B A1 1-9. West of Jordan. A² 10-34. East of Jordan.
A¹ B a 1. Two and half tribes. Called.
b 2-6. Their charge.
B a 7-. The half tribe. Allotted.
b -7-9. Their dismission and return.
1444-1443 B.C.
Joshua 22)
1: Then Joshua called the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh,
2: And said to them, “You all have kept all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you:
3: You all have not left your brethren these many days unto this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the Lord your God.
4: And now the Lord your God has given rest to your brethren, as he promised them (some codices read, "to you"): therefore now return you all, and get you to your tents, and to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on the other side Jordan.
5: But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the Lord charged you, to love the Lord your God, and (note the many "ands" in this verse) to walk in all His ways, and to keep His commandments, and to cleave to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
6: So Joshua blessed them, and sent them away: and they went to their tents.
7: Now to the one half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given possession in Bashan: but to the other half thereof gave Joshua among their brethren on this side Jordan westward.
And when Joshua sent them away also to their tents, then he blessed them,
8: And he spoke to them, saying, “Return with much riches to your tents, and with very much cattle, with silver, and with gold, and with brass, and with iron, and with very much clothing: share the spoil of your enemies with your brethren.”
1443 B.C.
9: And the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh returned, and departed from the sons of Israel out of Shiloh (see 18:1), which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the country of Gilead, to the land of their possession, whereof they were possessed, according to the word (Heb. "mouth", put for what was spoken by it) of the Lord by the hand of Moses.
A² c 10. The altar erected.
d 11,12. Offense. War proposed.
e 13,14. Mission of Phinehas.
f 15-20. Expostulation.
f 21-29. Explanation.
e 30-32. Approbation of Phinehas.
d 33. Offense removed.
c 34. The altar named.10: And when they came to the windings (or bendings) of Jordan, that are in the land of Canaan, the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by Jordan, a great altar to look at (i.e. in appearance).
11: And the sons of Israel heard say, “Behold, the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh have built an altar in front of the land of Canaan (i.e. on the east side of Jordan), in the borders of Jordan, beyond (or opposite) the sons of Israel.”
12: And when the sons of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the sons of Israel gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up to war against them.
1442 B.C.
13: And the sons of Israel sent to the sons of Reuben, and to the sons of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest,
14: And with him ten princes, of each chief house a prince throughout all the tribes of Israel; and each one was an head of the house of their fathers among the thousands of Israel.
f g 15,16. Trespass pointed out.
h 17. Example of Peor adduced.
g 18,19. Rebellion pointed out.
h 20. Example of Achan adduced.
15: And they came to the sons of Reuben, and to the sons of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them, saying,
16: “Thus saith the whole congregation of the Lord, ‘What trespass is this that you all have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the Lord, in that you all have built you an altar, that you all might rebel this day against the Lord?
17: Is the perverseness of Peor too little for us (cp. Num. 25:3,4), from which we are not cleansed until this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the Lord,
18: But that you all must turn away this day from following the Lord? and it will be, seeing you all rebel to day against the Lord, that tomorrow He will be wroth with the whole congregation of Israel.
19: Notwithstanding, if the land of your possession be unclean, then pass you all over to the land of the possession of the Lord, wherein the Lord's tabernacle (Habitation. Heb. mishkan) dwells, and take possession among us: but rebel not against the Lord, nor rebel against us, in building you an altar beside the altar of the Lord our God.
20: Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a perverseness in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? and that man perished not alone in his iniquity.’ ”
f i l 21,22. Rebellion disclaimed.
m 23. Offerings disclaimed.
k 24-27. Real purpose: a witness.
k 28. Real purpose: a pattern.
i l 29-. Rebellion disclaimed.
m -29. Offerings disclaimed.
21: Then the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh answered, and said to the heads of the thousands of Israel,
22: “The Lord of GODS (El Elohim Yahaveh), The Lord of GODS, He knows, and Israel He shall know; if it be in rebellion, or if in transgression against the Lord, {save us not this day,}
23: That we have built us an altar to turn from following the Lord, or if to offer up thereon burnt offering or meat offering, or if to make ready peace offerings thereon, let the Lord Himself require it;
24: And if we have not rather done it for fear of this thing, saying, ‘In time to come your sons might speak to our sons, saying, “What have you all to do with the Lord God of Israel?” ’
25: For the Lord has made Jordan a border between us and you, all you sons of Reuben and sons of Gad; you all have no part in the Lord: so shall your sons make our sons cease from reverencing (or loving) the Lord.
26: Therefore we said, ‘Let us now prepare to build us an altar,’ not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice:
27: But that it may be a witness between us (cp. Gen.31:48, and see v.34, and 24:27), and you, and our generations after us, that we might do the service of the Lord before Him with our burnt offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings; that your sons may not say to our sons in time to come, ‘You all have no part in the Lord.’
28: Therefore said we, that it shall be, when they should so say to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say again, ‘Behold you all the construction of the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness between us and between you.’
29: Far be it from us that we should rebel against the Lord, and turn this day from following the Lord,
to build an altar for burnt offerings, for meat offerings, or for sacrifices, beside the altar of the Lord our God that is before His Tabernacle” (or Habitation).
30: And when Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the congregation and heads of the thousands of Israel which were with him, heard the words that the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the sons of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them (Heb. "was good in their eyes").
31: And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the sons of Reuben, and to the sons of Gad, and to the sons of Manasseh, “This day we perceive that the Lord is among us, because you all have not committed this perverseness against the Lord: now you all have delivered the sons of Israel out of the hand of the Lord.”
32: And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the princes, returned from the sons of Reuben, and from the sons of Gad, out of the land of Gilead, to the land of Canaan, to the sons of Israel, and brought them word again.
33: And the thing pleased the sons of Israel; and the sons of Israel blessed God, and did not intend to go up against them in battle, to destroy the land wherein the sons of Reuben and Gad dwelt.
34: And the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad called the altar Ed (Heb. ‘ed = "a witness". This, and the verb "shall be", not in the received Hebrew text. [Some codices have it]. Lit. "called the altar. A witness it is, &c"): for it shall be a witness between us that the Lord is God.