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Joshua

Joshuachapter 22

34 verses · BSBJoshua book hub →

A.The eastern tribes sent home with a blessingvv. 1-9

1 Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh 2 and told them, “You have done all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, and you have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you. 3 All this time you have not deserted your brothers, up to this very day, but have kept the charge given you by the LORD your God. 4 And now that the LORD your God has given your brothers rest as He promised them, you may return to your homes in the land that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you across the Jordan. 5 But be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to hold fast to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” 6 So Joshua blessed them and sent them on their way, and they went to their homes. 7 (To the half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given land in Bashan, and to the other half Joshua gave land on the west side of the Jordan among their brothers.) When Joshua sent them to their homes he blessed them, 8 saying, “Return to your homes with your great wealth, with immense herds of livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, iron, and very many clothes. Divide with your brothers the spoil of your enemies.” 9 So the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh left the Israelites at Shiloh in the land of Canaan to return to their own land of Gilead, which they had acquired according to the command of the LORD through Moses.

B.A great altar by Jordan, and a nation ready for warvv. 10-20

10 And when they came to Geliloth near the Jordan in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an imposing altar there by the Jordan. 11 Then the Israelites received the report: “Behold, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built an altar on the border of the land of Canaan, at Geliloth near the Jordan on the Israelite side.” 12 And when they heard this, the whole congregation of Israel assembled at Shiloh to go to war against them. 13 The Israelites sent Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest to the land of Gilead, to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. 14 With him they sent ten chiefs—one family leader from each tribe of Israel, each the head of a family among the clans of Israel. 15 They went to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in the land of Gilead and said to them, 16 “This is what the whole congregation of the LORD says: ‘What is this breach of faith you have committed today against the God of Israel by turning away from the LORD and building for yourselves an altar, that you might rebel against the LORD this day? 17 Was not the sin of Peor enough for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day? It even brought a plague upon the congregation of the LORD. 18 And now, would you turn away from the LORD? If you rebel today against the LORD, tomorrow He will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel. 19 If indeed the land of your inheritance is unclean, then cross over to the land of the LORD’s possession, where the LORD’s tabernacle stands, and take possession of it among us. But do not rebel against the LORD or against us by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of the LORD our God. 20 Was not Achan son of Zerah unfaithful regarding what was set apart for destruction, bringing wrath upon the whole congregation of Israel? Yet it was not only Achan who perished because of his sin!’”

C.Not for sacrifice but for witness: the altar named Edvv. 21-34

21 Then the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered the leaders of the clans of Israel: 22 “The LORD, the Mighty One, is God! The LORD, the Mighty One, is God! He knows, and may Israel also know. If this was in rebellion or breach of faith against the LORD, do not spare us today. 23 If we have built for ourselves an altar to turn away from Him and to offer burnt offerings and grain offerings on it, or to sacrifice fellowship offerings on it, may the LORD Himself hold us accountable. 24 But in fact we have done this for fear that in the future your descendants might say to ours, ‘What have you to do with the LORD, the God of Israel? 25 For the LORD has made the Jordan a border between us and you Reubenites and Gadites. You have no share in the LORD!’ So your descendants could cause ours to stop fearing the LORD. 26 That is why we said, ‘Let us take action and build an altar for ourselves, but not for burnt offerings or sacrifices. 27 Rather, let it be a witness between us and you and the generations to come, that we will worship the LORD in His presence with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and peace offerings.’ Then in the future, your descendants cannot say to ours, ‘You have no share in the LORD!’ 28 Therefore we said, ‘If they ever say this to us or to our descendants, we will answer: Look at the replica of the altar of the LORD that our fathers made, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices, but as a witness between us and you.’ 29 Far be it from us to rebel against the LORD and turn away from Him today by building an altar for burnt offerings, grain offerings, or sacrifices, other than the altar of the LORD our God, which stands before His tabernacle.” 30 When Phinehas the priest and the chiefs of the congregation—the heads of Israel’s clans who were with him—heard what the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh had to say, they were satisfied. 31 Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest said to the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, “Today we know that the LORD is among us, because you have not committed this breach of faith against Him. Consequently, you have delivered the Israelites from the hand of the LORD.” 32 Then Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, together with the other leaders, returned to the Israelites in the land of Canaan and brought back a report regarding the Reubenites and Gadites in the land of Gilead. 33 The Israelites were satisfied with the report, and they blessed God and spoke no more about going to war against them to destroy the land where the Reubenites and Gadites lived. 34 So the Reubenites and Gadites named the altar Witness, for they said, “It is a witness between us that the LORD is God.”

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Chapter summary

Joshua sends the Reubenites, Gadites, and half Manasseh home with a blessing, having kept their word to fight beside their brethren.

Read the rest, the context and the outline ▾

Joshua sends the Reubenites, Gadites, and half Manasseh home with a blessing, having kept their word to fight beside their brethren. At the region about the Jordan they build a great altar, and Israel gathers at Shiloh to go up to war against them. Phinehas leads a delegation that remembers Peor and Achan, one man's trespass fell on the whole congregation. The eastern tribes answer that the altar is no rival to the altar of Jehovah before his tabernacle but a witness for generations to come, lest the western tribes one day tell their children, Ye have no portion in Jehovah. They name it Ed, a witness, and the war is called off.

Drawn from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary, John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and John Calvin, Commentaries.

Context

History · Joshua — Joshua overview

  • A. 1–9 The eastern tribes sent home with a blessing
  • B. 10–20 A great altar by Jordan, and a nation ready for war
  • C. 21–34 Not for sacrifice but for witness: the altar named Ed
Top cross-references8 chapters ▾
  • Numbers 325 verses
    • Numbers 32:1Now the Reubenites and Gadites, who had very large herds and flocks, surveyed the lands of Jazer and Gilead, and they saw that the region was suitable for livestock.
    • Numbers 32:18We will not return to our homes until every Israelite has taken possession of his inheritance.
    • Numbers 32:26Our children, our wives, our livestock, and all our animals will remain here in the cities of Gilead.
    • Numbers 32:29And Moses said to them, “If the Gadites and Reubenites cross the Jordan with you, with every man armed for battle before the LORD, and the land is subdued before you, then you are to give them the land of Gilead as a possession.
    • Numbers 32:33So Moses gave to the Gadites, to the Reubenites, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan—the land including its cities and the territory surrounding them.
    • Read Numbers 32 →
  • Joshua 225 verses
    • Joshua 22:12And when they heard this, the whole congregation of Israel assembled at Shiloh to go to war against them.
    • Joshua 22:16“This is what the whole congregation of the LORD says: ‘What is this breach of faith you have committed today against the God of Israel by turning away from the LORD and building for yourselves an altar, that you might rebel against the LORD this day?
    • Joshua 22:23If we have built for ourselves an altar to turn away from Him and to offer burnt offerings and grain offerings on it, or to sacrifice fellowship offerings on it, may the LORD Himself hold us accountable.
    • Joshua 22:27Rather, let it be a witness between us and you and the generations to come, that we will worship the LORD in His presence with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and peace offerings.’ Then in the future, your descendants cannot say to ours, ‘You have no share in the LORD!’
    • Joshua 22:33The Israelites were satisfied with the report, and they blessed God and spoke no more about going to war against them to destroy the land where the Reubenites and Gadites lived.
    • Read Joshua 22 →
  • Deuteronomy 123 verses
    • Deuteronomy 12:5Instead, you must seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go.
    • Deuteronomy 12:11then the LORD your God will choose a dwelling for His Name. And there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all the choice offerings you vow to the LORD.
    • Deuteronomy 12:13Be careful not to offer your burnt offerings in just any place you see;
    • Read Deuteronomy 12 →
  • Joshua 243 verses
    • Joshua 24:16The people replied, “Far be it from us to forsake the LORD to serve other gods!
    • Joshua 24:26Joshua recorded these things in the Book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak that was near the sanctuary of the LORD.
    • Joshua 24:27And Joshua said to all the people, “You see this stone. It will be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words the LORD has spoken to us, and it will be a witness against you if you ever deny your God.”
    • Read Joshua 24 →
4 more chapters this one speaks with
  • Joshua 73 verses
    • Joshua 7:1The Israelites, however, acted unfaithfully regarding the things devoted to destruction. Achan son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of what was set apart. So the anger of the LORD burned against the Israelites.
    • Joshua 7:5And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six of them, chasing them from the gate as far as the quarries and striking them down on the slopes. So the hearts of the people melted and became like water.
    • Joshua 7:18And he had the family of Zabdi come forward man by man, and Achan son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was selected.
    • Read Joshua 7 →
  • Genesis 282 verses
    • Genesis 28:8And seeing that his father Isaac disapproved of the Canaanite women,
    • Genesis 28:18Early the next morning, Jacob took the stone that he had placed under his head, and he set it up as a pillar. He poured oil on top of it,
    • Read Genesis 28 →
  • Genesis 312 verses
    • Genesis 31:46and he said to his relatives, “Gather some stones.” So they took stones and made a mound, and there by the mound they ate.
    • Genesis 31:48Then Laban declared, “This mound is a witness between you and me this day.” Therefore the place was called Galeed.
    • Read Genesis 31 →
  • Judges 202 verses
    • Judges 20:1Then all the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came out, and the congregation assembled as one man before the LORD at Mizpah.
    • Judges 20:28and Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, served before it.) The Israelites asked, “Should we again go out to battle against our brothers the Benjamites, or should we stop?” The LORD answered, “Fight, for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand.”
    • Read Judges 20 →

Cross-references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible.info.