Numbers 32:6

6 But Moses said to the descendants of Gad and to the descendants of Reuben, "Will your brothers go to war while you yourselves live here?

Numbers 32:6 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 32:6

And Moses said unto the children of Gad, and to the children of
Reuben
Being displeased with their motion, as his following discourse shows, it having at first sight an appearance of covetousness and cowardice:

shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here?
it is not reasonable that your brethren should be left by you and engage in a war with your common enemies, to dispossess them of their land before they can settle in it and you remain here easy and quiet in the possession of a fruitful country.

Numbers 32:6 In-Context

4 the land that Yahweh struck before the community of Israel, [is] a land of livestock, and your servants have livestock."

5 They said, "If we have found favor in {your sight}, let this land be given to your servants as property; do not lead us [across] the Jordan."

6 But Moses said to the descendants of Gad and to the descendants of Reuben, "Will your brothers go to war while you yourselves live here?

7 Why are you discouraging the hearts of the {Israelites} from crossing into the land that Yahweh gave to them?

8 This is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to see the land.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "sons"
• [b]. Or "sons"