And Moses said unto them, If ye will do this thing, if ye will go armed before the LORD to war,
If ye will do this thing - with sincerity and zeal.
Ye will go armed - i:e., all of you in a collective body, or as many as may be deemed necessary, while the rest of your number shall remain at home to provide for the sustenance and secure the protection of your families and flocks (see the notes at Joshua 4:12-13).
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 the notes at 12:10-77), or to the passage over the Jordan, in which the ark stood in mid-channel, while all the tribes marched by in succession (Joshua 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 (Joshua 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 concluded by warning them that, in case of their failing to redeem their pledge, the judgments of an offended God would easily 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.