1 Now the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle; and they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, and behold, the place was a place for cattle.
2 So the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben came and said to Moses and to Elea'zar the priest and to the leaders of the congregation,
3 "At'aroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elea'leh, Sebam, Nebo, and Be'on,
4 the land which YHVH smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle; and your servants have cattle."
5 And they said, "If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession; do not take us across the Jordan."
Reuben is translated as behold a son. Metaphysically it means faith and understanding, but it is rooted in the physical. It is a faith in the world. Gad means good fortune. Known as a horseman, he represents physical power. Gilead means enduring rock. It is the place in consciousness that understands what is true. It is a foundation for the higher Spiritual Consciousness to come. It is the limit for the physical and so it is a good place for cattle. They will go no further. The remainder of the Work is of the Heart, Mind and soul.
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 YHVH 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 YHVH had given them.
10 And YHVH'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 YHVH.'
13 And YHVH'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 YHVH 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 YHVH 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."
16 Then they came near to him, and said, "We will build sheepfolds here for our flocks, and cities for our little ones,
17 but we will take up arms, ready to go before the people of Israel, until we have brought them to their place; and our little ones shall live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land.
18 We will not return to our homes until the people of Israel have inherited each his inheritance.
19 For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond; because our inheritance has come to us on this side of the Jordan to the east."
Reuben and Gad represent the physical, which, though it can recognize the higher spiritual goal is not able to be a part of it. Moses, who represents the higher intellect knows that the body is necessary as the foundation of the spiritual journey and must not be left behind.
20 So Moses said to them, "If you will do this, if you will take up arms to go before YHVH for the war,
21 and every armed man of you will pass over the Jordan before YHVH, until he has driven out his enemies from before him
22 and the land is subdued before YHVH; then after that you shall return and be free of obligation to YHVH and to Israel; and this land shall be your possession before YHVH.