Numbers 32:31

31 Then the children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying: "As the Lord has said to your servants, so we will do.

Numbers 32:31 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 32:31

And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered,
&c.], The word is in the singular number, and shows their unanimity, that they agreed to what Moses said, and replied all of them as one man, as Jarchi expresses it; and it may be there was one that was the mouth of them all, and answered for them:

saying, as the Lord hath said unto thy servants, so will we do;
here they make use of the word Jehovah, taking what Moses had said unto them as from the Lord, and therefore should strictly and punctually observe it, as if they heard the Lord himself speak it.

Numbers 32:31 In-Context

29 And Moses said to them: "If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben cross over the Jordan with you, every man armed for battle before the Lord, and the land is subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead as a possession.

30 But if they do not cross over armed with you, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan."

31 Then the children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying: "As the Lord has said to your servants, so we will do.

32 We will cross over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan, but the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us on this side of the Jordan."

33 So Moses gave to the children of Gad, to the children of Reuben, and to half the tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land with its cities within the borders, the cities of the surrounding country.