But thy servants will pass over,.... The river Jordan, and go into the land of Canaan:

every man armed for war; Moses had required that all should go over, and they consent to it, and promise that everyone should, though this was not insisted on when they came to it, for only about 40,000 went over, Jos 4:13, whereas the two tribes of Gad and Reuben, and the half tribe of Manasseh, numbered more than 110,000; see Num 26:7,

before the Lord to battle, as my lord saith; for now, instead of saying, "before the children of Israel", a phrase they first used, they say, "before the Lord", as Moses had expressed it.

And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben spake unto Moses, saying,.... In answer to his speech:

thy servants will do as my lord commandeth; both with respect to their march before the Lord to battle, and with respect to their provision for their children and flocks.

Next: Numbers Chapter 33

Moses said unto them, If ye will do this thing--with sincerity and zeal.

go before the Lord to war--The phrase was used in allusion to the order of march in which the tribes of Reuben and Gad immediately preceded the ark (see on Num. 2:10-31), or to the passage over the Jordan, in which the ark stood in mid-channel, while all the tribes marched by in succession (Jos 3:4), of course including those of Reuben and Gad, so that, literally, they passed over before the Lord and before the rest of Israel (Jos 4:13). Perhaps, however, the phrase is used merely in a general sense to denote their marching on an expedition, the purpose of which was blessed with the presence, and destined to promote the glory, of God. The displeasure which Moses had felt on the first mention of their proposal had disappeared on the strength of their solemn assurances. But a lurking suspicion of their motives seems still to have been lingering in his mind--he continued to speak to them in an admonitory strain; and he concluded by warning them that in case of their failing to redeem their pledge, the judgments of an offended God would assuredly fall upon them. This emphatic caution against such an eventuality throws a strong doubt on the honesty of their first intentions; and yet, whether through the opposing attitude or the strong invectives of Moses they had been brought to a better state of mind, their final reply showed that now all was right.