John Calvin Commentary Numbers 32

Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad. In this narrative we see, as if in a mirror, that while each individual is overly attentive to his own private interests, he forgets what is just and right.

Indeed, those who seek their own advantage do not reflect that they are harming others; but it is impossible for them to avoid seeking more than is their due and preferring themselves to others. Thus, they sin against that rule of charity, that we should not seek our own.

The sons of Gad and Reuben, who had a large number of cattle, saw a stretch of rich and fertile land. Self-interest took possession of them, so that it did not occur to them that they were under an obligation to their brothers not to covet for themselves anything special or separate from them.

Nevertheless, there was a specious pretext for this, by which their eyes were blinded: namely, that nothing was taken away from the others, but rather that an addition was made. For in this way, the whole country on the other side of the Jordan continued to be theirs. Besides, they argued, they were spared an inconvenience rather than exposed to a loss, since the progress of their expedition would be less difficult if the group responsible for the cattle stayed there. This would cease to be a burden to the army, which would then be in a better position to advance.

Their association for the war, however, had been established by God and bound them by an unbreakable bond not to desert the rest of the people. It was also a solemn duty (religio) imposed upon them not to alter the boundaries of the inheritance promised by God.

The land of Canaan was assigned to all the descendants of Abraham, in which they were to be contained and to inhabit it as a distinct world. The tribes of Gad and Reuben then transgressed those limits and, at the same time, separated themselves from the body of the Church, as if they desired to be freed from God.

Therefore, we should be all the more on our guard, so that we do not go astray after our own lusts. And when Moses says that they saw, or considered, the land, let us learn to be careful that our eyes, by improper gazes, do not lead us into snares and blind our minds. In this way, our senses can be so deceived by the poisoned sweetness that reason and fairness are completely overthrown.

The Hebrew word,²¹² which we have rendered peculium, means not only cattle and herds but also flocks of sheep. Indeed, almost all the Israelites owned cattle. However, we gather from Moses' words that these two tribes were especially rich in them. Perhaps this was because the district where they lived in Egypt, being better suited for pasture, had encouraged them to apply themselves more earnestly to that way of life, common to all and passed down to them by their ancestors, for it is not probable that they had surpassed the others in this respect during their journey.

And Moses said to the children of Gad. Such a sharp and severe reproof shows us the greatness of the wrong: for Moses was neither carried away into such violent anger by thoughtless passion, nor did he fall into error by giving his opinion on a matter he did not fully understand. Therefore, he knew what the sons of Gad and Reuben asked; and for this reason he spoke so vehemently against them, because they desired to tear apart the body of the Church by this wicked separation.

He begins by reasoning earnestly with them regarding their sinful and unreasonable covetousness, because they sought to indulge in idleness while their brothers were about to march through a hostile land. For they possessed no rightful superiority that would allow them to place all the labors, dangers, and burdens of the war on the others. Therefore, since God had placed all under the same condition,²¹³ it was not right that some of them should be excused from it, as if by privilege.

More severely, however, are their ingratitude and stubbornness towards God rebuked than their injustice towards their brothers, as he charges them with thereby breaking the hearts of the children of Israel,²¹⁴ so that they would refuse to obey God's call.

Thus did your fathers. He amplifies their crime by referring to their continued perversity. Far from being an excuse for their children, the imitation of ungodly parents actually doubles their guilt. In the same way, Stephen alleges against the Jews of his day their perseverance in the sins of their fathers, as if he had cried out against them that they were “the bad eggs of bad birds.”

“You stiff-necked (he says) and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do you.” (Acts 7:51).

Similarly, the Prophet, when he exhorts their posterity to obedience, reminds them of these same circumstances:

“Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness, when your fathers tempted me. Forty years long was I grieved with this generation,” etc.
(Psalms 95:8–10).

Not without reason, Moses now complains that there was no end or limit to their impiety, while the sons inherited their fathers’ iniquity and did not cease to resist God; and, to make the similarity and affinity of their crime more apparent, he reviews their history at some length. He does not, however, compare the Reubenites and Gadites to the whole people, but to the ten spies from whom the sedition arose, because, as far as it was in their power, they turned the people aside from the right way.

Secondly, he connects with this the punishment that followed, so that, at least, he might inspire them with terror, since it was unlikely they would repent of their own accord. He reminds them, therefore, that when God dealt so severely with their fathers, He had given them a striking proof that their descendants would not go unpunished unless they were teachable and submissive.

The expression is remarkable, “Because they fulfilled not after me;”²¹⁵ by which he means that there is nothing praiseworthy in the most vigorous course unless people persevere to the very end. And, although this had happened forty years ago, still, since the vengeance God had threatened had been before their eyes up to that day, they ought to be just as affected by it as if they saw God's hand still outstretched.

For, whenever anyone died in the desert, God thereby set His seal to His vengeance, lest it should ever be forgotten.²¹⁶ If, then, God had been so wrathful with the multitude in general, how much less would the instigators themselves escape?

And, behold, you are risen up in your fathers’ stead. He signifies that, by their evil deeds, they were “filling up the measure” of their fathers, as Jesus spoke of the Jews of His own time. In this sense he calls them an addition (accessio,) which word I take to mean a climax (cumulus.) For it is a poor translation by those who render it as education, offspring, or foster-children. With the Hebrews, תרבות,²¹⁷ tarbuth, is literally an increase, or multiplication; and thus is applied to usury. This passage, however, must be explained as a heap, meaning that a new group of people was springing up, who carried impiety to its very height. In a word, he intimates that fuel was added to the fire which was now smoldering, by which a new flame was ignited: for he says that they were furnishing materials for God’s wrath, so that it would burst forth more and more against the whole people.