Numbers 32:5

Num 32:5 Wherefore, said they, if we have found grace in thy sight, let this land be given unto thy servants for a possession, [and] bring us not over Jordan.

Ver. 5. Let this land be given unto thy servants.] An unsavoury and unseasonable motion this might seem at first, and did, even to Moses himself, as appears in the next verse. And surely it is probable that they were too much set upon that portion of earth, as Lot was upon the plain of Sodom, {Gen 13:10} and was therefore soon after carried captive by the four kings, as these in the text are noted to be the first that were carried captives out of their land. {1Ch 5:25-26} Strong affections cause strong afflictions; when God seeth people set upon it to have this or that, have it they may, but with an after-clap that shall dissweeten it. How was David crossed in his Absalom, Absalom in his kingdom, Amnon in his Tamar, Elkanah in his Hannah! {1Sa 1:5} He loved her, and the Lord made her barren.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Num 32:5-7. 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 that mere cowardice, and a love of ease, made them desire to stay where they were; which ill example might have disheartened the rest of their brethren.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 5. Let this land be given unto thy servants] Because it was good for pasturage, and they had many flocks, Nu 32:1.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(5) Bring us not over Jordan.—These words may be understood either simply as a request that the inheritance of the speakers might be assigned to them on the eastern side of the Jordan, or, as they appear to have been understood by Moses, and as they were in all probability designed to be understood, as a request that the conquest of the western side of the Jordan might be left to the other tribes, and that the Reubenites and Gadites might be permitted at once to establish themselves in the land which had been already subjugated. It is possible that the speakers, judging from the ease and rapidity with which the eastern side of the Jordan had been conquered, might have thought that their brethren were well able to subdue the western side without their aid. Be this as it may, their language indicated a selfish consideration of their own interests, and it was calculated to discourage and dishearten their brethren, and consequently it was strongly reproved by Moses. It is deserving of notice that the tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh were amongst the first who were taken into captivity by the King of Assyria (1Ch_5:26).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Moses said unto the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben,.... Being displeased with their motion, as his following discourse shows, it having at first sight an appearance of covetousness and cowardice:

shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here? it is not reasonable that your brethren should be left by you and engage in a war with your common enemies, to dispossess them of their land before they can settle in it and you remain here easy and quiet in the possession of a fruitful country.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Jordan. They are a figure of those who would possess heaven without labour. But none is crowned, except he strive lawfully, 2 Timothy ii. 5. (Worthington)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

To wit, to give us our possession there, but let this land on this side Jordan be our whole possession.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

5. Bring us not over Jordan — The charitable construction of this petition is that these tribes did not wish their allotments on the west side of the Jordan, but that they intended to assist in its conquest. But Moses understood them to desire to settle at once east of the river, and leave the other tribes to conquer Canaan alone.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Bring us not over Jordan. The two tribes have been charged on the strength of these words with "shameless selfishness," but there is nothing to justify such an accusation. If they thought at all of the effect of their request upon their brethren, it is quite likely that they intended to do them a kindness by leaving them more room on the other side Jordan; and indeed Canaan proper was all too strait for such a population. Whether they were wise in wishing to stay in the wider and more attractive lands which they had seen is another matter. They knew that the God of Israel had designed to plant his people between Jordan and the sea, and they certainly risked a partial severance from his promises and his protection by remaining where they did. The subsequent history of the trans-Jordanic tribes is a melancholy commentary on the real unwisdom of their choice. Yet it would have been difficult for them to know that they were wrong, except by an instinct of faith which no Israelites perhaps at that time possessed.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.