John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Numbers 31:1



INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 31



This chapter contains an order to make war upon Midian, which was accordingly done, Nu 31:1, but Moses was wroth, because they saved the women alive, who, through the counsel of Balaam, had been the cause of sin, and of the plague for it in Israel, and therefore orders them, and the male children, to be slain, Nu 31:13, and then directs to the purification of the soldiers, their captives and spoil,

Nu 31:19, and by the command of God an account is taken of the prey, and a division of it made between the soldiers and the congregation, and out of each part a tribute is levied for the Lord,

Nu 31:25 and the sum of the whole booty is given,

Nu 31:32 and of the part which belonged to the soldiers, and of the tribute given to the Lord, Nu 31:36 and of the part which belonged to the children of Israel, Nu 31:42 and besides the above tribute to the Lord, the officers made a voluntary oblation out of their spoil, both by way of gratitude for sparing their lives, and to make atonement for their souls, Nu 31:48.



Ver. 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... After the plague upon Israel for their fornication and idolatry, into which they were drawn by the daughters of Moab and Midian, and after the sum of the people was taken in the plains of Moab, and various laws given or repeated, and a little before the death of Moses:



saying; as follows.





Numbers 31:2



Ver. 2. Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites,.... For the injury they had done them, by sending their daughters among them, who enticed them to commit uncleanness with them, and then drew them into the worship of their idols, which brought the wrath of God upon them, and for which 24,000 persons were slain. Now, though the Moabites had a concern in this affair as well as the Midianites, yet they were spared; which some think was for the sake of Lot, from whom they descended; but why not the Midianites for the sake of Abraham, whose offspring they were by Keturah? Jarchi says, they were spared because of Ruth, who was to spring from them; and so she might, and yet vengeance be taken on great numbers of them: but the truer reason seems to be, either because the sin of the Moabites was not yet full, and they were reserved for a later punishment; or rather because they were not the principal actors in the above affair; but the Midianites, who seem to have advised Balak at first to send for Balaam to curse Israel, and who harboured that soothsayer after he had been dismissed by Balak, and to whom he gave his wicked counsel, and which they readily followed, and industriously pursued:



afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people; or die, see

Nu 27:13, it being some satisfaction to him to see the good land, as he did from Abarim, and the Israelites avenged on their enemies before his death.





Numbers 31:3



Ver. 3. And Moses spake unto the people, saying,.... In obedience to the divine command; this must be supposed to be spoken to the heads or princes of the tribes:



arm some of yourselves unto the war: not the whole body of the militia, 600,000 men and upwards, only some of them, and these choice and select men; and, according to the Jewish writers, good men, who, detesting the sins of lewdness and idolatry, would more strictly and severely avenge themselves on the Midianites for drawing their brethren into those sins, whereby they fell; and so Jarchi calls them righteous men:



[and] let them go against the Midianites, and avenge the Lord of Midian: what the Lord calls the vengeance of the Israelites, Moses calls the vengeance of the Lord, because they were the Lord's people, and his cause and theirs the same: and because the sins they were drawn into by the Midianites were not only against themselves, and to their prejudice, but against the Lord and to the dishonour of his name.





Numbers 31:4



Ver. 4. Of every tribe a thousand,.... So that the whole number of those that were armed were 12,000 as after given:



throughout all the tribes of Israel; this is observed, as Jarchi thinks, to comprehend the tribe of Levi, which in some cases was left out of the account:



shall ye send to the war; to fight with Midian.





Numbers 31:5



Ver. 5. So they were delivered out of the thousands of Israel,....] Several thousands very probably offered themselves voluntarily to go to the war, or however were summoned together on this account, and out of them the following number was delivered of picked and chosen men:



a thousand [of every] tribe, twelve thousand armed for war; which was but a small number to go against so considerable a nation and people; but this was done to show that the war was of the Lord, he would fight the battle, and give them victory, it being the same to him to do it with few as with many; and to encourage the people of Israel to believe the Lord would give them success against their many and powerful enemies in the land of Canaan, on the borders of which they now were.





Numbers 31:6



Ver. 6. And Moses sent them to the war,.... Being mustered and armed:



a thousand of [every] tribe, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest to the war; which looks as if Phinehas was the general of this army; for Moses went not to the war, and no mention is made of Joshua, nor might it be proper for him, he being the successor of Moses, who was quickly to die; but it seems rather that there was no one person that had the command of the whole, but every captain commanded his own company; since, when Moses met them, and was angry with them for sparing the women, he does not address anyone as the chief commander, but all the officers, Nu 31:14, however, it was very proper and prudent to send Phinehas with them, both on account of his office as a priest, to encourage the people, and because of his extraordinary zeal against the Midianites for what they had done, as appears by his slaying a prince of Simeon and a Midianitish princess in their uncleanness:



[and he went] with the holy instruments, and the trumpets to blow in his hand; by "the holy instruments", Aben Ezra understands the ark with what appertained to it, which in later times used to be carried out when the Israelites went to war, Jos 6:4, and Jarchi interprets them of the ark and plate of gold {z} which was upon the forehead of the high priest; but what had Phinehas to do with this, who was but a common priest? though the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases it,



"with the Urim and Thummim of holiness, to inquire by them;''



and it appears, that sometimes a son of an high priest was intrusted with the ephod, to which the breastplate was fastened, which had the Urim and Thummim on it, and made use thereof to inquire by, as in the times of David, 1Sa 23:6, but it is the opinion of some learned men, and they may be in the right, that these instruments are no other than the trumpets, and who suppose the "vau" is not copulative, but explanative, so Ben Gersom, and read the words thus, "with the holy instruments, even", or, "that is, the trumpets" {a}, the silver trumpets ordered to be made, Nu 10:2 one of which was far the journey of the camps, and also to blow an alarm for war, and which was done by the priests; and so the Targum of Jonathan adds here,



"to cause the camp of Israel to rest, and to cause it to go;''



that is, to direct it when it should stop, and when it should move.



{z} So the Rabbins in Abendana in Miclol Yophi in loc. {a} twruuxw "erantque tubae", Tigurine version; "id est tubae", Vatablus; "nempe tubae", Piscator; so Ainsworth.





Numbers 31:7



Ver. 7. And they warred against the Midianites, as the Lord commanded Moses,.... Whether the Midianites came out against them with an army, and there was a pitched battle between them, is not certain; however the Israelites committed acts of hostility upon them, by entering their cities, plundering their houses, and slaying the inhabitants of them; the Targum of Jonathan is,



"they warred against Midian, and surrounded it in the three corners of it, as the Lord commanded Moses;''



for, as Maimonides {b} observes from tradition,



"when they besiege a city to take it, they do not surround it in the four corners of it, but in the three corners of it, and leave a place to flee out, that everyone that would might escape for his life, as it is said, "and they warred against Midian, as the Lord commanded Moses"; by report, or from tradition, it is learnt that so he commanded him;''



that is, in such a manner to besiege a city; but for this there is only tradition, for it is not mentioned among the rules after directed to in such a case, De 20:10,



and they slew all the males; which fell into their hands; for, no doubt, there were multitudes that made their escape, since in later times we read of the Midianites, as a very powerful people, and very distressing to Israel, Jud 6:1 these, as Aben Ezra observes, they slew, were such as were grown up, for as for their little ones, them they spared and carried captive, Nu 31:9.



{b} Hilchot Melacim, c. 6. sect. 7.





Numbers 31:8



Ver. 8. And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain,.... Besides the males of the common people, they slew their kings, who were petty kings or princes, perhaps under the king of Moab, or had reassumed their titles and government after the death of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who, in his time, were called dukes of Sihon, Jos 13:21, namely,



Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian; the Targum of Jonathan says of Zur, this is Balak, which is not probable; it is more likely, what Aben Ezra observes, that he was the father of Cosbi, whom Phinehas slew, Nu 25:15.



Balaam also, the son of Beor, they slew with the sword; so that he died not a natural death, but a violent one, not such an one as he desired, the death of the righteous, but of bloody and deceitful men, who do not live out half their days; for if the Jewish writers {c} are to be credited, he was but thirty four years of age when he was slain, which is not quite half the age of man, that being seventy, Ps 90:10, it appears by this that he was among the Midianites at the time of this war; either he stayed here till this time, when he went from Balak with an intention to go into his own country; or he had returned hither, being either sent for, by the princes of Midian, on this occasion; or, as some say, as Aben Ezra observes, that he came to Midian after he returned to his place, on hearing the plague that came upon Israel through his counsel, to receive the money of the elders of Midian for it; and so Chaskuni.



{c} Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 7. 2.





Numbers 31:9



Ver. 9. And the children of Israel took [all] the women of Midian captives,.... The word "all" is not in the original text, nor should it be supplied; for if all had been taken, and carried captive, and put to death, as those were afterwards, how could there have been such an increase of the Midianites as there was in some time after this? see Jud 6:1 but the meaning is, that as many as fell into their hands they took and carried captive:



and their little ones; both male and female:



and took the spoil of all their cattle, and all their flocks; their oxen and their sheep, and also their asses, as appears by the following account:



and all their goods: in their houses, their wealth and substance, gold, silver, &c.





Numbers 31:10



Ver. 10. And they burnt all their cities wherein they dwelt, &c. } So far as they went into the country, which, perhaps, might not be the whole land of Midian:



and all their goodly castles with fire; which were either the palaces of their princes and nobles, or such like great personages; or they were fortified places, for the security of their cities and country: the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan interpret them of their houses of worship, their temples, and their altars.





Numbers 31:11



Ver. 11. And they took all the spoil,.... In their cities and castles; and all the prey, both of men and of beasts; all sorts of cattle, oxen, sheep, and asses.





Numbers 31:12



Ver. 12 And they brought the captives, the prey, and the spoil,.... The women and children, who were the captives, and the beasts which were the prey, and the gold, silver, &c. which were the spoil:



unto Moses and Eleazar the priest, and unto the congregation of the children of Israel; that is, they were bringing the above persons things unto them, returning from the war with Midian:



unto the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by Jordan [near] Jericho: see Nu 22:1, but they were stopped, and were not admitted into the camp until seven days after.





Numbers 31:13



Ver. 13. And Moses and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation,.... Attended, no doubt, with a proper retinue:



went forth to meet them without the camp; partly to do honour to them, and to congratulate them on their victory, and partly to hinder them going into the camp directly, until they were purified; see

Ge 14:17.





Numbers 31:14



Ver. 14. And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host,.... The general officers who had the command of the army, for there does not appear to be anyone that was one general over the whole, otherwise the displeasure would have fallen upon him:



[with] the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the battle; rather "with" should be left out, not being in the text; and these captains only explain who the officers were, and these were one hundred and thirty two, as Aben Ezra observes; twelve who were captains over thousands, and were more properly the general officers; and one hundred and twenty over so many hundreds, into which the whole were subdivided.





Numbers 31:15



Ver. 15. And Moses said unto them, have ye saved all the women alive?] Which either had been reported to him, or he concluded, by seeing so many with them; and this question is put, not for information, but by way of reproof, and as chiding them for what they had done; for they might have received orders from him to put them to death, when he sent them out; and if so, there was the more reason to be angry with them; or he might conclude they would have done this of themselves, knowing what instruments of mischief these women had been to Israel.





Numbers 31:16



Ver. 16. Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam,.... Who advised the Midianites to send their women into the camp of Israel, and allure them to uncleanness, and so draw them into idolatry, which counsel they followed and it succeeded; for, by this means, they were brought



to commit trespass against the Lord in the matter of Peor; by worshipping Baalpeor, the god of the Moabites and Midianites; whereby they transgressed the commandment of God, which forbid them having and worshipping any other gods besides him, and is a sin highly offensive to him, being greatly derogatory to his honour and glory:



and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord; for that sin; and in that plague died 24,000 persons, Nu 25:9.





Numbers 31:17



Ver. 17. Now therefore kill every male among the little ones,.... Which they had taken and brought captives, Nu 31:9



and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him; who might be such, at least many of them, who had lain with Israelitish men; and as the adulterers had been put to death, so now the adulteresses; or they were ordered to, be slain, even all of them, lest they should entice the children of Israel to uncleanness, and so to idolatry again: now these were known to be such, either by conjecture at their age, or rather, through the examination of matrons, unless it can be thought, as it is by some, that it was by divine revelation.





Numbers 31:18



Ver. 18. But all the women children,.... The females among the little ones:



that have not known a man by lying with him; which might be pretty clear, and easily concluded, from their age:



keep for yourselves; either to be handmaids to them, or to be married among them when grown up, and become proselytes, and initiated into their religion.





Numbers 31:19



Ver. 19. And do ye abide without the camp seven days..... Which was the time that anyone that touched a dead body remained unclean,

Nu 19:11,



whosoever hath killed any person; as most of them if not all must have done; all the males of Midian that fell into their hands being slain by them, that were men grown:



and whosoever hath touched any slain; as they must to strip them of their garments, and take their spoil from them:



purify both yourselves and your captives, on the third and on the seventh day; which were the days appointed for the purification of such that were polluted by touching dead bodies, Nu 19:11 and their captives, which were the female little ones; (for as for the women, and males among the little ones, they were ordered to be slain;) though they were Heathens, yet inasmuch as they were to be for the service of the Israelites, and to be brought up in their religion, they were to be purified also; to which purpose is the note of Jarchi;



"not that the Gentiles receive uncleanness and need sprinkling, but as ye are the children of the covenant, so your captives, when they come into the covenant, and are defiled, need sprinkling.''





Numbers 31:20



Ver. 20. And purify all your raiment,.... By washing them; and this may intend not so much their own wearing apparel, as the raiment they took off of the dead bodies of the Midianites, since the person that touched a dead body was not obliged to wash his clothes, but the clean person that sprinkled the water of purification on him, Nu 19:19, some render the words, "purify yourselves" {d}, "together with the raiment", &c. which seems to be the best version of them:



and all that is made of skins; of any sort of creatures, as the covering of tents, shoes, bottles, &c. see Le 11:32



and all work of goats' hair; such as the covering of tents was also made of: and this, according to Jarchi and other Jewish writers {e} includes vessels made of the horns, hoofs, and bones of these creatures: and all things made of wood; as beds, cups, dishes, &c. all which might be purified by washing; see Le 15:12.



{d} wajxtt "purgatote vos", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; Vid. L'Empereur, Not. ad Kimchii odoiporia, p. 130. {e} Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Celim, c. 2. sect. 1.





Numbers 31:21



Ver. 21. And Eleazar the priest said unto the men of war, which went to the battle,.... To all the soldiers, officers, and common men:



this is the ordinance of the law, which the Lord commanded Moses; concerning the purification of unclean persons and things, hereby confirming what Moses had said.





Numbers 31:22



Ver. 22. Only the gold, and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead. These are excepted, and, though unclean, are not to be purified by washing, but in another way, by fire, as follows; all these metals were well known in those early times, and were made use of for instruments and vessels of various sorts.





Numbers 31:23



Ver. 23. Every thing that may abide the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire,.... Either through the smoke of the fire, and so be purified by suffumigation; or be put into the fire itself, where though they might be melted as the above things, yet not consumed as raiment, and vessels of skins, goats' hair, and wood, would be:



and it shall be clean; accounted so:



nevertheless, it shall be purified with the water of separation; with the water mixed with the ashes of the red heifer burnt, and sprinkled on it; see Nu 19:9



and all that abideth not the fire; without being consumed, as whatsoever is of wood, &c.



ye shall make go through the water; dip them in it, and rinse them there with a quantity sufficient; which the Targum of Jonathan says is forty seahs of water.





Numbers 31:24



Ver. 24. And ye shall wash your clothes on the seventh day,.... As the leper did, Le 14:9:



and ye shall be clean, and afterward ye shall come into the camp; into the camp of Israel, into the camp of the Levites, and into the camp of God, the tabernacle.





Numbers 31:25



Ver. 25. And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... After the purification of the soldiers, their captives, and spoil:



saying; as follows.





Numbers 31:26



Ver. 26. Take the sum of the prey that was taken, both of man and beast,.... The number of the females that were taken captive and spared, and of the cattle, the sheep, oxen, and asses:



thou, and Eleazar the priest, and the chief fathers of the congregation; who were all men of authority and character, and fit to be employed in such service, and of whose capacity and fidelity there could be no doubt.





Numbers 31:27



Ver. 27. And divide the prey into two parts,.... Into two equal parts, both the number of the people and of the cattle, when taken:



between them that took the war upon them, and went out to battle; the soldiers; and by this it appears that they went voluntarily and cheerfully:



and between all the congregation; so that the part of them that went to battle, and of those that stayed in the camp, were alike, and which in process of time became a statute and ordinance, 1Sa 30:24.





Numbers 31:28



Ver. 28. And levy a tribute unto the Lord of the men of war, which went out to battle,.... That is, out of the part of the prey which was divided to them:



one soul of five hundred, both "of the persons"; or one woman of five hundred, as the Targum of Jonathan:



and of the beeves, and of the asses, and of the sheep; that is, one out of five hundred, of each of them also.





Numbers 31:29



Ver. 29. And take it of their half,.... Of the half part of the prey divided to the soldiers:



and give it unto Eleazar the priest for an heave offering of the Lord; by way of thanksgiving for the success and victory, God had given them, by means of which so much booty had fallen into their hands.





Numbers 31:30



Ver. 30. And of the children of Israel's half, thou shall take one portion of fifty,.... Which was abundantly more than what was taken out of the part of the soldiers; and the reason of it is plain and easy to be discerned; the soldiers had taken much pains, and gone through much fatigue, as well as had hazarded their lives, and therefore less was to be taken from them; and besides the tribute levied out of their half was to be given to the priests, who were not so numerous as the Levites, among whom the part out of the half of the congregation was to be distributed:



of the persons; of the women, as the Targums of Jonathan, one of fifty out of them was to be given to the Levites to be their handmaids, or to be taken in marriage by them, or their sons, when fit for it:



of the beeves, of the asses, and of the sheep, of all manner of beasts; of oxen, asses, sheep, and goats, one out of fifty of each of these sorts were to be taken. Aben Ezra observes, no mention is made of camels, being but few, and no part taken:



and give them unto the Levites, which keep the charge of the tabernacle of the Lord; for these being employed in the service of the tabernacle, came in for their share of the tribute levied unto the Lord.





Numbers 31:31



Ver. 31. And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses. Took an account of the booty, divided it equally between the soldiers and the congregation of Israel, and levied a part out of each as a tribute for the Lord, which was given to the priests and Levites.





Numbers 31:32



Ver. 32-47. And the booty, being the rest of the prey which the men of war had caught,.... The remainder of it, besides what they had eaten in their return from the war, and during their seven days' stay without the camp: from hence to the end of Nu 31:47 is only an account of the prey or booty taken, which in general were 675,000 sheep, 72,000 beeves or oxen, 61,000 asses, and 32,000 females who had never known man; the half out of these, which fell to the share of the soldiers, were 337,500 sheep, 36,000 beeves or oxen, 30,500 asses, and 16,000 females, out of which were given as an heave offering to the Lord six hundred and seventy five sheep, seventy two beeves or oxen, sixty one asses, and thirty two women: the half divided unto the children of Israel consisted of 337,500 sheep, 36,000 beeves or oxen, 30,500 asses, and 16,000 women, out of which one in fifty, both of women and cattle, were given to the Levites; what that amounted to is not expressed, but may be easily reckoned.





Numbers 31:33



Ver. 33. See Gill on "Nu 31:32".





Numbers 31:34



Ver. 34. See Gill on "Nu 31:32".





Numbers 31:35



Ver. 35. See Gill on "Nu 31:32".





Numbers 31:36



Ver. 36. See Gill on "Nu 31:32".





Numbers 31:37



Ver. 37. See Gill on "Nu 31:32".





Numbers 31:38



Ver. 38. See Gill on "Nu 31:32".





Numbers 31:39



Ver. 39. See Gill on "Nu 31:32".





Numbers 31:40



Ver. 40. See Gill on "Nu 31:32".





Numbers 31:41



Ver. 41. See Gill on "Nu 31:32".





Numbers 31:42



Ver. 42. See Gill on "Nu 31:32".





Numbers 31:43



Ver. 43. See Gill on "Nu 31:32".





Numbers 31:44



Ver. 44. See Gill on "Nu 31:32".





Numbers 31:45



Ver. 45. See Gill on "Nu 31:32".





Numbers 31:46



Ver. 46. See Gill on "Nu 31:32".





Numbers 31:47



Ver. 47. See Gill on "Nu 31:32".





Numbers 31:48



Ver. 48. And the officers which were over thousands of the host,.... Over the twelve thousand, of which the host or army consisted: namely, the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds, came near unto Moses; of their own accord, without being sent, or required to do what they did.





Numbers 31:49



Ver. 49. And they said unto Moses,.... Gave the following relation to him, which is a very surprising one:



thy servants have taken the sum of the men of war which are under our charge; since the war with Midian was over, they had mustered the several companies under their command, such as had thousands, and those that had hundreds:



and there lacketh not one man of us; which is a most amazing and unheard of thing, that in waging war with a whole nation, slaying all their males, sacking and burning so many cities, plundering the inhabitants of their substance, taking and carrying off such a vast number of captives, yet not one should fall by the sword of the enemy, or by any disease or accident whatever, but all to a man should return to the camp of Israel again; this is not to be paralleled in any history.





Numbers 31:50



Ver. 50. We have therefore brought an oblation to the Lord,.... A freewill offering, out of the spoil, over and above the tribute levied out of the half that came unto them;



what every man hath gotten: or "found" {f}, in the houses, and upon the bodies of the slain, or of such that were taken captives:



of jewels of gold either such as were set in gold; or rather, as the words may be rendered,



vessels of gold {g}, as dishes, cups, spoons, and the like:



chains; which were wore about the neck, or upon the arm, as Aben Ezra:



and bracelets; for the hand, as the same writer, see Ge 24:22,



rings; for the finger:



ear rings; for the ear, as we render it, the word signifies something round:



and tablets; which, according to the Targum of Jonathan, were ornaments that hung down between the breasts:



to make an atonement for our souls before the Lord; not only this offering was brought as a token of gratitude and thankfulness, for sparing of everyone of their lives, and giving them such success and victory, and so large a spoil of the enemy; but also to expiate any sins they had been guilty of in going out, and coming in, and particularly for sparing the women they should have put to death, for which Moses was wroth with them, Nu 31:14.



{f} aum "invenit", Pagninus, Montanus. {g} bhz ylk "vas auri", Montanus; "vasa aurea", Vatablus.





Numbers 31:51



Ver. 51. And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of them,.... For it seems the several things before mentioned were all of gold:



even all wrought jewels; or "vessels of work" {h} or wrought vessels, or instruments, "chains, bracelets", &c. which were all of gold, and curiously wrought.



{h} hvem ylk "vas operis", Montanus.





Numbers 31:52



Ver. 52. And all the gold of the offering that they offered up to the Lord,.... The whole amount, weight, and value of it put together:



even of the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds, and perhaps of every common soldier, who might contribute his part, though it is not mentioned, but included in the oblation of the officers:



was 16,750 shekels; which, according to the calculation of a very learned man {i}, were 7,780 ounces, four drachms, two scruples, and thirty five grains.



{i} Scheuchzer. Physica Sacr. vol. 2. p. 399.





Numbers 31:53



Ver. 53. For the men of war had taken spoil, every man for himself. And which he kept for himself, and did not deliver in with the prey or booty, which was brought to Moses and Eleazar, the sum of which was taken by them; and this seems to confirm what has been hinted, that, as each soldier had taken spoil for himself, so everyone contributed his quota towards this freewill offering to the Lord.





Numbers 31:54



Ver. 54. And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of the captains of thousands and of hundreds,.... Which they so freely and generously offered:



and brought it into the tabernacle of the congregation; and laid it up in some chamber there:



for a memorial for the children of Israel before the Lord: in remembrance of the signal victory these men obtained, and of the singular care of divine Providence in protecting them, that not one was lost in the expedition; and of their sense of gratitude and thankfulness for the favours granted them, and to put the children of Israel in mind for their imitation, when favoured with mercies from the Lord.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Numbers 32:1



INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 32



This chapter relates, how that the tribes of Gad and Reuben requested a settlement in the country of Jazer and Gilead, being fit for the pasturage of their cattle, Nu 32:1 at which Moses at first was very much displeased, as being unreasonable, and tending to discourage the rest of the people; and as acting a part like that their fathers had done before them, which brought the wrath of God upon them, so that they all but two perished in the wilderness; and this he suggests would be the case again, if such measures were taken, Nu 32:6 upon which they explain themselves, and declare they had no intention of forsaking their brethren, but were willing to leave their children and cattle to the care of divine Providence, and go armed before Israel, until they were brought into, and settled in the land of Canaan; nor did they desire any part or inheritance in it, Nu 32:16, this satisfied Moses, and he agreed to it, that the land they requested should be their possession, provided the conditions were fulfilled by them, which they proposed, Nu 20:20, and which they again agreed unto, and promised to perform, Nu 32:25, wherefore Moses gave orders to Eleazar, Joshua, and the chief fathers of the tribes, to put them in possession of the land of Gilead on those conditions,

Nu 32:28 and which were again promised that they would observe,

Nu 32:31, and at the same time Moses made a grant of the kingdoms of Sihon and of Og to the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, Nu 32:33 and the chapter is closed with an account of the cities built or repaired by the children of Gad and Reuben,

Nu 32:34 and of the cities in Gilead taken and possessed by the children of Machir, and by Jair, who were of the tribe of Manasseh,

Nu 32:39.



Ver. 1. Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle,.... By which it seems that they had more in proportion than any of the other tribes; by what means it is not easy to say; very probably they were more addicted to the pastoral life, and took more delight in breeding cattle, and were more diligent in taking care of them: however, the reason for this observation presently follows:



and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead; Jazer was in the kingdom of Sihon, and Gilead in the kingdom of Og, which had been both conquered by the Israelites:



that, behold, the place was a place for cattle; where much cattle was fed, there being a great deal of good pasturage for them: Jazer appears to be a well watered country, Jer 48:32, and Gilead and Bashan which joined and belonged to the same country of Og, who was king of Bashan, were famous for good feeding of cattle: hence we read of the bulls of Bashan, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats on Mount Gilead that looked plump and sleek; see Mic 7:14.





Numbers 32:2



Ver. 2. The children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spake unto Moses,.... The children of Gad are mentioned first, though Reuben was the firstborn, and had a standard under which Gad pitched: it may be, as Aben Ezra thinks, the Gadites were the first authors of this counsel, the contrivers of this scheme; who first moved it to the Reubenites, which they had an opportunity of doing, lying encamped by them; or however, they might be the most busy and active in this affair, or the best spokesmen; for it could be only some, in the name of the whole, that addressed Moses on this account, and spoke to him about it:



and to Eleazar the priest, and unto the princes of the congregation; who perhaps were the seventy elders, and with Moses the chief ruler, and Eleazar the high priest, made up the grand sanhedrim, or great council of the nation, and were undoubtedly the most proper persons to apply unto:



saying: as follows.





Numbers 32:3



Ver. 3. Ataroth, Dibon, and Jazer,.... These were places which belonged to the Amorites, and were taken from Sihon, their king: of Ataroth we read nowhere else but in this chapter; of Dibon see

Isa 15:2, Jazer was a city, from whence the land about it had its name; it is the same with Jaazer, Nu 21:32 and stood about fifteen miles from Heshbon {k}, the capital city of the kingdom of Sihon:



and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Shebam, and Nebo, and Beon; these were all places in the same country; of Heshbon see

Nu 21:25, Nimrah is the same with Bethnimrah, Nu 32:36 and sometimes called Nimrim, famous for its water, Isa 15:6. Jerom says {l} the name of it in his time was Benamerium, and lay to the north of Zoar; Elealeh, according to the same writer {m} was but a mile from Heshbon, of which see Isa 15:4. Shebam is the same with Shibmah, Nu 32:36, and seems to be a place famous for vines,

Isa 16:8; it is thought to be the same with the Seba of Ptolemy {n}, and according to Jerom {o}, there were scarce five hundred paces between this place and Heshbon; Nebo, the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan call the grave of Moses, because on a mountain of this name Moses died, and where it is supposed he was buried; but it is certain he was buried not on a mountain, but in a valley, De 34:6, this perhaps had its name from the mountain near which it was, and of which see Isa 15:2. Beon is the same that is called Baalmeon, Nu 32:38 and Bethbaalmeon, Jos 13:17, where was very probably a temple of Baal; it was about nine miles from Heshbon {p}.



{k} Jerom. de loc. Heb. fol. 92. G. {l} lbid. K. {m} Ibid. fol. 91. A. {n} Geograph. l. 5. c. 19. {o} Comment. in Esaiam, c. 16. 8. {p} Eusebius apud Reland: Palest. Illustr. par. 2. l. 3. p. 611.





Numbers 32:4



Ver. 4. Even the county which the Lord smote before the congregation of Israel,.... In which the above cities were, and perhaps some others not named: this was now in the hands of the people of Israel, being subdued by them, the conquest of which is ascribed unto the Lord, for the victory was of him; it was he that smote their enemies; and delivered their country into their hands; and now Moses, Eleazar, and the princes of the congregation, being the representatives of the people, had a right to dispose of it, and, which these two tribes request might be given to them, because, say they:



it is a land for cattle, and thy servants have cattle; to stock it, with and great numbers of them; see Nu 32:1





Numbers 32:5



Ver. 5. Wherefore, said they, if we have found grace in thy sight,.... Directing their speech to Moses, the ruler of the congregation, in a very modest, decent, and respectable manner:



let this land be given unto thy servants for a possession; as their own portion and inheritance, to be enjoyed by them, and their children after them:



and bring us not over Jordan; into the land of Canaan, where as they after explain themselves, they did not desire to have any part with their brethren, but should be content with their possession here, should it be granted them.





Numbers 32:6



Ver. 6. 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.





Numbers 32:7



Ver. 7. Wherefore discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel.... Which he suggests it would, should they settle on that side Jordan, since they would lose the assistance of two of their tribes, even two thirds of one of their standards in fighting with their enemies and subduing their land; and besides it might be thought that this request of theirs not only proceeded from selfish views and a love of ease, which might set a bad example to others, but carried in it a distrust of ever being able to enter into, at least to conquer and possess, the land of Canaan, and so might have a tendency to discourage their brethren:



from going over into the land, which the Lord hath given them? despairing of ever enjoying it, and so laying aside all thoughts of it, and not caring to make any attempt to get possession of it.





Numbers 32:8



Ver. 8. Thus did your fathers,.... Meaning not particularly and only the fathers of these two tribes he was speaking to, but of them and the other tribes also, who acted much such a part; did not choose to go into the good land to possess it, when they were bid to do it, but were for sending spies first, which brought an ill report of it, and discouraged the people from going into it; the history of which Moses here gives:



when I sent them from Kadeshbarnea to see the land; called only Kadesh, Nu 13:26 the reason of the name

See Gill on "Nu 32:13".





Numbers 32:9



Ver. 9. For when they went up unto the valley of Eshcol,.... That is, when they went up the hill, for they were bid to go up into the mountain, and proceeded on into the country, until they came to the valley or brook, of Eshcol, so called from the cluster of grapes they there cut down, and brought along with them, Nu 13:17



and saw the land; searching it for the space of forty days:



they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel; by telling them that there were giants in the land, and that the people in common were strong, and their cities walled, and that they were not able to go up against them and overcome them; and by this means they disheartened the people:



that they should not go, into the land which the Lord had given them; and this Moses feared, and suggests would be the consequence of the request the two tribes now made.





Numbers 32:10



Ver. 10. And the Lord's anger was kindled, the same time,.... Against the spies that brought the ill report, and against all the people that were disheartened and murmured upon it, and which, above all things, was to be dreaded now:



and he sware, saying; as follows.





Numbers 32:11



Ver. 11. Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upwards,.... See Nu 14:28.



shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; the land of Canaan, which at various times he sware to give to them, and to their posterity:



because they have not wholly followed me; the laws which he prescribed them, the directions he gave them, and particularly the orders they had to go up and possess the land at once, De 1:21.





Numbers 32:12



Ver. 12. Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun,.... See Nu 14:30, whether Caleb or Jephunneh is called the Kenezite is not so easy to determine; the latter rather seems to be most correct, for that Caleb should be called so from Kenaz the father of Othniel, who is said to be Caleb's brother seems not to be agreeable; since it is not likely that they were his own brothers, or Caleb would not have given his daughter to him; besides Jephunneh and not Kenaz is always said to be the father of Caleb, unless his father can be thought to have two names; it is most likely that Jephunneh, and so Caleb, might be called the Kenezite, from an ancestor of theirs of that name: Jarchi says, Caleb was the son-in-law of Kenaz, and Caleb's mother bore unto him Othniel:



for they have wholly followed the Lord; here what was said of Caleb,

Nu 14:24 is said both of him and Joshua;

See Gill on "Nu 14:24".





Numbers 32:13



Ver. 13. And the Lord's anger was kindled against Israel,.... For murmuring against the report of the spies:



and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years; for though it was but about thirty eight years from that time that they were in the wilderness, the round number of forty is given; and besides it includes the time of their first coming into it, which being reckoned, makes the complete number, within a few months: Kadesh, from whence the spies were sent, and whither they returned, and where the people murmured, and had this sentence pronounced on them, that they should not see the land of Canaan, but wander and fall in the wilderness, seems to have had the addition of Barnea made unto it on that account, which signifies the son of him that wandereth:



until all the generation which had done evil in the sight of the Lord was consumed; as they all were at this time when Moses spake these words.





Numbers 32:14



Ver. 14. And, behold, ye are risen up in your fathers' stead,.... Succeeded them in their families, of which they were now the heads; and in their substance, their flocks, and herds; and he suggests also, in their manners amid evil dispositions:



an increase of sinful men; this new generation was greatly increased, for when the number was taken, as it was but a little before this time, they were pretty near the same number as of those that came out of Egypt; but then they were not only an increase of men, but of sinful men, like fathers like sons:



to augment yet the fierce anger of the Lord toward Israel; to make it greater and fiercer towards that nation than even their fathers had by their many sins and transgressions.





Numbers 32:15



Ver. 15. For if ye turn away from after him,.... From following him in the way of his commandments, from attending his word, worship, and ordinances, and from walking after him, who went before them in a pillar of cloud and fire, as it is suggested they would, should they stop short here and not go over Jordan into the land of Canaan:



he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; as he did at the time of the affair of the spies, when they were ordered to turn and get into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea, and where they had been ever since unto this time, Nu 14:25,



and ye shall destroy all this people; be the cause of their destruction, if the Lord should in such a manner resent this step of theirs, as to order them back into the wilderness again, though they were now as they were before, on the border of the land of Canaan.





Numbers 32:16



Ver. 16. And they came near unto him,.... The heads of the tribes of Gad and Reuben came a little nearer to Moses, having something more to say unto him, in order to explain their meaning, and in doing which they used some degree of freedom and boldness with him, see Ge 44:18



and said, we will build sheepfolds here for our cattle, and cities for our little ones not build new ones, but repair the old ones; for there were cities enough in the country, as before named, and no doubt sheepfolds too, as the land was a place of cattle, but those were through the war broken down and demolished, and needed repairing; and this they proposed to do, and leave their children and their cattle to the care of their servants, under the protection of the divine Providence, and did not mean for the present to take up their abode here.





Numbers 32:17



Ver. 17. But we ourselves will go ready armed before the children of Israel,.... This they said to free themselves from the charge of cowardice, and that they did not mean to sit still while their brethren went to war; they were willing to put on their armour, and be ready to meet the enemy upon the borders of the land, and engage with them, and to expose their lives in favour of their brethren:



until we have brought them unto their place; to the land of Canaan, the place designed for them, and given unto them, to the possession of it, and a settlement in it:



and our little ones shall dwell in the fenced cities, because of the inhabitants of the land; where they might be safe from them, which they proposed to repair and refortify for the security of them, while they went with their brethren into the land of Canaan, to put them into possession of that, of which they made not the least doubt; and so served to clear them of suspicion of any distrust they had of entering into and possessing the land, which might tend to discourage the people.





Numbers 32:18



Ver. 18. We will not return unto our houses,.... In the cities built or repaired by them, or to their families, and their substance, their flocks and their herds; all which they should leave behind them, and never think of returning to them:



until the children of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance; until all the tribes were settled in their respective places, and every family and everyone in them had their portion assigned them; and accordingly they did not return until the land was wholly subdued, nor even until every lot came up, and the land was divided by it, and the inheritance of the several tribes fixed, and even the cities of the Levites assigned to them out of the several tribes; see Jos 22:1.





Numbers 32:19



Ver. 19. For we will not inherit with them on yonder side Jordan, or forward,.... This they said, not as being determined whether Moses and the princes were willing or not to stay where they were, and not pass over Jordan to inherit any part there, and much less as despising the good land, but as giving up all pretensions to it, should they be settled where they desired; they were not of that selfish and covetous disposition as to desire any part on the other side Jordan, if it was but granted them to continue on this side, and possess the land they requested:



because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side Jordan eastward; they seem to speak as if they were assured of it, and that it was so ordered by divine Providence, and wanted nothing but the consent of Moses, and the princes of the congregation.





Numbers 32:20



Ver. 20. And Moses said unto them,.... Being better disposed towards them, and more satisfied with the reasonableness of their request, it being explained unto him:



if ye will do this thing; which they had promised:



if ye will go armed before the Lord to war; they had said they would go ready armed before the children of Israel, but Moses expresses it "before the Lord"; which is more agreeable to their encampment and order in marching, for not the standard of Reuben but that of Judah went foremost, yet the standard of Reuben marched directly before the sanctuary bore by the Kohathites, Nu 10:18, and so might be properly said to go before the Lord, who dwelt there.





Numbers 32:21



Ver. 21. And will go all of you armed over Jordan before the Lord,.... Moses tries them thoroughly, and is very express in his words, requiring them not only to go armed, or march from the place where they were, towards the land of Canaan, but to go over Jordan, and not some of them only, but all, and that before the Lord; though indeed, when the tribes came to the river Jordan, the ark, which was the symbol of the divine Presence, went before all the tribes into it, and there stayed till they passed over, and then these two tribes and the half tribe of Manasseh passed before the children of Israel, and before the Lord, unto battle, Jos 3:11



until he hath driven out his enemies before him: the Canaanites, who were the enemies of the Lord, as well as of his people; and because of their sins, in which they showed their enmity to God, the land spewed them out, and he drove them out to make way for his people Israel, and till this was done the tribes of Reuben and Gad were to continue with them.





Numbers 32:22



Ver. 22. And the land be subdued before the Lord,.... For the inhabitants fleeing before his people, and being conquered by them, might be said to be subdued before the Lord, this being done in his presence, by his power, and for his people:



then afterward ye shall return: to this side of Jordan, the land of Jazer and Gilead, to their cities, and families there;



and be guiltless before the Lord, and before Israel: having fulfilled all that they promised:



and this land shall be your possession before the Lord; be established and settled in it as their inheritance, the Lord seeing and approving of it, and protecting them in the enjoyment of it.





Numbers 32:23



Ver. 23. But if ye will not do so,.... As they promised they would, and Moses insisted on it that they should:



behold, ye have sinned against the Lord making such a request, and not fulfilling the conditions on which it was granted:



and be sure your sin will find you out; fly in their faces, accuse them in their consciences, charge and load them with guilt, and bring deserved punishment upon them: sin may be put, as it often is, for the punishment of sin, which sooner or later will find out and come upon the impenitent and unpardoned sinner.





Numbers 32:24



Ver. 24. Build ye cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep,.... For their safety and security, as they proposed to do:



and do that which proceedeth out of your mouth; all that they had promised.





Numbers 32:25



Ver. 25. And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben spake unto Moses, saying,.... In answer to his speech:



thy servants will do as my lord commandeth; both with respect to their march before the Lord to battle, and with respect to their provision for their children and flocks.





Numbers 32:26



Ver. 26. Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our cattle,.... Their families, and their substance:



shall be there in the cities of Gilead; such as are before mentioned,

Nu 32:3 and which they proposed to repair and fortify, to preserve their families and possessions from the Amorites about them.





Numbers 32:27



Ver. 27. But thy servants will pass over,.... The river Jordan, and go into the land of Canaan:



every man armed for war; Moses had required that all should go over, and they consent to it, and promise that everyone should, though this was not insisted on when they came to it, for only about 40,000 went over, Jos 4:13, whereas the two tribes of Gad and Reuben, and the half tribe of Manasseh, numbered more than 110,000; see Nu 26:7:



before the Lord to battle, as my lord saith; for now, instead of saying, "before the children of Israel", a phrase they first used, they say, "before the Lord", as Moses had expressed it.





Numbers 32:28



Ver. 28. So concerning them Moses commanded,.... That they should have a grant of the land they requested: this looks as if Moses determined the case himself, though perhaps it was by the vote, and with the consent of the whole court; only Moses strictly enjoined them to observe it, namely,



Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the chief fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel; and the rather he did this, because he knew that he should die, and not see either the thing itself or the conditions of it performed.





Numbers 32:29



Ver. 29. And Moses said unto them,.... To Eleazar, Joshua, and the princes of the congregation:



if the children of Gad and the children of Reuben will pass with you over Jordan, every man armed to battle before the Lord; as they have promised they will:



and the land shall be subdued before you; which must be done before their return:



then ye shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession; which, no doubt, included that of Jazer too, since Jaazer, which is the same, is after mentioned as one of the cities built by the children of Gad,

Nu 32:35.





Numbers 32:30



Ver. 30. But if they will not pass over with you armed,.... Shall change their minds, and break their promise, and refuse to go over the river Jordan with the other tribes, and armed ready to engage in battle with the enemy:



they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan; take their lot there, but have no inheritance or possessions on this side Jordan.





Numbers 32:31



Ver. 31. And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered,...., The word is in the singular number, and shows their unanimity, that they agreed to what Moses said, and replied all of them as one man, as Jarchi expresses it; and it may be there was one that was the mouth of them all, and answered for them:



saying, as the Lord hath said unto thy servants, so will we do; here they make use of the word Jehovah, taking what Moses had said unto them as from the Lord, and therefore should strictly and punctually observe it, as if they heard the Lord himself speak it.





Numbers 32:32



Ver. 32. We will pass over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan,.... This is repeated again and again, for the confirmation of it, assuring that it should be strictly performed according to the true intent of it:



that the possession of our inheritance on this side Jordan may be ours; that is, that the possession and inheritance they desired, and which had been granted them, on conditions to be performed by them, might be ratified and confirmed unto them on their fulfilment of them.





Numbers 32:33



Ver. 33. And Moses gave unto them,.... By word of mouth, in the presence of the court, or rather by some instrument drawn up and signed by him and the sanhedrim, or witnessed by them:



[even] to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and unto half the tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph; no mention is made of this half tribe joining with the other two tribes in the request to settle on this side Jordan, and therefore it is generally thought that they were encouraged, by the success of the two tribes, to make a like motion; or else Moses and the princes, observing that there was too much land for the said tribes, joined this half tribe with them, the land being suitable for them:



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; of which kingdoms, and the conquest of them, see Nu 21:24, and several of the cities in them are after mentioned.





Numbers 32:34



Ver. 34. And the children of Gad built,.... Or rather repaired the walls and fortifications, and rebuilt houses which had been demolished in the wars with Sihon and Og; when the following places were taken by the Israelites:



Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer; the two first are mentioned in

Nu 32:3. Aroer was a city situated on the river Arnon, and was after this in the hands of the Moabites: Jerom says {q}, it was showed in his day on the top of the mountain, upon the bank of the river Arnon, which flows into the Dead sea, Jer 48:19.



{q} De loc. Heb. fol. 87. I.





Numbers 32:35



Ver. 35. And Atroth, Shophan, and Jaazer, and Jogbehah. Of these no mention is made elsewhere, except Jaazer, which is the same with Jazer,

Nu 32:3.





Numbers 32:36



Ver. 36. And Bethnimrah, and Bethharan, fenced cities,.... The first of these is the same with Nimrah, Nu 32:3, and the other is the same with Betharam, Jos 13:27, it is called in the Jerusalem Talmud {r}, Bethramtha, and so by the Syrians, Bethramphta; and to the same place Herod gave the name of Livias or Julias {s}: these cities the children of Gad built or repaired for their families:



and folds for sheep; they also built for their cattle, as they promised to do, and Moses enjoined them, Nu 32:16.



{r} Sheviith, fol. 38. 4. {s} Vid. Reland. Palestin. Illustrat. par. 2. p. 643.





Numbers 32:37



Ver. 37. And the children of Reuben built Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Kirjathaim. Heshbon was the royal city of Sihon king of the Amorites, and Elealeh was within a mile of it, see Nu 32:3, this shows that those cities were not built anew properly, only repaired, for they were cities in being long before; besides, they had not time to build new cities, for in a few months after this they passed over Jordan; though indeed they left men enough behind to rebuild cities, whom they might set to work about them when they departed: Kirjathaim is, by the Targum of Jonathan, called the city of two streets paved with marble, and it adds, this is Beresha: Jerom {t} says, it is now called Coraiatha, which is pretty near its ancient name, and that it is ten miles from Medeba, a city of Arabia, mentioned as one of the cities in the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, Nu 21:30.



{t} De loc. Heb. fol. 89. M.





Numbers 32:38



Ver. 38. And Nebo, and Baalmeon, (their names being changed,).... For Nebo was the name of an idol, after which perhaps the city was called: Baalmeon signifies "Baal's habitation", and where it is highly probable was a temple of his; and the children of Reuben, not liking to retain such idolatrous names, gave them others, but what they were it is not said; and certain it is, that when these places came into the hands of the Moabites, their ancient names were restored to them, as appears from Isa 15:2



and Shibmah; the same with Shebam, Nu 32:3, and gave other names unto the cities which they built; but they are neither known, nor did they always continue, as has been observed.





Numbers 32:39



Ver. 39. And the children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead, and took it,.... That part of it which Moses gave unto the half tribe of Manasseh, which till now was in the hand of the Amorites; for half Mount Gilead, and the cities thereof, were given to the Reubenites and Gadites, which is the land of Gilead they desired, and which was already conquered; for they call it the country which the Lord smote before Israel, Nu 32:1:



and dispossessed the Amorite which was in it; for though they were driven out of one part of Gilead, yet not out of the whole.





Numbers 32:40



Ver. 40. And Moses gave Gilead unto Machir the son of Manasseh,.... That is, to the children of Machir, who went and took it; though some say, as Aben Ezra observes, that Machir himself was now alive, and that it was given to him, but that is not probable; for, supposing him to be living when the children of Israel came out of Egypt, all that came from thence, who were twenty years old and upwards, died in the wilderness, excepting two, see Nu 32:11,



and he dwelt therein; that is, the family of the Macharite; see

Nu 26:29.





Numbers 32:41



Ver. 41. And Jair the son of Manasseh,.... By his mother's side, otherwise he was of the family of Judah; for Hezron, of the family of Judah, married a daughter of Machir, the son of Manasseh, by whom he had a son called Segub, who was the father of Jair, 1Ch 2:21, the same



went and took the small towns thereof; of that part of Gilead given to Machir:



and called them Havothjair; after his own name: in De 3:14, they are called Bashanhavothjair.





Numbers 32:42



Ver. 42. And Nobah went and took Kenath, and the villages thereof,.... Who this Nobah was is not certain, very probably a descendant of Manasseh; it is said {u} he was among those that were born in Egypt, and died after the death of Moses, and was buried beyond Jordan, as it is said, also did Machir and Jair, so that there were none left but Caleb, and Joshua:



and called it Nobah, after his name; but it seems that in later times its ancient name was restored to it; for Jerom {w}, says there was a village in Arabia, called Cannatha, which is supposed to be this place; though he also tells us {x}, that eight miles from Heshbon; to the south, is shown a desert place called Naba. Pliny {y} places Cannatha in the Decapolis.



{u} Seder Olam Rabba, c. 9. p. 27. {w} Ut supra. (De loc. Heb. fol. 89. M.) {x} De loc. Heb. fol. 93. H. {y} Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 18.

 

<ALIGN="CENTER"John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Numbers 33:1



INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 33



This chapter gives an account of the journeys of the people of Israel, from their first coming out of Egypt, to their arrival in the plains of Moab by Jordan, and the names of the various stations where they rested are given, Nu 33:1 and they are ordered, when they passed over Jordan, to drive out the Canaanites, destroy their idols, and divide the land among their families in their several tribes,

Nu 33:50 or otherwise it is threatened the Canaanites should be troublesome and vexatious to them, even those that remained; and it might be expected God would do to the Israelites as he thought to do to those nations, Nu 33:55.



Ver. 1. These are the journeys of the children of Israel,.... Which are related in this chapter following:



which went forth out of the land of Egypt: whither their fathers went and stayed, and were kept in hard bondage, but in due time were delivered from it, and came out from thence:



with their armies; in great numbers, and in an orderly manner, in rank and file, and like so many squadrons, see Ex 7:4, under the hand of Moses and Aaron: who were sent to the king of Egypt to require their dismission, and who were the instruments under God of their deliverance, and were the leaders of them; as of them out of Egypt, so through the wilderness, in their, several journeys here recorded.





Numbers 33:2



Ver. 2. And Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys, by the commandment of the Lord,.... Which may be understood, either that their journeys were by the commandment of the Lord; so Aben Ezra takes the connection to be, and which is undoubtedly true, and which is expressed plainly elsewhere; for so it was, that when the cloud abode on the tabernacle they rested, and had their stations, and continued as long as the cloud tarried on it, and when that was taken up, then they marched; and thus at the commandment of the Lord they rested, and at the commandment of the Lord they journeyed, see Nu 9:17 or that Moses wrote the account of their journeys, and several stations, at the commandment of the Lord, that it might be on record, and be read in future ages, and appear to be a fact, that they were led about in a wilderness, in places which were unknown to others, and had no names but what they gave them:



and these are their journeys according to their goings out; from place to place; some of the ancients, as Jerom {z} particularly, and some modern writers, have allegorized these journeys of the children of Israel, and have fancied that there is something in the signification of the names of the places they came to, and abode in, suitable to the cases and circumstances of the people of God in their passage through this world; but though the travels of the children of Israel in the wilderness may in general be an emblem of the case and condition of the people of God in this world, and there are many things in them, and which they met with, and befell them, that may be accommodated to them; yet the particulars will never hold good of individual saints, since they are not all led exactly in the same path of difficulties and troubles, but each have something peculiar to themselves; and it will be difficult to apply these things to the church of God in general, in the several stages and periods of time, and which I do not know that any have attempted; and yet, if there is anything pointed out by the travels, one would think it should be that.



{z} "De 42 mansionibus", Fabiolae, "inter opera ejus", T. 3. fol. 13.





Numbers 33:3



Ver. 3. And they departed from Rameses,.... A city in Egypt, where the children of Israel, a little before their departure, seem to have been gathered together in a body, in order to march out all together, as they did. This place the Targum of Jonathan calls Pelusium. Dr. Shaw {a} thinks it might be Cairo, from whence they set forward; see

Ex 12:37 and it was



in the first month; in the month Nisan, as the same Targum, or Abib, which was appointed the first month on this account, and answers to part of our March and April:



on the fifteenth of the first month, on the morrow after the passover; that was kept on the fourteenth, when the Lord passed over the houses of the Israelites, and slew all the firstborn in Egypt, which made way for their departure the next morning; the Egyptians being urgent upon them to be gone:



the children of Israel went out with an high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians; openly and publicly, with great courage and boldness, without any fear of their enemies; who seeing them march out, had no power to stop them, or to move their lips at them, nay, were willing to be rid of them; see Ex 11:7.



{a} Travels, p. 307. Ed. 2.





Numbers 33:4



Ver. 4. For the Egyptians buried all their firstborn, which the Lord had smitten among them,.... Which contributed much to the more easy and safe deliverance of the children of Israel; for their hearts were heavy with sorrow, and their hands were full, and they had other work to do, namely, to bury their dead, than to molest Israel; and besides, they knew it was for detaining them this stroke came upon them:



upon their gods also the Lord executed judgments; they were moved at the presence, and by the power of God, and fell and were dashed to pieces, as the idols of the same land were in later times, see

Isa 19:1 and this still the more intimidated and frightened the Egyptians, that they dared not attempt to hinder the departure of the Israelites from them. The Targum of Jonathan says, the Word of the Lord did this; and adds, their molten idols became soft, their strong idols were mutilated, their earthen idols were diminished, their wooden idols became ashes, and those of beasts died.





Numbers 33:5



Ver. 5. And the children of Israel removed from Rameses,.... Or Pelusium, as the same Targum again:



and pitched in Succoth: where, as the same paraphrase says, they were covered with the clouds of glory, suggesting that to be the reason of its name; but that was rather because of the booths or tents the Israelites erected, pitched, and dwelt in, during their abode there: this, according to Bunting {b}, was eight miles from Rameses; according to whose computation, for want of a better guide, the distances of the several stations from each other will be given.



{b} Travels of the Patriarchs, &c. p. 81.





Numbers 33:6



Ver. 6. And they departed from Succoth, and pitched in Etham,.... Which was eight miles from Succoth:



which is in the edge of the wilderness; of the name, see Ex 13:20 but Dr. Shaw {c} makes this particular portion of the wilderness to be fifty miles from Cairo or Rameses.



{c} Travels, p. 308.





Numbers 33:7



Ver. 7. And they removed from Etham, and turned again to Pihahiroth,.... Which was sixteen miles from Etham. This turning, Aben Ezra says, respects the cloud, or Israel; and indeed it may respect both, for, as the cloud turned, Israel turned, being directed by it; and this does not mean that they had been at Pihahiroth before, and now returned to it again; but that they by direction turned out of the straight way in which they were to go to Pihahiroth; for the word "again" may as well, or better, be left out, See Gill on "Ex 14:2":



which is before Baalzephon; the name of an idol, as the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem, supposed to be placed here, to watch and guard the passage, as Zephon signifies:



and they pitched before Migdol: which was either the name of a city, the same with Migdol, Jer 44:1 or it was a tower, as the word signifies, placed here on the borders of the land, for the defence of it.





Numbers 33:8



Ver. 8. And they departed from before Pihahiroth,.... Being forced by Pharaoh's army pressing upon them:



and passed through the midst of the sea; from shore to shore, as on dry laud:



into the wilderness: that part of it which lay on the other side, for still it was the wilderness of Etham they went into, as follows:



and went three days' journey in the wilderness of Etham, and pitched in Marah; so called from the bitterness of the waters there, and which is computed to be forty miles from Pihahiroth.





Numbers 33:9



Ver. 9. And they removed from Marah, and came unto Elim,.... Which was eight miles from Marah:



and in Elim were twelve fountains of water, and three score and ten palm trees, and they pitched there; being a convenient place of water for them,





Numbers 33:10



Ver. 10. And they removed from Elim, and encamped by the Red sea. This encampment, is omitted in the book of Exodus, see Ex 16:1 this part or arm of the Red sea, whither they came, was six miles from Elim.





Numbers 33:11



Ver. 11. And they removed from the Red sea, and encamped in the wilderness of Sin. Sixteen miles from the Red sea, where they were last; see Ex 16:1.





Numbers 33:12



Ver. 12. And they took their journey out of the wilderness of Sin,.... According to the account in Exodus, this was after they had the manna given them, see Ex 17:1



and encamped at Dophkah; twelve miles from the wilderness of Sin; and of this, and the next encampment, no mention is made in Exodus.





Numbers 33:13



Ver. 13. And they departed from Dophkah, and encamped in Alush. The strong fort, as the Targum of Jonathan calls it; this was twelve miles from Dophkah: according to the Jewish chronology {d}, this Alush is the wilderness of Sin, where the Israelites came on the fifteenth day of the seventh month from their going out of Egypt; and they say, that in Alush the sabbath was given them, and that there they kept the first sabbath, as it is said,



and the people rested on the seventh day, Ex 16:30.



{d} Seder Olam Rabba, c. 5. p. 17.





Numbers 33:14



Ver. 14. And they removed from Alush, and encamped at Rephidim,.... Eight miles from Alush:



where was no water for the people to drink; and they murmured, and a rock here was smitten by Moses at the command of God, and waters gushed out sufficient for them and their flocks, Ex 17:1.





Numbers 33:15



Ver. 15. And they departed from Rephidim, and pitched in the wilderness of Sinai. Eight miles from Rephidim; and from a mount of this name here were given the decalogue, with all other statutes and ordinances, judicial and ceremonial, and orders and directions for building the tabernacle, and making all the vessels appertaining to it, and which were all made during their stay here.





Numbers 33:16



Ver. 16. And they removed from the desert of Sinai, and pitched at Kibrothhattaavah. Eight miles from the desert of Sinai; here the people lusted after flesh, and murmured, which, though given them, a pestilence came and destroyed many of them, and here they were buried, whence the place was so called, which signifies the "graves of lust", i.e. of those that lusted: no mention is made of Taberah, either because it was the same with Kibroth, or near it; or, as Aben Ezra on De 9:22 says, they encamped there but one day, and so is not mentioned in the journeys, though it was one of the three they journeyed from Mount Sinai to Kibrothhattaavah, see Nu 11:1.





Numbers 33:17



Ver. 17. And they departed from Kibrothhattaavah, and encamped at Hazeroth. Eight miles from Kibrothhattaavah, where Miriam was smote with leprosy, Nu 12:1.





Numbers 33:18



Ver. 18. And they departed from Hazeroth, and pitched at Rithmah. Eight miles from Hazeroth: Rethem, from whence this place seems to have had its name, is generally rendered by "juniper", 1Ki 19:4 and the Targum of Jonathan here adds, where the juniper trees grew; and, perhaps, it is the same with the valley of Retheme, of which some travellers {e} thus write, "this valley", called in the Hebrew Retheme, and commonly Ritma, derives its name from a yellow flower, with which the valley is covered; we found here, on the left hand, two cisterns of excellent water; and water being to be had here, might be the reason of the Israelites pitching in this place. Some learned men {f} think it is the same with Kadeshbarnea, from whence the spies were sent, that being the next remove from Hazeroth, as this was; see

Nu 12:16, with which agrees the remark of Jarchi, that this place was so called, because of the evil tongue of the spies, as it is said, Ps 120:3 "what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue? sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper"; alluding to the signification of Rithmah; perhaps this is the same place, which by Josephus {g} is called Dathema, and so in the Apocrypha:



"Then the heathen that were at Galaad assembled themselves together against the Israelites that were in their quarters, to destroy them; but they fled to the fortress of Dathema.'' (1 Maccabees 5:9)



{e} Egmont and Heyman's Travels, vol. 2. p. 154. {f} Dr. Lightfoot, vol. 1. p. 35. Dr. Clayton's Chronology of the Hebrew Bible, p. 382, 383. {g} Antiqu. l. 12. c. 8. sect. 4.





Numbers 33:19



Ver. 19-29. And they departed from Rithmah, and pitched at Rimmonparez. Six miles from Rithmah, and then from Rimmon to Libnah, which was six miles also; and from thence to Rissah, which was six miles more; and from Rissah to, Kehelathah, which was the same number of miles; and from thence to Shapher, which was six miles also; and then they came to Haradah, which was four miles from thence; the next remove was to Makheloth, which was four miles and a half from the last place; then they went to Tahath, which was four miles more; and from thence to Tarah, which also was four miles; the next place they came to was Mithcah, four miles from Tarah; and then to Hashmonah, which was eight miles more.





Numbers 33:20



Ver. 20. See Gill on "Nu 33:19".





Numbers 33:21



Ver. 21. See Gill on "Nu 33:19".





Numbers 33:22



Ver. 22. See Gill on "Nu 33:19".





Numbers 33:23



Ver. 23. See Gill on "Nu 33:19".





Numbers 33:24



Ver. 24. See Gill on "Nu 33:19".





Numbers 33:25



Ver. 25. See Gill on "Nu 33:19".





Numbers 33:26



Ver. 26. See Gill on "Nu 33:19".





Numbers 33:27



Ver. 27. See Gill on "Nu 33:19".





Numbers 33:28



Ver. 28. See Gill on "Nu 33:19".





Numbers 33:29



Ver. 29. See Gill on "Nu 33:19".





Numbers 33:30



Ver. 30-31. And they departed from Hashmonah, and encamped at Moseroth. Thirty two miles from Hashmonah. In De 10:6 it is called Mosera; and according to the account there, they came hither from the following place, Benejaakan; probably they went first thither from Hashmonah, and then from Mosera or Moserot, and so to Benejaakan again, going backwards and forwards, so Jarchi; the distance of the two places was twenty four miles; for the further reconciliation this,

See Gill on "De 10:6" and the Samaritan version there.





Numbers 33:31



Ver. 31. See Gill on "Nu 33:30".





Numbers 33:32



Ver. 32-37. And they removed from Benejaakan, and encamped at Horhagidgad. In the Targum Jonathan called Gudgod, as it is Gudgodah in De 10:7, where the remove to this place is said to be from Mosera; it was twenty miles from Benejaaken; from thence they went to Jotbathah, twenty four miles from Horhagidgad; and from thence to Ebronah, twenty miles more; and so to Eziongeber, of which see 1Ki 9:26 which was twenty eight miles from Ebrorah; and their next remove was to the wilderness of Zin, which was Kadesh, forty eight miles from Eziongeber; and from Kadesh they went to Mount Hor, forty eight miles more: which was



in the edge of the land of Edom; as Kadesh also was; see

Nu 20:16.





Numbers 33:33



Ver. 33. See Gill on "Nu 33:32".





Numbers 33:34



Ver. 34. See Gill on "Nu 33:32".





Numbers 33:35



Ver. 35. See Gill on "Nu 33:32".





Numbers 33:36



Ver. 36. See Gill on "Nu 33:32".





Numbers 33:37



Ver. 37. See Gill on "Nu 33:32".





Numbers 33:38



Ver. 38. And Aaron the priest went up into Mount Hor, at the commandment of the Lord,.... Delivered to Moses:



and died there in the fortieth year after the children of Israel were come out of Egypt; not being suffered to go with them into the land of Canaan, because of his sin of unbelief at Kadesh, the last place from whence they came: in Mount Hor he died,



on the first day of the fifth month; the month Ab, answering to part of July and part of August; so that he lived but four months after his sister Miriam; see Nu 20:1.





Numbers 33:39



Ver. 39. And Aaron was one hundred and twenty three years old when he died in Mount Hor. He was eighty three when he stood before Pharaoh, Ex 7:7, and forty years he had been with Israel since, which make this number; he was three years older than Moses.





Numbers 33:40



Ver. 40-44. And King Arad the Canaanite,.... Or the king of Arad the Canaanite:



which dwelt in the land of Canaan, he heard of the coming of the children of Israel; towards the land of Canaan, in order to possess it, and he came out and fought with them, and was vanquished; see

Nu 21:1, this was when Israel was at Mount Hor; from whence they departed to Zalmonah, twenty eight miles from the mount; and from thence to Punon, which was twenty more; and so to Oboth, which was twenty four miles from Punon: and thence



to Ijeabarim, in the border of Moab, which was sixteen miles, see Nu 21:9.





Numbers 33:41



Ver. 41. See Gill on "Nu 33:40".





Numbers 33:42



Ver. 42. See Gill on "Nu 33:40".





Numbers 33:43



Ver. 43. See Gill on "Nu 33:40".





Numbers 33:44



Ver. 44. See Gill on "Nu 33:40".





Numbers 33:45



Ver. 45. And they departed from Ijim, and pitched in Dibongad. Sixteen miles from Ijim; the remove from whence is said to be to the valley of Zared, Nu 21:12 in which Dibongad was, so called perhaps because rebuilt by Gad afterwards.





Numbers 33:46



Ver. 46. And they removed from Dibongad, and encamped in Almondiblathaim. Sixteen miles from Dibon, perhaps the same with Diblath, Eze 6:14, according to the account in Nu 21:16, &c. they went from hence to Beer, a place where they found a well, which gave it this name; and several other removes are mentioned there, which are not here, and which, perhaps, were small removes, and not properly stations.





Numbers 33:47



Ver. 47. And they removed from Almondiblathaim, and pitched in the mountains of Abarim,.... Sixteen miles from Almondiblathaim; these were so called from passages near them over the river Jordan: and this station was pitched



before Nebo; one of those mountains, whither Moses went up and died.





Numbers 33:48



Ver. 48. And they departed from the mountains of Abarim, and pitched in the plains of Moab,.... Sixteen miles from Abarim, where all those things were transacted, which make the history of Balak and Balaam,

Nu 22:1 and where the Israelites now were by Jordan near Jericho; not on that side Jordan where Jericho stood, but on the other; Jericho, according to Eusebius, was ten miles from Bethjesimoth, where Israel now were, as follows.





Numbers 33:49



Ver. 49. And they pitched by Jordan from Bethjesimoth, [even] unto Abelshittim, in the plains of Moab. Their camp reached twelve miles, as the Jews commonly say, which we may suppose was the distance of these two places, which were both in the plains of Moab; and the Jerusalem Targum is express for it, for mentioning Israel's encampment from Bethjesimoth to Abelshittim, it asks, how far is that? twelve miles: the latter is sometimes called Shittim, from the shittim wood which grew there, Nu 25:1 and here it has the addition of Abel to it, to signify mourning, from the mourning of the children of Israel on account of the plague, in which 24,000 persons died, Nu 25:1.





Numbers 33:50



Ver. 50. And the Lord spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan, near Jericho,....

See Gill on "Nu 33:48",

See Gill on "Nu 22:1",



saying; as follows.





Numbers 33:51



Ver. 51. Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them,.... What was to be said, being what concerned the whole body of the people:



when ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan; near to which they now were, and Moses was about to leave them; and therefore it was the more necessary to give them some instructions and directions what they should do, when they were come into it.





Numbers 33:52



Ver. 52. Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you,.... Not at once, but gradually; and the sense is, that they should use their utmost endeavours wholly to extirpate them:



and destroy all their pictures; their idolatrous ones; the pictures of their gods, or the statues and figured stones of them: the Targum of Jonathan interprets it,



"all the temples of their worship;''



and the Jerusalem Targum,



"all their idols;''



so called, as Jarchi notes, because they covered the floor with a pavement of marble stones, to worship upon them by the stretching out of their hands and feet, according to Le 26:1,



and destroy all their molten images; of gold, silver, &c.



and quite pluck down all their high places; their temples, groves, and altars built upon them.





Numbers 33:53



Ver. 53. And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein,.... Turn them out of their cities, towns, and houses, and inhabit them:



for I have given you the land to possess it; who had a right to dispose of it, and a better title they needed not desire than the Lord could and did make them.





Numbers 33:54



Ver. 54. And ye shall divide the land by lot,.... What is said in this verse is the same with Nu 26:53, where it has been explained;

See Gill on "Nu 26:53",

See Gill on "Nu 26:54",

See Gill on "Nu 26:55",

See Gill on "Nu 26:56".





Numbers 33:55



Ver. 55. But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land before you,.... Should be remiss and careless about it, and indifferent to it, and not make use of the proper means to get rid of them, but, on the contrary, make covenants with them, and intermarry among them; or, however, become friendly to them, and suffer them to dwell among them:



then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them; sparing their lives, and permitting them to dwell among them:



shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides; which figurative expressions show that they should be very troublesome and distressing to them, even in their most tender and nearest concerns, and dearest relations, and which are explained and more properly expressed as follows:



and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell; among other things by their wicked conversation, and by drawing them into sin through their ill examples, and so bring the displeasure of God upon them, and punishment for their evil doings.





Numbers 33:56



Ver. 56. Moreover, it shall come to pass,.... This being the case, they suffering the Canaanites to dwell among them, and they mingling with them, learning their works, and serving their gods: that



I shall do unto you as I thought I should do unto them; deliver them up into the hands of their enemies, who should carry them captive into other lands.



 

<ALIGN="CENTER"John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Numbers 34:1



INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 34



In this chapter the bounds and borders of the land Canaan are described, according to the direction of the Lord to Moses,

Nu 34:1, the south border, Nu 34:3, the western border,

Nu 34:6, the north border, Nu 34:7, the east border,

Nu 34:10, which is ordered to be divided by lot to the nine tribes and a half, two tribes and a half having received their inheritance on the other side Jordan, Nu 34:13, and the persons are nominated to divide the land, Eleazar and Joshua, with one prince out of every tribe, and who are mentioned by name, Nu 34:16.



Ver. 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... At the same time that he ordered him to direct the children of Israel, when they had passed over Jordan, to drive out the inhabitants of the land of Canaan, and divide their land among them, he proceeded to give the limits and boundaries of the land:



saying; as follows.





Numbers 34:2



Ver. 2. Command the children of Israel, and say unto them,.... Not to fix the borders, and settle the boundaries of the land, for that is done by the Lord himself, who has determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of men's habitations, and particularly of Israel, see De 32:8, but to observe and take notice of the limits he had fixed, that they might know how far they were to go on every side, whom they were to drive out, and what they were to divide and inherit, and see what was their right, and preserve it from the encroachments of their neighbours, as well as observe the goodness of God unto them, in thus providing for them:



when ye come into the land of Canaan; to take possession of it by virtue of a grant of it to them:



this is the land that shall fall unto you for an inheritance; it is said to "fall", because it was divided by lot, each tribe having such a part of it assigned to them, according to the lot that came up unto them: even



the land of Canaan, with the coasts thereof; or according to its borders, which are as follow.





Numbers 34:3



Ver. 3. Then your south quarter,.... Or border of the land; which, as Jarchi observes, was from east to west:



shall be from the wilderness of Zin; which is Kadesh, where Miriam died, Nu 20:1, and if this Kadesh was Kadeshbarnea, as Dr. Lightfoot seems to have proved {h}, from whence the spies were sent, that was clearly on the south of the land of Canaan, for they were bid to go up their way southward, Nu 13:17, and so Kadeshbarnea is hereafter mentioned, as being in the southern border: the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases it,



"from the wilderness of the palm trees of the mountain of iron;''



there is a smaller palm tree, which by Jewish writers is called Zin, of which there were great quantities on a mountain famous for iron mines, in this wilderness, from whence it is thought it had its name; hence we read {i} of palm trees of the mountain of iron, as fit to make the bunch of branches of trees, called the "lulab", carried in the hand on the feast of tabernacles:



along by the coast of Edom; the land of Canaan, to the south, bordered on three countries, Egypt, Edom, and Moab; according to Jarchi, some part of Egypt, the whole land of Edom, and the whole land of Moab; the part of the land of Egypt was in the south west corner of it; the land of Edom by it to the east; and the land of Moab by the land of Edom, at the end of the south to the east:



and your south border shall be the outmost coast of the salt sea eastward; the same that is sometimes called the Dead sea, the sea of Sodom, or the lake Asphaltites, as Heathen writers generally call it.



{h} Works, vol. 2. p. 8, 9. {i} Misn. Succah. c. 3. sect. 1.





Numbers 34:4



Ver. 4. And your border,.... That is, the south border, which is still describing:



shall turn from the south to the ascent of Akrabbim; or Maalehacrabbim, as in Jos 15:3 so called from the multitude of serpents and scorpions in it, see De 8:15, so Kimchi says {k}, a place of serpents and scorpions was this ascent: Dr. Shaw {l} says Akrabbim may probably be the same with the mountains of Accaba, according to the present name, which hang over Eloth, where there is a "high steep road", well known to the Mahometan pilgrims for its ruggedness: and he thinks {m} it very probable, that Mount Hor was the same chain of mountains that are now called Accaba by the Arabs, and were the easternmost range, as we may take them to be, of Ptolemy's black mountains: Josephus {n} speaks of Acrabatene as belonging to the Edomites, which seems to be this same place:



and pass on to Zin; that is, which ascent goes on to it; the Targum of Jonathan is,



"and shall pass on to the palm trees of the mountain of iron;''



by which is meant the same with the wilderness of Zin: perhaps Zinnah is rather the name of a city; the Septuagint call it Ennac: the Vulgate Latin, Senna: Jerom {o} makes mention of a place called Senna, seven miles from Jericho:



and the going forth thereof shall be from the south to Kadeshbarnea; from whence the spies were sent southward to search the land,

Nu 13:17



and shall go on to Hazaraddar; called Adar, Jos 15:3 and where it seems to be divided into two places, Hezron and Adar, which very probably were near each other, and therefore here put together, as if but one place:



and pass on to Azmon; which the Targums call Kesam.



{k} Sepher Shorash. "in voce" brqe. {l} Travels, tom. 2. ch. 1. p. 279. {m} Travels, tom. 2. ch. 1. p. 323. {n} Antiqu. l. 12. c. 8. sect. 1. see 1 Maccab. 5. 3. {o} De loc. Heb. fol. 94. H.





Numbers 34:5



Ver. 5. And the border shall fetch a compass,.... Not go on in a straight line, but turn about:



from Azmon unto the river of Egypt; the river Nile, as both the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem; but Aben Ezra seems to deny that that river is meant: and some think that Rhinocolura, which flows into the Mediterranean sea, is meant; or the "valley of Egypt", Casiotis, which divided Judea from Egypt, as follows:



and the goings out of it; not of the river, but of the border:



shall be at the sea; the above sea, called in the next verse the great sea; all the Targums render it to the west.





Numbers 34:6



Ver. 6. And as for the western border,.... Of the land of Canaan:



you shall even have the great sea for a border; and no other, meaning the Mediterranean sea, which lies west of the land of Judea; Aben Ezra calls it the Spanish sea: it has the name of "great", in comparison of some in the land of Canaan, as the salt sea, and the sea of Tiberias:



this shall be your west border; namely, the Mediterranean sea.





Numbers 34:7



Ver. 7. And this shall be your northern border,.... What follows:



from the great sea ye shall point out for you Mount Hor; not that Mount Hor on which Aaron died, for that was on the southern border of the land; but rather Mount Herman, which is said to be unto the entering into Hamath, Jos 13:5 as this Mount Hor is in the following verse; or some part of Mount Lebanon might be so called, which was the northern border of the land: the Targum of Jonathan calls it Umanus; and the Jerusalem Targum, Manus or Taurus Umanus, the Mountain Umanus, which divided Syria and Cilicia; it is joined with Lebanon by Josephus {p}, and with that and Carmel by Aelianus {q}.



{p} Antiqu. l. 1. c. 6. sect. 2. {q} De Animal. l. 5. c. 56.





Numbers 34:8



Ver. 8. From Mount Hor ye shall point out your border unto the entrance of Hamath,.... Antiochia, as Jarchi; or rather Epiphania, as Jerom {r}; the former being described by Hemath the great, Am 6:2, this entrance was a narrow pass leading from the land of Canaan to Syria, through the valley which lies between Lebanon and Antilibanus:



and the goings forth of the border shall be to Zedad; the same boundary as here is given in Eze 47:15.



{r} Comment. in Ezek. 47. 16.





Numbers 34:9



Ver. 9. And the border shall go on to Ziphron,.... Which in the Jerusalem Targum is called Zapherin; and Jerom {s} says, that in his time this city was called Zephyrium, a town in Cilicia; but this seems to be at too great a distance:



and the goings out of it shall be at Hazarenan; which was the utmost of the northern border, and so it is in Eze 47:17 and there called the border of Damascus: Reland {t} takes it to be the same with Enhazor, a city in the tribe of Naphtali, Jos 19:37, the words only inverted:



this shall be your northern border: from the Mediterranean sea to Hazarenan in Naphtali.



{s} Comment. in ver. 15. {t} Palestin. lllustrat. par. 1. l. 1. p. 123.





Numbers 34:10



Ver. 10. And ye shall point out your east border from Hazarenan to Shepham. From the place where the northern border ended, which Jerom says {u} the Hebrews call Apamia, as both the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem do here. Shepham was a city between Hazarenan and Riblah in the tribe of Naphtali, where Adrichomius {w} places it.



{u} Comment. ut supra. (cf. ver. 15.) {w} Theatrum Terrae Sanct. p. 114.





Numbers 34:11



Ver. 11. And the coast shall go down from Shepham to Riblah,.... Said to be in the land of Hemath, Jer 52:9, which, according to Jerom {x}, was Antioch of Syria; and both the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem understand by it Daphne, which was in the suburbs of Antioch; but this seems to be carrying the limits of the land too far: Jarchi remarks, that when the border goes from the north towards the south, it is said to go down:



on the east side of Ain; a city in the tribe of Judah; according to Jerom {y} now a village that goes by the name of Bethennim, two miles from the turpentine tree, that is, from the tent of Abraham or oak of Mamre, and four from Hebron:



and the border shall descend, and shall reach unto the side of the sea of Chinnereth eastward; the same with the sea of Tiberius, and the sea of Gennesaret, frequently made mention of in the New Testament, and in

Eze 47:18, called the east sea.



{x} Comment. ut supra. (cf. ver. 15.) {y} De loc. Heb. fol. 88. F.





Numbers 34:12



Ver. 12. And the border shall go down to Jordan,.... A well known river to the east of the land of Canaan:



and the goings out of it shall be at the salt sea; the sea of Sodom; and though all sea water is generally salt, this was remarkably so, through the great quantity of bitumen and nitre in it; hence it was called Asphaltites; thus as the description of the borders of the land began with the salt sea, Nu 34:3, it ends with it:



this shall be your land, with the coasts thereof round about: which, according to the Targum of Jonathan, was thus bounded, Rekamgea (or Kadeshbarnea) on the south, Taurus Urnanus (by which he interprets Mount Hor) on the north, the great sea on the west (i.e. the Mediterranean sea), and the salt sea on the east.





Numbers 34:13



Ver. 13. And Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying,.... Strictly enjoining them to observe what he was about to say to them:



this is the land which ye shall inherit by lot; as above described and bounded:



which the Lord commanded to give unto the nine tribes, and to the half tribe; to the tribes of Judah, Simeon, Benjamin, Dan, Ephraim, Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, and Naphtali, and the half tribe of Manasseh; though this command is not before expressed, it is very probable it was delivered to Moses at the same time he had the mind of God concerning the settlement of the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the other half tribe of Manasseh, on the other side Jordan; see Nu 32:31.





Numbers 34:14



Ver. 14. For the tribe of the children of Reuben, according to the house of their fathers,.... That tribe, and all the families belonging to it:



have received their inheritance, and half the tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance; that is, it was agreed they should have it on condition of their going along with the other tribes over Jordan into the land of Canaan, and assist them in the conquest of it,

Nu 32:1.





Numbers 34:15



Ver. 15. The two tribes and the half tribe,.... The tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh:



have received their inheritance on this side Jordan near Jericho, eastward, toward the sun rising; that is, they received the grant of it there, even in the plains of Moab, opposite Jericho, which lay to the east of the land of Canaan.





Numbers 34:16



Ver. 16. And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... At the same time that he gave him the bounds of the land of Canaan, which was to be divided between the nine tribes and a half; and that this might be done in the most impartial manner, and to the satisfaction of them all, he gave orders to Moses:



saying; as follows.





Numbers 34:17



Ver. 17. These are the names of the men which shall divide the land unto you,.... Or "inherit the land for you" {z}; that is, as Jarchi interprets it, they were to take possession of it in their name and stead, as their representatives, and then distribute it unto them, or divide it to be inherited by them; but whatever may be said for the princes of the tribes, as acting for their respective tribes, and representing them, the same cannot be said of the two first named, as follow:



Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun; the one the principal person in ecclesiastical affairs, and the other in civil ones; to divide the land being partly a sacred work, as it was a type of the heavenly Canaan, and a civil one, as it concerned the present welfare of the people of Israel; and both were types of Christ, the priest upon his throne, who is both priest and King; who, as the one, gives a right unto it, and, as the other, introduces into it.



{z} Mkl wlxny "haereditabunt vobis", Montanus; "qui haereditario jure accipient pro vobis", Tigurine not.





Numbers 34:18



Ver. 18. And ye shall take one prince out of every tribe,.... That is, out of the nine tribes and the half, which are ten in all; of the tribes of Reuben and Gad none were taken, because they had had their inheritance granted them elsewhere; nor of the tribe of Levi, because they were to have no inheritance in the land: to divide the land by inheritance; who being men of honour, understanding, and probity, and naturally concerned for the good of the tribes to which they belonged, would take care that justice be done to each, and that no fraudulent methods were used in drawing the lot; and then take possession according to the lot, and impartially divide the portion assigned among the respective families in the tribes, according to their rank and numbers.





Numbers 34:19



Ver. 19-28. And the names of the men are these,.... Which were not left to the tribes to choose, but were nominated by the Lord himself, who best knew their capacities and qualifications for this service:



of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh: who was one of the two spies that brought a good report of the land, and Joshua is the other; and these were the only two of the spies living, and who are the first that were appointed to this service, of overseeing the division of the land; the rest were all of the new generation, that were sprung up, whose fathers fell in the wilderness, and we know no more of them than their names; and therefore from hence, to the end of Nu 34:28, no further remarks are necessary, only that the tribes and the princes are reckoned in a different order than they were at any time before, either at the first numbering of them, Nu 1:1 or at the offerings for the dedication of the altar, Nu 7:1 or at the taking the sum of them,

Nu 26:1 even according to the order of their situation in the land of Canaan by their lots, and which Moses did not live to see; and which therefore shows the prescience and predisposing providence of God, and that Moses, as Bishop Patrick observes, was guided by a divine Spirit in all his writings.





Numbers 34:20



Ver. 20. See Gill on "Nu 34:19".





Numbers 34:21



Ver. 21. See Gill on "Nu 34:19".





Numbers 34:22



Ver. 22. See Gill on "Nu 34:19".





Numbers 34:23



Ver. 23. See Gill on "Nu 34:19".





Numbers 34:24



Ver. 24. See Gill on "Nu 34:19".





Numbers 34:25



Ver. 25. See Gill on "Nu 34:19".





Numbers 34:26



Ver. 26. See Gill on "Nu 34:19".





Numbers 34:27



Ver. 27. See Gill on "Nu 34:19".





Numbers 34:28



Ver. 28. See Gill on "Nu 34:19".





Numbers 34:29



Ver. 29. These are they whom the Lord commanded,.... Not only named and appointed them, but laid his commands upon them, and obliged them:



to divide the inheritance unto the children of Israel; even this order was made before the land was conquered by them, so sure and certain was it unto them; and accordingly they did divide it, and that in Shiloh, before the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, as in the presence of God, doing it in the most impartial and solemn manner; see Jos 19:51.



 

<ALIGN="CENTER"John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Numbers 35:1



INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 35



Though the tribe of Levi had no part in the division of the land, yet cities out of the several tribes are here ordered to be given them to dwell in, to the number of forty eight, Nu 35:1, six of which were to be cities of refuge, Nu 35:9, but not for wilful murderers, in whatsoever way they might kill a man, Nu 35:16, but for such who had killed a man unawares, Nu 35:22, and several rules are given relating to such persons, Nu 35:25, but no satisfaction was to be taken in case of murder, nor to excuse a person's return to his own house before the death of the high priest, who had fled to a city of refuge, that so the land might not be defiled, Nu 35:30.



Ver. 1. And the Lord spake to Moses,.... After he had described the borders of the land, and given instructions about the division of it among the several tribes, and named the persons that should be concerned in parting and putting it into the possession of the Israelites, he makes a provision for the Levites; for though they had no inheritance in the land as a tribe, yet it was proper they should have cities and houses to dwell in; for it would not be suitable that they should be always about the tabernacle, as they were in the wilderness; and it is concerning this the Lord is said to speak to Moses,



in the plains of Moab by Jordan, near Jericho: where the Israelites now were, and had been for some time:



saying; as follows.





Numbers 35:2



Ver. 2. Command the children of Israel,.... All the tribes of them; it is not a bare instruction that is given them, much less a mere request that is made to them, or something proposed, and left to their option whether they would agree to it or not; but it is strictly enjoined them by the Lord, who had given them freely all they should possess, and who had a right to all they had, and to whom they were in duty and gratitude bound to do his will and pleasure: the order is,



that they give unto the Levites, of the inheritance of their possession, cities to dwell in; which was but reasonable and requisite, that the ministers of God, and the assistants of the priests, and who did the service of the congregation, that they should have, habitations for them and their families, as well as food and raiment was provided for them in another way:



and ye shall give also unto the Levites suburbs for the cities round about them; which were partly for ornament to their cities, and partly for their health, that they might have air, and not be too closely confined within the walls of their cities; and also for convenience, that they have room for their cattle, and places to lay up the increase of their fields, as after suggested. Jarchi says, that a suburb was a space and place parted without the city, round about, for the beauty of it; but they were not allowed to build there an house (i.e. to dwell in), nor to plant a vineyard, nor to sow seed; other ground is after provided for such uses.





Numbers 35:3



Ver. 3. And cities shall they have to dwell in,.... For them and their families, and indeed for nothing else, they having no trades nor worldly business to carry on in them:



and the suburbs of them shall be for their cattle; for stables and stalls to put them up in, and for barns and storehouses to lay in provender for them:



and for their goods; where to bestow them, as the increase of their fields, oliveyards, and vineyards, see Lu 12:18



and for all their beasts; or living creatures; or "for their whole life" {z}; or livelihood, whatsoever was for the support of it; the Targum of Jonathan adds, by way of explanation, for all their necessities; and so Jarchi.



{z} Mtyh lkl "ad vitam ipsorum". Vid. Drusium.





Numbers 35:4



Ver. 4. And the suburbs of the cities which ye shall give unto the Levites,.... The dimensions and bounds of them were not left to the Israelites, to give what ground they pleased for this purpose, but were fixed to what length they should be: these



[shall reach] from the walls of the city, and outward, a thousand cubits round about; which was half a sabbath day's journey, and pretty near half a mile, which all around a city must contain a considerable quantity of ground, if the city was of any size, as it is certain that some of them given them at least were.





Numbers 35:5



Ver. 5. And ye shall measure from without the city on the east side two thousand cubits,.... Before only 1000 cubits were ordered to be



measured, and now 2000, even 2000 more, which were to be added to the other, and to begin where they ended. The first 1000 were for their cattle and goods, these 2000 for their gardens, orchards, fields, and vineyards; and so the Jewish writers understand it. Jarchi observes, that 1000 cubits are ordered, and after that 2000; and asks, how is this? or how is it to be reconciled? to which he answers, 2000 are put to them round about, and of them the 1000 innermost are for suburbs, and the outermost (i.e. the 2000) are for fields and vineyards; and with this agrees the Misnah {a}, from whence he seems to have taken it; and the same was to be on every other side of the city, south, west, and north, as follows:



and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits; which, added to the other 1000 all around, must make a large circumference of land:



and the city shall be in the midst; in the midst of the circuit of three thousand cubits all around, so that it must stand very pleasant and convenient:



this shall be to them the suburbs of the cities; such a quantity of ground, consisting of so many cubits, shall be assigned to every city; the suburbs or glebe land to a Levite's city, on the four sides were four squares, and each square consisted of seventy six acres, one rood, twenty perches, and eighty square feet; all the four squares amounting to three hundred and five acres, two roods, one perch, besides fifty seven feet square, according to Bishop Cumberland.



{a} Sotah, c. 5. sect. 3. Maimon. & Bartenora in ib.





Numbers 35:6



Ver. 6. And among the cities which ye shall give unto the Levites,.... The number of which is not yet expressed, but is afterwards: there shall be



six cities for refuge; a sort of asylums, of which there were many among the Heathens, perhaps in imitation of these, for persons to have recourse to for safety, when in danger of life: the Septuagint render the words, "cities of flight" {b}; or to flee unto, which certainly was the use of them: to this the apostle alludes when he speaks of some that fled for refuge, to lay hold on the hope set before them, Heb 6:18, the word {c} used for refuge signifies "gathering or receiving", for here persons in distress gathered or betook themselves; and here they were received, retained, protected, and sheltered: what and where these six cities were to be, and were, is after shown:



which ye shall appoint for the manslayer; not for any and everyone, not for one that killed a man presumptuously and purposely, through enmity and malice, but for one that did it ignorantly, unawares, and without design:



that he may flee thither; with all haste, after the commission of the fact; and, to facilitate his flight, and that he might have no interruption in it, the sanhedrim were obliged to prepare the ways to the cities of refuge, and to make them fit and large; and they removed everything that might cause him to stumble; and they did not leave in the way neither an hillock, nor a dale, nor a river but they made a bridge over it, that nothing might retard him that fled thither, as it is said;



thou shalt prepare thee a way; De 19:3 and the breadth of the way to the cities of refuge was not less than thirty two cubits; and at the parting of ways (on posts erected) were written, "refuge, refuge", so that the slayer might know (the way) and turn there (as this directed him): and on the fifteenth of Adar or February, they met every year, to take care of this business {d}; and they also appointed two disciples of the wise men, or two studious and understanding persons, to accompany him, not so much for the direction of the way, as lest the avenger of blood should meet with him, and slay him in the way; and who were to talk to him, and persuade him not to do it, suggesting to him that it was not done designedly, but unawares, and that it would be a bad thing to kill a man for what he did not intend to do, and which was done without any malice or enmity to the person killed, and with such like words to cool and appease the avenger {e}:



and to them ye shall add forty two cities; according to the Jewish writers these also were cities of refuge; for so they say {f},



"all the cities of the Levites receive or are refuges, every one of them is a city of refuge, as it is said, "and to them ye shall add", &c. the Scripture makes them all alike for refuge: what difference is there between cities of refuge, which are separated for refuge, and the rest of the cities of the Levites? the gates of the cities of refuge receive, whether according to knowledge or not, (which Mr. Selden {g} interprets, whether the inhabitants will or not; but the sense of Maimonides elsewhere {h}, and of other writers, is plainly this, whether according to the knowledge and intention of the manslayer or not, whether he knows it to be a city of refuge or :not, and whether he purposely came thither for safety or not,) and he that enters into them is safe; but the rest of the cities of the Levites do not receive, but according to knowledge (when the manslayer knowingly and designedly came thither for shelter); and a manslayer that dwells in a city of refuge gives no more for his house, but he that dwells in the other cities of the Levites gives more (or pays for it) to the owner of the house;''



but though this is their unanimous opinion, it rather seems, according to the letter of the Scripture, that only six were cities of refuge, and the rest were for the Levites to dwell in by themselves.



{b} jlqmh yre poleiv twn fugadeuthriwn, Sept. {c} jlqm "receptus", Junius & Tremellius; "collectionis", Piscator; R. Sol. Ohel Moed, fol. 82. 1. "proprie significat collectionem vel retentionem", Munster. {d} Maimon. Hilchot Rotzeach, c. 8. sect. 5. {e} Misn. Maccot, c. 2. sect. 5. & Maimon. & Bartenora in ib. {f} Maimon. ut supra, ({d}) sect. 11. {g} De Jure Natarae & Gentium, l. 4. c. 2. p. 489. {h} Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Maccot, l. 2. sect. 4.





Numbers 35:7



Ver. 7. So all the cities which ye shall give to the Levites shall be forty eight cities,.... Of these forty eight cities, their names, and what tribes they were in, and which of them were particularly cities of refuge, an account is given in Jos 21:10:



them shall ye give, with their suburbs; according to the dimensions before prescribed.





Numbers 35:8



Ver. 8. And the cities which ye shall give shall be of the possession of the children of Israel,.... What shall fall by lot for their inheritance, and they shall be possessed of; and though they are, shall not refuse, nor grudge to give them, according to the direction of God, whose the land is, they holding it under him:



from [them that have] many ye shall give many, but from [them that have] few ye shall give few; which rule was observed; for out of Judah, whose lot was large, and out of Simeon, whose inheritance was within that of Judah, because it was so large, nine cities were given, whereas out of the other tribes only four cities out of each were given, and out of one of them but three, see Jos 21:1,



everyone shall give of his cities unto the Levites, according to his inheritance which he inheriteth; and the Levites, being thus dispersed among the several tribes, were of great advantage to them, to instruct them in the knowledge of divine things; so that though hereby Jacob's curse on this tribe had its fulfilment, that it should be divided in Jacob, and scattered in Israel, yet that became a blessing to the rest of the tribes; see Ge 49:7.





Numbers 35:9



Ver. 9. And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... At the same time, or he continued his speech unto him:



saying: as follows.





Numbers 35:10



Ver. 10. Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them,.... Now, directly:



when ye come over Jordan into the land of Canaan; as they quickly would, being now very near it, and of which there was the utmost certainty, since the Lord had promised to bring them over that river, and put them in possession of that land.





Numbers 35:11



Ver. 11. Then ye shall appoint your cities to be cities of refuge for you,.... And, according to the Jewish writers {i}, these were neither to be made large nor little, but middling; and they appointed them where there were markets and fairs, at which goods were to be sold; and where there was plenty of water, and a multitude of people; and where there were but few, they fetched others from other places; and they neither made nets for hunting, nor twisted ropes in them, nor sold any warlike instruments, lest the avenger of blood should use himself to come thither, under pretence of buying such things, and kill the manslayer:



that the slayer may flee thither, which killeth any person at unawares; or through error {k}, or mistake, not on purpose, with design, or through malice and enmity, as is afterwards more largely explained.



{i} Maimon. Rotzeach, c. 8. sect. 8. Vid. T. Bab. Maccot, fol. 10. 1. {k} hggvb "per errorem", Pagninus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "per imprudentiam", Tigurine version: Vatablus; "in ignorantia", Montanus.





Numbers 35:12



Ver. 12. And they shall be unto you cities of refuge from the avenger,.... Or near kinsman; for as the right of redemption of an estate that was mortgaged belonged to such an one, so of revenging the blood of any one that was killed:



that the manslayer die not; by the hand of the avenger, who in the heat of his passion would, could he come at him, fall upon him, and slay him, to avenge the death of his relation on him:



until he stand before the congregation in judgment; before the court of judicature, to be examined, tried, and judged, whether the murder was committed knowingly and willingly, or whether through mistake and at unawares: this was done either before the court of judicature in the city of refuge, who took cognizance of such cases directly, that they might know whom to harbour and protect, and whom not; or before the court in the place where the act was committed: interpreters are divided about this; and Calmet {l} is of opinion that he was examined in both courts, first more strictly in the city of refuge, and then more slightly in the place where it was done, which is not improbable; however, this seems manifest from Nu 35:25, that the court where it was committed had power to fetch him from the city of refuge, and set him before them, and examine into the case; and, if an innocent person, restored him to the city of refuge, whither he had fled.



{l} Dictionary, on the word "Refuge".





Numbers 35:13



Ver. 13. And of these cities which ye shall give,.... Of the forty eight cities they were to give to the Levites, Nu 35:7,



six cities shall ye have for refuge; which, I think, makes it clear, that not all the forty eight cities were for refuge, only six of them.





Numbers 35:14



Ver. 14. Ye shall give three cites on this side Jordan,.... Which were Bezer in the wilderness, out of the tribe of Reuben; and Ramoth in Gilead, out of the tribe of Gad; and Golan in Bashan, out of the tribe of Manasseh, Jos 20:8,



and three cities shall ye give in the land of Canaan: which were Kadesh in Galilee, in Mount Naphtali; Shechem in Mount Ephraim; and Kirjatharba, or Hebron, in the mountain of Judah, Jos 20:7



[which] shall be cities of refuge; the three on the other side Jordan, the Jews say, were separated by Moses, and the three in the land of Canaan by Joshua, but not one of them was a refuge until they were all separated {m}: it may seem strange that there should be as many in the two tribes and a half on the other side Jordan, as in the nine tribes and a half in the land of Canaan; let it be observed, what the Jewish writers, say {n}, Moses separated three cities beyond Jordan, and opposite them Joshua separated three in the land of Canaan; and they were like two rows in a vineyard, Hebron in Judea was opposite Bezer in the wilderness; Shechem in Mount Ephraim was opposite Ramoth in Gilead; Kadesh in Mount Naphtali was opposite Golan in Bashan; and the three were so disposed, that there was as much space from the south (of the land of Israel) to Hebron as from Hebron to Shechem; and as much from Hebron to Shechem as from Shechem to Kadesh; and as much from Shechem to Kadesh as from Kadesh to the north beyond Jordan; and it should be known that the land of the tribes beyond Jordan extended in length as far as the land of Canaan, and was equal to it, running along it; so that those in the land of Canaan could soon and easily get over Jordan to the cities of refuge there, if there was occasion; besides, there is a direction given, that if their coast should be enlarged, they were to add three cities more in the land of Canaan, De 19:8, hence the Jews have a notion, that in the days of the Messiah those three cities will be added {o}; but the Messiah is come already, and is the antitype of them all.



{m} Misn. Maccot, c. 2. sect. 4. Maimon. Hilchot Rotzeach, c. 8. sect. 2. 3. & in Pirke, c. 4. sect. 2. & Jarchi in loc. {n} T. Bab. Maccot, fol. 9. 2. {o} Maimon. Rotzeach, c. 8. sect. 4.





Numbers 35:15



Ver. 15. These six cities shall be a refuge both for the children of Israel and for the stranger,.... For an Israelite, and a proselyte of righteousness, one that embraced the Jewish religion, and in all things conformed to it, and to whom there was but one law in things civil and religious:



and for the sojourner among you; the proselyte of the gate, who renounced idolatry, and observed the commands of the sons of Noah, but in other things did not comply with the Jewish ceremonies, yet had the benefit of the cities of refuge equally with the other; though the Jews say {p}, such a proselyte or sojourner had only this privilege, who slew a proselyte, but not if he slew an Israelite; but for this distinction there is no foundation in the text:



that everyone that killeth any person unawares may flee thither; whether an Israelite, or a proselyte of righteousness or of the gate.



{p} Misn. Maccot, c. 2. sect. 3.





Numbers 35:16



Ver. 16. And if he smite him with an instrument of iron, so that he die,.... As with an hatchet, hammer, sword, knife, &c.



he is a murderer; the instrument used by him, and with which he smote, shows that he had a bad design, and intended to kill, or he would never have smitten a man with such an instrument:



the murderer shall surely be put to death; be condemned to death, and be executed, by the order of the civil magistrate, according to the law in Ge 9:6 and not be allowed the benefit of a city of refuge.





Numbers 35:17



Ver. 17. And if he smite him with throwing a stone,.... "Or with a stone of the hand" {q}, which the Jews interpret of a stone so big as to fill a man's hand, and so



wherewith he may die; at whom it is thrown; is sufficient to cause his death, if struck with it; so the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases it of a



"stone of fulness of hands, which is sufficient that a man may die with it,''



or be killed by it:



and he die; by the blow he receives from it, either immediately or in a short time after:



he is a murderer, and the murderer shall surely be put to death; as in the above case.



{q} dy Nbab.





Numbers 35:18



Ver. 18. Or if he smote him with an hand weapon of wood,.... A stick, or staff, or club:



wherewith he may die, and he die; which is sufficient to kill a man, as the same Targum explains it; and a man dies with the blow that is given him by it:



he is a murderer, and the murderer shall surely be put to death; no pardon given him, or the benefit of the city of refuge allowed him.





Numbers 35:19



Ver. 19. The revenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer,.... Not only shall have power to do it, but, as it seems, should be obliged to do it; be the executioner of the murderer; but not before his case has been heard, examined, tried, and judged; wherefore the Targum of Jonathan adds,



"in judgment,''



that is, as Onkelos explains it,



"when he is condemned by judgment,''



the court of judicature:



when he meeteth him he shall slay him; the first opportunity he has, even though, as Jarchi says, if he meets him in the midst of one of the cities of refuge, and no judgment is passed on him.





Numbers 35:20



Ver. 20. But if he thrust him of hatred,.... Or, "and if" {r}, since the Scripture is still speaking of such that shall die for murder, though in another instance, without having the privilege of a city of refuge; if he thrusts him with a sword or knife, or rather, since, if anything of that kind is included in the first instance of smiting with an instrument of iron, push him down from an high place, as Aben Ezra; so the men of Nazareth intended to have dispatched Christ in that way, Lu 4:29



or hurl at him by lying in wait, that he die; as a bowing wall, as the same writer instances in, push down that upon him as he passes along, lying in wait for him; or throws anything at him, with an intention to kill him, and does; or casts down anything upon him, a large stone, or anything else, by which he dies.



{r} Maw "et si", Pagninus, Montanus.





Numbers 35:21



Ver. 21. Or in enmity smite him with his hand, that he die,.... Give him a blow with his fist, on some part of his body where life is most in danger, and which issues in death:



he that smote him shall surely be put to death, for he is a murderer; and therefore, according to the original law, ought to die, without reprieve or pardon; and notwithstanding this law made for cities of refuge, which were to be denied him:



the revenger of blood shall slay the murderer when he meeteth him: that is, when he is condemned, as both the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan interpret it, after a hearing and trial of his case.





Numbers 35:22



Ver. 22. But if he thrust him suddenly, without enmity,.... Push him from a precipice, before he is aware, without any malicious design against his life, but merely through accident:



or have cast upon him anything; from the top of a house, or from a building he is pulling down, or pushes a bowing wall upon him, not knowing that he is passing by it:



and without lying of wait: or having contrived to do it, just as he goes along, or in any other similar way.





Numbers 35:23



Ver. 23. Or with any stone wherewith a man may die,.... Which is sufficient to kill a man, if thrown at him:



seeing him not; and so without intention: the Jews {s} from hence gather, that a blind man is to be acquitted and dismissed, and not banished and so stands in no need of a city of refuge; though others say he is to be banished, and needs it, and ought to have the privilege of it:



and cast it upon him that he die; casting, it upon another account, and with another view, but yet falling upon a man, it kills him;



and was not his enemy, neither sought him harm; it was never known that they were at variance, or that the slayer had ever by any overt act discovered any malice and enmity against the deceased, by word or deed, or ever sought to do him any injury, either to his person or property.



{s} Misn. Maccot, c. 2. sect. 3.





Numbers 35:24



Ver. 24. Then the congregation,.... That is, the court of judicature, assembled together to hear and try this cause:



shall judge between the slayer and the revenger of blood; shall hear what both have to say, and pass sentence:



according to these judgments; these judicial laws and rules of judgment before delivered, exemplified in various cases.





Numbers 35:25



Ver. 25. And the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood,.... Put him under the care of proper persons, to conduct him to one of the cities of refuge, or put him in the way to it; and restrain the avenger of blood from pursuing him, until such time that it may be judged he is safe arrived there:



and the congregation shall restore him to the city of refuge, whither he was fled; so that it seems by this, when one had been guilty of manslaughter, and fled to one of the cities of refuge, he might be taken from thence and had before a court of justice, and there take his trial; and if it appeared that the fact was committed by him, ignorantly, unawares, and without design, then he was returned to his city of refuge; but, if otherwise, he was put to death, notwithstanding he had fled thither; and so it is said in the Misnah {t}, that



"at first, or formerly, one that killed another ignorantly or presumptuously, they sent him before to one of the cities of refuge, and the sanhedrim sent and fetched him from thence: he who was condemned to death by the court, they slew him; he that was not condemned was dismissed; he that was condemned to banishment they returned him to his place, according to

Nu 35:25.''



and he shall abide in it, unto the death of the high priest, which was anointed with the holy oil: and then he was to be set at liberty, and return to his house and family and have his former possessions and honours, if he had any, restored unto him, the commission or warrant for his detainer there ceasing, being made void by the death of the high priest; who was the prince of the priests and Levites, to whom those cities belonged, and so under his jurisdiction: or so it was ordered, because such was the general mourning for such a public loss as an high priest, that all private revenges would subside, and the cause of them be buried, in grief and forgetfulness; though, no doubt, this had a respect to something which will be hereafter taken notice of: the Jews say {u}, that the mothers of the priests used to supply with a sufficient quantity of food and raiment such who fled to the cities of refuge, that they might not pray for the death of their sons; and according to them, a man's case was very bad when there was no high priest; for so they write {w}



"he whose cause is finished (or his case determined in a court of judicature), and there is no high priest; and he that slays an high priest, or an high priest slays another, he never goes out, no not so much as to bear testimony in any cause, and even in what the congregation has need of him, but there are his dwelling, his death, and his burial.''



{t} Misn. Maccot. c. 2. sect. 6. {u} Misn. Maccot. c. 2. sect. 3. {w} Misn. Maccot, c. 2. sect. 7.





Numbers 35:26



Ver. 26. But if the slayer shall at any time come without the border of the city of his refuge,.... Which seems to be the three thousand cubits assigned to every city of the Levites, and so to the cities of refuge; and which, according to the Jewish writers, were a refuge, as the city itself; and it is said {x},



"he, that kills a man there, is killed for him, but though the border is a refuge, the slayer does not dwell in it, as it is said. Nu 35:25, "he shall abide in it", but not in its borders:''



whither he was fled; on account of manslaughter.



{x} Maimon. Hilchot Rotzeach, c. 8. sect. 11. Misn. Maccot, c. 2. sect. 7.





Numbers 35:27



Ver. 27. And the revenger of blood find him without the borders of the city of his refuge,.... Without the suburbs, fields, and vineyards belonging to it:



and the revenger of blood kill the slayer; being exasperated against him, and to avenge the blood of his relation on him:



he shall not be guilty of blood; or be reckoned murderer, or die for it.





Numbers 35:28



Ver. 28. Because he should have remained in the city of his refuge until the death of the high priest,.... Nothing could give him his liberty but his death; so that though this was a merciful provision made in such cases for such persons, and was a considerable benefit and privilege, yet it carried in it some appearance of a punishment; since such a person was confined within the boundaries of one of the cities of refuge as long as the high priest lived; and this was done to make persons cautious how they were any way accessory to the death of another, though without design:



but after the death of the high priest the slayer shall return into the land of his possession; to that part of the land, and to that tribe to which he belonged, to his house and family, and to his possessions and inheritances, whatever he had, and to all the honours and privileges he before enjoyed, and under no danger from the avenger of blood henceforward: a custom somewhat like this has prevailed in some parts of Africa, as Leo Africanus {y} relates, that if a man happened to kill another, all the friends of the deceased conspired to kill him, but if they could not effect it, then the guilty person was proclaimed an exile from the city, for the whole space of seven years; and at the expiration of the whole seven years, when he returned from his exile, the chief men of the city invited him to a feast, and so he was restored to his liberty: temples, groves, altars, and statues, were common among other nations for asylums or refuges, but whole cities very rarely with the ancients; it seems there were some {z}.



{y} Descriptio Africae, l. 2. p. 135, 136. {z} Vid. Marmor. Oxon. & Not. in ib. p. 25. & Rittershusium de Jure Asylorum, c. 2.





Numbers 35:29



Ver. 29. So these things shall be for a statute of judgment unto you,.... A judicial law, according to which they were to proceed in all the above cases:



throughout your generations in all your dwellings; throughout all ages, as long as they dwelt in the land of Canaan, even unto the times of the Messiah, in whom the things figured hereby had their accomplishment: the cities of refuge were types of Christ: hence a divine person, even the Messiah, is often spoken of as the refuge of his people, Ps 9:9 with which compare Heb 6:18 these were places to flee to, as the word is rendered by the Greek version; to Christ sensible sinners flee for shelter and safety, which supposes danger in themselves from the law and justice of God; a sense of that danger which makes them flee from wrath to come; a view of Christ, as a place of refuge, and that no other but he will serve their purpose, and therefore make all the haste and speed they can unto him. The word properly signifies cities of gathering, or of reception. There was a gathering of the elect of God to Christ at his death; and there is another at effectual calling, which is an act of God's grace, and a distinguishing one, when souls gather to Christ as their Saviour for righteousness, peace, pardon, rest, and everlasting life; and when Christ receives them, though sinners, into his arms, and into his heart, and into open fellowship with him, so as to dwell in him, where they dwell pleasantly and safely; he receives them into his house here, and into heaven hereafter; and by, and in Christ, those that flee to him, and are received by him, are retained and preserved from Satan, law, hell and death. The cities of refuge were of God's appointing; so Christ, as a Saviour, and rock of refuge to his people, is appointed and foreordained of God; they were well known for refuges, as the Lord is in the places of Zion; they were open for all, at all times, as Christ is for all sinners, even the chief of sinners, Jews or Gentiles; they are all one in Christ, the Israelite, and the stranger and sojourner; all impediments were removed out of the way of them, and plain directions to them given, as are in the Gospel, and by the ministers of it; and there is always room in Christ for such that flee to him, as there was in those cities; and being in him, they are safe from the curse and condemnation of the law, from wrath to come, and from the second death; and their redemption and atonement, peace and reconciliation, liberty, life and salvation, are owing to the death of Christ, their high priest. Abendana {a} observes, that the death of the high priest atoned for the offence (of manslaughter), which was the reason the manslayer continued in the city of refuge till his death, and then was released: however, certain it is, that the death of Christ, our high priest, atones for every sin of those that flee to him, and by which they are reconciled to God. In some things there is a difference between these cities of refuge and Christ; they were six, he but one; they were for such only who shed blood ignorantly, he for such that were enemies to him, and lived in malice towards others, and guilty of the most enormous crimes: to be in these cities of refuge was a kind of exile and imprisonment, but they that are in Christ are freemen; it was possible that such might die that were in them, and at most were only delivered from temporal death, but they that flee to Christ for refuge are saved with an everlasting salvation.



{a} Not. in Miclol Yophi in ver. 25.





Numbers 35:30



Ver. 30. Whoso killeth any person,.... Willingly, and through enmity and malice:



the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of two witnesses; which is repeated partly to show, that this law concerning the cities of refuge was not designed to screen a murderer, who was guilty through malice prepense; and partly for the sake of what is added to it, that two witnesses are required in such a case, where a man's life is at stake, to prove the fact against him; which shows how careful the Lord is, and men should be, of the lives of his creatures, that no man suffer wrongfully; which is repeated again and again, that it might be observed, see De 17:6 but one witness shall not testify against any person, to cause him to die; which looks as if in other cases, in pecuniary matters, and the like, where life is not concerned, one witness may be sufficient; though it is always best and safest to have more if they can be had, that at the mouth of two or three witnesses everything may be established, De 19:15.





Numbers 35:31



Ver. 31. Moreover, ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer,.... Though he would give all his wealth and substance, all his estates and possessions, and whatever he is worth in the world; for all that a man has he will give for his life; but these are not to be taken, nor anything, and everything his friends may offer for him; all is to be rejected, the life of such a man is not to be saved on any consideration:



which is guilty of death; as he is who kills a man willingly and purposely; but one may be guilty of killing another, and yet not be deserving of death, when it is done ignorantly and accidentally with respect to him, for which reason this clause is added: but he shall be surely put to death; by the order of the civil magistrate; and if this is not done either through want of evidence, or the fault of the judge, or the criminal clemency of the chief governor, God sooner or later will take vengeance on such a person.





Numbers 35:32



Ver. 32. Moreover, ye shall take no satisfaction for him that is fled to the city of his refuge,.... Though for killing a man unawares:



that he should come again to dwell in the land, until the death of the priest; the high priest; such a man's liberty was not to be purchased with money, nor even his life to be bought off, should he be taken without his city; a great ransom could not deliver him from the avenger, because he was guilty of this law, which so wisely and mercifully provided for him; and consequently guilty also of great ingratitude to God, as well as of a breach of his law, and of disrespect to his high priest, under whom he was protected.





Numbers 35:33



Ver. 33. So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are,.... The land of Canaan, as it had been by the old inhabitants of it, by idolatry, adultery, and murder:



for blood it defileth the land: the shedding of innocent blood defiles a nation, and the inhabitants of it, brings guilt thereon, and subjects to punishment:



and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it; or "there can be no expiation" {b}, or "atonement made" for it in any other way; the blood of the murderer is required at his hands, and nothing short of it will satisfy law and justice, see Ge 9:6.



{b} rpky al "non posset expiatio", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; to the same sense Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version.





Numbers 35:34



Ver. 34. Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inherit,.... By the commission of such atrocious crimes, or suffering them to go unpunished, or by taking a compensation for the life of the guilty person:



wherein I dwell; which is added to strengthen the exhortation, and as giving a reason why care should be taken not to pollute it, because the Holy God dwells there; as he did in the tabernacle erected for him, and in such a peculiar manner as he did not in other lands:



for I the Lord dwell among the children of Israel; he now dwelt among them as their God, and their King; his tent or tabernacle being pitched in the midst of the camps of Israel; and so he would continue to dwell among them when they were come to the land of Canaan, so long as they observed his laws, statutes, and ordinances; and therefore it behoved them to be careful that they did not pollute themselves and their land, and cause him to depart from them.



 

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