Numbers 32:34

_AND THE CHILDREN OF GAD BUILT DIBON, AND ATAROTH, AND AROER,_ The children of Gad built - (see the note at Numbers 32:16). DIBON - identified with the extensive ruins called Dhiban, three miles north of the Arnon (Mojeb). ATAROTH - crowns. There are several towns so called in Scripture; but this one in the tribe of Gad has not been identified, though it is supposed by some to be found in some ancient remains which bear the name of 'Atara. AROER - now Arair, standing on a precipice on the north bank of the Arnon....

28-42 Concerning the settlement of these tribes, observe, that they built the cities, that is, repaired them. They changed the names of them; probably they were idolatrous, therefore they should be forgotten. A spirit of selfishness, of seeking our own, not the things of Christ, when each one ought to assist others, is as dangerous as it is common. It is impossible to be sincere in the faith, sensible of the goodness of God, constrained by the love of Christ, sanctified by the power of the Holy Ghost, and yet be indifferent to the progress of religion, and the spiritual success of others, through love of ease, or fear of conflict. Let then your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven....

Verse Numbers 32:34. _THE CHILDREN OF GAD BUILT - AROER_] This was situated on the river Arnon, Deuteronomy 2:36; 2 Kings 10:33. It was formerly inhabited by the Emim, a warlike and perhaps gigantic people. They were expelled by the Moabites; the Moabites by the Amorites; and the Amorites by the Israelites. The Gadites then possessed it till the captivity of their tribe, with that of Reuben and the half of the tribe of Manasseh, by the Assyrians, 2 Kings 15:29, after which the _Moabites_ appear to have repossessed it, as they seem to have occupied it in the days of Jeremiah,...

The cities here named fall into three groups. On Dibon, compare Numbers 21:19. The Moabite stone was discovered here in 1868. This city, occupied on the first acquisition of the territory by the Gadites, and assigned by Joshua to the Reubenites, was eventually recaptured by the Moabites, in whose hands it remained. Ataroth, i. e., “crowns” (Attarus?) was seven miles northwest of Dibon. Aroer (Arair) lay between Dibon and the Arnon. ATROTH, SHOPHAN - , was Atroth-Shophan, i. e., Atroth, or Ataroth of Shophan, or “of the burrow;” thus distinguished from the Ataroth named in the verse preceding from which it was probably not far distant. These four cities may be styled the Dibon settlement. Numbers 32:35...

EXPOSITION THE TWO AND A HALF TRIBES BEYOND JORDAN (Numbers 32:1). NUMBERS 32:1 THE CHILDREN OF REUBEN AND THE CHILDREN OF GAD. Reuben and Gad had both been camped on the same (southern) side of the tabernacle, but had not apparently been neighbours, since Simeon intervened on the march (see on Numbers 2:10-4). Simeon, however, was at this time enfeebled and disgraced, and was not likely to assert himself in any way. The "great multitude of cattle" belonging to the two tribes probably point to pastoral habits of long standing, since the cattle o

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 after this in the hands of the Moabites: Jerom says q, it was showed in his day on the top of the mountain, upon the bank of the river Arnon, which flows into the Dead sea, Jeremiah 48:19. q De loc. Heb. fol. 87. I....

8. THE TRIBES OF REUBEN, GAD, HALF-MANASSEH AND THEIR PORTION CHAPTER 32 _ 1. The petition of Reuben and Gad (Numbers 32:1)_ 2. The rebuke by Moses (Numbers 32:6) 3. Their answer (Numbers 32:16) 4. Moses' reply (Numbers 32:20) 5. The final agreement (Numbers 32:25) Failure is now again manifested. Reuben and Gad looked upon the beautiful territory which had been taken from the two Amorite kings, Sihon and Og. As Reuben and Gad were especially rich in cattle and the territory was one of great

A LIST OF TOWNS BUILT ( OR REBUILT) BY GAD AND REUBEN. The towns here assigned to Reuben form a group within the territory of Gad, for the most northerly and the most southerly of the places named are Gadite: contrast Joshua 13:15. The rebuilding of the towns must be regarded as effected after the two tribes returned from the conquest of W. Canaan. NUMBERS 32:34. DIBON: the modern Dhî ban. ATAROTH: Attarû s, 9 miles NW. of Dibon. AROER: probably the place of that name on the Arnon (Joshua 13:16). Numbers 32:35. Atroth Shaphan: unknown. JOGBEHAH: the modern Ajbehâ t.

Many of these towns have been identified with some probability. But the list represents a tradition very different from that in Joshua 13:15-28 (P), and must be ultimately derived from an earlier source, though in its present form it was probably written by a priestly writer. In Joshua 13:15-28 Reuben occupies the position which is ordinarily represented on modern maps, on the south of Gad, the dividing line between them running east from about the northern point of the Dead Sea. But in the present passage Reuben's position is not so independent. Five of the six towns assigned to them in Numbers 32:37 are situated in a district about midway between the Jabbok and the Arnon, and lie _between_Gadite towns to t

AND THE CHILDREN OF GAD BUILT DIBON, &C.— Though the original word signifies _to build,_ yet there are many examples in which it signifies to _rebuild;_ 1 Kings 12:25. Exodus 14:22 and in this sense it must be here understood, as well as in the 37th verse; for the towns spoken of were built before; but having been desolated by the war were now rebuilt and fortified. See Deuteronomy 2:34....