44 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For we will not inherit with them on yonder side Jordan, or forward,.... This they said, not as being determined whether Moses and the princes were willing or not to stay where they were, and not pass over Jordan to inherit any part there, and much less as despising the good land, but as giving up all pretensions to it, should they be settled...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Moses said unto them,.... Being better disposed towards them, and more satisfied with the reasonableness of their request, it being explained unto him: if ye will do this thing; which they had promised: if ye will go armed before the Lord to war; they had said they would go ready armed before the children of Israel, but Moses expresses it...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And will go all of you armed over Jordan before the Lord,.... Moses tries them thoroughly, and is very express in his words, requiring them not only to go armed, or march from the place where they were, towards the land of Canaan, but to go over Jordan, and not some of them only, but all, and that before the Lord; though indeed, when the tribes...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the land be subdued before the Lord,.... For the inhabitants fleeing before his people, and being conquered by them, might be said to be subdued before the Lord, this being done in his presence, by his power, and for his people: then afterward ye shall return: to this side of Jordan, the land of Jazer and Gilead, to their cities, and families...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But if ye will not do so,.... As they promised they would, and Moses insisted on it that they should: behold, ye have sinned against the Lord making such a request, and not fulfilling the conditions on which it was granted: and be sure your sin will find you out; fly in their faces, accuse them in their consciences, charge and load them with...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Build ye cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep,.... For their safety and security, as they proposed to do: and do that which proceedeth out of your mouth; all that they had promised.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben spake unto Moses, saying,.... In answer to his speech: thy servants will do as my lord commandeth; both with respect to their march before the Lord to battle, and with respect to their provision for their children and flocks.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our cattle,.... Their families, and their substance: shall be there in the cities of Gilead; such as are before mentioned, Numbers 32:3 and which they proposed to repair and fortify, to preserve their families and possessions from the Amorites about them.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But thy servants will pass over,.... The river Jordan, and go into the land of Canaan: every man armed for war; Moses had required that all should go over, and they consent to it, and promise that everyone should, though this was not insisted on when they came to it, for only about 40,000 went over, Joshua 4:13, whereas the two tribes of Gad and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
So concerning them Moses commanded,.... That they should have a grant of the land they requested: this looks as if Moses determined the case himself, though perhaps it was by the vote, and with the consent of the whole court; only Moses strictly enjoined them to observe it, namely, Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the chief...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Moses said unto them,.... To Eleazar, Joshua, and the princes of the congregation: if the children of Gad and the children of Reuben will pass with you over Jordan, every man armed to battle before the Lord; as they have promised they will: and the land shall be subdued before you; which must be done before their return: then ye shall give...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But if they will not pass over with you armed,.... Shall change their minds, and break their promise, and refuse to go over the river Jordan with the other tribes, and armed ready to engage in battle with the enemy: they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan; take their lot there, but have no inheritance or possessions on this...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered,...., The word is in the singular number, and shows their unanimity, that they agreed to what Moses said, and replied all of them as one man, as Jarchi expresses it; and it may be there was one that was the mouth of them all, and answered for them: saying, as the Lord hath said unto thy...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
We will pass over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan,.... This is repeated again and again, for the confirmation of it, assuring that it should be strictly performed according to the true intent of it: that the possession of our inheritance on this side Jordan may be ours; that is, that the possession and inheritance they desired, and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Moses gave unto them,.... By word of mouth, in the presence of the court, or rather by some instrument drawn up and signed by him and the sanhedrim, or witnessed by them: [even] to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and unto half the tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph; no mention is made of this half tribe joining with the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the children of Gad built,.... Or rather repaired the walls and fortifications, and rebuilt houses which had been demolished in the wars with Sihon and Og; when the following places were taken by the Israelites: Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer; the two first are mentioned in Numbers 32:3. Aroer was a city situated on the river Arnon, and was...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Atroth, Shophan, and Jaazer, and Jogbehah. Of these no mention is made elsewhere, except Jaazer, which is the same with Jazer, Numbers 32:3.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Bethnimrah, and Bethharan, fenced cities,.... The first of these is the same with Nimrah, Numbers 32:3, and the other is the same with Betharam, Joshua 13:27, it is called in the Jerusalem Talmud (r), Bethramtha, and so by the Syrians, Bethramphta; and to the same place Herod gave the name of Livias or Julias (s): these cities the children of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the children of Reuben built Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Kirjathaim. Heshbon was the royal city of Sihon king of the Amorites, and Elealeh was within a mile of it, see Numbers 32:3, this shows that those cities were not built anew properly, only repaired, for they were cities in being long before; besides, they had not time to build new cities,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Nebo, and Baalmeon, (their names being changed,).... For Nebo was the name of an idol, after which perhaps the city was called: Baalmeon signifies "Baal's habitation", and where it is highly probable was a temple of his; and the children of Reuben, not liking to retain such idolatrous names, gave them others, but what they were it is not said;...