Tanach (JPS): Numbers: Numbers Chapter 32

Book of ChroniclesHebrew Bible TranslationJewish Publication Society Bible

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This is a passage from the Hebrew Bible (Numbers 32), drawn from the 1917 Jewish Publication Society translation of the Tanach — religious scripture in the narrative tradition of the Torah. The text recounts a negotiation between Moses and the tribes of Reuben and Gad, who request permission to settle east of the Jordan River (in Gilead) rather than crossing into Canaan, because the land suits their large herds. Moses initially rebukes them sharply, invoking the sin of the wilderness generation — those who lost faith at Kadesh-barnea and were condemned to die before reaching the Promised Land — warning that their request risks repeating that faithlessness and demoralizing the rest of Israel. The tribes resolve the standoff by pledging to send their fighting men across the Jordan to help conquer Canaan before returning to claim their eastern inheritance, leaving their families and livestock behind. Moses accepts this conditional agreement and formalizes it before Eleazar and Joshua, specifying that failure to follow through would constitute sin against God. The chapter closes with a brief territorial record of which cities each tribe built or captured, including the half-tribe of Manasseh, grounding the narrative in concrete geographic claims that would have held legal and religious significance for its original audience.

Tanach (JPS): Numbers: Numbers Chapter 32

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