HarperCollins Study Bible
Page 78
48Then the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, approached Moses, 49and said to Moses, “Your servants have counted the warriors who are under our command, and not one of us is missing. 50And we have brought the LORD’s offering, what each of us found, articles of gold, armlets and bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and pendants, to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD.” 51Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from them, all in the form of crafted articles. 52And all the gold of the offering that they offered to the LORD, from the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred fifty shekels. 53(The troops had all taken plunder for themselves.) 54So Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tent of meeting as a memorial for the Israelites before the LORD.
next chapter
* * *
a Gk: Heb adds to the war
31.2 Avenge the Israelites, because of the incident at Peor (25.6–18). Moses’ death is predicted (see also 27.13).
31.3–12 The war against Midian is described in holy-war terms (see, e.g., Deut 20; 21.10–14; 23.9–14; 24.5; Josh 6.1–21).
31.5 Compared to 26.2, 51, twelve thousand is a very small number. Cf. Deut 20.5–8; Judg 7.2–8; 1 Sam 14.6–15; 2 Sam 17.1; 1 Kings 10.26.
31.6 Phinehas instead of Eleazar. See 16.37–39; 25.7. Trumpets. See 10.9. The presence of the priest and items from the sanctuary indicates holy war; see Deut 20.2–4.
31.7 Killed every male. See Deut 20.12–13.
31.8 The five kings. See also Josh 13.21. Zur. See 25.15. Balaam. See 31.16; chs. 22–25.
31.9–12 See Deut 20.14–15; 21.10–14; but cf. Num 31.14–18.
31.14 See also 1 Sam 15.10–19.
31.15 See 31.9.
31.16 Cf. ch. 25. Although Balaam is not mentioned there, ch. 25 is juxtaposed to the Balaam narrative, and Balaam is said to be at Peor in 23.28. See also Josh 13.21–22. Midianite women, plural, seem here to be merged with Moabite women (25.1–5, 16–18).
31.17–18 Even male children are killed, presumably to ensure the extermination of Midian, but cf. Judg 6–8. The women who are to be killed are all those who might have been involved in sexual relations with Israelite men; see 31.16; 25.1.
31.19–24 See 19.1–22.
31.19 On the third…seventh day. See 19.12, 19.
31.20 See Lev 11.29–32.
31.23 Water for purification. See 19.9, 11–22.
31.27–30 Provision for the sanctuary from the living booty (see also 18.8–32), a smaller amount taken from the warriors’ share for the priests and a larger amount taken from the rest for the Levites; see also 1 Sam 30.21–25.
31.35 See 31.14–18.
31.49 The Israelite officers inform Moses that they lost no one in the battle.
31.50 For a possible explanation for the officers’ need for atonement, see Ex 30.11–16. On the Midianites’ gold, see Judg 8.24–26.
31.53 The troops, i.e., as opposed to the officers.
31.54 As a memorial in the tent of meeting; see also 16.39–40; Ex 30.11–16.
NUMBERS 32
Conquest and Division of Transjordan
1Now the Reubenites and the Gadites owned a very great number of cattle. When they saw that the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead was a good place for cattle, 2the Gadites and the Reubenites came and spoke to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the leaders of the congregation, saying, 3“Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon—4the land that the LORD subdued before the congregation of Israel—is a land for cattle; and your servants have cattle.” 5They continued, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession; do not make us cross the Jordan.”
6But Moses said to the Gadites and to the Reubenites, “Shall your brothers go to war while you sit here? 7Why will you discourage the hearts of the Israelites from going over into the land that the LORD has given them? 8Your fathers did this, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. 9When they went up to the Wadi Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the hearts of the Israelites from going into the land that the LORD had given them. 10The LORD’s anger was kindled on that day and he swore, saying, 11‘Surely none of the people who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not unreservedly followed me—12none except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they have unreservedly followed the LORD.’ 13And the LORD’s anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness for forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the LORD had disappeared. 14And now you, a brood of sinners, have risen in place of your fathers, to increase the LORD’s fierce anger against Israel! 15If you turn away from following him, he will again abandon them in the wilderness; and you will destroy all this people.”
16Then they came up to him and said, “We will build sheepfolds here for our flocks, and towns for our little ones, 17but we will take up arms as a vanguarda before the Israelites, until we have brought them to their place. Meanwhile our little ones will stay in the fortified towns because of the inhabitants of the land. 18We will not return to our homes until all the Israelites have obtained their inheritance. 19We will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has come to us on this side of the Jordan to the east.”
20So Moses said to them, “If you do this—if you take up arms to go before the LORD for the war, 21and all those of you who bear arms cross the Jordan before the LORD, until he has driven out his enemies from before him 22and the land is subdued before the LORD—then after that you may return and be free of obligation to the LORD and to Israel, and this land shall be your possession before the LORD. 23But if you do not do this, you have sinned against the LORD; and be sure your sin will find you out. 24Build towns for your little ones, and folds for your flocks; but do what you have promised.”
25Then the Gadites and the Reubenites said to Moses, “Your servants will do as my lord commands. 26Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our livestock shall remain there in the towns of Gilead; 27but your servants will cross over, everyone armed for war, to do battle for the LORD, just as my lord orders.”
28So Moses gave command concerning them to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua son of Nun, and to the heads of the ancestral houses of the Israelite tribes. 29And Moses said to them, “If the Gadites and the Reubenites, everyone armed for battle before the LORD, will cross over the Jordan with you and the land shall be subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession; 30but if they will not cross over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.” 31The Gadites and the Reubenites answered, “As the LORD has spoken to your servants, so we will do. 32We will cross over armed before the LORD into the land of Canaan, but the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us on this side ofb the Jordan.”
33Moses gave to them—to the Gadites and to the Reubenites and to the half-tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph—the kingdom of King Sihon of the Amorites and the kingdom of King Og of Bashan, the land and its towns, with the territories of the surrounding towns. 34And the Gadites rebuilt Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, 35Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, 36Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran, fortified cities, and folds for sheep. 37And the Reubenites rebuilt Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, 38Nebo, and Baal-meon (some names being changed), and Sibmah; and they gave names to the towns that they rebuilt. 39The descendants of Machir son of Manasseh went to Gilead, captured it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were there; 40so Moses gave Gilead to Machir son of Manasseh, and he settled there. 41Jair son of Manasseh went and captured their villages, and renamed them Havvoth-jair.c 42And Nobah went and captured Kenath and its villages, and renamed it Nobah after himself.
&nb
sp; next chapter
* * *
a Cn: Heb hurrying
b Heb beyond
c That is the villages of Jair
32.1–42 See also Deut 3.12–20; Josh 13.8–32; 22.
32.1–5 The Reubenites and the Gadites have cattle, and they point out that Israel has already won good cattle land.
32.1 Jazer. See 21.32. Gilead, the fertile highland east of the Jordan River; see Gen 31.21, 47–48.
32.2 Eleazar. See 19.3; 20.22–29.
32.6 See Judg 5.16–17, 23.
32.8–15 Moses interprets the request of the Reubenites and Gadites as a fear of failure in war, as in the disastrous earlier incident of the spies, chs. 13–14. This passage is one of several that are negative toward the tribes east of the Jordan. See also 16.1; Gen 35.22a; 49.3–4; Josh 22.10–34; Judg 11.29–40; 1 Chr 5.1, 23–26.
32.16–27 The parties reach a compromise: the Reubenites and Gadites will both inherit the land they want and fight in the remaining battles of conquest on the west side of the Jordan.
32.17 Before the Israelites, as if these people are not part of Israel (see v. 22).
32.22 Free of obligation to the LORD and to Israel reads almost as if they will no longer be part of the tribal federation. See also 34.1–2, 10–12; Josh 22.9, 21–29. It is also possible that free of obligation simply means that they will have participated fully in the holy war of conquest.
32.28 See 32.2. Moses must give a command because he will not be with the Israelites (see 20.12;27.13–14). Joshua. See 27.12–23.
32.30 They shall…Canaan, i.e., they will not be given the choice land they desire east of the Jordan.
32.33 Note the addition of half of Manasseh. Sihon. See 21.21–32. Og. See 21.33–35.
32.34–38 Cf. Josh 13.15–28. As described here in Numbers, the boundary between Reuben and Gad is not clear-cut.
32.39–42 Not only Reuben and Gad but also half the tribe of Manasseh lived east of the Jordan (see v. 33; Josh 13.29–32, and cf. Josh 17.1–13). On Manasseh’s descendants, see 26.29–34; 1 Chr 7.14–19; Gen 50.23. These verses are similar to the descriptions of tribal conquests in Judg 1.
32.39 Gilead. Cf. 32.1–4.
32.41 Havvoth-jair. See Deut 3.14; Judg 10.3–4; 1 Chr 2.21–23.
32.42 On Nobah and Kenath, see Judg 8.11; 1 Chr 2.23.
NUMBERS 33
The Stages of Israel’s Journey from Egypt
1These are the stages by which the Israelites went out of the land of Egypt in military formation under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. 2Moses wrote down their starting points, stage by stage, by command of the LORD; and these are their stages according to their starting places. 3They set out from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the day after the passover the Israelites went out boldly in the sight of all the Egyptians, 4while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, whom the LORD had struck down among them. The LORD executed judgments even against their gods.
5So the Israelites set out from Rameses, and camped at Succoth. 6They set out from Succoth, and camped at Etham, which is on the edge of the wilderness. 7They set out from Etham, and turned back to Pi-hahiroth, which faces Baal-zephon; and they camped before Migdol. 8They set out from Pi-hahiroth, passed through the sea into the wilderness, went a three days’ journey in the wilderness of Etham, and camped at Marah. 9They set out from Marah and came to Elim; at Elim there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there. 10They set out from Elim and camped by the Red Sea.a 11They set out from the Red Seab and camped in the wilderness of Sin. 12They set out from the wilderness of Sin and camped at Dophkah. 13They set out from Dophkah and camped at Alush. 14They set out from Alush and camped at Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink. 15They set out from Rephidim and camped in the wilderness of Sinai. 16They set out from the wilderness of Sinai and camped at Kibroth-hattaavah. 17They set out from Kibroth-hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth. 18They set out from Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah. 19They set out from Rithmah and camped at Rimmon-perez. 20They set out from Rimmon-perez and camped at Libnah. 21They set out from Libnah and camped at Rissah. 22They set out from Rissah and camped at Kehelathah. 23They set out from Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher. 24They set out from Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah. 25They set out from Haradah and camped at Makheloth. 26They set out from Makheloth and camped at Tahath. 27They set out from Tahath and camped at Terah. 28They set out from Terah and camped at Mithkah. 29They set out from Mithkah and camped at Hashmonah. 30They set out from Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth. 31They set out from Moseroth and camped at Bene-jaakan. 32They set out from Bene-jaakan and camped at Hor-haggidgad. 33They set out from Hor-haggidgad and camped at Jotbathah. 34They set out from Jotbathah and camped at Abronah. 35They set out from Abronah and camped at Ezion-geber. 36They set out from Ezion-geber and camped in the wilderness of Zin (that is, Kadesh). 37They set out from Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor, on the edge of the land of Edom.
38Aaron the priest went up Mount Hor at the command of the LORD and died there in the fortieth year after the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month. 39Aaron was one hundred twenty-three years old when he died on Mount Hor.
40The Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negeb in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the Israelites.
41They set out from Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah. 42They set out from Zalmonah and camped at Punon. 43They set out from Punon and camped at Oboth. 44They set out from Oboth and camped at Iyeabarim, in the territory of Moab. 45They set out from Iyim and camped at Dibon-gad. 46They set out from Dibon-gad and camped at Almon-diblathaim. 47They set out from Almon-diblathaim and camped in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo. 48They set out from the mountains of Abarim and camped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho; 49they camped by the Jordan from Beth-jeshimoth as far as Abel-shittim in the plains of Moab.
Directions for the Conquest of Canaan
50In the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 51Speak to the Israelites, and say to them: When you cross over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their figured stones, destroy all their cast images, and demolish all their high places. 53You shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess. 54You shall apportion the land by lot according to your clans; to a large one you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small one you shall give a small inheritance; the inheritance shall belong to the person on whom the lot falls; according to your ancestral tribes you shall inherit. 55But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides; they shall trouble you in the land where you are settling. 56And I will do to you as I thought to do to them.
next chapter
* * *
a Or Sea of Reeds
b Or Sea of Reeds
33.3–5 See Ex 12.37.
33.6–15 From Succoth to the wilderness of Sinai. See Ex 13.17–19.1.
33.16–49 From the wilderness of Sinai to the plains of Moab. See 10.11–22.1.
33.38–39 See 20.22–29.
33.50–56 See also, e.g., Ex 23.23–33;34.11–16; Deut 7.1–6; 12.2–4; cf. Josh 23.4–8; Judg 1.1–2.5; 2.11–3.6.
NUMBERS 34
The Boundaries of the Land
1The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 2Command the Israelites, and say to them: When you enter the land of Canaan (this is the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, the land of Canaan, defined by its boundaries), 3your south sector shall extend from the wilderness of Zin along the side of Edom. Your southern boundary shall begin from the end of the Dead Seaa on the east; 4your boundary shall turn south of the ascent of Akrabbim, and cross to Zin, and its outer limit shall be south of Kadesh-barnea; then it shall go on to Hazar-addar, and cross to Azmon; 5the bo
undary shall turn from Azmon to the Wadi of Egypt, and its termination shall be at the Sea.
6For the western boundary, you shall have the Great Sea and itsb coast; this shall be your western boundary.
7This shall be your northern boundary: from the Great Sea you shall mark out your line to Mount Hor; 8from Mount Hor you shall mark it out to Lebo-hamath, and the outer limit of the boundary shall be at Zedad; 9then the boundary shall extend to Ziphron, and its end shall be at Hazar-enan; this shall be your northern boundary.
10You shall mark out your eastern boundary from Hazar-enan to Shepham; 11and the boundary shall continue down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain; and the boundary shall go down, and reach the eastern slope of the sea of Chinnereth; 12and the boundary shall go down to the Jordan, and its end shall be at the Dead Sea.c This shall be your land with its boundaries all around.
13Moses commanded the Israelites, saying: This is the land that you shall inherit by lot, which the LORD has commanded to give to the nine tribes and to the half-tribe; 14for the tribe of the Reubenites by their ancestral houses and the tribe of the Gadites by their ancestral houses have taken their inheritance, and also the half-tribe of Manasseh; 15the two tribes and the half-tribe have taken their inheritance beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, toward the sunrise.
Tribal Leaders
16The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 17These are the names of the men who shall apportion the land to you for inheritance: the priest Eleazar and Joshua son of Nun. 18You shall take one leader of every tribe to apportion the land for inheritance. 19These are the names of the men: Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh. 20Of the tribe of the Simeonites, Shemuel son of Ammihud. 21Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad son of Chislon. 22Of the tribe of the Danites a leader, Bukki son of Jogli. 23Of the Josephites: of the tribe of the Manassites a leader, Hanniel son of Ephod, 24and of the tribe of the Ephraimites a leader, Kemuel son of Shiphtan. 25Of the tribe of the Zebulunites a leader, Elizaphan son of Parnach. 26Of the tribe of the Issacharites a leader, Paltiel son of Azzan. 27And of the tribe of the Asherites a leader, Ahihud son of Shelomi. 28Of the tribe of the Naphtalites a leader, Pedahel son of Ammihud. 29These were the ones whom the LORD commanded to apportion the inheritance for the Israelites in the land of Canaan.