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Selected Verse: Numbers 32:1 - Strong Concordance
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Nu 32:1 |
Strong Concordance |
Now the children [01121] of Reuben [07205] and the children [01121] of Gad [01410] had a very [03966] great [06099] multitude [07227] of cattle [04735]: and when they saw [07200] the land [0776] of Jazer [03270], and the land [0776] of Gilead [01568], that, behold, the place [04725] was a place [04725] for cattle [04735]; |
| |
King James |
Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle; |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
THE REUBENITES AND GADITES ASK FOR AN INHERITANCE. (Num. 32:1-42)
the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead--A complete conquest had been made of the country east of the Jordan, comprising "the land of Jazer," which formed the southern district between the Arnon and Jabbok and "the land of Gilead," the middle region between the Jabbok and Jarmouk, or Hieromax, including Bashan, which lay on the north of that river. The whole of this region is now called the Belka. It has always been famous for its rich and extensive pastures, and it is still the favorite resort of the Bedouin shepherds, who frequently contend for securing to their immense flocks the benefit of its luxuriant vegetation. In the camp of ancient Israel, Reuben and Gad were pre-eminently pastoral; and as these two tribes, being placed under the same standard, had frequent opportunities of conversing and arranging about their common concerns, they united in preferring a request that the trans-jordanic region, so well suited to the habits of a pastoral people, might be assigned to them. |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
| Jazer - Compare the marginal reference. This district, although included in the land of Gilead, seems to have had special attractions for the Israelite settlers. All travelers in Gilead, the modern Belka, bear witness to its richness as compared with the country to the west of the Jordan. Its general character is that of an upland pasture, undulating and thickly timbered. In the last respect its northern portions excel its southern; but for fertility of soil the southern province is preferred by the Arabs, in whose lips it has passed into a proverb: "Thou canst not find a country like the Belka." |
| The Scofield Bible Commentary, by Cyrus Ingerson Scofield, [1917] |
The Reubenites
The Reubenites, Gadites, and half-tribe of Manasseh, who chose their inheritance just outside the land, are types of world-borderers -- carnal Christians. What their descendants were when Messiah came is seen in (Mar 5:1-17). |
| Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78] |
| The Reubenites and Gadites, who had very large flocks and herds, petitioned Moses, Eleazar, and the princes of the congregation, to give them the conquered land of Gilead for a possession, as a land that was peculiarly adapted for flocks, and not to make them pass over the Jordan. מאד עצוּם, "very strong," is an apposition introduced at the close of the sentence to give emphasis to the רב. The land which they wished for, they called the "land of Jazer (see Num 21:32), and the land of Gilead." They put Jazer first, probably because this district was especially rich in excellent pasture land. Gilead was the land to the south and north of the Jabbok (see at Deu 3:10), the modern provinces of Belka in the south between the Jabbok and the Arnon, and Jebel Ajlun to the north of the Jabbok, as far as the Mandhur. Ancient Gilead still shows numerous traces of great fertility even in its present desolation, covered over as it is with hundreds of ruins of old towns and hamlets. Belka is mountainous towards the north, but in the south as far as the Arnon it is for the most part table-land; and in the mountains, as Buckingham says, "we find on every hand a pleasant shade from fine oaks and wild pistachio-trees, whilst the whole landscape has more of a European character. The pasturage in Belka is much better than it is anywhere else throughout the whole of southern Syria, so that the Bedouins say, 'You can find no country like Belka.' The oxen and sheep of this district are considered the very best" (see v. Raumer, Pal. p. 82). The mountains of Gilead on both sides of the Jabbok are covered for the most part with glorious forests of oak. "Jebel Ajlun," says Robinson (Pal. App. 162), "presents the most charming rural scenery that I have seen in Syria. A continued forest of noble trees, chiefly the evergreen oak (Sindin), covers a large part of it, while the ground beneath is covered with luxuriant grass, which we found a foot or more in height, and decked with a rich variety of flowers" (see v. Raumer, ut sup.). This also applies to the ancient Basan, which included the modern plains of Jaulan and Hauran, that were also covered over with ruins of former towns and hamlets. The plain of Hauran, though perfectly treeless, is for all that very fertile, rich in corn, and covered in some places with such luxuriant grass that horses have great difficulty in making their way through it; for which reason it is a favourite resort of the Bedouins (Burckhardt, p. 393). "The whole of Hauran," says Ritter (Erdkunde, xv. pp. 988, 989), "stretches out as a splendid, boundless plain, between Hermon on the west, Jebel Hauran on the east, and Jebel Ajlun to the south; but there is not a single river in which there is water throughout the whole of the summer. It is covered, however, with a large number of villages, every one of which has its cisterns, its ponds, or its birket; and these are filled in the rainy season, and by the winter torrents from the snowy Jebel Hauran. Wherever the soil, which is everywhere black, deep, dark brown, or ochre-coloured, and remarkably fertile, is properly cultivated, and you find illimitable corn-fields, and chiefly golden fields of wheat, which furnish Syria in all directions with its principal food. By far the larger part of this plain, which was a luxuriant garden in the time of the Romans, is now uncultivated, waste, and without inhabitants, and therefore furnishes the Bedouins of the neighbourhood with the desired paradise for themselves and their flocks." On its western slope Jebel Hauran is covered with splendid forests of oak, and rich in meadow land for flocks (Burckhardt, pp. 152, 169, 170, 173, 358; Wetstein, Reiseber. pp. 39ff. and 88). On the nature of the soil of Hauran, see at Deu 3:4. The plain of Jaulan appears in the distance like the continuation of Hauran (Robinson, App. 162); it has much bush-land in it, but the climate is not so healthy as in Hauran (Seetzen, i. pp. 353, 130, 131). "In general, Hauran, Jaulan, el Botthin, el Belka, and Ejlun, are the paradise of nomads, and in all their wanderings eastwards they find no pasture like it" (Seetzen, i. p. 364). מקום, a locality, or district. מקנה מאום = מקנה ארץ (Num 32:4), a district adapted for grazing. |
| Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
| Jazer - A city and country of the Amorites; Gilead - A mountainous country, famous for pasturage |
1 And [2532] they came over [2064] unto [1519] the other side [4008] of the sea [2281], into [1519] the country [5561] of the Gadarenes [1046].
2 And [2532] when he [846] was come [1831] out of [1537] the ship [4143], immediately [2112] there met [528] him [846] out of [1537] the tombs [3419] a man [444] with [1722] an unclean [169] spirit [4151],
3 Who [3739] had [2192] his dwelling [2731] among [1722] the tombs [3419]; and [2532] no man [3762] could [1410] bind [1210] him [846], no, not [3777] with chains [254]:
4 Because [1223] that he [846] had been often [4178] bound [1210] with fetters [3976] and [2532] chains [254], and [2532] the chains [254] had been plucked asunder [1288] by [5259] him [846], and [2532] the fetters [3976] broken in pieces [4937]: neither [2532] could [2480] any man tame [1150] him [846] [3762].
5 And [2532] always [1275], night [3571] and [2532] day [2250], he was [2258] in [1722] the mountains [3735], and [2532] in [1722] the tombs [3418], crying [2896], and [2532] cutting [2629] himself [1438] with stones [3037].
6 But [1161] when he saw [1492] Jesus [2424] afar off [575] [3113], he ran [5143] and [2532] worshipped [4352] him [846],
7 And [2532] cried [2896] with a loud [3173] voice [5456], and said [2036], What [5101] have I [1698] to do [2532] with thee [4671], Jesus [2424], thou Son [5207] of the most high [5310] God [2316]? I adjure [3726] thee [4571] by God [2316], that thou torment [928] me [3165] not [3361].
8 For [1063] he said [3004] unto him [846], Come [1831] out of [1537] the man [444], thou unclean [169] spirit [4151].
9 And [2532] he asked [1905] him [846], What [5101] is thy [4671] name [3686]? And [2532] he answered [611], saying [3004], My [3427] name [3686] is Legion [3003]: for [3754] we are [2070] many [4183].
10 And [2532] he besought [3870] him [846] much [4183] that [3363] he would [649] not [3363] send [649] them [846] away [649] out of [1854] the country [5561].
11 Now [1161] there was [2258] there [1563] nigh [4314] unto the mountains [3735] a great [3173] herd [34] of swine [5519] feeding [1006].
12 And [2532] all [3956] the devils [1142] besought [3870] him [846], saying [3004], Send [3992] us [2248] into [1519] the swine [5519], that [2443] we may enter [1525] into [1519] them [846].
13 And [2532] forthwith [2112] Jesus [2424] gave [2010] them [846] leave [2010]. And [2532] the unclean [169] spirits [4151] went out [1831], and entered [1525] into [1519] the swine [5519]: and [2532] the herd [34] ran [3729] violently down [2596] a steep place [2911] into [1519] the sea [2281], [1161] (they were [2258] about [5613] two thousand [1367];) and [2532] were choked [4155] in [1722] the sea [2281].
14 And [1161] they that fed [1006] the swine [5519] fled [5343], and [2532] told [312] it in [1519] the city [4172], and [2532] in [1519] the country [68]. And [2532] they went out [1831] to see [1492] what [5101] it was [2076] that was done [1096].
15 And [2532] they come [2064] to [4314] Jesus [2424], and [2532] see [2334] him that was possessed with the devil [1139], and had [2192] the legion [3003], sitting [2521], and [2532] clothed [2439], and [2532] in his right mind [4993]: and [2532] they were afraid [5399].
16 And [2532] they that saw [1492] it told [1334] them [846] how [4459] it befell [1096] to him that was possessed with the devil [1139], and [2532] also concerning [4012] the swine [5519].
17 And [2532] they began [756] to pray [3870] him [846] to depart [565] out of [575] their [846] coasts [3725].
4 Even the country [0776] which the LORD [03068] smote [05221] before [06440] the congregation [05712] of Israel [03478], is a land [0776] for cattle [04735], and thy servants [05650] have cattle [04735]:
4 And we took [03920] all his cities [05892] at that time [06256], there was not a city [07151] which we took [03947] not from them, threescore [08346] cities [05892], all the region [02256] of Argob [0709], the kingdom [04467] of Og [05747] in Bashan [01316].
10 All the cities [05892] of the plain [04334], and all Gilead [01568], and all Bashan [01316], unto Salchah [05548] and Edrei [0154], cities [05892] of the kingdom [04467] of Og [05747] in Bashan [01316].
32 And Moses [04872] sent [07971] to spy out [07270] Jaazer [03270], and they took [03920] the villages [01323] thereof, and drove out [03423] [03423] the Amorites [0567] that were there.