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Tanach: Numbers (Bemidbar): Numbers (Bemidbar) Chapter 32

Book of AmosHebrew BibleTanakh

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This is Numbers 32 from the Hebrew Bible (Torah), presented in both the original Hebrew script and phonetic transliteration. The chapter narrates a land dispute at the threshold of Canaan: the tribes of Reuben and Gad, possessing large herds, ask Moses to grant them the already-conquered territories of Jazer and Gilead east of the Jordan rather than crossing into Canaan with the other tribes. Moses sharply rebukes them, invoking the story of the scouts sent from Kadesh-barnea — whose discouraging report caused God's anger and condemned an entire generation to die in the wilderness — warning that the tribes' refusal would repeat that sin. The tribes counter-propose a compromise: their families and livestock will stay in fortified cities east of the Jordan while their fighting men cross and serve in the vanguard of the Israelite army until the conquest is complete. Moses accepts this conditional arrangement and formalizes it before Eleazar the priest and Joshua; the chapter closes with the allotment of specific cities to Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. The chapter's distinctive theological claim is that military solidarity with the community is a covenantal obligation — opting out is not merely self-interest but a sin against God — while also demonstrating that negotiated compromise within that framework is legitimate.

Tanach: Numbers (Bemidbar): Numbers (Bemidbar) Chapter 32

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