6 But Moses said to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben, "Shall your brethren go to the war while you sit here? 7 Why will you discourage the heart of the people of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord has given them? 8 Thus did your fathers, when I sent them from Ka'desh-bar'nea to see the land. 9 For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the people of Israel from going into the land which the Lord had given them. 10 And the Lord's anger was kindled on that day, and he swore, saying, 11 'Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not wholly followed me; 12 none except Caleb the son of Jephun'neh the Ken'izzite and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the Lord.' 13 And the Lord's anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord was consumed. 14 And behold, you have risen in your fathers' stead, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the Lord against Israel! 15 For if you turn away from following him, he will again abandon them in the wilderness; and you will destroy all this people."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Numbers 32:6-15
Commentary on Numbers 32:6-15
(Read Numbers 32:6-15)
The proposal showed disregard to the land of Canaan, distrust of the Lord's promise, and unwillingness to encounter the difficulties and dangers of conquering and driving out the inhabitants of that land. Moses is wroth with them. It will becomes any of God's Israel to sit down unconcerned about the difficult and perilous concerns of their brethren, whether public or personal. He reminds them of the fatal consequences of the unbelief and faint-heartedness of their fathers, when they were, as themselves, just ready to enter Canaan. If men considered as they ought what would be the end of sin, they would be afraid of the beginning of it.