Commentary for Numbers 32:7

ולמה תניאון means AND WHY WILL YE TURN ASIDE AND WITHHOLD their heart from passing over? — because they will think that you are afraid to pass over on account of the prospect of war and the strength of the cities and the peoples.

?ולמה תניאון, what is the point in your undermining the resolution and morale of your brethren? You are repeating what the spies in the last generation did!

ולמה הניאון "and why do you turn the minds, etc.?" Moses said that in addition to his objective arguments he also had a subjective, psychological argument aginst the proposal of these two tribes. How would their action be perceived by their comrades-in -arms? Moses conceded that the arguments of the two tribes may have been sincere, however the effect of such arguments would result in a lowering of the morale of the other tribes. These tribes might consider that the two tribes hid their fear of the Canaanites behind these arguments. Once the other tribes had the feeling that Reuven and Gad were afraid, what was to stop those tribes from becoming afraid also? Fear was what had resulted in the debacle 38 years earlier. Moses accused the two tribes of not considering the effect their attitude would have since Israel had experience in the matter. At that time ten men had succeeded in infecting a whole nation with their own fear when they said that the Canaanites were stronger than they were (Numbers 13,31). As soon as the people would observe that part of their number did not want to cross the Jordan they would have prepared the ground for a repetition of what happened at the time of the spies.