Genesis 20:9

20:9 Abimelech summoned Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? What sin did I commit against you that would cause you to bring such great guilt on me and my kingdom? ¹  You have done things to me that should not be done!” ² 

Exodus 32:21

32:21 Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you have brought on them so great a sin?”

Numbers 32:9-10

32:9 When ³  they went up to the Eshcol Valley and saw the land, they frustrated the intent of the Israelites so that they did not enter ⁴  the land that the Lord had given ⁵  them. 32:10 So the anger of the Lord was kindled that day, and he swore,

Numbers 32:1

The Petition of the Reubenites and Gadites

32:1 ⁶ Now the Reubenites and the Gadites possessed a very large number of cattle. When they saw that the lands of Jazer and Gilead were ideal for cattle, ⁷ 

Numbers 2:24

2:24 All those numbered of the camp of Ephraim, according to their divisions, are 108,100. They will travel third.

Numbers 2:1

The Arrangement of the Tribes

2:1 ⁸ The Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron:

Numbers 14:16

14:16 ‘Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to them, he killed them in the wilderness.’

¹ tn Heb “How did I sin against you that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin?” The expression “great sin” refers to adultery. For discussion of the cultural background of the passage, see J. J. Rabinowitz, “The Great Sin in Ancient Egyptian Marriage Contracts,” JNES 18 (1959): 73, and W. L. Moran, “The Scandal of the ‘Great Sin’ at Ugarit,” JNES 18 (1959): 280-81.

² tn Heb “Deeds which should not be done you have done to me.” The imperfect has an obligatory nuance here.

³ tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated to the parallel yet chronologically later verb in the next clause.

⁴ tn The infinitive construct here with lamed (ל) is functioning as a result clause.

⁵ tn The Lord had not given it yet, but was going to give it. Hence, the perfect should be classified as a perfect of resolve.

⁶ sn While the tribes are on the other side of Jordan, the matter of which tribes would settle there has to be discussed. This chapter begins the settlement of Israel into the tribal territories, something to be continued in Joshua. The chapter has the petitions (vv. 1-5), the response by Moses (vv. 6-15), the proposal (vv. 16-27), and the conclusion of the matter (vv. 28-42). For literature on this subject, both critical and conservative, see S. E. Loewenstein, “The Relation of the Settlement of Gad and Reuben in Numbers 32:1-38, Its Background and Its Composition,” Tarbiz 42 (1972): 12-26; J. Mauchline, “Gilead and Gilgal, Some Reflections on the Israelite Occupation of Palestine,” VT 6 (1956): 19-33; and A. Bergmann, “The Israelite Tribe of Half-Manasseh,” JPOS 16 (1936): 224-54.

⁷ tn Heb “the place was a place of/for cattle.”

⁸ sn For this chapter, see C. E. Douglas, “The Twelve Houses of Israel,” JTS 37 (1936): 49-56; C. C. Roach, “The Camp in the Wilderness: A Sermon on Numbers 2:2,” Int 13 (1959): 49-54; and G. St. Clair, “Israel in Camp: A Study,” JTS 8 (1907): 185-217.