When may the armed men of Ruben, Gad, and half Manasses return to their own land?

Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary

They may return after the Lord gives their brethren rest as he has given them, and their brethren possess the land he will give them. Until then, the men strong of hand must cross armed before their brethren and fight for them.

Chapter breakdown

After Moses, the Lord’s servant, dies, the Lord speaks to Josue, son of Nun and Moses’ minister. He says Moses is dead and commands Josue to rise and cross the Jordan with his people into the land he will give Israel’s children. He will give them every place the sole of their foot treads on, as he said to Moses. Their border will run from the desert and Libanus to the great river Euphrates, through all the Hethites’ land, to the great sea toward the setting sun.

No man will be able to resist Josue all his life. The Lord will be with him as with Moses and will not leave or forsake him. He must take courage and be strong, for he will divide by lot the land sworn to their fathers. He must be very valiant in observing and doing all the law Moses commanded, turning neither right nor left, so he may understand all he does. The law book must not depart from his mouth; he must meditate on it day and night to observe and do everything written in it. Then he will direct his way and understand it. The Lord again commands courage and strength, without fear or dismay, because he is with Josue in all things wherever he goes.

Josue commands the people’s princes to pass through the camp and tell the people to prepare food. After the third day they will cross the Jordan and go in to possess the land the Lord their God will give them.

Josue tells the Rubenites, Gadites, and half tribe of Manasses to remember Moses’ command: the Lord has given them rest and all this land. Their wives, children, and cattle shall remain in the land Moses gave them on this side of the Jordan. All the men strong of hand must cross armed before their brethren and fight for them until the Lord gives their brethren rest as he has given them, and they too possess the land he will give. Then they may return and dwell in their own possession, which Moses gave them beyond the Jordan toward the rising sun.

They answer Josue that they will do all he commands and go wherever he sends them. As they obeyed Moses in all things, they will obey him too, adding that the Lord his God should be with him as with Moses. Anyone who contradicts Josue and does not obey all the words he commands is to die. They end by urging him to take courage and act manfully.

The story inside

The chapter moves from the Lord’s charge to Josue’s instructions and the tribes’ answer. The Lord names the land and promises his presence, then commands courage, complete law observance, and day-and-night meditation for doing and understanding. Josue tells the princes to order food preparation and reminds the three named tribal groups of their duty. Their families and cattle remain, but the armed men must fight for their brethren until rest and possession are shared. The groups promise obedience and urge courage. The chapter records the charge, orders, and reply; it does not yet record the crossing, conquest, return, or execution of anyone.

Lessons worth keeping

1
Courage is linked to stated duties. Josue must divide the land by lot and observe the whole law without turning right or left. The Lord’s presence is the stated reason not to fear or be dismayed.
2
Meditation has an explicit purpose. Keeping the law book in his mouth and meditating day and night are for observing and doing all its words, then directing and understanding his way. The passage does not reduce this to a promise of military success.
3
The eastern groups’ service has an endpoint. Their wives, children, and cattle remain while the strong men fight for their brethren. Return follows both the Lord’s giving those brethren rest and their possession of the land.

Test your recall

What two conditions must be met before Ruben, Gad, and half Manasses may return to their own possession?

Source edition and notes

Douay–Rheims, revised by Richard Challoner (1749–1752). Project Gutenberg no. 1581. Locators refer to lines in the admitted pg1581.txt edition. Source notes may include Challoner commentary.

Lines 22409–22427
Josue Chapter 1 Josue, encouraged by the Lord, admonisheth the people to prepare themselves to pass over the Jordan. 1:1. Now it came to pass after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, that the Lord spoke to Josue, the son of Nun, the minister of Moses, and said to him: 1:2. Moses my servant is dead: arise, and pass over this Jordan, thou and thy people with thee, into the land which I will give to the children of Israel. 1:3. I will deliver to you every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, as I have said to Moses. 1:4. From the desert, and from Libanus unto the great river Euphrates, all the land of the Hethites, unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your border.
Lines 22429–22449
1:5. No man shall be able to resist you all the days of thy life: as I have been with Moses, so will I be with thee: I will not leave thee, nor forsake thee. 1:6. Take courage, and be strong: for thou shalt divide by lot to this people the land for which I swore to their fathers, that I would deliver it to them. 1:7. Take courage therefore, and be very valiant: that thou mayst observe and do all the law, which Moses my servant hath commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayst understand all things which thou dost. 1:8. Let not the book of this law depart from thy mouth: but thou shalt meditate on it day and night, that thou mayst observe and do all things that are written in it: then shalt thou direct thy way, and understand it. 1:9. Behold I command thee, take courage, and be strong. Fear not, and be not dismayed: because the Lord thy God is with thee in all things whatsoever thou shalt go to.
Lines 22451–22456
1:10. And Josue commanded the princes of the people, saying: Pass through the midst of the camp, and command the people, and say: 1:11. Prepare your victuals: for after the third day you shall pass over the Jordan, and shall go in to possess the land, which the Lord your God will give you.
Lines 22458–22473
1:12. And he said to the Rubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasses: 1:13. Remember the word, which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying: The Lord your God hath given you rest, and all this land. 1:14. Your wives, and children; and cattle, shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan: but pass you over armed before your brethren all of you that are strong of hand, and fight for them, 1:15. Until the Lord give rest to your brethren, as he hath given you, and they also possess the land which the Lord your God will give them: and so you shall return into the land of your possession, and you shall dwell in it, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you beyond the Jordan, toward the rising of the sun.
Lines 22475–22486
1:16. And they made answer to Josue, and said: All that thou hast commanded us, we will do: and whither soever thou shalt send us, we will go. 1:17. As we obeyed Moses in all things, so will we obey thee also: only be the Lord thy God with thee, as he was with Moses. 1:18. He that shall gainsay thy mouth, and not obey all thy words, that thou shalt command him, let him die: only take thou courage, and do manfully.