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Joshua 22:19

in Joshua 22

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.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Howbeit, if the land of your possession be unclean, then pass ye over unto the land of the possession of Jehovah, wherein Jehovah’s tabernacle dwelleth, and take possession among us: but rebel not against Jehovah, nor rebel against us, in building you an altar besides the altar of Jehovah our God.

KJV

Notwithstanding, if the land of your possession be unclean, then pass ye over unto the land of the possession of the Lord, wherein the Lord’s tabernacle dwelleth, 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.

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This verse in Joshua 22

Commentary

8 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

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.

This site's exposition

would you turn away from the LORD

on Joshua 22:18-20

The argument is corporate: a rebellion today brings anger tomorrow on the whole congregation. Verse 19 offers them land among the western tribes if the east is unclean, conceding that the tabernacle stands on one side of the river only, the very fear voiced in verses 24 and 25. Achan is the proof at verse 20, one man who did not perish alone in his sin.

This site's exposition

the land of your inheritance is unclean

Keil and Barnes take unclean to mean a land with no tabernacle to hallow it. Numbers 34:12 runs the border of Canaan down the Jordan, and the land of the LORD's possession lies west of that line. Gilead sat outside the borders Moses drew for Canaan.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

Against us - For all the tribes were united in one body politick, and made one commonwealth, and one church; and each tribe was subject to the laws and commands of the whole society, and of the chief ruler or rulers thereof; so its disobedience to their just commands was properly rebellion against them.
Notwithstanding, if the land of your possession be unclean,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

We may suppose there was a general convention called of the princes and great men of the separate tribes, to give audience to these ambassadors; or perhaps the army, as it came home, was still encamped in a body, and not yet dispersed; however it was, there were enough to represent the two tribes and a half, and to give their sense.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

The quality of the deputies evinced the deep solicitude that was felt on the occasion to maintain the purity of the divine worship throughout Israel. In the presumptive belief that the two tribes and a half had really built an altar, the deputies expressed astonishment at their so soon falling into such a heinous crime as that of violating the unity of divine worship (Ex 20:24;

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

Unclean - i. e. unholy because the sanctuary was not in it, but on the other side of Jordan.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

If the land of Your posession is impure. Since the Holy blessed is He, did not choose to rest His Presence there.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Joshua 22:19:1, via Sefaria, The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

31 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וְאַ֨ךְand surely

    veakhH389 →

  • אִם־if

    ʾim-H518 →1069 times

  • טְמֵאָ֜ה[is] unclean

    temeahH2931 →

  • אֶ֣רֶץ[the] land of

    ʾeretzH776 →2504 times

  • אֲחֻזַּתְכֶ֗םpossession your

    ʾachuzatkhemH272 →66 times

  • עִבְר֨וּpass over

    ʾivruH5674 →556 times

  • לָכֶ֜םfor <the> yourselves

    lakhem

  • אֶל־into

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • אֶ֨רֶץ[the] land of

    ʾeretzH776 →2504 times

  • אֲחֻזַּ֤ת[the] possession of

    ʾachuzatH272 →66 times

  • יְהוָה֙Yahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֤רwhere

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • שָֽׁכַן־it dwells

    shakhan-H7931 →

  • שָׁם֙there

    shamH8033 →834 times

  • מִשְׁכַּ֣ן[the] tabernacle of

    mishkanH4908 →

  • יְהוָ֔הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • וְהֵאָחֲז֖וּand have possessions

    veheachazuH270 →

  • בְּתוֹכֵ֑נוּin midst of us

    betokhenuH8432 →418 times

  • וּבַֽיהוָ֣הand against Yahweh

    vubayahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • אַל־may not

    ʾal-H408 →724 times

  • תִּמְרֹ֗דוּyou rebel

    timroduH4775 →25 times

  • וְאֹתָ֙נוּ֙and <with the> us

    veotanuH854 →929 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • תִּמְרֹ֔דוּmay you rebel

    timroduH4775 →25 times

  • בִּבְנֹֽתְכֶ֤םwhen build you

    bivnotekhemH1129 →376 times

  • לָכֶם֙for <the> yourselves

    lakhem

  • מִזְבֵּ֔חַan altar

    mizbeachH4196 →401 times

  • מִֽבַּלְעֲדֵ֔י<from> except

    mibaladeiH1107 →

  • מִזְבַּ֖ח[the] altar of

    mizbachH4196 →401 times

  • יְהוָ֥הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ׃God our

    ʾeloheinuH430 →2601 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

12 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Joshua 18:1Then the whole congregation of Israel assembled at Shiloh and set up the Tent of Meeting there. And though the land was subdued before them,3 worksLeviticus 26:11And I will make My dwelling place among you, and My soul will not despise you.3 worksLeviticus 18:25–28Even the land has become defiled, so I am punishing it for its sin, and the land will vomit out its inhabitants.2 worksActs 10:14–15“No, Lord!” Peter answered. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”2 worksDeuteronomy 12:5–6Instead, 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.2 worksAmos 7:17Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword. Your land will be divided by a measuring line, and you yourself will die on pagan soil. And Israel will surely go into exile, away from their homeland.’”2 works
The other 6 cross-references, with their words ▾
Acts 11:8–9‘No, Lord,’ I said, ‘for nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’2 works2 Chronicles 11:13Moreover, the priests and Levites from all their districts throughout Israel stood with Rehoboam.2 worksLeviticus 17:8–9Tell them that if anyone from the house of Israel or any foreigner living among them offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice2 works2 Chronicles 11:16–17Those from every tribe of Israel who had set their hearts to seek the LORD their God followed the Levites to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the LORD, the God of their fathers.2 worksExodus 15:17You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of Your inheritance—the place, O LORD, You have prepared for Your dwelling, the sanctuary, O Lord, Your hands have established.2 worksNumbers 32:30But if they do not arm themselves and go across with you, then they must accept their possession among you in the land of Canaan.”2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Joshua 18:1

    Then the whole congregation of Israel assembled at Shiloh and set up the Tent of Meeting there. And though the land was subdued before them,

    it leads to

    • Joshua 19:51

      These are the inheritances that Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the families distributed by lot to the tribes of Israel at Shiloh before the LORD at the entrance…

    • 1 Samuel 1:3

      Year after year Elkanah would go up from his city to worship and sacrifice to the LORD of Hosts at Shiloh, where Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests to the LORD.

    • Joshua 21:2

      at Shiloh in the land of Canaan and said to them, “The LORD commanded through Moses that we be given cities in which to live, together with pasturelands for our livestock.”

    • Joshua 22:9

      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…

  • Through

    Amos 7:17

    Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword. Your land will be divided by a measuring…

    it leads to

    • Hosea 9:3

      They will not remain in the land of the LORD; Ephraim will return to Egypt and eat unclean food in Assyria.

    • 2 Kings 17:6

      In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried away the Israelites to Assyria, where he settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the…

    • Jeremiah 28:16

      Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘I am about to remove you from the face of the earth. You will die this year because you have preached rebellion against the LORD.’”

    • Ezekiel 4:13

      Then the LORD said, “This is how the Israelites will eat their defiled bread among the nations to which I will banish them.”

About Joshua

Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still upon Gibeon, John Martin, 1816, National Gallery of Art. Public domain.
Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still upon Gibeon, John Martin, 1816, National Gallery of Art. Public domain.
Joshua: the study guide →Read Joshua 22 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Joshua 22 →