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The Pulpit Commentary
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 32:19
On yonder side Jordan. מֵעֵבֶר לירְדֵּן. Septuagint, ἀπὸ τοῦ πέραν τοῦ ἰορδάνου. This phrase is here used in what is apparently its more natural sense, as it would be used by one dwelling in the plains of Moab (s…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 32:20
Before the Lord. Perhaps in a quasi-local sense, as the vanguard of the host before the sacred symbols of the Lord's presence (see on Numbers 10:21, and Joshua 6:9). But since the same expression ( לִפְנֵי יְהֹוָה) is t…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 32:23
BE SURE YOUR SIN WILL FIND YOU OUT. These words, though ultimately true of every sin, are spoken of actions which, going forth from us, perform their mischievous errands, but will come home again, bringing retribution w…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 32:23
Be sure your sin will find you out. Or rather, "ye will know your sin" ( וּדְעוּ חאָתְכֶם) "which shall find you out" (for מָצָא cf. Genesis 44:16). So in effect the Septuagint: γνώσεσθε τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ὑῶν, ὅταν υ…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 32:23
THE EYES OF THE SINNER OPENED AT LAST "Be sure your sin will find you out." I. THESE WORDS IMPLY THE POSSIBILITY OF SIN BEING COMMITTED. The particular danger in this instance was of breaking a promise. These words of M…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 32:26
In the cities of Gilead. The name is used here in a vague sense for all the central and southern trans-Jordanic districts.
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 32:28
Moses commanded. See on Numbers 34:17, Numbers 34:18; Joshua 1:13 ff.; Joshua 22:1 ff.
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 32:33
And unto half the tribe of Manasseh. As no mention has been previously made of this tribe in this connection, we are left to conjecture why it should, contrary to all analogy, have been divided at all, and why the one h…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 32:34
The children of Gad built, i.e; no doubt, they put these places in some habitable and defensible state of repair until they should return. Dibon. Now Dhiban, four miles north of Arnon. It is called Dibon-gad in Numbers…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 32:35
Atroth, Shophan. Rather, "Atroth-Shophan," another Ataroth, the site of which is unknown. Jaazer. See on Numbers 32:1. Jogbehah. Now perhaps Jebeiha, to the north of Jaazer (cf. 8:11). All these places were only tempora…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 32:36
Beth-nimrah and Beth-haran. Supposed to be the present Nimrun and Beit-haran in the plains of Moab, beside the Jordan, and in the immediate neighbourhood of the Israelitish camp. The latter would seem to have fallen sub…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 32:37
The children of Reuben. Reuben had, at the time of the last census, been greater in number than Gad, and had been his leader on the march. He now begins to take that secondary position which was always to be his. Of the…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 32:38
Baalomeon. Called Been in Numbers 32:3, Beth-meon in Jeremiah 48:23, Beth-Baal-meon in Joshua 13:17. Their names being changed. מוּסבֹּת שֵׁם, "with change of name," dependent on the verb "built." The Septuagint has περ…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 32:39
The children of Machir. The relation of the Beni-Machir to the tribe of Manasseh is obscure, because all the Manassites were descended from Machir. In the absence of any direct information, we can only guess at the natu…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 32:40
And he dwelt therein. This expression does not necessarily look beyond the lifetime of Moses, although it would be more naturally taken as doing so. In Numbers 20:1 יֵּשֶׁב is used of the "abiding" of Israel at Kadesh.
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 32:41
Jair the son of Manasseh. This hero of Manasseh is mentioned here for the first time; in Deuteronomy 3:14 his conquests are somewhat more fully described. His genealogy, which is instructive and suggestive, is given her…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 32:42
NOBAH-THE MAN AND THE PLACE This proceeding on the part of Nobah suggests a good deal of speculation as to the character, purposes, and actual achievements of the man. Concerning the children of Reuben, we are simply to…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 32:42
Nobah. As this chieftain is nowhere else named, we may probably conclude that he was one of the companions of Jair, holding a position more or less subordinate to him. Kenath. The modern Kenawat, on the western slope of…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 33:1-49
THE JOURNEYINGS OF THE ISRAELITES Reading through this record, which looks, on the first appearance of it, much like a page from a gazetteer, we are made to feel— I. HOW LITTLE WE SHOULD KNOW OF THE EXPERIENCES OF ISRAE…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 33:1-49
EXPOSITION ITINERARY OF THE WANDERINGS (Numbers 33:1-49).
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 33:1
These are the journeys. The Hebrew word מַסְעֵי is rendered σταθμοί by the Septuagint, which means "stages" or "stations." It is, however, quite rightly translated "journeys," for it is the act of setting out and march…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 33:1-49
THE JOURNEY HOME We have here a brief summary of the stages by which Israel traveled onwards from Egypt to Canaan; spiritually, therefore, we have an epitome of the Church's progress, or of the progress of a soul, throu…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 33:2
And Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys by the commandment of the Lord. The latter clause ( עַל־פִי יְהֹוָה) may be taken as equivalent to an adjective qualifying the noun "goings out," signifying o…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 33:3
They departed from Rameses. Hebrew, Raemses. See on Exodus 1:11; Exodus 12:1-51 :87. The brief description here given of the departure from Egypt touches upon every material circumstance as related at large in Exodus 11…