Deuteronomy 3:18

18 And I commanded to you in that time, and said, Your Lord God giveth to you this land into heritage; all ye strong men, (And I commanded to you at that time, and said, The Lord your God hath given you this land for an inheritance; all ye strong men,)

Deuteronomy 3:18 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 3:18

And I commanded you at that time
Not all Israel, but the tribes of Reuben and God, and the half tribe of Manasseh; for what follows only concerns them:

saying, the Lord your God hath given you this land to possess it;
the land before described, lately in the hands of Sihon and Og; this at their request Moses gave them, by the direction of the Lord, on the following condition:

you shall pass over armed before your brethren the children of Israel,
all [that] are meet for the war;
that is, they should pass over Jordan with the rest of the tribes, being armed to assist them in the conquest of Canaan: for this phrase, which we render "before your brethren", does not signify that they went in the forefront of them, only that they were present with them, and joined them in their war against their enemies; see ( Numbers 32:29 Numbers 32:30 ) and therefore should be rendered "with your brethren" ^F1; even as many of them as were able to bear arms, at least as many as Joshua would choose to take of them; for he did not take them all by a great many; see ( Joshua 4:13 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F1 (Mkyxa ynpl) "cum fratribus vestris", Noldius, p. 531, No. 1492.

Deuteronomy 3:18 In-Context

16 and to the lineages of Reuben and of Gad I gave the land of Gilead, till to the strand of Arnon, (that is, unto) the middle of the strand, and of the ends till to the strand of Jabbok, which is the term of the sons of Ammon. (and to the tribes of Reuben and of Gad I gave the land of Gilead, unto the middle of the Arnon River in the south, and up to the Jabbok River in the north, which is the border with the Ammonites.)

17 And I gave to them the plain of the wilderness, unto (the) Jordan, and the terms of Chinnereth unto the sea of (the) desert, the which is the most salt(y) sea, at the roots of the hill of Pisgah, against the east. (And on the west, I gave them the plain, or the Arabah, unto the Jordan River, from the Sea of Galilee, or Lake Galilee, in the north, down to the Salt Sea, or the Dead Sea, in the south, and to the foot of Ashdothpisgah, or Mount Pisgah, on the east.)

18 And I commanded to you in that time, and said, Your Lord God giveth to you this land into heritage; all ye strong men, (And I commanded to you at that time, and said, The Lord your God hath given you this land for an inheritance; all ye strong men,)

19 without (your) wives, and little children, and beasts, be ye made ready, and go ye before your brethren, the sons of Israel. For I know that ye have many beasts, and those shall dwell in the cities that I have given to you,

20 till the Lord give rest to your brethren, as he hath given to you, and till they also wield the land which the Lord shall give to them beyond (the) Jordan; then each man shall turn again into his possession that I have given to you. (until the Lord give rest to your brothers, as he hath given to you, and until they also take the land which the Lord shall give them on the other side of the Jordan River; then each man can return to his possession that I have given you.)