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The Land East of the Jordan River Is Divided

(Numbers 32.1-42)

Moses said to Israel:

12-17 I gave some of the land and towns we captured to the tribes of Reuben and Gad. Their share started at the Arnon River gorge in the south, took in the town of Aroer on the edge of the gorge, and went far enough north to include the southern half of the Gilead region. The northern part of their land went as far east as the upper Jabbok River gorge, which formed their border with the Ammonites.[a] I also gave them the eastern side of the Jordan River valley, from Lake Galilee[b] south to the Dead Sea[c] below the slopes of Mount Pisgah.

I gave the northern half of Gilead and all of the Bashan region to half the tribe of Manasseh.[d] Bashan had belonged to King Og, and the Argob region in Bashan used to be called the Land of the Rephaim. Jair from the Manasseh tribe conquered the Argob region as far west as the kingdoms of Geshur and Maacah. The Israelites even started calling Bashan by the name “Villages of Jair,”[e] and that is still its name. I gave the northern half of Gilead to the Machir clan.[f]

18-19 (A) At that time I told the men of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh:

The Lord our God told me to give you this land with its towns, and that's what I have done. Now your wives and children can stay here with your large flocks of sheep and goats and your large herds of cattle. But all of you men that can serve in our army must cross the Jordan River and help the other tribes, because they are your relatives. 20 The Lord will let them defeat the enemy nations on the west side of the Jordan and take their land. Afterwards, you can come back here to the land I gave you.

21-22 Then I told Joshua, “You saw how the Lord our God helped us destroy King Sihon and King Og. So don't be afraid! Wherever you go, the Lord will fight on your side and help you destroy your enemies.”

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Footnotes

  1. 3.12-17 The northern part … border with the Ammonites: The Jabbok River flowed from south to north, then it turned west and formed the northern border of the land belonging to the Reuben and Gad tribes.
  2. 3.12-17 Lake Galilee: The Hebrew text has “Lake Chinnereth,” an earlier name.
  3. 3.12-17 the Dead Sea: Hebrew “the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea.”
  4. 3.12-17 half the tribe of Manasseh: Or “East Manasseh.”
  5. 3.12-17 Villages of Jair: Or “Havvoth-Jair.”
  6. 3.12-17 Machir clan: One of the clans of the Manasseh tribe.

Division of the Land

12 Of the land that we took over at that time, I gave the Reubenites and the Gadites the territory north of Aroer(A) by the Arnon Gorge, including half the hill country of Gilead, together with its towns. 13 The rest of Gilead and also all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh.(B) (The whole region of Argob in Bashan used to be known as a land of the Rephaites.(C) 14 Jair,(D) a descendant of Manasseh, took the whole region of Argob as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maakathites;(E) it was named(F) after him, so that to this day Bashan is called Havvoth Jair.[a]) 15 And I gave Gilead to Makir.(G) 16 But to the Reubenites and the Gadites I gave the territory extending from Gilead down to the Arnon Gorge (the middle of the gorge being the border) and out to the Jabbok River,(H) which is the border of the Ammonites. 17 Its western border was the Jordan in the Arabah,(I) from Kinnereth(J) to the Sea of the Arabah(K) (that is, the Dead Sea(L)), below the slopes of Pisgah.

18 I commanded you at that time: “The Lord your God has given(M) you this land to take possession of it. But all your able-bodied men, armed for battle, must cross over ahead of the other Israelites.(N) 19 However, your wives,(O) your children and your livestock(P) (I know you have much livestock) may stay in the towns I have given you, 20 until the Lord gives rest to your fellow Israelites as he has to you, and they too have taken over the land that the Lord your God is giving them across the Jordan. After that, each of you may go back to the possession I have given you.”

Moses Forbidden to Cross the Jordan

21 At that time I commanded Joshua: “You have seen with your own eyes all that the Lord your God has done to these two kings. The Lord will do the same to all the kingdoms over there where you are going. 22 Do not be afraid(Q) of them;(R) the Lord your God himself will fight(S) for you.”

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 3:14 Or called the settlements of Jair