6 But Moses said to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben , "Shall your brothers go to war while you yourselves sit here ? 7 " Now why are you discouraging e the sons of Israel from crossing over into the land which the Lord has given them? 8 "This is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land . 9 "For when they went up to the valley of Eshcol and saw the land , they discouraged e the sons of Israel so that they did not go into the land which the Lord had given them. 10 "So the Lord'S anger burned in that day , and He swore , saying , 11 ' None of the men who came up from Egypt , from twenty years old and upward , shall see the land which I swore to Abraham , to Isaac and to Jacob ; for they did not follow Me fully , 12 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun , for they have followed the Lord fully .' 13 " So the Lord'S anger burned against Israel , and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years , until the entire generation of those who had done evil in the sight of the Lord was destroyed . 14 "Now behold , you have risen up in your fathers' place , a brood of sinful men , to add still more to the burning anger of the Lord against Israel . 15 "For if you turn away from following Him, He will once e more e abandon them in the wilderness , and you will destroy all these people ."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Numbers 32:6-15
Commentary on Numbers 32:6-15
(Read Numbers 32:6-15)
The proposal showed disregard to the land of Canaan, distrust of the Lord's promise, and unwillingness to encounter the difficulties and dangers of conquering and driving out the inhabitants of that land. Moses is wroth with them. It will becomes any of God's Israel to sit down unconcerned about the difficult and perilous concerns of their brethren, whether public or personal. He reminds them of the fatal consequences of the unbelief and faint-heartedness of their fathers, when they were, as themselves, just ready to enter Canaan. If men considered as they ought what would be the end of sin, they would be afraid of the beginning of it.