פּירוש אויף במדבר 32:17

ואנחנו נחלץ חשים means, AND WE SHALL ARM OURSELVES SPEEDILY, the last word being the same as in (Isaiah 8:3): “the spoil hasteth, the prey speedeth (חש)” and in (Isaiah 5:19), “Let Him make haste, let Him speed."

חושים, speedy. Compare Psalms 55,9 אחישה מפלט לי, “I would find a refuge speedily.”

עד אשר אם הביאונום “as long as we have not brought them, etc.” The construction is similar to Proverbs 8,26 עד לא עשה ארץ וחוצות, “while G’d had not yet made earth nor its attributes.” We also find something similar in Genesis 24,19 עד אם כלו, “until they have finished.”

לפני בני ישראל BEFORE THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL - i.e. at the head of the troops, because they were mighty men; for thus is it said of Gad, (Deuteronomy 30:20): “He teareth the arm, with the crown of the head”. Moses distinctly stated this to them in Sedrah אלה הדברים (Deuteronomy 3:18): “And I commanded you at that time … Ye shall pass over armed before the children of Israel, all ye men of valour”. And regarding the siege of Jericho it is written, (Joshua 6:13): “And the armed men (החלוץ) went before them”— this refers to the tribes of Reuben and Gad who thus fulfilled the conditions they had laid down.