1 And much cattle hath been to the sons of Reuben and to the sons of Gad, very many; and they see the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, and lo, the place [is] a place [for] cattle; 2 and the sons of Gad, and the sons of Reuben, come in and speak unto Moses, and unto Eleazar the priest, and unto the princes of the company, saying: 3 'Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Shebam, and Nebo, and Beon — 4 the land which Jehovah hath smitten before the company of Israel, is a land for cattle, and thy servants have cattle.' 5 And they say, 'If we have found grace in thine eyes, let this land be given to thy servants for a possession; cause us not to pass over the Jordan.' 6 And Moses saith to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben, 'Do your brethren go in to the battle, and ye — do ye sit here? 7 and why discourage ye the heart of the sons of Israel from passing over unto the land which Jehovah hath given to them? 8 'Thus did your fathers in my sending them from Kadesh-Barnea to see the land; 9 and they go up unto the valley of Eshcol, and see the land, and discourage the heart of the sons of Israel so as not to go in unto the land which Jehovah hath given to them; 10 and the anger of Jehovah burneth in that day, and He sweareth, saying, 11 They do not see — the men who are coming up out of Egypt from a son of twenty years and upward — the ground which I have sworn to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, for they have not been fully after Me; 12 save Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua son of Nun, for they have been fully after Jehovah; 13 and the anger of Jehovah burneth against Israel, and He causeth them to wander in the wilderness forty years, until the consumption of all the generation which is doing the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah. 14 'And lo, ye have risen in the stead of your fathers, an increase of men — sinners, to add yet to the fury of the anger of Jehovah toward Israel; 15 when ye turn back from after Him, then He hath added yet to leave him in the wilderness, and ye have done corruptly to all this people.' 16 And they come nigh unto him, and say, 'Folds for the flock we build for our cattle here, and cities for our infants; 17 and we — we are armed hasting before the sons of Israel till that we have brought them in unto their place; and our infants have dwelt in the cities of defence because of the inhabitants of the land; 18 we do not turn back unto our houses till the sons of Israel have inherited each his inheritance, 19 for we do not inherit with them beyond the Jordan and yonder, for our inheritance hath come unto us beyond the Jordan at the [sun] -rising.' 20 And Moses saith unto them, 'If ye do this thing: if ye are armed before Jehovah for battle, 21 and every armed one of you hath passed over the Jordan before Jehovah, till his dispossessing His enemies from before Him, 22 and the land hath been subdued before Jehovah — then afterwards ye do turn back, and have been acquitted by Jehovah, and by Israel; and this land hath been to you for a possession before Jehovah. 23 'And if ye do not so, lo, ye have sinned against Jehovah, and know ye your sin, that it doth find you; 24 build for yourselves cities for your infants, and folds for your flock, and that which is going out from your mouth do ye.' 25 And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben speak unto Moses, saying, 'Thy servants do as my lord is commanding; 26 our infants, our wives, our cattle, and all our beasts, are there in cities of Gilead, 27 and thy servants pass over, every armed one of the host, before Jehovah, to battle, as my lord is saying.' 28 And Moses commandeth concerning them Eleazar the priest, and Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the sons of Israel; 29 and Moses saith unto them, 'If the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben pass over with you the Jordan, every one armed for battle, before Jehovah, and the land hath been subdued before you, then ye have given to them the land of Gilead for a possession; 30 and if they do not pass over armed with you, then they have possessions in your midst in the land of Canaan.' 31 And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben answer, saying, 'That which Jehovah hath spoken unto thy servants — so we do; 32 we — we pass over armed before Jehovah [to] the land of Canaan, and with us [is] the possession of our inheritance beyond the Jordan.' 33 And Moses giveth to them, to the sons of Gad, and to the sons of Reuben, and to the half of the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorite, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land by its cities, in the borders, the cities of the land round about. 34 And the sons of Gad build Dihon, and Ataroth, and Aroer, 35 and Atroth, Shophan, and Jaazer, and Jogbehah, 36 and Beth-Nimrah, and Beth-Haran, cities of defence, and sheepfolds. 37 And the sons of Reuben have build Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Kirjathaim, 38 and Nebo, and Baal-Meon (changed in name), and Shibmah, and they call by [these] names the names of the cities which they have built. 39 And sons of Machir son of Manasseh go to Gilead, and capture it, and dispossess the Amorite, who [is] in it; 40 and Moses giveth Gilead to Machir son of Manasseh, and he dwelleth in it. 41 And Jair son of Manasseh hath gone and captureth their towns, and calleth them 'Towns of Jair;' 42 and Nobah hath gone and captureth Kenath, and its villages, and calleth it Nobah, by his own name.
Numbers · Young's Literal Translation
Numbers 32 Young's Literal Translation
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Jair
Son of Segub and grandson of Hezron by Machir's daughter, counted among Manasseh's descendants; he captured the villages of Gilead that were called Havvoth-jair after him.
Cited in the guide: Numbers 32:41; Deuteronomy 3:14; Joshua 13:30
Jephunneh
The father of Caleb, the faithful spy of the tribe of Judah, called a Kenizzite in Numbers 32:12.
Cited in the guide: Numbers 13:6; Numbers 14:6; Numbers 32:12
Machir
Manasseh's son, whose own sons were brought up on Joseph's knees, called the father of Gilead; his descendants captured Gilead and Moses gave it to his clan.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 50:23; Numbers 26:29; Numbers 32:39–40
Moses
Drawn from the Nile, he led Israel out of Egypt and received God's Law.
Cited in the guide: Exodus 2–Deuteronomy 34
Nobah
A man who captured Kenath and its villages during the conquest of Gilead and called it Nobah after his own name.
Cited in the guide: Numbers 32:42
Cross references (37)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Numbers 21:32; Genesis 13:2; Genesis 13:10–11; Numbers 32:3; Numbers 32:35
- 3 Isaiah 16:8–9; Numbers 32:34–38; Joshua 13:17; Jeremiah 48:34; Jeremiah 48:22–23
- 4 Numbers 21:34; Numbers 21:24; Deuteronomy 2:24–35
- 5 Joshua 7:7; 1 Samuel 20:3; Deuteronomy 1:37; Deuteronomy 3:25–26; Jeremiah 31:2
- 6 1 Corinthians 13:5; Philippians 2:4; 2 Samuel 11:11
- 7 Numbers 13:27–14:4; Deuteronomy 1:28; Numbers 32:9; Numbers 21:4; Acts 21:13
- 8 Numbers 13:2–26; Numbers 14:2; Joshua 14:6–7; Deuteronomy 1:19–25
- 9 Deuteronomy 1:24–28; Numbers 13:23–14:10
- 10 Numbers 14:11; Numbers 14:23; Numbers 14:29; Ezekiel 20:15; Psalm 95:11
- 11 Numbers 14:28–30; Numbers 14:24; Numbers 26:2; Joshua 14:8–9; Deuteronomy 1:35
- 12 Deuteronomy 1:36; Numbers 14:30; Numbers 14:24; Joshua 14:8–9; Numbers 26:65
- 13 1 Corinthians 10:5; Hebrews 3:16–19; Numbers 14:33–35; Deuteronomy 2:14–15; Numbers 26:64–65
- 14 Matthew 23:31–33; Luke 11:48; Acts 7:51–52; Ezra 10:10; Deuteronomy 1:34–35
- 15 2 Chronicles 15:2; 1 Corinthians 8:11–12; Romans 14:15; Deuteronomy 28:15–68; Romans 14:20–21
- 16 Genesis 33:17; Numbers 34:22
- 17 Joshua 4:12–13; Deuteronomy 3:18–20; Numbers 32:29–32
- 18 Joshua 22:1–5
- 19 Joshua 13:8; 1 Chronicles 5:25–26; Genesis 13:10–12; Proverbs 20:21; Numbers 32:32–33
- 20 Joshua 4:12–13; Deuteronomy 3:18–20; Joshua 1:13–15; Joshua 22:2–4
- 22 Joshua 22:4; Joshua 22:9; Deuteronomy 3:20; Joshua 1:15; Joshua 13:8
- 23 Isaiah 59:12; Proverbs 13:21; Genesis 44:16; Psalm 90:8; Genesis 4:7
- 24 Numbers 32:16; Numbers 30:2; Numbers 32:34–42
- 25 Joshua 1:13–14
- 26 Joshua 1:14
- 27 Joshua 4:12; Numbers 36:2; 2 Timothy 4:7–8; Numbers 11:28; Ephesians 6:10–18
- 28 Joshua 1:13
- 30 Joshua 22:19
- 33 Joshua 12:6; Deuteronomy 29:8; Deuteronomy 3:12–17; Joshua 22:4; Psalm 135:10–11
- 34 Deuteronomy 2:36; Numbers 32:3; Isaiah 17:2; Numbers 33:45–46; Numbers 21:20
- 35 Numbers 32:3; Numbers 32:1
- 36 Numbers 32:3
- 37 Numbers 21:27; Numbers 32:3; Isaiah 15:4
- 38 Isaiah 46:1; Numbers 32:3; Joshua 23:7; Exodus 23:13; Numbers 22:41
- 39 Genesis 50:23; Numbers 26:29; Joshua 17:1
- 40 Joshua 17:1; Deuteronomy 3:13–15; Joshua 13:29–31
- 41 Deuteronomy 3:14; Judges 10:4; Joshua 13:30; 1 Kings 4:13; 1 Chronicles 2:21–23
- 42 Psalm 49:11; 2 Samuel 18:18
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
Forty years also did the people wander in the wilderness. Forty days the waters of the flood lasted.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 6 (1888)