Bible Strands
Numbers 32:37
The Reubenites built up Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Reubenite leaders report their settlement and construction projects to Moses during the tribal land allocation negotiations before the Israelites cross the Jordan.
The words — The Hebrew בָּנ֔וּ (banu) translates literally as "they built," and the accusative marker אֶת־ (et) directly governs the proper nouns Heshbon and Elealeh as the specific objects of that construction.
The thread — The verse continues the Reubenite city inventory begun in Numbers 32:3 and anticipates the later prophetic description of Heshbon and Elealeh in Isaiah 15:4.
Why it lands — The text records a concrete claim of tribal urban development that functions as a historical baseline for evaluating later prophetic judgments against those same locations.
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
And the children of Reuben built Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Kirjathaim,
Cross-references
- Numbers 21:27 That is why the poets say: “Come to Heshbon, let it be rebuilt; let the city of Sihon be restored.
- Numbers 32:3 “Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon,
- Isaiah 15:4 Heshbon and Elealeh cry out; their voices are heard as far as Jahaz. Therefore the soldiers of Moab cry out; their souls tremble within.