John Gill Commentary Numbers 32

Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very
great multitude of cattle
By which it seems that they had more in proportion than any of the other tribes; by what means it is not easy to say; very probably they were more addicted to the pastoral life, and took more delight in breeding cattle, and were more diligent in taking care of them: however, the reason for this observation presently follows:

and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead ;
Jazer was in the kingdom of Sihon, and Gilead in the kingdom of Og, which had been both conquered by the Israelites:

that, behold, the place was a place for cattle ;
where much cattle was fed, there being a great deal of good pasturage for them: Jazer appears to be a well watered country, (Jeremiah 48:32) , and Gilead and Bashan which joined and belonged to the same country of Og, who was king of Bashan, were famous for good feeding of cattle: hence we read of the bulls of Bashan, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats on Mount Gilead that looked plump and sleek; see (Micah 7:14) (Deuteronomy 32:14) (Psalms 22:12) (Song of Solomon 4:1) .

The children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spoke
unto Moses
The children of Gad are mentioned first, though Reuben was the firstborn, and had a standard under which Gadpitched: it may be, as Aben Ezra thinks, the Gadites were the first authors of this counsel, the contriversof this scheme; who first moved it to the Reubenites, which they had an opportunity of doing, lying encampedby them; or however, they might be the most busy and active in this affair, or the best spokesmen; for itcould be only some, in the name of the whole, that addressed Moses on this account, and spoke to him aboutit:

and to Eleazar the priest, and unto the princes of the congregation ;
who perhaps were the seventy elders, and with Moses the chief ruler, and Eleazar the high priest, made up thegrand sanhedrim, or great council of the nation, and were undoubtedly the most proper persons to applyunto:

saying :
as follows.

Ataroth, Dibon, and Jazer
These were places which belonged to the Amorites, and were taken from Sihon, their king: of Ataroth we read nowhere else but in this chapter; of Dibon see (Isaiah 15:2), Jazer was a city, from which the land about it had its name; it is the same with Jaazer, (Numbers 21:32) and stood about fifteen miles from Heshbon ^F11, the capital city of the kingdom of Sihon:

and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Shebam, and Nebo, and Beon;
these were all places in the same country; of Heshbon see (Numbers 21:25Numbers 21:26) (Isaiah 15:4), Nimrah is the same with Bethnimrah, (Numbers 32:36) and sometimes called Nimrim, famous for its water, (Isaiah 15:6). Jerom says ^F12 the name of it in his time was Benamerium, and lay to the north of Zoar; Elealeh, according to the same writer ^F13 was but a mile from Heshbon, of which see (Isaiah 15:4). Shebam is the same with Shibmah, (Numbers 32:36), and seems to be a place famous for vines, (Isaiah 16:8) (Jeremiah 48:32); it is thought to be the same with the Seba of Ptolemy ^F14, and according to Jerom ^F15, there were scarce five hundred paces between this place and Heshbon;

Nebo, the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan call the grave of Moses, because on a mountain of this name Moses died, and where it is supposed he was buried; but it is certain he was buried not on a mountain, but in a valley, (Deuteronomy 34:6), this perhaps had its name from the mountain near which it was, and of which see (Isaiah 15:2). Beon is the same that is called Baalmeon, (Numbers 32:38) and Bethbaalmeon, (Joshua 13:17), where was very probably a temple of Baal; it was about nine miles from Heshbon ^F16.

FOOTNOTES:

• F11: Jerom. de loc. Heb. fol. 92. G.
• F12: lbid. K.
• F13: Ibid. fol. 91. A.
• F14: Geograph. l. 5. c. 19.
• F15: Comment. in Esaiam, c. 16. 8.
• F16: Eusebius apud Reland: Palest. Illustr. par. 2. l. 3. p. 611.

Even the county which the Lord smote before the congregation of
Israel
In which the above cities were, and perhaps some others not named: this was now in the hands of the people of Israel, being subdued by them, the conquest of which is ascribed unto the Lord, for the victory was of him; it was he that smote their enemies; and delivered their country into their hands; and now Moses, Eleazar, and the princes of the congregation, being the representatives of the people, had a right to dispose of it, and, which these two tribes request might be given to them, because, say they:

it is a land for cattle, and your servants have cattle ;
to stock it, with and great numbers of them; see (Numbers 32:1)

Wherefore, said they, if we have found grace in your sight
Directing their speech to Moses, the ruler of the congregation, in a very modest, decent, and respectable manner:

let this land be given to your servants for a possession ;
as their own portion and inheritance, to be enjoyed by them, and their children after them:

and bring us not over Jordan ;
into the land of Canaan, where as they later explain themselves, they did not desire to have any part with their brethren, but should be content with their possession here, if it were granted to them.