_A.M. 2552. B.C. 1452._ The request of Reuben and Gad for an inheritance on this side Jordan, Numbers 32:1. Moses's misconstruction of it, Numbers 32:6. Their explication of it, Numbers 32:16. The grant of their petition, Numbers 32:20.... [ Continue Reading ]
_The land of Jazer_ A city and country of the Amorites. _Gilead _ A mountainous country, famous for pasturage. These countries were lately taken from the two Amorite princes, Sihon and Og, (Numbers 21:24,) and were, by divine appointment, allowed to be inhabited by the Israelites, as well as the lan... [ Continue Reading ]
_Which the Lord smote_ That is, whose inhabitants we, by God's peculiar aid, routed and destroyed: Deuteronomy 2:33, compared with the history of this victory, Numbers 21.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Bring us not over Jordan_ To give us our possession there; but let this land, on this side Jordan, be our whole possession. _Shall ye sit here?_ In ease and peace, while your brethren are engaged in war. _Wherefore discourage ye the heart of Israel_ Their words were ambiguous, and Moses suspected t... [ Continue Reading ]
_Caleb the Kenezite_ So called from Kenaz, one of his eminent ancestors. _An increase of sinful men_ Succeeding your fathers, as in their places, so also in their sins; imitating the unbelieving spies, and distrusting God's power and veracity to make good his promise of settling Israel in the land o... [ Continue Reading ]
Ye _shall destroy all this people_ Who, being moved by your counsel and example, will refuse to go over Jordan and possess the land of Canaan. 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 thems... [ Continue Reading ]
_We ourselves will go_ Either all, or as many of us as shall be thought necessary, leaving only so many as may be requisite to provide for the support and defence of our wives and children. _Because of the inhabitants of the land_ The Moabites and Edomites, or other neighbouring people, together wit... [ Continue Reading ]
_We will not return to our houses_, &c. 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 div... [ Continue Reading ]
_Before the Lord_ Before the ark, which was the token of God's presence. He alludes either to the order of the tribes in their march, whereby Reuben and Gad marched immediately before the ark, or to the manner of their passage over Jordan, wherein the ark went first into Jordan, and stood there whil... [ Continue Reading ]
_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.... [ Continue Reading ]
_They shall have possessions_ They shall forfeit their possessions in Gilead, and be constrained to go over Jordan, and to seek possessions there among their brethren. _As the Lord hath said_ Either at this time, by thy mouth; or formerly, where he commanded us, as well as our brethren, to go into C... [ Continue Reading ]
_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.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Their names being changed_ Conquerors of places have been wont to change their names. 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 Baa... [ Continue Reading ]
Numbers 32:40 ; NUMBERS 32:42. _Moses gave Gilead unto Machir_ Not to Machir himself, who doubtless was long since dead, but the family or posterity of Machir. _Nobah_ Who, though not elsewhere named, was doubtless an eminent person of the tribe of Manasseh. It is observable, that these tribes, as t... [ Continue Reading ]