Numbers 32:4-9
The Voice
Reubenites and Gadites: 3-5 This territory, which the Eternal One has already enabled us to dominate, is for livestock land; and we have livestock. If it is pleasing to you, may we settle here instead of crossing the Jordan into the promised land? We’d like this territory to be ours (Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon) rather than laying claim to any territory across the Jordan.
Although slightly misunderstood by Moses, Reuben and Gad still express loyalty to the Lord and to their Israelite kin, but they like the prospects of settling in the fertile land that they will also share with the Ammonites, Moabites, and Edomites.
Moses: 6-9 You’re missing the big picture. How can I let you settle here on this side of the Jordan, while your kinsmen on the other side of the Jordan may have to go to war in order to possess the land? Why would you dishearten the rest of the people today just as the spies did who disheartened the people in the last generation after I sent them from Kadesh-barnea and they saw the Eshcol Valley and the surrounding land?
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
