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Chapter 32

Request of Gad and Reuben. Now the Reubenites and Gadites had a very large number of livestock. Noticing that the land of Jazer and of Gilead[a] was a place suited to livestock, the Gadites and Reubenites came to Moses and Eleazar the priest and to the leaders of the community and said, [b]“The region of Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo and Baal-meon— the land which the Lord has laid low before the community of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.” They continued, “If we find favor with you, let this land be given to your servants as their possession. Do not make us cross the Jordan.”

Moses’ Rebuke. But Moses answered the Gadites and Reubenites: “Are your kindred, then, to go to war, while you remain here? Why do you wish to discourage the Israelites from crossing to the land the Lord has given them? That is just what your ancestors did when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to reconnoiter the land.(A) They went up to the Wadi Eshcol and reconnoitered the land, then so discouraged the Israelites that they would not enter the land the Lord had given them. 10 (B)At that time the anger of the Lord flared up, and he swore: 11 None of the men twenty years old or more who have come up from Egypt will see the land I promised under oath to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, because they have not followed me unreservedly— 12 (C)except the Kenizzite[c] Caleb, son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, and Joshua, son of Nun, since they have followed the Lord unreservedly. 13 So the anger of the Lord flared up against the Israelites and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the whole generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord had disappeared. 14 And now here you are, offspring of sinful stock, rising up in your ancestors’ place to add still more to the Lord’s blazing anger against the Israelites. 15 If you turn away from following him, he will again abandon them in the wilderness, and you will bring about the ruin of this entire people.”

Counter Proposal. 16 But they approached him and said: “We will only build sheepfolds here for our flocks and towns for our families; 17 but we ourselves will march as troops in the vanguard before the Israelites,(D) until we have led them to their destination. Meanwhile our families will remain in the fortified towns because of the land’s inhabitants. 18 We will not return to our homes until all the Israelites have taken possession of their heritage. 19 (E)But we will not claim any heritage with them across the Jordan and beyond, because we have received a heritage for ourselves on the eastern side of the Jordan.”

Agreement Reached. 20 [d]Moses said to them in reply: “If you do this—if you march as troops before the Lord into battle 21 and cross the Jordan in full force before the Lord until he has driven his enemies out of his way 22 and the land is subdued before the Lord, then you may return here, free from every obligation to the Lord and to Israel, and this land will be your possession before the Lord.(F) 23 But if you do not do this, you will have sinned against the Lord, and you can be sure that the consequences of your sin will overtake you. 24 Build the towns, then, for your families, and the folds for your flocks, but fulfill what you have promised.”

25 The Gadites and Reubenites answered Moses, “Your servants will do as my lord commands. 26 (G)While our wives and children, our livestock and other animals remain there in the towns of Gilead, 27 all your servants will go across as armed troops before the Lord to battle, just as my lord says.”

28 So Moses gave this command in their regard to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua, son of Nun, and to the heads of the ancestral houses of the Israelite tribes: 29 He said to them, “If all the Gadites and Reubenites cross the Jordan with you in full force before the Lord into battle, the land will be subdued before you, and you will give them Gilead as a possession. 30 But if they will not go across in force with you before the Lord, you will bring their wives and children and livestock across before you into Canaan, and they will possess a holding among you in the land of Canaan.”

31 To this the Gadites and Reubenites replied, “We will do what the Lord has ordered your servants. 32 We ourselves will go across in force before the Lord into the land of Canaan, but we will retain our hereditary property on this side of the Jordan.”[e]

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Footnotes

  1. 32:1 Gilead: the name of the western part of the plateau east of the Jordan, sometimes signifying the whole region from the Yarmuk to the Jordan, sometimes only the northern part of this region, and sometimes, as here, only its southern part. Jazer lay to the east of southern Gilead.
  2. 32:3 The places named in this verse, as well as the additional ones given in vv. 34–38, were all in the former kingdom of Sihon, that is, in the region between the Jabbok and the Arnon. Cf. 21:23–24; Jos 13:19–21, 24–27.
  3. 32:12 Kenizzite: a member of the clan of Kenaz, which, according to Gn 36:11, 15, 42, was Edomite; but, according to Nm 13:6; 34:19, Caleb belonged to the tribe of Judah; cf. also Jos 14:6, 14.
  4. 32:20–22 Since the ark of the Lord was carried into battle with the Israelite army, the vanguard was said to march before the Lord (see Jos 6:6–9).
  5. 32:32 This side of the Jordan: lit., “beyond the Jordan”; the perspective in Hebrew is from the west bank looking toward the east bank where the Reubenites and Gadites finally settled.

The Transjordan Tribes. 12 (A)Joshua addressed the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh: 13 “Remember what Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded you when he said, ‘The Lord, your God, is about to give you rest; he will give you this land.’ 14 Your wives, your children, and your livestock may remain in the land Moses gave you here beyond the Jordan. But all the warriors among you must cross over armed, ahead of your kindred, and you must help them 15 until the Lord has settled your kindred, and they like you possess the land the Lord, your God, is giving them. Afterward you may return and possess your own land, which Moses, the servant of the Lord, has given you east of the Jordan.”(B)

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18 The Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh were warriors, men who bore shield and sword and who drew the bow, trained in warfare—forty-four thousand seven hundred and sixty men fit for military service. 19 When they waged war against the Hagrites and against Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab,(A) 20 they received help so that the Hagrites and all who were with them were delivered into their power. For during the battle they cried out to God, and he heard them because they had put their trust in him.(B) 21 Along with one hundred thousand persons they also captured their livestock: fifty thousand camels, two hundred fifty thousand sheep, and two thousand donkeys. 22 Many were slain and fell; for “From God the victory.” They dwelt in their place until the time of the exile.(C)

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Joelah and Zebadiah, sons of Jeroham, from Gedor.

Some of the Gadites also went over to David when he was at the stronghold in the wilderness. They were valiant warriors, experienced soldiers equipped with shield and spear, fearsome as lions, swift as gazelles on the mountains.(A) 10 Ezer was their chief, Obadiah was second, Eliab third, 11 Mishmannah fourth, Jeremiah fifth, 12 Attai sixth, Eliel seventh, 13 Johanan eighth, Elzabad ninth, 14 Jeremiah tenth, and Machbannai eleventh. 15 These Gadites were army commanders, the lesser over hundreds and the greater over thousands.

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