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Joshua 22:27

in Joshua 22

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!’

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

but it shall be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we may do the service of Jehovah before him with our burnt-offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace-offerings; that your children may not say to our children in time to come, Ye have no portion in Jehovah.

KJV

But that it may be a witness between us, 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 children may not say to our children in time to come, Ye have no part in the Lord.

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This verse in Joshua 22

Commentary

7 notes on this verse

A commentator

Origen of Alexandria

HOMILIES ON JOSHUA 26.3 · Written before 253.

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.

This site's exposition

Let us take action and build an altar

on Joshua 22:26-27

An altar that receives no sacrifice is a monument, and they call theirs "a witness between us and you and the generations to come". The pattern is Genesis 31:47-48, where Jacob and Laban heap stones at a border and name the mound for what it does. Joshua raises such markers twice, the twelve stones of chapter 4 and the great stone of 24:26-27.

This site's exposition

let it be a witness

The witness guards their right to travel to the one altar. Deuteronomy 16:16 required every man of Israel to appear before the LORD three times a year in the place He chose. The copy by the river kept that road open for their sons.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

Before him - That we and ours may have and hold our privilege of serving and worshiping God, not upon this altar, but in the place of God's presence, in your tabernacle, and upon your altar.
But that it may be a witness between us and you, and our generations after us,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Every one that saw this altar, and observed that it was never used for sacrifice and offering, would enquire what was the meaning of it, and this answer would be given to that enquiry, that it was built by those separate tribes, in token of their communion with their brethren and their joint-interest with them in the altar of the Lord.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

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

The words behind it

25 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.

  • כִּי֩for

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • עֵ֨ד[is] a witness

    ʾedH5707 →70 times

  • ה֜וּאit

    hu'H1931 →1879 times

  • בֵּינֵ֣ינוּbetween us

    beineinuH996 →407 times

  • וּבֵינֵיכֶ֗םand between you

    uveineikhemH996 →407 times

  • וּבֵ֣יןand between

    uveinH996 →407 times

  • דֹּרוֹתֵינוּ֮generations our

    doroteinuH1755 →

  • אַחֲרֵינוּ֒after us

    ʾachareinuH310 →715 times

  • לַעֲבֹ֞דto serve

    laavodH5647 →288 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • עֲבֹדַ֤ת[the] service of

    ʾavodatH5656 →

  • יְהוָה֙Yahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • לְפָנָ֔יו<to> before him

    lefanavH6440 →2123 times

  • בְּעֹלוֹתֵ֥ינוּwith burnt offerings our

    beoloteinuH5930 →287 times

  • וּבִזְבָחֵ֖ינוּand with sacrifices our

    uvizvacheinuH2077 →162 times

  • וּבִשְׁלָמֵ֑ינוּand with peace offerings our

    uvishlameinuH8002 →87 times

  • וְלֹא־and not

    velo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • יֹאמְר֨וּthey will say

    yomeruH559 →5305 times

  • בְנֵיכֶ֤םdescendants your

    veneikhemH1121 →4930 times

  • מָחָר֙tomorrow

    macharH4279 →52 times

  • לְבָנֵ֔ינוּto descendants our

    levaneinuH1121 →4930 times

  • אֵין־not

    ʾein-H369 →789 times

  • לָכֶ֥ם[belongs] to <the> you

    lakhem

  • חֵ֖לֶקa portion

    chelekH2506 →67 times

  • בַּיהוָֽה׃in Yahweh

    bayahwehH3068 →6520 times

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

Related verses

13 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 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.”6 worksGenesis 31:48Then Laban declared, “This mound is a witness between you and me this day.” Therefore the place was called Galeed.5 worksGenesis 31:44Come now, let us make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between you and me.”4 worksJoshua 22:34So the Reubenites and Gadites named the altar Witness, for they said, “It is a witness between us that the LORD is God.”4 worksJoshua 4:6to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’4 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.3 works
The other 7 cross-references, with their words ▾
Deuteronomy 12:17–18Within your gates you must not eat the tithe of your grain or new wine or oil, the firstborn of your herds or flocks, any of the offerings that you have vowed to give, or your freewill offerings or special gifts.3 worksDeuteronomy 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.3 worksDeuteronomy 12:26–27But you are to take your holy things and your vow offerings and go to the place the LORD will choose.2 works1 Samuel 7:12Afterward, Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.”2 worksGenesis 31:52This mound is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not go past this mound to harm you, and you will not go past this mound and pillar to harm me.2 worksJoshua 22:10And 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.2 worksJoshua 22:25For 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.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

    Genesis 31:48

    Then Laban declared, “This mound is a witness between you and me this day.” Therefore the place was called Galeed.

    it leads to

    • Joshua 24:27

      And 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…

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Joshua 13:8–9

      The other half of Manasseh, along with the Reubenites and Gadites, had received the inheritance Moses had given them beyond the Jordan to the east, just as Moses the servant of the LORD had…

  • Through

    Joshua 24:27

    And 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…

    it leads to

    • Luke 19:40

      “I tell you,” He answered, “if they remain silent, the very stones will cry out.”

    • Joshua 22:34

      So the Reubenites and Gadites named the altar Witness, for they said, “It is a witness between us that the LORD is God.”

    • Deuteronomy 31:26

      “Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, so that it may remain there as a witness against you.

    • Matthew 10:33

      But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father in heaven.

    • Joshua 22:27–28

      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…

  • Through

    Joshua 22:34

    So the Reubenites and Gadites named the altar Witness, for they said, “It is a witness between us that the LORD is God.”

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 43:10

      “You are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may consider and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before Me no god was formed,…

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 Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; 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; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON JOSHUA 26.3.

Read on in Joshua 22 →