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In Numbers, Moses gives the tribes of Gad and Reuben a two-sided condition, stating what follows if they cross the Jordan to fight and what follows if they refuse. Rabbinic tradition in Mishnah Kiddushin uses this as a model for a valid legal condition.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Numbers 32:29
Hebrew Bible
28 So Moses gave orders about them to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua son of Nun, and to the heads of the families of the Israelite tribes. 29 Moses said to them: “If the Gadites and the Reubenites cross the Jordan with you, each one equipped for battle in the Lord’s presence, and you conquer the land, then you must allot them the territory of Gilead as their possession. 30 But if they do not cross over with you armed, they must receive possessions among you in Canaan.”
Mishnah Kiddushin 3:4
Mishnah
Rabbinic
Rabbi Meir says: Any condition that is not doubled, i.e., which does not specify both the result of fulfilling the condition and the result of the condition remaining unfulfilled, like the condition Moses stipulated with the children of Gad and the children of Reuben who sought to settle on the eastern side of the Jordan, is not a valid condition and is not taken into account at all. As it is stated: “And Moses said to them, if the children of Gad and the children of Reuben pass over the Jordan with you, every man armed for battle before the Lord, and the land shall be subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession” (Numbers 32:29). And it is written afterward: “But if they will not pass over armed with you, they shall receive a possession among you in the land of Canaan” (Numbers 32:30). Rabbi Ḥanina ben Gamliel says: One cannot derive the requirements of conditions in general from that particular case, as with regard to the nullification of the condition of the children of Gad and Reuben it was necessary to state the matter, as otherwise, if the verse had not specified both sides of the condition, it might have been thought it meant that they will not inherit even in the land of Canaan. One might have thought that if the tribes of Gad and Reuben would not fulfill the condition, they would forfeit their right to inherit anywhere. It was therefore necessary to specify that they would not lose their portion in Eretz Yisrael. Consequently, it is possible that with regard to a standard condition, where no such misunderstanding is likely to take place, it is not necessary to mention both sides.
Date: 190-230 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
“... R. Meir says: Any condition that is not like the condition of the children of Gad and the children of Reuben is no condition; as it was said: And Moses said to them: If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben cross over, and it is written: And if they do not cross over armed… R. Hananiah b. Gamaliel says: It was necessary that the matter be stated, for if it were not so, the meaning could have been that even in the land of Canaan they would not inherit. ...”
Cohen, Shaye J. D.
The Oxford Annotated Mishnah A New Translation of the Mishnah with Introduction and Notes
(pp. 317-318) Oxford University Press, 2022
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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