Bible Strands
Numbers 32:3
“Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Gadites and Reubenites approach Moses, Eleazar, and the tribal leaders to present a list of conquered cities. They offer this inventory immediately after requesting territory for their livestock.
The words — The verse catalogs Hebrew toponyms including עֲטָר֤וֹת (Ataroth, “crowns”) and וְ/דִיבֹן֙ (Dibon, “counsel”). These terms function as a geographic ledger rather than descriptive narrative.
The thread — This exact list reappears in Numbers 32:34 as sites the Gadites later fortified and in Joshua 13:17 as part of the eastern tribal inheritance. Isaiah 16:8 later cites Heshbon and its surrounding fields as a marker of national desolation.
Why it lands — The text establishes that the requested land is already secured by prior divine conquest. It requires the reader to evaluate a tribal claim against the factual record of what the LORD has already delivered.
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
Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Shebam, and Nebo, and Beon,
Cross-references
- Numbers 32:34 And the Gadites built up Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer,
- Joshua 13:17 to Heshbon and all its cities on the plateau, including Dibon, Bamoth-baal, Beth-baal-meon,
- Isaiah 16:8 For the fields of Heshbon have withered, along with the grapevines of Sibmah. The rulers of the nations have trampled its choicest vines, which had reached as far as Jazer and spread toward the desert. Their shoots had spread out and passed over the sea.
- Jeremiah 48:34 There is a cry from Heshbon to Elealeh; they raise their voices to Jahaz, from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah; for even the waters of Nimrim have dried up.
- Numbers 21:25 Israel captured all the cities of the Amorites and occupied them, including Heshbon and all its villages.
- Numbers 21:28 For a fire went out from Heshbon, a blaze from the city of Sihon. It consumed Ar of Moab, the rulers of Arnon’s heights.
- Numbers 32:1 Now the Reubenites and Gadites, who had very large herds and flocks, surveyed the lands of Jazer and Gilead, and they saw that the region was suitable for livestock.
- Joshua 13:19 Kiriathaim, Sibmah, Zereth-shahar on the hill in the valley,
- Judges 11:26 For three hundred years Israel has lived in Heshbon, Aroer, and their villages, as well as all the cities along the banks of the Arnon. Why did you not take them back during that time?
- Nehemiah 9:22 You gave them kingdoms and peoples and allotted to them every corner of the land. So they took the land of Sihon king of Heshbon and of Og king of Bashan.