Numbers 32:2

2 So the Gadites and Reubenites came to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the community and said:

Numbers 32:2 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 32:2

The children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spake
unto Moses
The children of Gad are mentioned first, though Reuben was the firstborn, and had a standard under which Gad pitched: it may be, as Aben Ezra thinks, the Gadites were the first authors of this counsel, the contrivers of this scheme; who first moved it to the Reubenites, which they had an opportunity of doing, lying encamped by them; or however, they might be the most busy and active in this affair, or the best spokesmen; for it could be only some, in the name of the whole, that addressed Moses on this account, and spoke to him about it:

and to Eleazar the priest, and unto the princes of the congregation;
who perhaps were the seventy elders, and with Moses the chief ruler, and Eleazar the high priest, made up the grand sanhedrim, or great council of the nation, and were undoubtedly the most proper persons to apply unto:

saying:
as follows.

Numbers 32:2 In-Context

1 The Reubenites and Gadites had a very large number of livestock. When they surveyed the lands of Jazer and Gilead, they saw that the region was a [good] one for livestock.

2 So the Gadites and Reubenites came to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the community and said:

3 "[The territory of] Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon,

4 which the Lord struck down before the community of Israel, is [good] land for livestock, and your servants own livestock."

5 They said, "If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Don't make us cross the Jordan."