עטרות ודיבון וגו׳ ATOROTH AND DIBON etc. — These belonged to the land of Sihon and Og.

האחיכם SHALL YOUR BRETHREN — This denotes a question. (i.e., the ה prefixed is the interrogative particle).

ולמה תניאון means AND WHY WILL YE TURN ASIDE AND WITHHOLD their heart from passing over? — because they will think that you are afraid to pass over on account of the prospect of war and the strength of the cities and the peoples.

מקדש ברנע FROM KADESH-BARNEA — this was its name. There were two places called Kadesh (therefore this one is distinguished from the other by being called Kadesh-Barnea).

הקנזי [CALEB THE SON OF JEPHUNNEH] THE KENEZITE — He (Caleb) was the stepson of Kenaz (and therefore he is termed here the Kenezite), and Caleb's mother bore Othniel to him (to Kenaz) (and for this reason Othniel, the son of Kenaz is described in Joshua 15:17 as Caleb’s brother) (Sotah 11b).

וינעם means, AND HE MOVED THEM ABOUT; the word is of the same root as נע in (Genesis 4:12) “a wanderer (נע) and a vagabond”.

לספות is similar in meaning to the verbs in (Isaiah 29:1): “add (ספו) year to year”; ( 7:21): “add (ספו) your burnt-offerings” — an expression denoting adding (The translation is: to add even more to the Lord’s fierce anger against Israel).

נבנה למקננו פה WE WILL BUILD [SHEEP FOLDS] FOR OUR CATTLE HERE — They paid more regard to their property than to their sons and daughters, because they mentioned their cattle before their children. Moses said to them, “Not so! Make the chief thing the chief thing and what is subordinate subordinate. First build cities for your little ones and afterwards enclosures for your flocks” (cf. v. 24) (Midrash Tanchuma, Matot 7).

ואנחנו נחלץ חשים means, AND WE SHALL ARM OURSELVES SPEEDILY, the last word being the same as in (Isaiah 8:3): “the spoil hasteth, the prey speedeth (חש)” and in (Isaiah 5:19), “Let Him make haste, let Him speed."

לפני בני ישראל BEFORE THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL - i.e. at the head of the troops, because they were mighty men; for thus is it said of Gad, (Deuteronomy 30:20): “He teareth the arm, with the crown of the head”. Moses distinctly stated this to them in Sedrah אלה הדברים (Deuteronomy 3:18): “And I commanded you at that time … Ye shall pass over armed before the children of Israel, all ye men of valour”. And regarding the siege of Jericho it is written, (Joshua 6:13): “And the armed men (החלוץ) went before them”— this refers to the tribes of Reuben and Gad who thus fulfilled the conditions they had laid down.

וישב טפנו AND OUR LITTLE ONES SHALL STAY, so long as we are with our brethren waging war,

בערי המבצר IN THE FORTIFIED CITIES which we will now build (cf. v. 16 with v. 36).

מעבר לירדן וגו׳ ON THE SIDE OF THE JORDAN AND YONDER — i.e., on the western side.

כי באה נחלתנו FOR OUR INHERITANCE HAS COME [TO US] — This means: by that time we shall have already received it on the eastern side.

לצנאכם FOR YOUR SHEEP — This word is from the noun form which is found in (Psalms 8:8): “Sheep (צנה) and oxen, all of them”, where, too, there is no א intervening between the נ and the צ. The א which here comes after the נ is in place of the ה of צנה (and לצנאכם is not the same form as לצאנכם with an inversion of the א and נ). I learned this from the work of R. Moses the Preacher.

והיצא מפיכם תעשו AND DO THAT WHICH HATH GONE OUT FROM YOUR MOUTH, as a vow to the Most High God (cf. Numbers 30:3), because you have taken it upon yourselves to pass over for war until the end of the subjugation and division of the land; — for Moses asked of them only, (v. 22): “Let [the land] be subdued and afterwards ye may return”, but they undertook, (v. 18): “[we will not return to our houses] until [the children of Israel] have inherited”, so you see that they made an additional promise, to stay on the western side the seven years during which they were dividing the land. And so, indeed, they did (cf. Joshua XXII.).

ויאמר בני גד AND THE CHILDREN OF GAD SAID, all of them as one man (ויאמר is the singular form of the verb, whilst the subject בגי גד is the plural; cf. Rashi on Exodus 19:2 s. v.).

. ויצו להם AND HE GAVE CHARGE — This is the same as, and he gave charge concerning them. The words imply: and to watch over the fulfilment of the agreement they had made he appointed Eleazar and Joshua. The use of the ל in להם here is the same as in (Exodus 14:14): “The Lord will fight לכם for you."

ואתנו אחזת נחלתנו AND LET POSSESSION OF OUR INHERITANCE BE WITH US [ON THIS SIDE OF THE JORDAN] — it is as much as to say: (ואתנו) in our hands and in our ownership let the possession of our inheritance be on this side.

ערי מבצר וגדרת צאן FORTIFIED CITIES AND ENCLOSURES FOR SHEEP — This end of the verse is to be connected back with the beginning of the paragraph (v. 24): And the children of Gad built these cities to be fortified cities and enclosures for sheep.

ואת נבו ואת בעל מעון מוסבת שם AND NEBO AND AND BAAL-MEON, THEIR NAMES BEING CHANGED — Nebo and Baal-Meon were names of idols, and the Ammonites used to call their cities by the names of their gods. The children of Reuben therefore changed their names into other names. This is the meaning of מוסבת שם: Nebo and Baal-Meon were changed to other names.

ואת שבמה AND SIBMAH — i.e., they built (cf. v. 37) Sibmah also. This is identical with Sebam that is mentioned above (v. 3).

ויורש — Understand this as the Targum does “AND HE DROVE OUT”, for the expression ריש is used in two different meanings, in the sense of ירושה (the Kal), “inheriting”, and in the sense of הורשה (the Hiphil) which denotes driving away and expelling (see Rashi on Numbers 14:24).

חותיהם This is rendered in the Targum by THEIR VILLAGES.

ויקרא אתהן חות יאיר AND HE CALLED THEM “THE VILLAGES OF JAIR” — Because he had no children, he named them after himself, as a memorial.

ויקרא לה נבח AND HE CALLED IT NOBAH — The word לה has no Mappik in the ה (as the word לָהּ "to it", usually has). Now I have seen the following in the work of R. Moses the Preacher: Because this name did not remain permanently to it, therefore the letter ה is weak (without a Mappik), — the implication of his explanation being that it (the word לה) is the same as לא “not”. But I wonder what explanation he will give of the two words similar to it, (Ruth 2:14): “And Boaz said לָה", and (Zechariah 5:11): “to build a house לָה”.