Bible Strands
Numbers 32:24
Build cities for your little ones and folds for your flocks, but do what you have promised.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses addresses the tribes of Reuben and Gad after they proposed settling east of the Jordan. He issues a conditional command linking their requested land to their prior verbal commitment.
The words — בְּנֽוּ (be.nu, “build”) and עָרִים (‘a.Rim, “cities”) open the command, while וְהַיֹּצֵא מִפִּיכֶם תַּעֲשֽׂוּ (ve.ha.yo.tze mi.pi.khem ta.a.su, “and that which goes out from your mouth you will do”) closes it. These terms bind the physical construction project directly to the fulfillment of spoken words.
The thread — The insistence on keeping spoken commitments aligns with Numbers 30:2 and recalls the tribes’ initial request in Numbers 32:16. The sequence resolves with their agreement in Numbers 32:25 and their actual construction of the listed settlements in Numbers 32:34.
Why it lands — The text requires action to match prior statements before granting requested benefits. It establishes that verbal commitments must dictate subsequent behavior, not merely express preference.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Build you cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep; and do that which hath proceeded out of your mouth.
Cross-references
- Numbers 32:16 Then the Gadites and Reubenites approached Moses and said, “We want to build sheepfolds here for our livestock and cities for our little ones.
- Numbers 30:2 If a man makes a vow to the LORD or swears an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word; he must do everything he has promised.
- Numbers 32:34 And the Gadites built up Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer,