Numbers 32:6

6 And Moses said unto the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben, "Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit 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 even the country which the LORD smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and thy servants have cattle."

5 Therefore, said they, "If we have found grace in thy sight, let this land be given unto thy servants for a possession, and bring us not over the Jordan."

6 And Moses said unto the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben, "Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here?

7 And why discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the LORD hath given them?

8 Thus did your fathers when I sent them from Kadeshbarnea to see the land.