Numbers 32 · Parashat Matot

Now the children of Re᾽uven and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Ya῾zer, and the land of Gil῾ad, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle;

the children of Gad and the children of Re᾽uven came and spoke to Moshe, and to El῾azar the priest, and to the princes of the congregation, saying,

῾Atarot, and Divon, and Ya῾zer, and Nimra, and Ḥeshbon, and El῾ale, and Sevam, and Nevo, and Be῾on,

the country which the Lord smote before the congregation of Yisra᾽el, is a land for cattle, and thy servants have cattle:

and they said, If we have found favour in thy sight, let this land be given to thy servants for a possession, and bring us not over the Yarden.

And Moshe said to the children of Gad and to the children of Re᾽uven, Shall your brethren go to war, and shall you sit here?

And why do you dishearten the children of Yisra᾽el from going over into the land which the Lord has given them?

Thus did your fathers, when I sent them from Qadesh-barnea to see the land.

For when they went up to the wadi of Eshkol, and saw the land, they disheartened the children of Yisra᾽el, that they should not go into the land which the Lord had given them.

And the Lord’s anger burned at that time, and he swore, saying,

Surely none of the men that came up out of Miżrayim, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to Avraham, to Yiżĥaq, and to Ya῾aqov; because they have not wholly followed me:

save Kalev son of Yefunne the Qenizzite, and Yehoshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed the Lord.

And the Lord’s anger burned against Yisra᾽el, and he made them wander in the wilderness for forty years, until all the generation, that had done evil in the sight of the Lord, was consumed.

And, behold, you are risen up in place of your fathers, a brood of sinful men, to augment yet the fierce anger of the Lord towards Yisra᾽el.

For if you turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and you will destroy all this people.

And they came near to him, and said, We will build sheepfolds here for our cattle, and cities for our little ones:

but we ourselves will go ready armed before the children of Yisra᾽el, until we have brought them to their place: and our little ones shall dwell in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land.

We will not return to our houses, until the children of Yisra᾽el have inherited every man his inheritance.

For we will not inherit with them on yonder side of the Yarden, and farther off; because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side of the Yarden eastward.

And Moshe said to them, If you will do this thing, if you will go armed before the Lord to war,

and will go all of you armed over the Yarden before the Lord, until he has driven out his enemies before him,

and the land be subdued before the Lord: then afterwards you shall return, and be guiltless before the Lord, and before Yisra᾽el; and this land shall be your possession before the Lord.

But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord: and be sure your sin will find you out.

Build cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep; and do that which has proceeded out of your mouth.

And the children of Gad and the children of Re᾽uven spoke to Moshe, saying, Thy servants will do as my lord commands.

Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our cattle, shall be there in the cities of Gil῾ad:

but thy servants will pass over, every man armed for war, before the Lord to battle, as my lord says.

So concerning them Moshe commanded El῾azar the priest, and Yehoshua the son of Nun, and the chief fathers of the tribes of the children of Yisra᾽el:

and Moshe said to them, If the children of Gad and the children of Re᾽uven will pass with you over the Yarden, every man armed to battle, before the Lord, and the land shall be subdued before you; then you shall give them the land of Gil῾ad for a possession:

but if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Kena῾an.

And the children of Gad and the children of Re᾽uven answered, saying, as the Lord has said to thy servants, so will we do.

We will pass over armed before the Lord into the land of Kena῾an, that the possession of our inheritance may be ours on this side of the Yarden.

And Moshe gave to them, to the children of Gad, and to the children of Re᾽uven, and to half the tribe of Menashshe the son of Yosef, the kingdom of Siĥon king of the Emori, and the kingdom of ῾Og king of Bashan, the land, with its cities in the borders, the cities of the country round about.

And the children of Gad built Divon, and ῾Atarot, and ῾Aro῾er,

and ῾Atrot-shofan, and Ya῾zer, and Yogbeha,

and Bet-nimra, and Bet-haran, fortified cities: and folds for sheep.

And the children of Re᾽uven built Ḥeshbon, and El῾ale, and Qiryatayim,

and Nevo, and Ba῾al-me῾on, (their names being changed,) and Sivma: and gave other names to the cities which they built.

And the children of Makhir the son of Menashshe went to Gil῾ad, and took it, and dispossessed the Emori who were in it.

And Moshe gave Gil῾ad to Makhir the son of Menashshe; and he dwelt in it.

And Ya᾽ir the son of Menashshe went and took their villages, and called them Ḥavvot-ya᾽ir.

And Novaĥ went and took Qenat, and its hamlets, and called it Novaĥ, after his own name.