Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary

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Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)

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N U M B E R S

CHAP. XXXII.

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In this chapter we have,

I. The humble request of the tribes of Reuben and Gad for an

inheritance on that side Jordan where Israel now lay encamped,

ver. 1-5.

II. Moses’s misinterpretation of their request,

ver. 6-15.

III. Their explication of it, and stating it aright,

ver. 16-19.

IV. The grant of their petition under the provisos and limitations

which they themselves proposed,

ver. 20,

&c.

The Request of the Reubenites.	B. C. 1452.

     

1 Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very

great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer,

and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place was a place for

cattle;

  2 The children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spake

unto Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and unto the princes of

the congregation, saying,

  3 Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and

Elealeh, and Shebam, and Nebo, and Beon,

  4 Even the country which the LORD smote before the

congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and thy servants

have cattle:

  5 Wherefore, said they, if we have found grace in thy sight,

let this land be given unto thy servants for a possession, and

bring us not over Jordan.

  6 And Moses said unto the children of Gad and to the children

of Reuben, Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here?

  7 And wherefore discourage ye the heart of the children of

Israel from going over into the land which the LORD hath given

them?

  8 Thus did your fathers, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to

see the land.

  9 For when they went up unto the valley of Eshcol, and saw the

land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, that

they should not go into the land which the LORD had given them.

  10 And the LORD‘s anger was kindled the same time, and he

sware, saying,

  11 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:

  12 Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the

son of Nun: for they have wholly followed the LORD.

  13 And the LORD‘s anger was kindled against Israel, and he made

them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the

generation, that had done evil in the sight of the LORD, was

consumed.

  14 And, behold, ye are risen up in your fathers’ stead, an

increase of sinful men, to augment yet the fierce anger of the

LORD toward Israel.

  15 For if ye turn away from after him, he will yet again leave

them in the wilderness; and ye shall destroy all this people.

     

Israel’s tents were now pitched in the plains of Moab, where they

continued many months, looking back upon the conquests they had already

made of the land of Sihon and Og, and looking forward to Canaan, which

they hoped in a little while to make themselves masters of. While they

made this stand, and were at a pause, this great affair of the disposal

of the conquests they had already made was here concerted and settled,

not by any particular order or appointment of God, but at the special

instance and request of two of the tribes, to which Moses, after a long

debate that arose upon it, consented. For even then, when so

much was done by the extraordinary appearances of divine Providence,

many things were left to the direction of human prudence; for God, in

governing both the world and the church, makes use of the reason of

men, and serves his own purposes by it.

     

I. Here is a motion made by the Reubenites and the Gadites, that the

land which they had lately possessed themselves of, and which in the

right of conquest belonged to Israel in common, might be assigned to

them in particular for their inheritance: upon the general idea they

had of the land of promise, they supposed this would be about their

proportion. Reuben and Gad were encamped under the same standard, and

so had the better opportunity of comparing notes, and settling this

matter between themselves. In the

first verse

the children of Reuben are named first, but afterwards the children of

Gad

(v. 2, 25, 31),

either because the Gadites made the first motion and were most forward

for it, or because they were the better spokesmen and had more of the

art of management, Reuben’s tribe still lying under Jacob’s sentence,

he shall not excel. Two things common in the world induced these

tribes to make this choice and this motion upon it, the lust of the

eye and the pride of life,
1 John ii. 16.

1. The lust of the eye. This land which they coveted was not

only beautiful for situation, and pleasant to the eye, but it was good

for food, food for cattle; and they had a great multitude of cattle,

above the rest of the tribes, it is supposed because they brought more

out of Egypt, than the rest did; but that was forty years before, and

stocks of cattle increase and decrease in less time than that;

therefore I rather think they had been better husbands of their cattle

in the wilderness, had tended them better, had taken more care of the

breed, and not been so profuse as their neighbours in eating the

lambs out of the flock and the calves out of the midst of the

stall. Now they, having these large stocks, coveted land

proportionable. Many scriptures speak of Bashan and Gilead as places

famous for cattle; they had been so already, and therefore these tribes

hoped they would be so to them, and whatever comes of it here they

desire to take their lot. The judicious Calvin thinks there was much

amiss in the principle they went upon, and that they consulted their

own private convenience more than the public good, that they had not

such regard to the honour and interest of Israel, and the promise made

to Abraham of the land of Canaan (strictly so called), as they ought to

have had. And still it is too true that many seek their own

things more than the things of Jesus Christ

(Phil. ii. 21),

and that many are influenced by their secular interest and advantage to

take up short of the heavenly Canaan. Their spirits agree too well with

this world, and with the things that are seen, that are temporal; and

they say, “It is good to be here,” and so lose what is hereafter for

want of seeking it. Lot thus chose by the sight of the eye, and

smarted for his choice. Would we choose our portion aright we must look

above the things that are seen.

2. Perhaps there was something of the pride of life in it.

Reuben was the first-born of Israel, but he had lost his birthright.

Several of the tribes, and Judah especially, had risen above him, so

that he could not expect the best lot in Canaan; and therefore, to save

the shadow of a birthright, when he had forfeited the substance, he

here catches at the first lot, though it was out of Canaan, and far off

from the tabernacle. Thus Esau sold his birthright, and yet got to be

served first with an inheritance in Mount Seir. The tribe of Gad

descended from the first-born of Zilpah, and were like pretenders with

the Reubenites; and Manasseh too was a first-born, but knew he must be

eclipsed by Ephraim his younger brother, and therefore he also coveted

to get precedency.

     

II. Moses’s dislike of this motion, and the severe rebuke he gives to

it, as a faithful prince and prophet.

     

1. It must be confessed that prima facie–at first sight, the

thing looked ill, especially the closing words of their petition:

Bring us not over Jordan,
v. 5.

(1.) It seems to proceed from a bad principle, a contempt of the land

of promise, which Moses himself was so desirous of a sight of, a

distrust too of the power of God to dispossess the Canaanites, as if a

lot in a land which they knew, and which was already conquered, was

more desirable than a lot in a land they knew not, and which was yet to

be conquered: one bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. There

seemed also to be covetousness in it; for that which they insisted on

was that it was convenient for their cattle. It argued likewise a

neglect of their brethren, as if they cared not what became of Israel,

while they themselves were well provided for.

(2.) It might have been of bad consequence. The people might have taken

improper hints from it, and have suggested that they were few enough,

when they had their whole number, to deal with the Canaanites, but how

unequal would the match be if they should drop two tribes and a half

(above a fifth part of their strength) on this side Jordan. It would

likewise be a bad precedent; if they must have the land thus granted

them as soon as it was conquered, other tribes might make the same

pretensions and claims, and so the regular disposition of the land by

lot would be anticipated.

     

2. Moses is therefore very warm upon them, which is to be imputed to

his pious zeal against sin, and not to any peevishness, the effect of

old age, for his meekness abated not, any more than his natural force.

(1.) He shows them what he apprehended to be evil in this motion, that

it would discharge the heart of their brethren,

v. 6, 7.

“What!” (says he, with a holy indignation at their selfishness)

“shall your brethren go to war, and expose themselves to all the

hardships and hazards of the field, and shall you sit here at

your ease? No, do not deceive yourselves, you shall never be indulged

by me in this sloth and cowardice.” It ill becomes any of God’s Israel

to sit down unconcerned in the difficult and perilous concernments of

their brethren, whether public or personal.

(2.) He reminds them of the fatal consequences of the unbelief and

faint-heartedness of their fathers, when they were just ready to enter

Canaan, as they themselves now were. He recites the story very

particularly

(v. 8-13):

“Thus did your fathers, whose punishment should be a warning to

you to take heed of sinning after the similitude of their

transgression.”

(3.) He gives them fair warning of the mischief that would be likely to

follow upon this separation which they were about to make from the camp

of Israel; they would be in danger of bringing wrath upon the whole

congregation, and hurrying them all back again into the wilderness

(v. 14, 15):

“You have risen up in your fathers’ stead to despise the

pleasant land and reject it as they did, when we hoped you had risen up

in their stead to possess it.” It was an encouragement to Moses to see

what an increase of men there was in these tribes, but a discouragement

to see that it was withal an increase of sinful men, treading in the

steps of their fathers’ impiety. It is sad to see the rising generation

in families and countries not only no better, but worse than that which

went before it; and what comes of it? Why, it augments the fierce

anger of the Lord; not only continues that fire, but increases it,

and fills the measure, often till it overflows in a deluge of

desolation. Note, If men did but consider as they ought, what would be

the end of sin, they would be afraid of the beginnings of it.

     

16 And they came near unto him, and said, We will build

sheepfolds here for our cattle, and cities for our little ones:

  17 But we ourselves will go ready armed before the children of

Israel, until we have brought them unto their place: and our

little ones shall dwell in the fenced cities because of the

inhabitants of the land.

  18 We will not return unto our houses, until the children of

Israel have inherited every man his inheritance.

  19 For we will not inherit with them on yonder side Jordan, or

forward; because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side

Jordan eastward.

  20 And Moses said unto them, If ye will do this thing, if ye

will go armed before the LORD to war,

  21 And will go all of you armed over Jordan before the LORD,

until he hath driven out his enemies from before him,

  22 And the land be subdued before the LORD: then afterward ye

shall return, and be guiltless before the LORD, and before

Israel; and this land shall be your possession before the LORD.

  23 But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the

LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.

  24 Build you cities for your little ones, and folds for your

sheep; and do that which hath proceeded out of your mouth.

  25 And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben spake

unto Moses, saying, Thy servants will do as my lord commandeth.

  26 Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our cattle,

shall be there in the cities of Gilead:

  27 But thy servants will pass over, every man armed for war,

before the LORD to battle, as my lord saith.

     

We have here the accommodating of the matter between Moses and the two

tribes, about their settlement on this side Jordan. Probably the

petitioners withdrew, and considered with themselves what answer they

should return to the severe reproof Moses had given them; and, after

some consultation, they return with this proposal, that their men of

war should go and assist their brethren in the conquest of Canaan, and

they would leave their families and flocks behind them in this land:

and thus they might have their request, and no harm would be done. Now

it is uncertain whether they designed this at first when they brought

their petition or no. If they did, it is an instance how often that

which is honestly meant is unhappily misinterpreted; yet Moses herein

was excusable, for he had reason to suspect the worst of them, and the

rebuke he gave them was from the abundance of his care to prevent sin.

But, if they did not, it is an instance of the good effect of plain

dealing; Moses, by showing them their sin, and the danger of it,

brought them to their duty without murmuring or disputing. They object

not that their brethren were able to contend with the Canaanites

without their help, especially since they were sure of God’s fighting

for them; but engage themselves to stand by them.

     

I. Their proposal is very fair and generous, and such as, instead of

disheartening, would rather encourage their brethren.

1. That their men of war, who were fit for service, would go

ready armed before the children of Israel into the land of

Canaan. So far would they be from deserting them that, if it were

thought fit, they would lead them on, and be foremost is all dangerous

enterprises. So far were they from either distrusting or despising the

conquest of Canaan that they would assist in it with the utmost

readiness and resolution.

2. That they would leave behind them their families and cattle (which

would otherwise be but the incumbrance of their camp), and so they

would be the more serviceable to their brethren,

v. 16.

3. That they would not return to their possessions till the conquest of

Canaan was completed,

v. 18.

Their brethren should have their best help as long as they needed it.

4. That yet they would not expect any share of the land that was yet to

be conquered

(v. 19):

“We will not desire to inherit with them, nor, under colour of

assisting them in the war, put in for a share with them in the land;

no, we will be content with our inheritance on this side Jordan, and

there will be so much the more on yonder side for them.”

     

II. Moses thereupon grants their request, upon consideration that they

would adhere to their proposals.

1. He insists much upon it that they should never lay down their arms

till their brethren laid down theirs. They promised to go armed

before the children of Israel,
v. 17.

“Nay,” says Moses, “you shall go armed before the Lord,
v. 20, 21.

It is God’s cause more than your brethren’s, and to him you must have

an eye, and not to them only.” Before the Lord, that is, before

the ark of the Lord, the token of his presence, which, it should seem,

they carried about with them in the wars of Canaan, and immediately

before which these two tribes were posted, as we find in the order of

their march,

ch. ii. 10, 17.

2. Upon this condition he grants them this land for their possession,

and tells them they shall be guiltless before the Lord and before

Israel,
v. 22.

They should have the land, and neither sin nor blame should cleave to

it, neither sin before God nor blame before Israel; and, whatever

possessions we have, it is desirable thus to come guiltless to them.

But,

3. He warns them of the danger of breaking their word: “If you fail,

you sin against the Lord

(v. 23),

and not against your brethren only, and be sure your sin will find

you out;” that is, “God will certainly reckon with you for it,

though you may make a light matter of it.” Note, Sin will, without

doubt, find out the sinner sooner or later. It concerns us therefore to

find our sins out, that we may repent of them and forsake them, lest

our sins find us out to our ruin and confusion.

     

III. They unanimously agree to the provisos and conditions of the

grant, and do, as it were, give bond for performance, by a solemn

promise: Thy servants will do as my lord commandeth,
v. 25.

Their brethren had all contributed their assistance to the conquest of

this country, which they desired for a possession, and therefore they

owned themselves obliged in justice to help them in the conquest of

that which was to be their possession. Having received kindness, we

ought to return it, though it was not so conditioned when we received

it. We may suppose that this promise was understood, on both sides, so

as not to oblige all that were numbered of these tribes to go over

armed, but those only that were fittest for the expedition, who would

be most serviceable, while it was necessary that some should be left to

till the ground and guard the country; and accordingly we find that

about 40,000 of the two tribes and a half went over armed

(Josh. iv. 13),

whereas their whole number was about 100,000.

Inheritance of the Reubenites.	B. C. 1452.

     

28 So concerning them Moses commanded Eleazar the priest, and

Joshua the son of Nun, and the chief fathers of the tribes of the

children of Israel:

  29 And Moses said unto them, 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:

  30 But if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall

have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.

  31 And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered,

saying, As the LORD hath said unto thy servants, so will we do.

  32 We will pass over armed before the LORD into the land of

Canaan, that the possession of our inheritance on this side

Jordan may be ours.

  33 And Moses gave unto them, even to the children of Gad, and

to the children of Reuben, and unto half the tribe of Manasseh

the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and

the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land, with the cities

thereof in the coasts, even the cities of the country round

about.

  34 And the children of Gad built Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer,

  35 And Atroth, Shophan, and Jaazer, and Jogbehah,

  36 And Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran, fenced cities: and folds for

sheep.

  37 And the children of Reuben built Heshbon, and Elealeh, and

Kirjathaim,

  38 And Nebo, and Baal-meon, (their names being changed,) and

Shibmah: and gave other names unto the cities which they builded.

  39 And the children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to

Gilead, and took it, and dispossessed the Amorite which was in

it.

  40 And Moses gave Gilead unto Machir the son of Manasseh; and

he dwelt therein.

  41 And Jair the son of Manasseh went and took the small towns

thereof, and called them Havoth-jair.

  42 And Nobah went and took Kenath, and the villages thereof,

and called it Nobah, after his own name.

     

Here,

1. Moses settles this matter with Eleazar, and with Joshua who was to

be his successor, knowing that he himself must not live to see it

perfected,

v. 28-30.

He gives them an estate upon condition, leaving it to Joshua, if they

fulfilled the condition, to declare the estate absolute: “If they

will not go over with you,” he does not say “you shall give them no

inheritance at all,” but “you shall not give them this inheritance

which they covet. If their militia will not come over with you, compel

the whole tribes to come over, and let them take their lot with their

brethren, and fare as they fare; they shall have possessions in

Canaan, and let them not expect that the lot will favour them.”

Hereupon they repeat their promise to adhere to their brethren,

v. 31, 32.

2. Moses settles them in the land they desired. He gave it to them for

a possession,

v. 33.

Here is the first mention of the half tribe of Manasseh coming in with

them for a share; probably they had not joined with them in the

petition, but, the land when it came to be apportioned proving to be

too much for them, this half tribe had a lot among them, perhaps at

their request, or by divine direction, or because they had signalized

themselves in the conquest of this country: for the children of Machir,

a stout and warlike family, had taken Gilead and dispossessed the

Amorites,

v. 39.

“Let them win it and wear it, get it and take it.” And, they being

celebrated for their courage and bravery, it was for the common safety

to put them in this frontier-country. Concerning the settlement of

these tribes observe,

(1.) They built the cities, that is, repaired them, because either they

had been damaged by the war or the Amorites had suffered them to go to

decay.

(2.) They changed the names of them

(v. 38),

either to show their authority, that the change of the names might

signify the change of their owners, or because their names were

idolatrous, and carried in them a respect to the dunghill-deities that

were there worshipped. Nebo and Baal were names of their gods, which

they were forbidden to make mention of

(Exod. xxiii. 13),

and which, by changing the names of these cities, they endeavoured to

bury in oblivion; and God promises to take away the names of Baalim out

of the mouths of his people,

Hos. ii. 17.

     

Lastly, It is observable that, as these tribes were now first

placed before the other tribes, so, long afterwards, they were

displaced before the other tribes. We find that they were carried

captive into Assyria some years before the other tribes,

2 Kings xv. 29.

Such a proportion does Providence sometimes observe in balancing

prosperity and adversity; he sets the one over-against the other.

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