Joshuachapter 22
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Key verse
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.
It stands in scene B of the chapter, verses 10 to 20.
The chapter
Chapter summary
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.
Context
History · Joshua · Joshua overview
Where the chapter sits
Joshua 22 falls in Tribal allotments (chapters 13–22). The east-of-Jordan and west-of-Jordan inheritances; Levitical cities; cities of refuge; the altar of Ed and the east-tribe controversy.
The altar of Ed. The east-tribe altar; civil war averted; ‘witness between us’.
Before it: Conquest campaigns, chapters 6–12. After it: Covenant renewal at Shechem, chapters 23–24.
The whole shape of Joshua→The world behind this chapter
Joshua 22The history
Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh had kept their word: their fighting men crossed over armed and stayed through the whole campaign. Joshua blesses them, tells them to divide the spoil with their brothers at home, and sends them back with great wealth in livestock, silver, gold, bronze, iron, and clothing.
The rest of the history, and what it meant to them
On the way they build a great altar by the Jordan. The reaction was immediate and correct by the law they had just been given: Deuteronomy allowed one altar at one sanctuary, and a second altar looked like the founding of a rival cult. The whole congregation gathered at Shiloh to make war on them.
Before marching, they sent a delegation, Phinehas the priest and ten leaders, one from each tribal family. Sending envoys before an army was proper procedure, and Phinehas was the right man: he had acted decisively at Peor, and he opens by citing that incident and Achan's as the reason the nation was afraid.
The eastern tribes' answer is that the altar is not for burnt offerings at all. It is a copy, a witness, built because they feared that in generations to come the western tribes would say the Jordan is a border and you have no share in the LORD. A monument on a boundary declaring shared membership was a recognizable act in that world.
What it meant to them
The chapter shows first hearers what covenant seriousness looked like from both sides. One side was ready to fight over unauthorized worship; the other was building a monument so its grandchildren would not be cut off.
It also shows the process that saved them: an accusation, an embassy, a hearing, an explanation, and a war called off. They named the altar Witness, because it is a witness between us that the LORD is God.
Sources cited
- John H. Walton, Victor H. Matthews & Mark W. Chavalas, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament
- Roland de Vaux, Ancient Israel: Its Life and Institutions
A. The eastern tribes sent home with a blessing
1. (vv. 1-3)
a.The bargain being settled here was struck at Numbers 32:20-22, where these tribes promised to cross over armed before the Lord until every other tribe had its inheritance. Joshua's words at verse 3, that they have not left their brethren these many days, are the receipt for that promise. Commentators reckon the length of service from Caleb's arithmetic at Joshua 14:7 and 14:10, forty years old at the spying and eighty-five now, with thirty-eight of the forty-five spent in the wilderness, which leaves about seven years of war.
Joshua 22:1, 1 voiceWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Joshua 22:1
“The events of this chap. are no doubt recorded in their proper historical order. The auxiliary forces of the trans-Jordanic tribes were not sent away immediately after the campaigns against the Canaanites were over. They set forth from Shiloh, Jos 22:9, to which place the sanctuary had been removed Jos 18:1 after the conquest and the settlement of the children of Judah and of Joseph in their possessions, and after the appointment of the Levitical cities.”
2. (vv. 4-5)
a.Rest is the word the whole book has been moving toward, promised at Deuteronomy 12:9-10, held out to these same tribes at Joshua 1:13-15, and recorded as delivered at Joshua 21:44. Hebrews 4:8 picks the word up, and the King James there spells the name Jesus for Joshua: if he had given them rest, God would not afterward have spoken of another day. The charge at verse 5 stacks five verbs, to love and to walk and to keep and to cleave and to serve, which is the vocabulary of Deuteronomy 6:5, 10:12 and 11:22 handed to the men going home.
Joshua 22:5, 1 voice
Joshua 22:5
“But take diligent heed, etc. - Let us examine the force of this excellent advice; they must ever consider that their prosperity and continued possession of the land depended on their fidelity and obedience to God; to this they must take diligent heed. Do the commandment - They must pay the strictest regard to every moral precept. And the law - They must observe all the rites and ceremonies of their holy religion. Love the Lord your God - Without an affectionate filial attachment to their Maker, duty would be irksome, grievous, and impossible.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
3. (vv. 6-8)
a.So Joshua blessed them: The spoil is divided with the brethren who stayed behind, which is the rule Moses laid down at Numbers 31:27 after Midian and the rule David makes permanent at 1 Samuel 30:24-25 after Ziklag. Verse 7 explains why Manasseh is split in two, since Moses had given half the tribe Bashan at Numbers 32:33 and Deuteronomy 3:13 and Joshua gave the other half its portion west of the river. Joshua blesses them twice in three verses, and the last instruction he gives is to hand part of the winnings to men who were not there to take it.
Joshua 22:7, 1 voice
Joshua 22:7
“The insertion of this explanation about the half tribe, and the repetition of Joshua’s farewell, are examples of a marked characteristic of very ancient writers and of Hebrew writers as much as any - that of giving a completeness and finish to each section of their story. The Jewish historian scarcely ever quotes or reminds, but repeats so much as may be necessary to make his account of the transaction in hand fully intelligible by itself. (Compare also Jos 13:14, Jos 13:33; Jos 14:3; Jos 18:7.)”
Joshua 22:8, 1 voice
Joshua 22:8
“With your brethren -- that is, with them who stayed beyond Jordan for the defense of their land, and wives, and children, who therefore were to have a share, though not an equal share with these. But for them, 1 Sam. xxx, 24, their share was equal, because their danger was equal.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
4. (v. 9)
Joshua 22:9-10
a.They leave from Shiloh, where the tabernacle had been set up at Joshua 18:1 and where it stays until the ark is taken in 1 Samuel 4. Where the altar stood is disputed, because verse 10 places it in the land of Canaan while verse 11 says over against the land of Canaan, and readers have taken it for the western bank and for the eastern without the text settling either. It is called a great altar to see to, which says it was built to be visible at a distance, and that detail turns out to be the argument of verse 28.
B. A great altar by Jordan, and a nation ready for war
1. (v. 10)
Joshua 22:10, 1 voice
Joshua 22:10
“The borders of Jordan, that are in - Canaan - This verse can never mean that they built the altar on the west side of Jordan, for this was not in their territories; nor could it be a place for the purpose of public worship to their own people, if built on the opposite side of Jordan; besides, the next verse says it was built over against the land of Canaan. It appears that when they came to the river they formed the purpose of building the altar; and when they had crossed it they executed their purpose.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2. (vv. 11-12)
a.Israel hears a report and musters at Shiloh for war before anyone has asked a question. Deuteronomy 13:12-15 sets out the procedure for this exact charge, that a report of a city gone after other gods is to be inquired of, searched out and asked diligently before a sword is drawn. The inquiry does happen, and it happens in the next verse with the army already gathered.
3. (vv. 13-15)
a.Phinehas is the man of Numbers 25:7-8, who took a javelin into the tent at Peor and stopped the plague, and who was given a covenant of peace for it at Numbers 25:12-13. He is the one sent to men accused of a second Peor, and Peor is the first thing he raises when he speaks at verse 17. The ten princes are one for each tribe settled west of the river, Judah, Simeon, Benjamin, Dan, Ephraim, the western half of Manasseh, Zebulun, Issachar, Asher and Naphtali, with Levi standing in the priest who leads them.
Joshua 22:13, 1 voice
Joshua 22:13
“Thus was their zeal for God tempered, guided, and governed by the meekness of wisdom. He that knows all things, and hates all evil things, would not punish the worst of criminals but he would first go down and see, Gen. xviii. Many an unhappy strife would be prevented, or soon healed by an impartial and favourable enquiry into that which is the matter of the offence.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Joshua 22:14, 1 voice
Joshua 22:14
“And with him ten princes, of each chief house a prince, throughout all the tribes of Israel,.... The nine tribes and a half, so that the half tribe of Manasseh sent a prince, as well as the whole tribes: and each one was an head of the house of their fathers among the thousands of Israel; that is, among the rulers of the thousands of Israel; and so the Greek version calls them Chiliarchs, rulers of thousands; for the people were divided into tens, fifties, hundreds, and thousands, over whom there were distinct rulers, Exo 18:”
4. (vv. 16-17)
a.The word trespass here is the word used of Achan at Joshua 7:1, and the delegation names Achan outright four verses later. Peor is raised as a case still open, that they are not cleansed from it until this day, though the twenty and four thousand who died for it at Numbers 25:9 had been dead a generation. The charge assumes that a second altar can only mean a second worship, which is what Deuteronomy 12:5-14 made a capital matter when it fixed sacrifice at one place.
Joshua 22:17, 2 voices
Joshua 22:17
“From which we are not cleansed until this day - Phinehas, who had borne a conspicuous part in vindicating the cause of God against those who fell away to Baal-peor, means that terrible as the punishment had been, there were still those among them who hankered after Baal worship, and even practiced it in secret. (Compare Joshua’s words, Jos 24:14-23.)”
Joshua 22:17
“Of Peor - That is, of our worshipping of Baal-peor, Num. xxv, 3. Probably this is mentioned the rather, because Phinehas, the first commissioner in this treaty, had signalized himself in that matter: and because they were now at or near the very place, where that iniquity was committed.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
5. (vv. 18-20)
a.The argument is corporate, that a rebellion today brings wrath tomorrow on the whole congregation. Verse 19 makes an offer before it repeats the threat, that if the eastern land is unclean they may cross over and take possession among the western tribes, and that offer concedes the sanctuary sits on one side of the river only. The concession is the exact fear the eastern tribes are about to describe in verses 24 and 25. Achan is the proof text at verse 20, one man who took of the accursed thing and did not perish alone in his iniquity.
Joshua 22:19, 1 voice
Joshua 22:19
“If the land of your possessions be unclean - The generous mind of Phinehas led him to form this excuse for them. If ye suppose that this land is impure, as not having been originally included in the covenant, and ye think that ye cannot expect the blessing of God unless ye have an altar, sacrifices, etc., then pass ye over unto the land of the possession of the Lord, wherein the Lord’s tabernacle dwelleth, the only legitimate place where sacrifices and offerings can be made.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
C. Not for sacrifice but for witness: the altar named Ed
1. (vv. 21-23)
a.The answer opens with a divine name said twice over, the Lord God of gods, the Lord God of gods, which is El Elohim Jehovah repeated in the form an oath takes. What follows is a self-curse, that if this was rebellion then save us not this day, and let the Lord himself require it. They swear to the motive before they explain the building, so the oath comes first and the reason for the stones waits three more verses.
Joshua 22:21, 1 voice
Joshua 22:21
“But let us see what sacrament lies within this deed. The former people of the circumcision are represented in Reuben, who was the firstborn; but also in Gad, who also is the firstborn out of Zilpah; and Manasseh, no less a firstborn. But insofar as I say "firstborn," I speak chronologically. Therefore, these things are said not that it might be evident some division and separation is between us and those who were righteous before the coming of Christ, but that they might reveal themselves to still be our brothers even if they existed before the coming of Christ.”
Origen of Alexandria· written before 253· HOMILIES ON JOSHUA 26.3patristic
Joshua 22:22, 1 voice
Joshua 22:22
“The Lord God of gods - The original words are exceedingly emphatic, and cannot be easily translated. אל אלהים יהוה El Elohim Yehovah, are the three principal names by which the supreme God was known among the Hebrews, and may be thus translated, the strong God, Elohim, Jehovah, which is nearly the version of Luther, der starcte Gott der Herr, “The strong God the Lord.” And the Reubenites, by using these in their very solemn appeal, expressed at once their strong unshaken faith in the God of Israel; and by this they fully showed the deputation from the ten tribes, that their religious creed had not been changed; and, in the succeeding part of their defense they show that their practice corresponded with their creed.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2. (vv. 24-25)
a.The fear named here is generational, that one day the western children will tell the eastern children they have no part in the Lord because the river is a border. Numbers 32:6-15 shows Moses suspecting these same tribes of that same distance before they ever crossed, so the anxiety is older than the altar. Time bore the fear out: Judges 12:1-6 has Ephraim and Gilead at war with a password to tell one from the other, and 1 Chronicles 5:26 records Reuben, Gad and the half tribe carried into Assyria before the rest of the nation.
3. (vv. 26-27)
a.An altar that receives no sacrifice is a monument, and a monument is what they say they raised, a witness between us, and you, and our generations after us. The pattern is Genesis 31:47-48, where Jacob and Laban pile stones at a border and name the heap for what it does, a heap of witness. Joshua sets up the same kind of marker twice himself, the twelve stones out of Jordan in chapter 4 and the great stone under the oak at 24:26-27, which he says has heard all the words of the Lord.
Joshua 22:26, 1 voice
Joshua 22:26
“An altar, not for burnt-offering, nor for sacrifice - Because this would have been in flat opposition to the law, Lev 17:8, Lev 17:9; Deu 12:4-6, Deu 12:10, Deu 12:11, Deu 12:13, Deu 12:14, which most positively forbade any sacrifice or offering to be made in any other place than that one which the Lord should choose.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
4. (vv. 28-29)
a.The word rendered pattern at verse 28 is the word used of the tabernacle plan shown to Moses at Exodus 25:9 and 25:40, so what stands by the river is a copy built to be recognised rather than used. The defence turns on that: the thing is shaped like an altar so it can be pointed at, and no fire is ever laid on it. Verse 29 puts the denial in the strongest form the language has, God forbid, and locates the only lawful altar where Deuteronomy 12 located it, before the tabernacle.
5. (vv. 30-31)
a.It pleased them, and the man who once settled a matter at Peor with a javelin takes an answer here and goes home. Phinehas reads the outcome as evidence rather than as relief, that this day we perceive that the Lord is among us because the trespass was not committed. His last clause hands the credit to the accused, that they have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the Lord.
Joshua 22:31, 1 voice
Joshua 22:31
“We perceive that the Lord is among us - Or, according to the Targum of Jonathan. “This day we know that the majesty of Jehovah dwelleth among us, because ye have not committed this prevarication against the Word of the Lord, and thus ye have delivered the children of Israel from the hand of the Word of the Lord.” They rejoice to find them innocent, and that there is no ground of quarrel between the children of the same family.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
6. (vv. 32-34)
a.The name Ed stands in italics in the King James because it is absent from the Masoretic text, which reads only that they called the altar, for it is a witness between us; a few Hebrew manuscripts along with the Syriac and Arabic versions carry the word, and Clarke and Barnes both lay the variant out. Ed means witness, and the sentence it heads is a confession rather than a boundary claim, that the Lord is God. Israel had gathered at Shiloh to destroy a tribe and went home blessing God instead, and Judges 20 records the same nation mustering against one of its own tribes and not turning back.
Joshua 22:34, 1 voice
Joshua 22:34
“Called the altar Ed - The word עד Ed, which signifies witness or testimony, is not found in the common editions of the Hebrew Bible, and is supplied in Italics by our translators, at least in our modern copies; for in the first edition of this translation it stands in the text without any note of this kind; and it is found in several of Kennicott’s and De Rossi’s MSS., and also in the Syriac and Arabic.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
The text of this chapter
This page carries no textual note on Joshua 22. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →
This page draws on Adam Clarke; Albert Barnes; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth; Matthew Henry and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON JOSHUA 26.3.
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