They had conquered the land on which they stood. It seemed to be a good land. They would settle here. But would it go well for them?

The Book of Numbers was aptly named bemidbar in Hebrew, for it bore witness to Israel’s experiences “in the wilderness.” Numbers 1:1-25:11 bore witness to the experience of the generation which YHWH delivered from Egypt: preparation of the camp and Tabernacle for entry into Canaan, persistence in rebellion, its condemnation, and the fulfillment of that condemnation. After the new census of Numbers 26:1-65, much of the focus in Numbers shifted to the new generation and preparing them to finally entering the land of Canaan in Numbers 27:1-36:13, as well demonstrated in the legislation regarding offerings and payment of vows in Numbers 27:1-30:16 and the ideal military campaign of Numbers 31:1-54.

According to Numbers 32:1-5, the Israelites of the tribes of Reuben and Gad had a lot of cattle, and perceived all of the land in which they were occupying, the Transjordanian territory of Jazer and Gilead, to be good for raising cattle. They therefore asked Moses, Eleazar the high priest, and the leaders of Israel if they could obtain the lands of Sihon and Og as their possession, and not cross the Jordan River with the rest of the Israelites.

Moses was not a fan of this proposal. He laid into the Gadites and Reubenites, asking them if they were trying to frustrate the conquest of Canaan, and insinuated they were rebelling against YHWH and His purposes like their fathers did when the spies brought back a bad report, and would cause another generation to be abandoned in the wilderness (Numbers 32:6-15; cf. Numbers 13:1-14:45).

Was Moses overreacting? We could definitely understand if he had been not a little traumatized by all he had experienced with the former generation of the Israelites, and proved overly fearful of yet another instance of an unfaithful or rebellious spirit arising in the Israelites. Perhaps Moses also had in mind a historical experience of looking upon the lands to the east of the Jordan River, believing them good for livestock, and choosing to live there as opposed to the western lands: Lot’s choice of the lands around Sodom (Genesis 13:1-18). Abraham’s descendants, the Israelites, would inherit the lands west of the Jordan River; Lot’s descendants, the Ammonites and Moabites, would inherit and live in the Transjordan lands (cf. Genesis 13:8-17, 19:30-38).

Nevertheless, in Numbers 21:21-35, YHWH had given Israel victory over the Amorite kings Sihon and Og, who had controlled a significant amount of the Transjordan, from the Arnon (which emptied into the middle of the Dead Sea) all the way up to around Mount Hermon (roughly east of Sidon of Phoenicia). Sihon and Og had no doubt conquered this land from the Moabites and Ammonites, respectively, but since the Israelites had defeated them, the land could be possessed by the Israelites.

The Gadites and Reubenites worked to allay Moses’ fears and suspicions in Numbers 32:16-19. They would not abandon their fellow Israelites in the conquest of Canaan: they would first build sheepfolds and cities, establish some fortified towns to protect themselves, and then send the (vast majority of) their men equipped for battle to go and fight with the Israelites on the western side of the Jordan River. They would not return until the conquest had been satisfactorily completed, and they would not expect an inheritance on the western side of the Jordan River.

Moses seemed satisfied by this: if they would indeed fight with their fellow Israelites on the western side of the Jordan River until the land was subdued, then they could obtain the Transjordanian territories as their inheritance; if they rebelled and did not do so, however, they would sin against YHWH, and their sin would find them out (Numbers 32:20-24). The Gadites and Reubenites confirmed the word of Moses in Numbers 32:25-27.

Moses then gave orders and communicated the situation to the rest of Israel: the Gadite and Reubenite forces would cross over and fight with the Israelites to conquer Canaan, and all Israel would then affirm the Transjordanian territories as their possession; if they would not cross over and fight, they should be given a land possession in Canaan, west of the Jordan River (Numbers 32:28-30). The Gadites and Reubenites affirmed this, and it was established (Numbers 32:31-32).

In Numbers 32:33, the narrator related how Moses thus had given the Gadites, Reubenites, and half of the tribe of Manasseh the lands of the Amorite kings Sihon and Og. He detailed the cities the Reubenites rebuilt in the more southerly lands north of the Arnon and Moabite territory, and the cities rebuilt by the Gadites to the north of Reuben, which would also include the area in which Israel was presently encamped, in Numbers 32:34-38. The narrator then explained how the descendants of Manasseh, Machir, Jair, and Nobah, took Gilead, the territories north of Gad, ostensibly all the way to Mount Hermon, and dispossessed the Amorites there, in Numbers 32:39-48.

But was it not merely the Gadites and Reubenites who requested the Transjordanian territories in Numbers 32:1-32? Where did some of the descendants of Manasseh come from? The text in Numbers provided no explicit answer. When Joshua called upon the Transjordanian Israelites to remember their vow and to cross over with the Israelites to conquer Canaan, he appealed to Gad, Reuben, and half of Manasseh, thus presuming the half tribe of Manasseh had already established their possession of Gilead before the other half conquered and received its share west of the Jordan (cf. Joshua 1:12-18). According to Joshua 17:1-9, Manasseh was allotted Gilead, Bashan, and a good amount of the territory immediately to their west across the Jordan River, all the way to the Mediterranean Sea.

Numbers 32:1-38 thus explained for later Israelites how two and a half Israelite tribes ended up with territorial allotments in the Transjordan. The Gadites, Reubenites, and Manassites who lived across the Jordan River seemed to maintain some anxiety regarding whether the Israelites of the future would consider them part of Israel, as would be made evident in the affair of the altar of witness narrated in Joshua 22:1-34.

Thus Israel considered Gilead, Bashan, and Jazer in the Transjordan as part of its territories. When Israel was strong and faithful, the Israelites possessed the land strongly; but whenever Israel was weaker or less faithful, the Ammonites, Moabites, and Aramaeans would assert their claims and overrun the land (cf. Joshua 21:27, Judges 11:1-28, 1 Kings 4:13, 2 Kings 10:33, 13:25). Yet Israel would only maintain these lands until 732 BCE, when Tiglath-pileser III king of Assyria conquered the Transjordan territories of Israel and exiled its inhabitants (cf. 2 Kings 15:29). The territory was considered the Decapolis and Perea in the time of the New Testament, and was primarily Gentile and pagan in population (cf. Mark 4:25, 5:20, 7:31). Today, most of this Transjordanian territory is part of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, but the uppermost parts of Gilead extend into the Golan Heights, occupied by the State of Israel yet still claimed by the Syrian Arab Republic.

The settling of the Gadites, Reubenites, and some Manassites in the Transjordan territories in Numbers 32:1-38 exemplified all the transitions taking place toward the conclusion of the Book of Numbers. The memory of the past remained vivid, reflected in Moses’ biting and fearful response to the request of the Gadites and Reubenites. The new generation, however, was not like their fathers: they wanted to prove faithful to YHWH and the commitment to conquering the land of Canaan. At no point in the witness of the Hebrew Bible are the Reubenites, Gadites, or some Manassites deemed as somehow less faithful because their possessions were east of the Jordan River. They wanted to share in Israelite identity and to benefit from the good land upon which they found themselves. In this way the Gadites, Reubenites, and some Manassites were the first to obtain their land and portion in Israel, and by the decree of Moses no less. It would not be long before the rest of Israel would cross over the Jordan and receive their inheritance as well. May we learn from the examples of the people of God who came before us, and prove faithful to God in Christ through the Spirit in order to obtain the resurrection of life in Him!

Ethan R. Longhenry

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