Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle;
The land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead. A complete conquest had been made of the country east of the Jordan, comprising" the land of Jazer," which formed the southern district between the Arnon and Jabbok; "the land of Gilead," the middle region between the Jabbok and Jarmouk (or, as the Greeks called it, Hieromax, one of whose sources is a lake at Mezareib, probably identical with Ashtaroth Karnaim), Hieromax, including Bashan, which lay on the north of that river. The whole of this region is now called the Belka. It has always been famous for its rich and extensive pastures, for its high-fed and fierce cattle, for its gigantic oaks; and it is still the favourite resort of the Bedouin shepherds, who frequently contend for securing to their immense flocks the benefits of its luxuriant vegetation. In the camp of ancient Israel, Reuben and Gad were pre-eminently pastoral; and as these two tribes, being placed under the same standard, had frequent opportunities of conversing and arranging about their common concerns, they united in preferring a request that the Transjordanic region, so well suited to the habits of a pastoral people, might be assigned to them.