Joshua 22:24
in Joshua 22But 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?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and if we have not rather out of carefulness done this, and of purpose, saying, In time to come your children might speak unto our children, saying, What have ye to do with Jehovah, the God of Israel?
KJV
And if we have not rather done it for fear of this thing, saying, In time to come your children might speak unto our children, saying, What have ye to do with the Lord God of Israel?
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This verse in Joshua 22
Commentary
6 notes on this verseBut 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.
This site's exposition
we have done this for fear that in the future
on Joshua 22:24-25
The fear here is generational: one day the western children will tell the eastern children they have no share in the Lord because the Jordan is a border. Numbers 32:6-15 shows Moses suspecting these tribes of that distance before they crossed. Time bore it out, with Ephraim and Gilead at war in Judges 12:1-6 and the eastern tribes carried into Assyria first at 1 Chronicles 5:26.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And if we have not rather done it for fear of this thing,....
Note, (1.) Those that are cut off from public ordinances are likely to lose all religion, and will by degrees cease from fearing the Lord. Though the form and profession of godliness are kept up by many without the life and power of it, yet the life and power of it will not long be kept up without the form and profession. You take away grace if you take away the means of grace.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
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
For fear of this thing - The motive that actuated us was directly the reverse of that of which we have been suspected.
The words behind it
18 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאִם־ | veim- | and if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| לֹ֤א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| מִדְּאָגָה֙ | mideagah | from anxiety | H1674 → | |
| מִדָּבָ֔ר | midavar | from a matter | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| עָשִׂ֥ינוּ | ʾasinu | we have done | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| זֹ֖את | zot | this | H2063 → | 603 times |
| לֵאמֹ֑ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| מָחָ֗ר | machar | tomorrow | H4279 → | 52 times |
| יֹאמְר֨וּ | yomeru | they will say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| בְנֵיכֶ֤ם | veneikhem | descendants your | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| לְבָנֵ֙ינוּ֙ | levaneinu | to descendants our | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| לֵאמֹ֔ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| מַה־ | mah- | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| לָּכֶ֕ם | lakhem | [is] to you | ||
| וְלַֽיהוָ֖ה | velayahweh | and to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֵ֥י | ʾelohei | [the] God of | H430 → | 2601 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
וְאִם־and if
veim-H518 →1069 times
לֹ֤אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
מִדְּאָגָה֙from anxiety
mideagahH1674 →
מִדָּבָ֔רfrom a matter
midavarH1697 →1440 times
עָשִׂ֥ינוּwe have done
ʾasinuH6213 →2628 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
זֹ֖אתthis
zotH2063 →603 times
לֵאמֹ֑ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
מָחָ֗רtomorrow
macharH4279 →52 times
יֹאמְר֨וּthey will say
yomeruH559 →5305 times
בְנֵיכֶ֤םdescendants your
veneikhemH1121 →4930 times
לְבָנֵ֙ינוּ֙to descendants our
levaneinuH1121 →4930 times
לֵאמֹ֔ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
מַה־what?
mah-H4100 →752 times
לָּכֶ֕ם[is] to you
lakhem
וְלַֽיהוָ֖הand to Yahweh
velayahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֵ֥י[the] God of
ʾeloheiH430 →2601 times
יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃Israel
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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 4:6to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’
it leads to
- Exodus 13:14
In the future, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you are to tell him, ‘With a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Joshua 4:21
Then Joshua said to the Israelites, “In the future, when your children ask their fathers, ‘What is the meaning of these stones?’
- Psalms 44:1
We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us the work You did in their days, in the days of old.
- Exodus 13:14
Through
Genesis 18:19For I have chosen him, so that he will command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, in order that…
it leads to
- 1 Timothy 3:4–5
An overseer must manage his own household well and keep his children under control, with complete dignity.
- Deuteronomy 6:6–7
These words I am commanding you today are to be upon your hearts.
- Deuteronomy 4:9–10
Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen, and so that they do not slip from your heart as long as…
- Ephesians 6:4
Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath; instead, bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
- 2 Timothy 3:15
From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
- 1 Timothy 3:4–5
About Joshua
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON JOSHUA 26.3.