʼâb — father, in a literal and immediate, or figurative and remote applicationNounmasculine plural construct

ʾavoth rashê (H1, H7218) — "fathers' heads," the clan-chiefs entrusted (with Eleazar and Joshua, cf. Numbers 34:17) to allocate the land; the agreement is lodged with the constitutional body, not Moses alone.

רָאשֵׁ֛יrā·šêleadersH7218

√ rôʼsh — the head (as most easily shaken), whether literal or figurative (in many applications, of place, time, rank, itcNounmasculine plural construct

הַמַּטּ֖וֹתham·maṭ·ṭō·wṯof the tribesH4294

√ maṭṭeh — a branch (as extending)ArticleNounmasculine plural

לִבְנֵ֥יliḇ·nêvvvH1121

יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃yiś·rā·’êlof IsraelH3478

√ Yisrâʼêl — Jisrael, a symbolical name of JacobNounpropermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And Moses commanded concerning them Eleazar the priest, and Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the sons of Israel.

Where the English smooths the original

וַיְצַו (waytsaw) "Gave orders" renders waytsaw (H6680, tsavah, Piel), "and he charged / enjoined." The same intensive verb used of God's commands; Moses turns the agreement into a binding charge laid on the successors who will outlive him. Gill: "he knew that he should die, and not see… the conditions of it performed."
יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בִּן־נוּן (yehoshuaʿ bin-nun) "Joshua son of Nun" is named as executor — the same Joshua exempted from the wilderness curse in v. 12. The man who "wholly followed the LORD" is entrusted to enforce the very crossing the eastern tribes once tried to avoid.

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

then ye shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession; which, no doubt, included that of Jazer too, since Jaazer, which is the same, is after mentioned as one of the cities built by the children of Gad, Numbers 32:35 .

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Jamieson, Fausset & BrownCommentary Critical and Explanatory1871

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.

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Geneva Study BibleMarginal Notes1599

If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben will pass with you over Jordan, every man armed to battle, before the LORD, and the land shall be subdued before you; then ye shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession:

source ↗

And Moses said to them, “If the Gadites and Reubenites cross the Jordan with you, with every man armed for battle before the LORD, and the land is subdued before you, then you are to give them the land of Gilead as a possession.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

mō·šeh way·yō·mer ’ă·lê·hem ’im- ḇə·nê- ḡāḏ ū·ḇə·nê- rə·’ū·ḇên ya·‘aḇ·rū hay·yar·dên ’it·tə·ḵem ’eṯ- kāl- ḥā·lūṣ lam·mil·ḥā·māh lip̄·nê Yah·weh hā·’ā·reṣ wə·niḵ·bə·šāh lip̄·nê·ḵem ū·nə·ṯat·tem lā·hem ’eṯ- ’e·reṣ hag·gil·‘āḏ la·’ă·ḥuz·zāh

Word by word26 · parsed

מֹשֶׁ֜הmō·šehAnd MosesH4872

√ Môsheh — Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiverNounpropermasculine singular

וַיֹּ֨אמֶרway·yō·mersaidH559

√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

אֲלֵהֶ֗ם’ă·lê·hemto themH413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPrepositionthird person masculine plural

אִם־’im-IfH518

√ ʼim — used very widely as demonstrative, lo!Conjunction

בְנֵי־ḇə·nê-the GaditesH1121

גָ֣דḡāḏ. . .H1410

√ Gâd — Gad, a son of Jacob, including his tribe and its territoryNounpropermasculine singular

וּבְנֵי־ū·ḇə·nê-and ReubenitesH1121

רְאוּבֵ֣ן׀rə·’ū·ḇên. . .H7205

√ Rᵉʼûwbên — Reuben, a son of JacobNounpropermasculine singular

יַעַבְר֣וּya·‘aḇ·rūcrossH5674

√ ʻâbar — to cross overVerbQalImperfectthird person masculine plural

yaʿavru (ʿavar, H5674) — "they cross over." The whole grant hinges on this verb; Moses states the positive case (cross and the land is yours) before the negative in v. 30.

הַיַּרְדֵּ֞ןhay·yar·dênthe JordanH3383

√ Yardên — Jarden, the principal river of PalestineArticleNounproperfeminine singular

אִ֠תְּכֶם’it·tə·ḵemwith youH854

√ ʼêth — properly, nearness (used only as a preposition or an adverb), nearPrepositionsecond person masculine plural

אֶֽת־’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

כָּל־kāl-with everyH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct

חָל֤וּץḥā·lūṣman armedH2502

√ châlats — to pull offVerbQalQalPassParticiplemasculine singular

לַמִּלְחָמָה֙lam·mil·ḥā·māhfor battleH4421

√ milchâmâh — a battle (iPreposition-l, ArticleNounfeminine singular

לִפְנֵ֣יlip̄·nêbeforeH6440

√ pânîym — the face (as the part that turns)Preposition-lNouncommon plural construct

יְהוָ֔הYah·wehthe LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

הָאָ֖רֶץhā·’ā·reṣand the landH776

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

וְנִכְבְּשָׁ֥הwə·niḵ·bə·šāhis subduedH3533

√ kâbash — to tread downConjunctive wawVerbNifalConjunctive perfectthird person feminine singular

wenikhbeshah (kavash, H3533) — "and it is subdued," the feminine verb agreeing with ʾerets (land); the land's subjection "before you" is the measurable proof the pledge was kept.

לִפְנֵיכֶ֑םlip̄·nê·ḵembefore youH6440

√ pânîym — the face (as the part that turns)Preposition-lNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine plural

וּנְתַתֶּ֥םū·nə·ṯat·temthen you are to giveH5414

√ nâthan — to give, used with greatest latitude of application (put, make, etcConjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine plural

לָהֶ֛םlā·hemthem

Prepositionthird person masculine plural

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

אֶ֥רֶץ’e·reṣthe landH776

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

הַגִּלְעָ֖דhag·gil·‘āḏof GileadH1568

√ Gilʻâd — Gilad, a region East of the JordanArticleNounproperfeminine singular

haggilʿad (H1568) — "Gilead"; Gill notes the grant "included that of Jazer too," since Jazer reappears as a Gadite-built city in v. 35. The named reward gathers the whole eastern territory.

לַאֲחֻזָּֽה׃la·’ă·ḥuz·zāhas a possessionH272

√ ʼăchuzzâh — something seized, iPreposition-lNounfeminine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And Moses said to them, "If the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben cross the Jordan with you, every man armed for the war before the LORD, and the land is subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession;"

Where the English smooths the original

וְנִכְבְּשָׁה (wenikhbeshah) "Is subdued" again renders kavash (H3533), the dominion-verb of Genesis 1:28 (cf. v. 22). The grant is contingent on the land being "trodden under" before the LORD — the conquest cast as the exercise of God's rightful rule.
לַאֲחֻזָּה (laʾachuzzah) "As a possession" closes the conditional with ʾachuzzah (H272) — the same held-possession the tribes asked for in v. 5. The reward is exactly what was requested, but now earned by the crossing they once sought to skip.

But if they do not arm themselves and go across with you, then they must accept their possession among you in the land of Canaan.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·’im- lō ḥă·lū·ṣîm ya·‘aḇ·rū ’it·tə·ḵem wə·nō·ḥă·zū ḇə·ṯō·ḵə·ḵɛm bə·’e·reṣ kə·nā·‘an

Word by word9 · parsed

וְאִם־wə·’im-But ifH518

√ ʼim — used very widely as demonstrative, lo!Conjunction

לֹ֧אlōthey do notH3808

√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absAdverbNegative particle

חֲלוּצִ֖יםḥă·lū·ṣîmarm themselvesH2502

√ châlats — to pull offVerbQalQalPassParticiplemasculine plural

יַֽעַבְר֛וּya·‘aḇ·rū[and] go acrossH5674

√ ʻâbar — to cross overVerbQalImperfectthird person masculine plural

אִתְּכֶ֑ם’it·tə·ḵemwith youH854

√ ʼêth — properly, nearness (used only as a preposition or an adverb), nearPrepositionsecond person masculine plural

וְנֹֽאחֲז֥וּwə·nō·ḥă·zūthen they must accept their possessionH270

√ ʼâchaz — to seize (often with the accessory idea of holding in possession)Conjunctive wawVerbNifalConjunctive perfectthird person common plural

wenoʾchazu (ʾachaz, H270) — "and they shall be held/settled." Keil reads the Nifal as passive — "to be made possessors" — the penalty clause that would force a defaulting tribe across the Jordan with the rest.

בְתֹכְכֶ֖םḇə·ṯō·ḵə·ḵɛmamong youH8432

√ tâvek — a bisection, iPreposition-bNounmasculine singular constructsecond person masculine plural

בְּאֶ֥רֶץbə·’e·reṣin the landH776

√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)Preposition-bNounfeminine singular construct

כְּנָֽעַן׃kə·nā·‘anof CanaanH3667

√ Kᵉnaʻan — Kenaan, a son a HamNounpropermasculine singular

kenaʿan (H3667, Canaan) — the western land; the threatened settlement there "among you" is both punishment and safeguard, binding the tribes into one body whatever they choose.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

"but if they do not cross over armed with you, then they shall be given a holding among you in the land of Canaan."

Where the English smooths the original

וְנֹאחֲזוּ (wenoʾchazu) "They must accept their possession" renders wenoʾchazu (H270, ʾachaz, Nifal), "they shall be given a holding / be settled." The passive stem makes it a penalty imposed, not a choice: break the pledge and you forfeit the east, compelled to take a lot in Canaan instead. The verb shares the root of ʾachuzzah ("possession").
בְּתֹכְכֶם (betokhekhem) "Among you" renders betokhekhem (H8432, tavek), "in your midst." The forfeiture is also a remedy against schism: a faithless eastern tribe would be absorbed into the western tribes, the nation kept one (cf. Keil, "to prevent a schism of the nation").

The Gadites and Reubenites replied, “As the LORD has spoken to your servants, so we will do.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ḇə·nê- ḡāḏ ū·ḇə·nê rə·’ū·ḇên lê·mōr ’êṯ way·ya·‘ă·nū ’ă·šer Yah·weh dib·ber ’el- ‘ă·ḇā·ḏe·ḵā kên na·‘ă·śeh

Word by word14 · parsed

בְנֵי־ḇə·nê-The GaditesH1121

גָ֛דḡāḏ. . .H1410

√ Gâd — Gad, a son of Jacob, including his tribe and its territoryNounpropermasculine singular

וּבְנֵ֥יū·ḇə·nêand ReubenitesH1121

רְאוּבֵ֖ןrə·’ū·ḇên. . .H7205

√ Rᵉʼûwbên — Reuben, a son of JacobNounpropermasculine singular

לֵאמֹ֑רlê·mōr. . .H559

√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Preposition-lVerbQalInfinitive construct

אֵת֩’êṯH853

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

וַיַּֽעֲנ֧וּway·ya·‘ă·nūrepliedH6030

√ ʻânâh — properly, to eye or (generally) to heed, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

wayyaʿanu (ʿanah, H6030) — "and they answered / responded." The verb of formal reply seals the agreement; Gill: "they agreed to what Moses said, and replied all of them as one man."

אֲשֶׁ֨ר’ă·šerAsH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

יְהוָ֛הYah·wehthe LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

דִּבֶּ֧רdib·berhas spokenH1696

√ dâbar — perhaps properly, to arrangeVerbPielPerfectthird person masculine singular

dibber (davar, H1696) — "has spoken." By naming the LORD as the speaker, the tribes confess that the binding word is divine, not merely Moses' policy — the deepest reversal of their starting posture.

אֶל־’el-toH413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition

עֲבָדֶ֖יךָ‘ă·ḇā·ḏe·ḵāyour servantsH5650

√ ʻebed — a servantNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine singular

כֵּ֥ןkênsoH3651

√ kên — properly, set uprightAdverb

נַעֲשֶֽׂה׃na·‘ă·śehwe will doH6213

√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationVerbQalImperfectfirst person common plural

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben answered, saying, "As the LORD has spoken to your servants, so we will do."

Where the English smooths the original

כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר יְהוָה (kaʾasher dibber YHWH) "As the LORD has spoken" attributes Moses' word directly to the LORD. Geneva: "This is attributed to the Lord, which his messenger speaks." The tribes have come full circle: what began as their own initiative (v. 1) they now receive as the LORD's command through Moses' mouth.
וַיַּעֲנוּ (wayyaʿanu) "Replied" renders wayyaʿanu (H6030, ʿanah), "and they answered." Gill notes the word "is in the singular number" in part, showing "they agreed… and replied all of them as one man" — the two tribes now speak in unison, their will joined to God's.

We will cross over into the land of Canaan armed before the LORD, that we may have our inheritance on this side of the Jordan.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

naḥ·nū na·‘ă·ḇōr ’e·reṣ kə·nā·‘an ḥă·lū·ṣîm lip̄·nê Yah·weh wə·’it·tā·nū na·ḥă·lā·ṯê·nū ’ă·ḥuz·zaṯ mê·‘ê·ḇer lay·yar·dên

Word by word12 · parsed

נַ֣חְנוּnaḥ·nūWeH5168

√ nachnûw — wePronounfirst person common plural

nachnu (H5168) — "we," a rare emphatic form (beside the usual ʾanachnu). Its abruptness underlines the tribes' personal commitment.

נַעֲבֹ֧רna·‘ă·ḇōrwill cross overH5674

√ ʻâbar — to cross overVerbQalImperfectfirst person common plural

naʿavor (ʿavar, H5674) — "we will cross." By taking up Moses' crossing-verb in the first person, the tribes complete their conversion from those who begged not to cross (v. 5) to those who vow to cross first.

אֶ֣רֶץ’e·reṣinto the landH776

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

כְּנָ֑עַןkə·nā·‘anof CanaanH3667

√ Kᵉnaʻan — Kenaan, a son a HamNounpropermasculine singular

חֲלוּצִ֛יםḥă·lū·ṣîmarmedH2502

√ châlats — to pull offVerbQalQalPassParticiplemasculine plural

לִפְנֵ֥יlip̄·nêbeforeH6440

√ pânîym — the face (as the part that turns)Preposition-lNouncommon plural construct

יְהוָ֖הYah·wehthe LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

וְאִתָּ֙נוּ֙wə·’it·tā·nūthatH854

√ ʼêth — properly, nearness (used only as a preposition or an adverb), nearConjunctive wawPrepositionfirst person common plural

נַחֲלָתֵ֔נוּna·ḥă·lā·ṯê·nūwe may have our inheritanceH5159

√ nachălâh — properly, something inherited, iNounfeminine singular constructfirst person common plural

nachalatênu (nachalah, H5159) — "our inheritance," located "across the Jordan" eastward; the same noun that framed their renunciation of the west in v. 19 now names what they will return to once the west is won.

אֲחֻזַּ֣ת’ă·ḥuz·zaṯ. . .H272

√ ʼăchuzzâh — something seized, iNounfeminine singular construct

מֵעֵ֖בֶרmê·‘ê·ḇeron this sideH5676

√ ʻêber — properly, a region acrossPreposition-mNounmasculine singular construct

לַיַּרְדֵּֽן׃lay·yar·dênof the JordanH3383

√ Yardên — Jarden, the principal river of PalestinePreposition-l, ArticleNounproperfeminine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

"We will cross over armed before the LORD into the land of Canaan, and with us shall be the possession of our inheritance across the Jordan."

Where the English smooths the original

נַחְנוּ (nachnu) "We" renders the rare emphatic pronoun nachnu (H5168) — an unusual shortened "we" that throws full weight on the subject: WE will cross. The tribes stake their own persons on the pledge.
נַעֲבֹר חֲלוּצִים (naʿavor chalutsim) "We will cross over armed" stacks both keywords — ʿavar (cross) and chalutsim (armed) — exactly as Moses required (vv. 20–21, 29). The tribes echo his very terms; their answer is a mirror of his condition, leaving no loophole.
אֲחֻזַּת נַחֲלָתֵנוּ (ʾachuzzat nachalatênu) "The possession of our inheritance" binds ʾachuzzah (held possession) to nachalah (inheritance) in one breath — the two land-words of the chapter fused. Their settled estate east of the Jordan is named as both grasp and gift.

The Voices✦ 4 public domain

Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

This is the first mention of the tribe of Manasseh. The application for a grant of the land on the eastern side of the Jordan appears to have been made only by the tribes of Reuben and Gad.

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Albert BarnesNotes on the Bible1834

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.

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

and unto the half tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph ) This clause, or perhaps the whole verse, is a later addition to P .

A source-critical claim that this clause is a later insertion; recorded as the Cambridge editors' fallible judgment, not a finding of this apparatus.

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

since the trans-Jordanic territory was to be occupied, Moses probably prevented a grave difficulty by recognizing their claim to the conquests they had made.

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So Moses gave to the Gadites, to the Reubenites, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan—the land including its cities and the territory surrounding them.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

mō·šeh way·yit·tên lā·hem liḇ·nê- ḡāḏ wə·liḇ·nê rə·’ū·ḇên wə·la·ḥă·ṣî šê·ḇeṭ mə·naš·šeh ḇen- yō·w·sêp̄ ’eṯ- mam·le·ḵeṯ sî·ḥōn me·leḵ hā·’ĕ·mō·rî wə·’eṯ- mam·le·ḵeṯ ‘ō·wḡ me·leḵ hab·bā·šān hā·’ā·reṣ lə·‘ā·re·hā biḡ·ḇu·lōṯ sā·ḇîḇ ‘ā·rê hā·’ā·reṣ

Word by word28 · parsed

מֹשֶׁ֡הmō·šehSo MosesH4872

√ Môsheh — Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiverNounpropermasculine singular

וַיִּתֵּ֣ןway·yit·têngaveH5414

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

לָהֶ֣ם׀lā·hemto

Prepositionthird person masculine plural

לִבְנֵי־liḇ·nê-the GaditesH1121

גָד֩ḡāḏ. . .H1410

√ Gâd — Gad, a son of Jacob, including his tribe and its territoryNounpropermasculine singular

וְלִבְנֵ֨יwə·liḇ·nêto the ReubenitesH1121

רְאוּבֵ֜ןrə·’ū·ḇên. . .H7205

√ Rᵉʼûwbên — Reuben, a son of JacobNounpropermasculine singular

וְלַחֲצִ֣י׀wə·la·ḥă·ṣîand to the half-tribeH2677

√ chêtsîy — the half or middleConjunctive waw, Preposition-l, ArticleNounmasculine singular construct

chatsi shevet menasheh (H2677, H7626) — "half the tribe of Manasseh." Barnes ties their claim to v. 39: "the families of Machir… as a reward for their valour and exploits." The Machirites earned by conquest what Reuben and Gad earned by pledge.

שֵׁ֣בֶט׀šê·ḇeṭ. . .H7626

√ shêbeṭ — a scion, iNounmasculine singular construct

מְנַשֶּׁ֣הmə·naš·šehof ManassehH4519

√ Mᵉnashsheh — Menashsheh, a grandson of Jacob, also the tribe descended from him, and its territoryNounpropermasculine singular

בֶן־ḇen-sonH1121

יוֹסֵ֗ףyō·w·sêp̄of JosephH3130

√ Yôwçêph — Joseph, the name of seven IsraelitesNounpropermasculine 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

מַמְלֶ֙כֶת֙mam·le·ḵeṯthe kingdomH4467

√ mamlâkâh — dominion, iNounfeminine singular construct

סִיחֹן֙sî·ḥōnof SihonH5511

√ Çîychôwn — Sichon, an Amoritish kingNounpropermasculine singular

sichon (H5511) and ʿog (H5747) — the two Amorite kings already defeated (Numbers 21). The Verifier ties Og and Bashan to Joshua 13:30, which records the same grant of Bashan to Manasseh — a confirmed verbal cross-reference.

מֶ֣לֶךְme·leḵkingH4428

√ melek — a kingNounmasculine singular construct

הָֽאֱמֹרִ֔יhā·’ĕ·mō·rîof the AmoritesH567

√ ʼĔmôrîy — an Emorite, one of the Canaanitish tribesArticleNounpropermasculine 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

מַמְלֶ֔כֶתmam·le·ḵeṯand the kingdomH4467

√ mamlâkâh — dominion, iNounfeminine singular construct

ע֖וֹג‘ō·wḡof OgH5747

√ ʻÔwg — Og, a king of BashanNounpropermasculine singular

מֶ֣לֶךְme·leḵkingH4428

√ melek — a kingNounmasculine singular construct

הַבָּשָׁ֑ןhab·bā·šānof BashanH1316

√ Bâshân — Bashan (often with the article), a region East of the JordanArticleNounproperfeminine singular

habbashan (H1316, Bashan) — Og's realm north of the Jabbok, a region famed for its cattle and oaks; its inclusion explains why the half-tribe of Manasseh shares the eastern allotment.

הָאָ֗רֶץhā·’ā·reṣthe landH776

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

לְעָרֶ֙יהָ֙lə·‘ā·re·hāincluding its citiesH5892

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

בִּגְבֻלֹ֔תbiḡ·ḇu·lōṯand the territoryH1367

√ gᵉbûwlâh — a boundary, regionPreposition-bNounfeminine plural construct

סָבִֽיב׃sā·ḇîḇsurroundingH5439

√ çâbîyb — (as noun) a circle, neighbour, or environsAdverb

עָרֵ֥י‘ā·rêthemH5892

√ 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

הָאָ֖רֶץhā·’ā·reṣ. . .H776

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

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And Moses gave to them — to the sons of Gad, and to the sons of Reuben, and to half the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph — the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan: the land with its cities in their borders, the cities of the land round about.

Where the English smooths the original

וְלַחֲצִי שֵׁבֶט מְנַשֶּׁה (welachatsi shevet menasheh) "And to the half-tribe of Manasseh" introduces a party never mentioned in the petition. Ellicott: "This is the first mention of the tribe of Manasseh." The Cambridge Bible suspects "this clause, or perhaps the whole verse, is a later addition." The grant suddenly widens beyond the two petitioning tribes.
מַמְלֶכֶת (mamlekhet) "The kingdom" renders mamlekhet (H4467), "dominion, royal realm." Two whole kingdoms — Sihon's and Og's — are handed over as Israel's possession; the language of conquest is the language of transferred sovereignty.

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Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

Built — Repaired and fortified. For they neither had need nor leisure as yet to do more, the old cities not being burned and ruined, as divers in Canaan were.

source ↗

Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

It was at Dibon that the Moabite stone was discovered by Mr. Klein in 1868.

source ↗

Albert BarnesNotes on the Bible1834

On Dibon, compare Numbers 21:19 . The Moabite stone was discovered here in 1868. This city, occupied on the first acquisition of the territory by the Gadites, and assigned by Joshua to the Reubenites, was eventually recaptured by the Moabites, in whose hands it remained.

source ↗

The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

they put these places in some habitable and defensible state of repair until they should return.

source ↗

And the Gadites built up Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ḇə·nê- ḡāḏ ’eṯ- way·yiḇ·nū dî·ḇōn wə·’eṯ- ‘ă·ṭā·rōṯ wə·’êṯ ‘ă·rō·‘êr

Word by word9 · parsed

בְנֵי־ḇə·nê-And the GaditesH1121

גָ֔דḡāḏ. . .H1410

√ Gâd — Gad, a son of Jacob, including his tribe and its territoryNounpropermasculine 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

וַיִּבְנ֣וּway·yiḇ·nūbuilt upH1129

√ bânâh — to build (literally and figuratively)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

wayyivnu (banah, H1129) — "and they built," i.e. rebuilt and fortified pre-existing Amorite towns. The whole list (vv. 34–38) is a record of refortification ahead of the western campaign, not new foundation.

דִּיבֹ֖ןdî·ḇōnDibonH1769

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

divon (H1769, Dibon) — later "Dibon-gad"; Barnes notes "The Moabite stone was discovered here in 1868," a monument on which Moab's king Mesha later boasts of retaking the town.

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

עֲטָרֹ֑ת‘ă·ṭā·rōṯAtarothH5852

√ ʻĂṭârôwth — Ataroth, the name (thus simply) of two places in PalestineNounproperfeminine singular

וְאֵ֖תwə·’êṯH853

√ 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

עֲרֹעֵֽר׃‘ă·rō·‘êrAroerH6177

√ ʻĂrôwʻêr — Aroer, the name of three places in or near PalestineNounproperfeminine singular

ʿaroʿêr (H6177, Aroer) — the city "by the brink of Arnon" (Pulpit Commentary), marking the southern edge of the Gadite settlement on the Arnon gorge.

Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·’eṯ- ‘aṭ·rōṯ šō·w·p̄ān wə·’eṯ- ya‘·zêr wə·yā·ḡə·bo·hāh

Word by word6 · parsed

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

עַטְרֹ֥ת‘aṭ·rōṯvvvH5855

√ ʻAṭrôwth Shôwphân — Atroth-Shophan, a place in Palestine

ʿatroth shophan (H5855) — a two-word place-name; its exact site is unknown (Pulpit Commentary). The careful distinction from Ataroth (v. 34) shows the list's precision about adjacent, similarly-named towns.

שׁוֹפָ֛ןšō·w·p̄ānAtroth-shophanH5855

√ ʻAṭrôwth Shôwphân — Atroth-Shophan, a place in PalestineNounproperfeminine 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

יַעְזֵ֖רya‘·zêrJazerH3270

√ Yaʻăzêyr — Jaazer or Jazer, a place East of the JordanNounproperfeminine singular

yaʿzêr (H3270, Jazer) — the town of v. 1 and v. 3, now built up by Gad; its recurrence confirms Gill's note that the Gilead grant "included that of Jazer too."

וְיָגְבֳּהָֽה׃wə·yā·ḡə·bo·hāhJogbehahH3011

√ Yogbᵉhâh — Jogbehah, a place East of the JordanConjunctive wawNounproperfeminine singular

yogbehah (H3011, Jogbehah) — "now perhaps Jebeiha" (Pulpit Commentary), and the Verifier's link to Judges 8:11 places it on the line of Gideon's eastward pursuit.

Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran as fortified cities, and they built folds for their flocks.

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·’eṯ- bêṯ nim·rāh wə·’eṯ- bêṯ hā·rān miḇ·ṣār ‘ā·rê wə·ḡiḏ·rōṯ ṣōn

Word by word10 · parsed

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

בֵּ֥יתbêṯvvvH1039

√ Bêyth Nimrâh — Beth-Nimrah, a place east of the JordanPreposition

נִמְרָ֖הnim·rāhBeth-nimrahH1039

√ Bêyth Nimrâh — Beth-Nimrah, a place east of the JordanNounproperfeminine 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

בֵּ֣יתbêṯvvvH1028

√ Bêyth hâ-Rân — Beth-ha-Ram, a place East of the JordanPreposition

הָרָ֑ןhā·rānand Beth-haranH1028

√ Bêyth hâ-Rân — Beth-ha-Ram, a place East of the JordanNounproperfeminine singular

מִבְצָ֖רmiḇ·ṣāras fortifiedH4013

√ mibtsâr — a fortification, castle, or fortified cityNounmasculine singular

mivtsar (H4013) — "fortification"; the same defensive term the tribes used in their vow (v. 17), now realized. Faith kept its word in masonry.

עָרֵ֥י‘ā·rêcitiesH5892

√ 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

וְגִדְרֹ֥תwə·ḡiḏ·rōṯand they built foldsH1448

√ gᵉdêrâh — enclosure (especially for flocks)Conjunctive wawNounfeminine plural construct

gidroth (H1448, gederah) — "folds, enclosures for flocks," rebuilt for the livestock left behind; the two provisions, cities and folds, answer the two charges of v. 24 in order.

צֹֽאן׃ṣōnfor their flocksH6629

√ tsôʼn — a collective name for a flock (of sheep or goats)Nouncommon singular

The Reubenites built up Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ū·ḇə·nê rə·’ū·ḇên bā·nū ’eṯ- ḥeš·bō·wn wə·’eṯ- ’el·‘ā·lê wə·’êṯ qir·yā·ṯā·yim

Word by word9 · parsed

וּבְנֵ֤יū·ḇə·nêThe ReubenitesH1121

רְאוּבֵן֙rə·’ū·ḇên. . .H7205

√ Rᵉʼûwbên — Reuben, a son of JacobNounpropermasculine singular

בָּנ֔וּbā·nūbuilt upH1129

√ bânâh — to build (literally and figuratively)VerbQalPerfectthird person common plural

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

חֶשְׁבּ֖וֹןḥeš·bō·wnHeshbonH2809

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

cheshbon (H2809, Heshbon) — Sihon's capital; the Verifier ties this name across the trans-Jordan corpus (Joshua 13:27, Isaiah 15:4). Barnes notes the Reubenite towns "clustered round the old Amorite Capital."

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

אֶלְעָלֵ֑א’el·‘ā·lêElealehH500

√ ʼElʻâlêʼ — Elale or Elaleh, a place east of the JordanNounproperfeminine singular

וְאֵ֖תwə·’êṯH853

√ 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

קִרְיָתָֽיִם׃qir·yā·ṯā·yimKiriathaimH7156

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

qiryathayim (H7156, Kiriathaim) — a rare dual-form place-name (7 verses); the Verifier links it to Joshua 13:19 and Ezekiel 25:9, where Moab's later reclaiming of these towns is in view.

The Voices✦ 4 public domain

Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

But as the Israelites were forbidden to mention the names of other gods, and as these places, it seems had their names from the false gods worshipped in them, (which was unquestionably the case with Nebo and Baal-meon,) the Israelites might judge it proper to change the names of these places, in order to abolish all footsteps of idolatry.

source ↗

Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685

because the names of other gods (which Nebo and Baal-meon unquestionably were) were not to be mentioned , Exodus 23:13 , especially at the first settling of the Israelites there, that the very remembrance of the idols might be blotted out

source ↗

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

Both Nebo and Baal suggested pagan worship, and the latter was frequently altered, e.g. Ish-bosheth, Mephi-bosheth, El-yada, for Ish-baal, Merib-baal, Baal-yada.

source ↗

John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

the children of Reuben, not liking to retain such idolatrous names, gave them others, but what they were it is not said; and certain it is, that when these places came into the hands of the Moabites, their ancient names were restored to them, as appears from Isaiah 15:2 .

source ↗

as well as Nebo and Baal-meon (whose names were changed), and Sibmah. And they renamed the cities they rebuilt.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·’eṯ- nə·ḇōw wə·’eṯ- ba·‘al mə·‘ō·wn šêm wə·’eṯ- mū·sab·bōṯ śiḇ·māh way·yiq·rə·’ū ḇə·šê·mōṯ ’eṯ- šə·mō·wṯ he·‘ā·rîm ’ă·šer bā·nū

Word by word16 · parsed

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

נְב֞וֹnə·ḇōwas well as NeboH5015

√ Nᵉbôw — Nebo, the name of a Babylonian deity, also of a mountain in Moab, and of a place in PalestineNounproperfeminine singular

nevo (H5015, Nebo) — a Babylonian god's name borne by a Moabite town and mountain; its presence on Israel's map is exactly what the renaming sought to erase.

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

בַּ֧עַלba·‘alvvvH1186

√ Baʻal Mᵉʻôwn — Baal-Meon, a place East of the JordanPreposition

מְע֛וֹןmə·‘ō·wnand Baal-meonH1186

√ Baʻal Mᵉʻôwn — Baal-Meon, a place East of the JordanNounproperfeminine singular

שֵׁ֖םšêm(whose namesH8034

√ shêm — an appellation, as amark or memorial of individualityNounmasculine 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

מֽוּסַבֹּ֥תmū·sab·bōṯwere changedH5437

√ çâbab — to revolve, surround, or borderVerbHofalParticiplefeminine plural

musabbot (Hofal participle of savav, H5437) — "turned about, changed." The Cambridge Bible calls the parenthesis "strange" and suggests the Baal-names "were frequently altered, e.g. Ish-bosheth… for Ish-baal" — the scribal habit of defacing idol-names.

שִׂבְמָ֑הśiḇ·māhand SibmahH7643

√ Sᵉbâm — Sebam or Sibmah, a place in MoabNounproperfeminine singular

sivmah (H7643, Sibmah) — the Sebam of v. 3; the Verifier ties this rare name (6 verses) to the prophets' vine-laments (Isaiah 16:8–9, Jeremiah 48:32), where Moab's Sibmah is mourned.

וַיִּקְרְא֣וּway·yiq·rə·’ūAnd they renamedH7121

√ qârâʼ — to call out to (iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

בְשֵׁמֹ֔תḇə·šê·mōṯ. . .H8034

√ shêm — an appellation, as amark or memorial of individualityPreposition-bNounmasculine plural

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

שְׁמ֥וֹתšə·mō·wṯH8034

√ shêm — an appellation, as amark or memorial of individualityNounmasculine plural construct

הֶעָרִ֖יםhe·‘ā·rîmthe 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

אֲשֶׁ֥ר’ă·šerH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

בָּנֽוּ׃bā·nūthey rebuiltH1129

√ bânâh — to build (literally and figuratively)VerbQalPerfectthird person common plural

Literal — word-for-word from the original

and Nebo, and Baal-meon (their names changed), and Sibmah; and they called by names the names of the cities that they built.

Where the English smooths the original

מוּסַבֹּת שֵׁם (musabbot shem) "Whose names were changed" renders musabbot shem (H5437 + H8034), "turned-about of name." Benson explains the why: Nebo and Baal-meon honored false gods, "and as the Israelites were forbidden to mention the names of other gods… they might judge it proper to change the names… in order to abolish all footsteps of idolatry."
נְבוֹ … בַּעַל מְעוֹן (nevo … baʿal meʿon) "Nebo" and "Baal-meon" are both pagan theonyms — Nebo a Babylonian deity, Baal-meon "Baal's habitation." The renaming is a small iconoclasm: the conquered towns are stripped of their idol-names. Yet, as several note, "when these places came into the hands of the Moabites, their ancient names were restored."

The Voices✦ 4 public domain

Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

Better, Now the children of Machir the son of Manasseh had gone to Gilead, and taken it, &c. (See Note on Numbers 32:33 .)

source ↗

Albert BarnesNotes on the Bible1834

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.

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

It is mentioned here out of place, in the simple historical style of the Pentateuch, because the gift of Gilead to Machir grew out of its conquest by Machir.

source ↗

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

The individual action of clans (here and in Numbers 32:41 f.) is similar to that described in Jdg 1:3 ; Jdg 1:22 .

source ↗

The descendants of Machir son of Manasseh went to Gilead, captured it, and drove out the Amorites who were there.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê mā·ḵîr ben- mə·naš·šeh way·yê·lə·ḵū gil·‘ā·ḏāh way·yil·kə·ḏu·hā way·yō·w·reš ’eṯ- hā·’ĕ·mō·rî ’ă·šer- bāh

Word by word12 · parsed

בְּנֵ֨יbə·nêThe descendantsH1121

benê makhir (H4353) — the Machirites; their independent military action (and that of Jair, v. 41, and Nobah, v. 42) is, the Cambridge Bible notes, "similar to that described in Judges 1" — clans conquering on their own initiative.

מָכִ֧ירmā·ḵîrof MachirH4353

√ Mâkîyr — Makir, an IsraeliteNounpropermasculine singular

בֶּן־ben-sonH1121

מְנַשֶּׁ֛הmə·naš·šehof ManassehH4519

√ Mᵉnashsheh — Menashsheh, a grandson of Jacob, also the tribe descended from him, and its territoryNounpropermasculine singular

וַיֵּ֨לְכ֜וּway·yê·lə·ḵūwentH1980

√ hâlak — to walk (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

גִּלְעָ֖דָהgil·‘ā·ḏāhto GileadH1568

√ Gilʻâd — Gilad, a region East of the JordanNounproperfeminine singularthird person feminine singular

וַֽיִּלְכְּדֻ֑הָway·yil·kə·ḏu·hācaptured itH3920

√ lâkad — to catch (in a net, trap or pit)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine pluralthird person feminine singular

wayyilkeduha (lakad, H3920) — "and they captured it," the verb of seizing by force; the same verb returns for Jair (v. 41) and Nobah (v. 42), marking three clan conquests.

וַיּ֖וֹרֶשׁway·yō·w·rešand drove outH3423

√ yârash — to occupy (by driving out previous tenants, and possessing in their place)Conjunctive wawVerbHifilConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

wayyoresh (yarash, H3423) — "and he dispossessed." The conquest verb of v. 21 reused; the Machirites' valor is cast as participation in the LORD's eviction of the Amorites.

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

הָאֱמֹרִ֥יhā·’ĕ·mō·rîthe AmoritesH567

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

אֲשֶׁר־’ă·šer-who wereH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

בָּֽהּ׃bāhthere

Prepositionthird person feminine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And the sons of Machir son of Manasseh went to Gilead, and captured it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were in it.

Where the English smooths the original

וַיֵּלְכוּ (wayyelekhu) "Went" renders wayyelekhu (H1980, halakh). Ellicott and Barnes both read it as a pluperfect: "had gone." The verse looks back on a conquest already accomplished, inserted here "out of place… because the gift of Gilead to Machir grew out of its conquest by Machir" (Pulpit Commentary).
וַיּוֹרֶשׁ (wayyoresh) "Drove out" renders wayyoresh (H3423, yarash, Hifil) — the same dispossession-verb Moses used of the LORD driving out His enemies in v. 21. What God does for the nation, Machir does in miniature here: he dispossesses the Amorite to take the land.
בְּנֵי מָכִיר (benê makhir) "The descendants of Machir" — Barnes notes Machir himself "was long since dead," so "the children of Machir" means the Machirite clan, whose exploits "raised his family almost to the dignity of a tribe."

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685

Unto Machir, i.e. not to Machir himself, who doubtless was long since dead; see Genesis 1:23 ; but the family or posterity of Machir, which are called by their father’s name

source ↗

Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

It is observable, that these tribes, as they were placed before the other tribes, so they were displaced before them. They were carried captive by the king of Assyria, some years before the other tribes.

Benson reads the tribes' eastern priority as foreshadowing their priority in exile — a providential symmetry he proposes, his own fallible reading.

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

This expression does not necessarily look beyond the lifetime of Moses, although it would be more naturally taken as doing so.

source ↗

So Moses gave Gilead to the clan of Machir son of Manasseh, and they settled there.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

mō·šeh ’eṯ- way·yit·tên hag·gil·‘āḏ lə·mā·ḵîr ben- mə·naš·šeh way·yê·šeḇ bāh

Word by word9 · parsed

מֹשֶׁה֙mō·šehSo MosesH4872

√ Môsheh — Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiverNounpropermasculine 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

וַיִּתֵּ֤ןway·yit·têngaveH5414

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

הַגִּלְעָ֔דhag·gil·‘āḏGileadH1568

√ Gilʻâd — Gilad, a region East of the JordanArticleNounproperfeminine singular

לְמָכִ֖ירlə·mā·ḵîrto the clan of MachirH4353

√ Mâkîyr — Makir, an IsraelitePreposition-lNounpropermasculine singular

lemakhir (H4353) — "to Machir," i.e. the Machirite clan; Benson observes that these eastern tribes, "as they were placed before the other tribes, so they were displaced before them," being carried into Assyrian captivity first.

בֶּן־ben-sonH1121

מְנַשֶּׁ֑הmə·naš·šehof ManassehH4519

√ Mᵉnashsheh — Menashsheh, a grandson of Jacob, also the tribe descended from him, and its territoryNounpropermasculine singular

וַיֵּ֖שֶׁבway·yê·šeḇand they settledH3427

√ yâshab — properly, to sit down (specifically as judgeConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

wayyêshev (yashav, H3427) — "and he dwelt." The Pulpit Commentary notes this "does not necessarily look beyond the lifetime of Moses"; the same verb of dwelling that condemned idle settling (v. 6) now crowns earned settlement.

בָּֽהּ׃bāhthere

Prepositionthird person feminine singular

The Voices✦ 4 public domain

Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

Jair was the son of Segub, the son of Hezron, who married the daughter of Machir, the son of Manasseh ( 1Chronicles 2:21-22 ). Jair was, therefore, the great-grandson of Manasseh, and was one of those Israelites who were reckoned as belonging to their maternal tribe.

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Albert BarnesNotes on the Bible1834

The exploits of Jair - he was the conqueror of Argob Deuteronomy 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

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

This Manassite clan that took Gilead and gave its name to the district Havvôth-Jair (‘the towns of Jair,’ marg. or better ‘the tent villages of J .’) is mentioned in Jdg 10:3-4 as Jair the Gileadite, and is represented as one of the judges of Israel.

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

The word chavvoth only occurs in this connection, and is supposed by some to be the plural of

source ↗

Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, went and captured their villages and called them Havvoth-jair.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·yā·’îr ben- mə·naš·šeh hā·laḵ way·yil·kōḏ ’eṯ- ḥaw·wō·ṯê·hem way·yiq·rā ’eṯ·hen ḥaw·wōṯ yā·’îr

Word by word11 · parsed

וְיָאִ֤ירwə·yā·’îrJairH2971

√ Yâʼîyr — Jair, the name of four IsraelitesConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular

yaʾir (H2971, Jair) — "a descendant of Manasseh" by the female line (1 Chronicles 2:21–22). The Cambridge Bible links this Manassite clan to the judge "Jair the Gileadite" of Judges 10:3–4.

בֶּן־ben-a descendantH1121

מְנַשֶּׁה֙mə·naš·šehof ManassehH4519

√ Mᵉnashsheh — Menashsheh, a grandson of Jacob, also the tribe descended from him, and its territoryNounpropermasculine singular

הָלַ֔ךְhā·laḵwentH1980

√ hâlak — to walk (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)VerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular

וַיִּלְכֹּ֖דway·yil·kōḏand capturedH3920

√ lâkad — to catch (in a net, trap or pit)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine 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

חַוֺּתֵיהֶ֑םḥaw·wō·ṯê·hemtheir villagesH2333

√ chavvâh — by implication, an encampment or villageNounfeminine plural constructthird person masculine plural

chavvoteihem (H2333, chavvah) — "their hamlets," tent-encampments rather than fortified cities — a detail the Cambridge Bible weighs against the "fenced cities" of Deuteronomy 3:5.

וַיִּקְרָ֥אway·yiq·rāand calledH7121

√ qârâʼ — to call out to (iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

אֶתְהֶ֖ן’eṯ·henH853

√ 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 feminine plural

חַוֺּ֥תḥaw·wōṯthemH2334

√ Chavvôwth Yâʻîyr — hamlets of Jair, a region of PalestineNounfeminine plural construct

chavvoth yaʾir (H2334) — "the tent-villages of Jair." The Verifier records the shared rare lexeme with 1 Chronicles 2:23, where Jair's possession of these towns is restated; the place-name itself is the verbal thread.

יָאִֽיר׃yā·’îrHavvoth-jairH2334

√ Chavvôwth Yâʻîyr — hamlets of Jair, a region of PalestineNounpropermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And Jair son of Manasseh went and captured their tent-villages, and called them Havvoth-jair.

Where the English smooths the original

חַוֺּת יָאִיר (chavvoth yaʾir) "Havvoth-jair" (H2334) means "the tent-villages of Jair." The Verifier ties this name to 1 Chronicles 2:23 by the rare lexeme — a confirmed verbal link. The name a conqueror stamps on his conquest outlives the conquest itself.
חַוֺּתֵיהֶם (chavvoteihem) "Their villages" renders chavvoth (H2333), "encampments / hamlets" — properly clusters of tents, not walled towns. The Pulpit Commentary wrestles with whether the root means "life"; the plainer sense is nomadic settlements, fittingly renamed after their captor.
בֶּן־מְנַשֶּׁה (ben-menasheh) "A descendant of Manasseh" — Ellicott traces the genealogy: "Jair was the son of Segub, the son of Hezron, who married the daughter of Machir, the son of Manasseh," and so was "one of those Israelites who were reckoned as belonging to their maternal tribe." Israelite identity here passes through the mother's line.

The Voices✦ 4 public domain

The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

The modern Kenawat, on the western slope of the Jebel Hauran, the most easterly point ever occupied by the Israelites. It is apparently the Nobah mentioned in Judges 8:11 , but it has reverted (like so many others) to its old name.

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Albert BarnesNotes on the Bible1834

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.

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

The clan Nobah appears to have given its name to a place, which is mentioned with Jogbehah (see Numbers 32:35 ) in Jdg 8:11 .

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Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685

Nobah, who though not elsewhere named, was doubtless an eminent person of the tribe of Manasseh.

source ↗

And Nobah went and captured Kenath and its villages and called it Nobah, after his own name.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·nō·ḇaḥ hā·laḵ way·yil·kōḏ ’eṯ- qə·nāṯ wə·’eṯ- bə·nō·ṯe·hā way·yiq·rā lāh nō·ḇaḥ biš·mōw

Word by word11 · parsed

וְנֹ֣בַחwə·nō·ḇaḥAnd NobahH5025

√ Nôbach — Nobach, the name of an Israelite, and of a place East of the JordanConjunctive wawNounproperfeminine singular

novach (H5025, Nobah) — a Manassite chieftain otherwise unnamed; the Verifier links this rare name (2 verses) to Judges 8:11, where "Nobah" reappears as a place beside Jogbehah (v. 35) — a confirmed verbal cross-reference.

הָלַ֔ךְhā·laḵwentH1980

√ hâlak — to walk (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)VerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular

וַיִּלְכֹּ֥דway·yil·kōḏand capturedH3920

√ lâkad — to catch (in a net, trap or pit)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine 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

קְנָ֖תqə·nāṯKenathH7079

√ Qᵉnâth — Kenath, a place East of the JordanNounproperfeminine singular

qenath (H7079, Kenath) — modern Kanawat on the slope of Jebel Hauran; its reversion to the old name illustrates Israel's tenuous grip on the far northeast.

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

בְּנֹתֶ֑יהָbə·nō·ṯe·hāand its villagesH1323

√ bath — a daughter (used in the same wide sense as other terms of relationship, literally and figuratively)Nounfeminine plural constructthird person feminine singular

וַיִּקְרָ֧אway·yiq·rāand calledH7121

√ qârâʼ — to call out to (iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

לָ֦הlāhit

Prepositionthird person feminine singular

נֹ֖בַחnō·ḇaḥNobahH5025

√ Nôbach — Nobach, the name of an Israelite, and of a place East of the JordanNounproperfeminine singular

בִּשְׁמֽוֹ׃פbiš·mōwafter his own nameH8034

√ shêm — an appellation, as amark or memorial of individualityPreposition-bNounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine singular

bishmo (shem, H8034) — "after his own name." The closing word of the chapter is a man's self-memorial in the land — set, by the unit's own arc, against the LORD whose name conquered it (v. 4).

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And Nobah went and captured Kenath and its villages, and called it Nobah, after his own name.

Where the English smooths the original

וַיִּקְרָא לָה נֹבַח בִּשְׁמוֹ (wayyiqra lah novach bishmo) "Called it Nobah, after his own name" renders bishmo, "in/by his name." The chapter that began with the LORD's name credited for victory (v. 4) ends with a man stamping his own name on the land — a quiet contrast the Hebrew leaves the reader to feel.
קְנָת (qenath) "Kenath" (H7079) is "the most easterly point ever occupied by the Israelites" (Pulpit Commentary). Yet, like Nebo and Baal-meon, the imposed name did not stick: Barnes notes "the old name has held its ground to this day" (modern Kanawat). The conqueror's name was the first to fade.

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 land seen — desire dressed as observation — 1–5

The chapter opens on a verb of seeing. The sons of Reuben and Gad "saw (wayyirʾu) the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, and behold (wehinneh) — the place, a place of livestock" (v. 1). The Hebrew frames the land through the tribes' own eager eyes. Matthew Henry names the two engines of the choice: "the lust of the eye, and the pride of life… they consulted their own private convenience more than the public good." Yet the apparatus must not over-prosecute. The same petition is, in Keil & Delitzsch, simply the request "to give them the conquered land of Gilead for a possession, as a land that was peculiarly adapted for flocks." When the tribes confess the land is one "which the LORD smote (hikkah) before the congregation" (v. 4), Joseph Benson hears an honest theology beneath the request: "whose inhabitants we, by God's peculiar aid, routed and destroyed." The danger is not that they value good pasture but that they say, in effect, laʾachuzzah — "give it to us as a possession" (v. 5) — while asking to be exempted from the one verb that defines covenant obedience here: ʿavar, to cross over.

ii. The fathers remembered — the spies' verb returns — 6–15

Moses' rebuke is built on a single repeated verb. "Why do you tenuʾun — turn away — the heart (lêv) of the sons of Israel?" (v. 7), and then of the fathers: "they wayyaniʾu — turned away — the heart of the sons of Israel" (v. 9). Charles Ellicott sharpens the word: it "means rather to 'alienate,' or 'avert.'" The present request is the spies' sin in a new dress. The chapter then becomes a furnace of wrath-imagery: the LORD's anger is wayyichar, "kindled" (v. 10); it burned against Israel (v. 13); and the sons now "add to the charon ʾaf, the burning of the anger" (v. 14). Cambridge catches the venom of Moses' coined slur tarbut: "In angry rebuke Moses uses a contemptuous term. The subst. is not found elsewhere in the O.T." The apparatus records, without endorsing, that several public-domain voices judge Moses' heat excessive: the Pulpit Commentary says "The strong language of Moses was not justified by the reality, although it was excused by the appearance, of the case," and even that he "was often disposed to speak unadvisedly with his lips." These are the commentators' own fallible verdicts, set beside the text, not above it.

iii. The pledge — crossing made the price of possession — 16–32

The scene turns on a verb of approach: "they wayyiggeshu — drew near — to him" (v. 16). Jamieson, Fausset & Brown reads the body language: "The suppliants had shrunk back, dreading… that their request would be refused. But, perceiving… they became emboldened to approach him." Their counter-proposal supplies the missing verb: "we will nêchalêts — arm ourselves — hastening before the sons of Israel" (v. 17). From here the keyword chalats ("to equip for war") and ʿavar ("to cross") chain through the bargain (vv. 20–32). Moses' great correction is a single substituted phrase: where the tribes said they would arm "before the children of Israel" (v. 17), he requires them to arm "lipnê YHWH — before the LORD" (v. 20). Keil & Delitzsch explains the theology: "the Israelites were the army of Jehovah, with Jehovah in the midst. Hence the ark of the covenant was taken into the war." By v. 27 the converted tribes speak Moses' phrase back to him; John Gill: "now, instead of saying, 'before the children of Israel', a phrase they first used, they say, 'before the Lord', as Moses had expressed it." The land becomes theirs laʾachuzzah only if it is first nikhbeshah — "subdued" (vv. 22, 29), the dominion-verb of Genesis 1:28. And the famous warning lands on a personified sin: "know your sin, that it will find you out" (v. 23); Cambridge traces it to "an ancient notion that sin, like a curse, has so to speak an individual existence… it will search and find him wherever he may hide himself."

iv. The land named — possession written in stone — 33–42

The grant is enacted (v. 33), and a new party appears unannounced — the half-tribe of Manasseh; Ellicott: "This is the first mention of the tribe of Manasseh." Albert Barnes explains: the Machirites earned their share "as a reward for their valour and exploits." The closing town-lists (vv. 34–42) are not city-founding but refortification: nearly every voice insists with Benson that "built" means "Repaired and fortified… the old cities not being burned and ruined." Two motifs crown the unit. First, the renaming of idol-towns: Nebo and Baal-meon's names are "changed" (musabbot shem, v. 38) because, as Poole notes, "the names of other gods… were not to be mentioned… that the very remembrance of the idols might be blotted out." Second — and the apparatus weighs this honestly — the imposed names do not last. Gill: "when these places came into the hands of the Moabites, their ancient names were restored." The chapter that began crediting the LORD's name for the conquest (v. 4) ends with men stamping their own names on the land — Havvoth-jair (v. 41), Kenath called Nobah "after his own name" (v. 42) — names that, Barnes observes, "fell ere long into disuse." The east is held by a tenure as provisional as its place-names.

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

Read under Sola Scriptura, Numbers 32 is a chapter about crossing. The tribes ask one thing: not to ʿavar the Jordan (v. 5). Moses grants their land but seizes their verb — the whole inheritance now hangs on whether every armed man will ʿavar "before the LORD" (vv. 21, 29). The genius of his answer is that he does not deny them the east; he denies them an east uncrossed. You may keep your pasture, but only on the far side of the river you tried to skip. This is the gospel logic of the chapter: rest is real, but it is granted on the other side of obedience, never instead of it. The men of Reuben and Gad must enter Canaan precisely so they can leave it; they fight for an inheritance they will not keep, that their brothers may keep theirs. Here is faith working through love (Galatians 5:6) in its plainest Old-Testament dress — to risk one's life in a war whose land-reward goes to someone else. And yet the chapter's last word is a sober one. The east the tribes chose by sight is the first territory Israel will lose; the names they carved washed off the map. Scripture lets the reader feel the difference between an inheritance seen with the eye (v. 1) and an inheritance sworn by the LORD (v. 11). What is grasped (ʾachuzzah) can be ungrasped; what God gives by oath endures. The tool's own fallible judgment: this chapter is not a condemnation of the eastern tribes — they kept their word, and Joshua 22 vindicates them — but a quiet warning that proximity to the promise is not the same as the promise, and that a possession chosen "before the children of Israel" must still be held "before the LORD."

You may keep your pasture — but only on the far side of the river you tried to skip. (a reading, not a verse)

⚙

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 towns of Reuben become the dirge of Moab verbal / quotation — confirmed

The very place-names the Reubenites build in vv. 3 and 37–38 — Heshbon, Elealeh, Sibmah (Sebam), Jazer, Nebo — reappear centuries later as the towns of Moab, wept over by the prophets. The Verifier records rare shared lexemes between Numbers 32:3 and Isaiah 16:9: ʼElʻâlêʼ (Elealeh, in only 5 verses), Sᵉbâm (Sibmah, in 6), Yaʻăzêyr (Jazer, in 12), Cheshbôwn (Heshbon, in 37). These are not common words; their convergence is a genuine verbal link, not coincidence. The towns Israel renamed to erase idolatry (v. 38) Moab reclaimed and the prophets mourned — "I will weep… for thee, O vine of Sibmah" (Isaiah 16:9). The thread is a meditation on the impermanence the chapter itself confesses (Gill: "when these places came into the hands of the Moabites, their ancient names were restored").

Numbers 32:3 · Isaiah 16:8 · Isaiah 16:9 · Jeremiah 48:32 · Isaiah 15:4

basis: rare shared lexemes computed by the Verifier between Numbers 32:3 and Isaiah 16:9: H500 ʼElʻâlêʼ (5 vv), H7643 Sᵉbâm (6 vv), H3270 Yaʻăzêyr (12 vv), H2809 Cheshbôwn (37 vv) — low-frequency place-names whose co-occurrence is a verbal, not merely thematic, tie

Nobah and Jogbehah on Gideon's pursuit road verbal / quotation — confirmed

The Manassite conqueror Nobah who renames Kenath (v. 42) and the Gadite town Jogbehah (v. 35) reappear together in Judges 8:11 as landmarks on Gideon's route against the Midianite kings. The Verifier finds Nôbach (H5025) shared by Numbers 32:42 and Judges 8:11 — a name occurring in only 2 verses of the whole Hebrew Bible — and the candidate list pairs it with Yogbᵉhâh (H3011, in 2 vv). The settlement these eastern clans carved out in Moses' day becomes the geography of a later deliverance; the Cambridge Bible notes Judges 8:11 "can be most easily explained if Kenath and Jogbehah lay near one another."

Numbers 32:42 · Numbers 32:35 · Judges 8:11

basis: Verifier-computed shared lexeme H5025 Nôbach (in only 2 vv) between Numbers 32:42 and Judges 8:11; the candidate set also shares H3011 Yogbᵉhâh (Jogbehah, 2 vv) — both rare place-names

Havvoth-jair, the towns that kept a conqueror's name verbal / quotation — confirmed

Jair's stamping of his name on the captured tent-villages — Havvoth-jair (v. 41) — is restated in 1 Chronicles 2:23, where the chronicler records the same towns and the same Manassite-by-marriage lineage. The Verifier confirms the shared lexeme Chavvôwth Yâʻîyr (H2334, in 4 vv) across Numbers 32:41 and 1 Chronicles 2:23. Unlike Nobah's Kenath, which reverted to its old name (v. 42), Jair's name held — a small counterpoint within the chapter's larger theme of impermanent tenure. Ellicott and the Pulpit Commentary both work the genealogy that made this great-grandson of Manasseh one of "those Israelites who were reckoned as belonging to their maternal tribe."

Numbers 32:41 · 1 Chronicles 2:23 · Judges 10:4

basis: Verifier-computed shared lexeme H2334 Chavvôwth Yâʻîyr (Havvoth-jair, in 4 vv) between Numbers 32:41 and 1 Chronicles 2:23 — a rare compound place-name carrying the verbal link

The kingdoms of Sihon and Og, allotted again in Joshua structural / thematic — confirmed

The grant of Sihon's and Og's kingdoms to Gad, Reuben, and half-Manasseh (v. 33) is enacted again at the conquest's close in Joshua 13:30, where "all the kingdom of Og king of Bashan" is given to the children of Machir. The Verifier confirms shared lexemes ʻÔwg (H5747, Og, in 22 vv) and Bâshân (H1316, in 53 vv) between Numbers 32:33 and Joshua 13:30. The tie is verbal in its proper-noun core but its broader force is structural: Numbers 32 promises, Joshua 13 fulfils, framing the eastern settlement as a covenant kept across two books — exactly the trans-book link the Cambridge and Pulpit commentaries trace.

Numbers 32:33 · Joshua 13:30 · Joshua 13:27 · 1 Kings 4:13

basis: Verifier-computed shared proper-noun lexemes H5747 ʻÔwg (22 vv) and H1316 Bâshân (53 vv) between Numbers 32:33 and Joshua 13:30; tiered structural because the link is a promise-to-fulfilment frame across the two books, not a quotation claim

A flock for the flocks — the rare word of Psalm 8 verbal / quotation — confirmed

Moses' charge "build… folds for your flocks" (v. 24) uses tsôneʼ (H6792), a word for "flock" that occurs in only two verses of the entire Hebrew Bible. The other is Psalm 8:7 — "all tsôneʼ and oxen," the catalogue of creatures placed under the dominion of man, who is crowned with glory and honor (Psalm 8:5–8). The Verifier confirms the link by this single rare lexeme. The connection is interpretive, offered humbly: the pastoral grant of Numbers 32, where men build folds for their flocks east of the Jordan, quietly participates in the creation-mandate of Psalm 8 — humanity exercising stewardship over the flock — even as the chapter's dominion-verb kavash ("subdue," vv. 22, 29) reaches back to Genesis 1:28. We mark this as a real verbal tie but a modest thematic claim.

Numbers 32:24 · Psalm 8:7

basis: Verifier-computed shared lexeme H6792 tsônêʼ (flock) between Numbers 32:24 and Psalm 8:7 — the word occurs in only 2 verses of the Hebrew Bible, making this an exceptionally rare verbal link; the theological application to the dominion-mandate is offered as interpretation, not asserted as quotation

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The vanguard who crosses for his brothers' inheritance widely-held

The men of Reuben and Gad pledge to chalats — arm themselves — and go before their brothers, crossing the Jordan first and refusing to return to their own rest "until every Israelite has taken possession of his inheritance" (v. 18). They win a war whose land-reward goes to others, securing their brothers' inheritance before they enjoy their own. The figure is ancient and widely held in the Christian tradition: the Captain of salvation who goes before his people (Hebrews 2:10), the forerunner who has "entered" on our behalf (Hebrews 6:20), who does not enter into his rest apart from securing the inheritance of his brothers (Hebrews 4:8–10; cf. Joshua/Yehoshua, named in v. 28 as the one who leads the true crossing). Matthew Henry's framing of the chapter — that to "sit down unconcerned about the… concerns of their brethren" contradicts "the love of Christ" — reads the eastern tribes' eventual fidelity as a dim image of self-giving love. We mark this widely-held while noting the figural application is ours to test against the text.

Numbers 32:17 · Numbers 32:18 · Numbers 32:27 · Hebrews 2:10 · Hebrews 6:20

Joshua, named as guarantor of the crossing ancient

Twice the chapter sets Joshua son of Nun at its hinge: as the man who "wholly followed the LORD" and so was spared the wilderness oath (v. 12), and as the executor charged to enforce the agreement after Moses' death (v. 28). His name, Yehoshua, means "the LORD is salvation" — the Hebrew form of the name Jesus (cf. Hebrews 4:8, where the Greek Iēsous renders both). The typology is ancient: the Joshua who leads Israel across the Jordan into the inheritance, and who guarantees that the eastern tribes' pledge is honored, prefigures the greater Joshua who leads his people into the rest that "Joshua did not give them" (Hebrews 4:8). In Numbers 32 he is the trustee of a promise made conditional on crossing — fitting for the one through whom the true crossing into rest is finally accomplished. The application is figural and offered for testing; the lexical bridge between the two names is, however, beyond dispute.

Numbers 32:12 · Numbers 32:28 · Hebrews 4:8

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)
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory (1871)
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 is forty-two verses of Hebrew narrative with no text-only verses; every verse carries a full parse, so literal renderings are built from the original Hebrew word-order up, not from the BSB. A few honesty notes specific to Numbers 32:

On the commentators' criticism of Moses. Several public-domain voices — chiefly the Pulpit Commentary — openly fault Moses for speaking "unadvisedly" and for "haste and inaccuracy" (notes on vv. 9, 11, 14). These are the commentators' own fallible judgments, recorded verbatim and so labeled. The machine layer does not endorse them; it reports them as part of the honest spread of the human tradition.

On source-critical claims. The Cambridge Bible and the Pulpit Commentary repeatedly raise documentary-hypothesis arguments — that the half-Manasseh clause (v. 33) or the awkward double mêʿêver (v. 19) betrays "a later addition" or "later date." These are recorded as the editors' conjectures, not as conclusions of this apparatus, which neither asserts nor refutes them.

On the cross-references. Every thread badge cites a basis computed by the Verifier from shared Strong's lexemes. The strongest (Isaiah 16, Judges 8, 1 Chronicles 2) rest on genuinely rare place-names; the Psalm 8 link rests on tsôneʼ, a word found in only two verses of the whole Hebrew Bible. The Sihon/Og link to Joshua 13 is tiered structural, not verbal, because its force is a promise-to-fulfilment frame, and its shared terms include high-frequency words (melek, ʿîr). The Christ readings are figural and cross-Testament; they make no shared-Strong's claim and are marked by attestation (ancient / widely-held) for the reader to test under Sola Scriptura.

On the BSB "built." The recurring verb banah in vv. 34–38 is rendered "built up" by the BSB; the near-unanimous witness of the human commentary (Benson, Ellicott, Poole, JFB, Gill) is that it means "repaired / fortified" pre-existing Amorite towns. The divergence notes flag this so the reader is not misled into imagining new foundations laid in the two months before the crossing.

✦ = 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)