17 But we ourselves will go An. Exod. Isr. ready armed before the children of Israel, until we have brought them unto their place and our little ones shall dwell in the fenced cities because of the inhabitants of the land. с 26 Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our cattle, shall be there in the cities of Gilead: t Josh. iv. 12, 13.-" Josh. xxii. 4.- Ver. 33; Josh. xii. 1; xiii. 8. w Deut. iii. 18; Josh. i. 14; iv. 12, 13.- * Deut. iii. 20; Josh. xi. 23; xviii. 1.- -y Josh. xxii. 4. -z Deut. iii. 12, 15, 16, 18; Josh. i. 15; xiii. 8, 32; xxii. 4, 9.- a Gen. iv. have been very easily accomplished in the time which they spent on this side of Jordan, before they went over with their brethren, to put them in possession of the land. Verse 17. Because of the inhabitants of the land.] These were the Ammonites, Moabites, Idumeans, and the remains of the Midianites and Amorites. But could the women and children even keep the defenced cities, when placed in them? This certainly cannot be supposed possible. Many of the men of war must of course stay behind. In the last census, chap. xxvi., the tribe of Reuben consisted of 43,730 men; the tribe of Gad, 40,500; the tribe of Manasseh, 52,700; the half of which is 26,350. Add this to the sum of the other two tribes, and the amount is 110,580. of Reuben and Gad is granted. 27 But thy servants will pass over, every man armed for war, before the LORD to battle, as my lord saith. e A. M. 2553. B. C. 1451. An. Exod. Isr. 40. 28 So concerning them Moses commanded Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the chief fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel: 29 And Moses said unto them, If the chil dren of Gad and the children of Reuben will pass with you over Jordan, every man armed to battle, before the LORD, and the land shall be subdued before you; then ye shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession: 30 But if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan. 31 And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying, As the LORD hath said unto thy servants, so will we do. 32 We will pass over armed before the LORD into the land of Canaan, that the possession of our inheritance on this side Jordan may be ours. 33 And Moses gave unto them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and unto half the tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land, with the cities thereof in the coasts, even the cities of the country round about. 34 And the children of Gad built h Dibon, and Ataroth, and i Aroer, 35 And Atroth, Shophan, and Jaazer, and Jogbehah, 7; xliv. 16; Isa, lix. 12. Ver. 16, 34, &c. e Josh. i. 14. d Josh. iv. 12.- Josh. i. 13.- Deut. iii. 12-17; xxix. 8; Josh. xii. 6; xiii. 8; xxii. 4.- Chap. xxi. 21, 33, 35. Chap. xxxiii. 45, 46.Deut. ii. 36.- Ver. 1. 3, Jazer. Now from Joshua iv. 13 we learn that of the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half of the tribe of Manasseh, only 40,000 armed men passed over Jordan to assist their brethren in the reduction of the land: consequently the number of 70,580 men were left behind for the defence of the women, the children, and the flocks. This was more than sufficient to defend them against a people already panic struck by their late discomfitures and reverses. Verse 34. The children of Gad built-Aroer] This was situated on the river Arnon, Deut. ii. 36; 2 Kings x. 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 Account of the journeyings A. M. 2553. B. C. 1451. An. Exod. Isr. 40. 1 36 And Beth-nimrah, and dispossessed the Amorite which Beth-haran, m fenced cities: and was in it. folds for sheep. n A. M. 2553. An. Exod. Isr. 40.. 37 And the children of Reuben " built Hesh- unto Machir the son of Manasseh; and he 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 xv. 29, after which the Moabites appear to have repossessed it, as they seem to have occupied it in the days of Jeremiah, chap. xlviii. 15-20. Verse 38. And Nebo-their names being changed] That is, Those who conquered the cities called them after their own names. Thus the city Kenath, being conquered by Nobah, was called after his name; ver. 42. Verse 41. Havoth-jair.] That is, the villages or habitations of Jair; and thus they should have been translated. As these two tribes and a half were the first, says Ainsworth, who had their inheritance assigned to them in the promised land, so they were the first of all Israel that were carried captive out of their own land, because of their sins. "For they transgressed against the God of their fathers, and went a whoring after other gods. And God delivered them into the hands of Pul and Tiglath-Pilneser, kings of Assyria, and they brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and Gozan, unto this day." See 1 Chron. v. 25, 26. CHAPTER XXXIII, The journeyings of the Israelites written out by Moses, according to the commandment of the Lord, 1, 2. They depart from Rameses on the fifteenth day of the first month, on the day after the passover, the firstborn of the Egyptians having been slain, 3, 4. Their forty-two stations enumerated, 5–49. They are authorized to expel all the former inhabitants, and destroy all remnants of idolatry, 50–53. The land is to be divided by lot, 54. Should they not drive out the former inhabitants, they shall be to them as pricks in their eyes and thorns in their sides, 55. And if not obedient, God will deal with them as he has purposed to do with the Canaanites, 56. A. M. 2553. B. C. 1451. An. Exod. Isr. 40. a A. M. 2553. B. C. 1451. 40. THESE are the journeys of 2 And Moses wrote their gothe children of Israel, which ings out according to their jour- An. Exod. Isr. went forth out of the land of neys, by the commandment of Egypt with their armies, under the "hand of the LORD: and these are their journeys acMoses and Aaron. cording to their goings out. a Exod. xii. 38, 51; xiii. 18.- b Josh. xxiv. 5. NOTES ON CHAP. XXXIII. Verse 2. And Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys] We may consider the whole book of Numbers as a diary, and indeed the first book of travels ever published. Dr. Shaw, Dr. Pococke, and several others, have endeavoured to mark out the route of the Israelites through this great, dreary, and trackless desert, and have ascertained many of the stages here described. Indeed there are sufficient evidences of this important journey still remaining, for the descriptions of many are so particular that the places are readily ascertained by them; but this is not the case with all. Israel was the Church of God in the wilderness, and its unsettled, wandering state under Chap. ix. 17-23; x. 6, 13; Deut. i. 2, 10, 11. Moses may point out the unsettled state of religion under the law. Their being brought, after the death of Moses, into the promised rest by Joshua, may point out the establishment, fixedness, and certainty of that salvation provided by Jesus Christ, of whom Joshua, in name and conduct, was a remarkable type. Mr. Ainsworth imagines that the forty-two stations here enumerated, through which the Israelites were brought to the verge of the promised land, and afterwards taken over Jordan into the rest which God had promised, point out the forty-two generations from Abraham unto Christ, through whom the Saviour of the world came, by whose blood we have an entrance into the holiest, and enjoy the inheritance among the saints in light. Account of the journeyings A. M. 2553. B. C. 1451. An. Exod. Isr. 40. 36 And Beth-nimrah, and dispossessed the Amorite which Beth-haran, m fenced cities: and was in it. folds for sheep. 40 And Moses gave Gilead A. M. 2553. An. Exod. Isr. 37 And the children of Reuben a built Hesh-unto Machir the son of Manasseh; and he bon, and Elcaleh, and Kirjathaim, 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 xv. 29, after which the Moabites appear to have repossessed it, as they seem to have occupied it in the days of Jeremiah, chap. xlviii. 15-20. Verse 38. And Nebo-their names being changed] That is, Those who conquered the cities called them after their own names. Thus the city Kenath, being conquered by Nobah, was called after his name; ver. 42. Verse 41. Havoth-jair.] That is, the villages or dwelt therein. habitations of Jair; and thus they should have been translated. As these two tribes and a half were the first, says Ainsworth, who had their inheritance assigned to them in the promised land, so they were the first of all Israel that were carried captive out of their own land, because of their sins. "For they transgressed against the God of their fathers, and went a whoring after other gods. And God delivered them into the hands of Pul and Tiglath-Pilneser, kings of Assyria, and they brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and Gozan, unto this day." See 1 Chron. v. 25, 26. CHAPTER XXXIII, The journeyings of the Israelites written out by Moses, according to the commandment of the Lord, 1, 2. They depart from Rameses on the fifteenth day of the first month, on the day after the passover, the firstborn of the Egyptians having been slain, 3, 4. Their forty-two stations enumerated, 5-49. They are authorized to expel all the former inhabitants, and destroy all remnants of idolatry, 50–53. The land is to be divided by lot, 54. Should they not drive out the former inhabitants, they shall be to them as pricks in their eyes and thorns in their sides, 55. And if not obedient, God will deal with them as he has purposed to do with the Canaanites, 56. A. M. 2553. B. C. 1451. An. Exod. Isr. 40. A. M. 2553. 40. THESE are the journeys of 2 And Moses wrote their gothe children of Israel, which ings out according to their jour- An. Exod. Isr. went forth out of the neys, by the commandment of Egypt with their armies, under the Moses and Aaron. land of a Exod. xii. 38, 51; xiii. 18.b Josh. xxiv. 5. NOTES ON CHAP. XXXIII. Verse 2. And Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys] We may consider the whole book of Numbers as a diary, and indeed the first book of travels ever published. Dr. Shaw, Dr. Pococke, and several others, have endeavoured to mark out the route of the Israelites through this great, dreary, and trackless desert, and have ascertained many of the stages here described. Indeed there are sufficient evidences of this important journey still remaining, for the descriptions of many are so particular that the places are readily ascertained by them; but this is not the case with all. Israel was the Church of God in the wilderness, and its unsettled, wandering state under the LORD: and these are their journeys according to their goings out. Chap. ix. 17-23; x. 6, 13; Deut. i. 2, 10, 11. Moses may point out the unsettled state of religion under the law. Their being brought, after the death of Moses, into the promised rest by Joshua, may point out the establishment, fixedness, and certainty of that salvation provided by Jesus Christ, of whom Joshua, in name and conduct, was a remarkable type. Mr. Ainsworth imagines that the forty-two stations here enumerated, through which the Israelites were brought to the verge of the promised land, and afterwards taken over Jordan into the rest which God had promised, point out the forty-two generations from Abraham unto Christ, through whom the Saviour of the world came, by whose blood we have an entrance into the holiest, and enjoy the inheritance among the saints in light. |