Now the children of {a} Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of {b} Gilead, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle;

(a) Reuben came from Leah, and Gad from Zilpah her handmaid.

(b) Which was named for the heap of stones that Jacob made as a sign of the covenant between him and Laban in Ge 31:47.

Wesley's Notes

32:1 Jazer - A city and country of the Amorites; Gilead - A mountainous country, famous for pasturage

Scofield Reference Notes

[1] The Reubenites

The Reubenites, Gadites, and half-tribe of Manasseh, who chose their inheritance just outside the land, are types of world-borderers--carnal Christians. What their descendants were when Messiah came is seen in Mk 5:1-17.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

CHAPTER 32

Nu 32:1-42. The Reubenites and Gadites Ask for an Inheritance.

1-5. the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead-A complete conquest had been made of the country east of the Jordan, comprising "the land of Jazer," which formed the southern district between the Arnon and Jabbok and "the land of Gilead," the middle region between the Jabbok and Jarmouk, or Hieromax, including Bashan, which lay on the north of that river. The whole of this region is now called the Belka. It has always been famous for its rich and extensive pastures, and it is still the favorite resort of the Bedouin shepherds, who frequently contend for securing to their immense flocks the benefit of its luxuriant vegetation. In the camp of ancient Israel, Reuben and Gad were pre-eminently pastoral; and as these two tribes, being placed under the same standard, had frequent opportunities of conversing and arranging about their common concerns, they united in preferring a request that the trans-jordanic region, so well suited to the habits of a pastoral people, might be assigned to them.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

32:1-5 Here is a proposal made by the Reubenites and Gadites, that the land lately conquered might be allotted to them. Two things common in the world might lead these tribes to make this choice; the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. There was much amiss in the principle they went upon; they consulted their own private convenience more than the public good. Thus to the present time, many seek their own things more than the things of Jesus Christ; and are led by worldly interests and advantages to take up short of the heavenly Canaan.