Joshua 22:34
in Joshua 22So the Reubenites and Gadites named the altar Witness, for they said, “It is a witness between us that the LORD is God.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad called the altar Ed: For, said they, it is a witness between us that Jehovah is God.
KJV
And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad called the altar Ed: for it shall be a witness between us that the Lord is God.
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This verse in Joshua 22
Commentary
7 notes on this verseCalled 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.
This site's exposition
together with the other leaders, returned to the Israelites
on Joshua 22:32-34
The King James prints the name Ed in italics because the Masoretic text lacks it; a few Hebrew manuscripts, with the Syriac and Arabic, carry it, as Clarke and Barnes set out. Ed means witness, and the sentence it heads is a confession, "that the LORD is God". Israel gathered to destroy a tribe and went home blessing God, unlike the muster of Judges 20.
This site's exposition
named the altar Witness
The confession on the altar, that the LORD is God, is the cry of the people on Carmel at 1 Kings 18:39 when fire fell on Elijah's altar. Deuteronomy 4:35 gives Israel the same sentence as the lesson of the Exodus. Here an altar by the river says it.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
); they called it Ed, a witness to that, and no more, a witness of the relation they stood in to God and Israel, and of their concurrence with the rest of the tribes in the same common faith, that Jehovah he is God, he and no other.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, called the altar Ed,....
And (which is strange), whereas in most differences that happen there is a fault on both sides, on this there was fault on no side; none (for aught that appears) were to be blamed, but all to be praised.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The word עד ‛êd is not found after “altar” in the text of most manuscripts, nor is it represented in the Septuagint or Vulgate. The passage should probably run: “the children of Reuben and the children of Gad named the altar, that (as they said) it might be, etc.” The title placed on the altar was perhaps simply a witness between them that the Lord was God (Wordsworth).
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַֽיִּקְרְא֛וּ | vaiyikreu | and they called | H7121 → | 733 times |
| בְּנֵי־ | benei- | [the] descendants of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| רְאוּבֵ֥ן | reuven | Reuben | H7205 → | 72 times |
| וּבְנֵי־ | uvenei- | and [the] descendants of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| גָ֖ד | gad | Gad | H1410 → | 72 times |
| לַמִּזְבֵּ֑חַ | lamizbeach | <to> the altar | H4196 → | 401 times |
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| עֵ֥ד | ʾed | [is] a witness | H5707 → | 70 times |
| הוּא֙ | hu' | it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| בֵּֽינֹתֵ֔ינוּ | beinoteinu | between us | H996 → | 407 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| הָאֱלֹהִֽים׃ פ | haelohim | [is] <the> God | H430 → | 2601 times |
וַֽיִּקְרְא֛וּand they called
vaiyikreuH7121 →733 times
בְּנֵי־[the] descendants of
benei-H1121 →4930 times
רְאוּבֵ֥ןReuben
reuvenH7205 →72 times
וּבְנֵי־and [the] descendants of
uvenei-H1121 →4930 times
גָ֖דGad
gadH1410 →72 times
לַמִּזְבֵּ֑חַ<to> the altar
lamizbeachH4196 →401 times
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
עֵ֥ד[is] a witness
ʾedH5707 →70 times
הוּא֙it
hu'H1931 →1879 times
בֵּֽינֹתֵ֔ינוּbetween us
beinoteinuH996 →407 times
כִּ֥יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
הָאֱלֹהִֽים׃ פ[is] <the> God
haelohimH430 →2601 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
Matthew 4:10“Away from Me, Satan!” Jesus declared. “For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 6:13–14
Fear the LORD your God, serve Him only, and take your oaths in His name.
- Deuteronomy 10:20
You are to fear the LORD your God and serve Him. Hold fast to Him and take your oaths in His name.
- Joshua 24:14
Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth; cast aside the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.
- Luke 4:8
But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”
- 1 Samuel 7:3
Then Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and Ashtoreths among you, prepare your hearts…
- Deuteronomy 6:13–14
Through
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,…
it leads to
- Isaiah 41:4
Who has performed this and carried it out, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD—the first and the last—I am He.”
- Isaiah 45:6
so that all may know, from where the sun rises to where it sets, that there is none but Me; I am the LORD, and there is no other.
- Isaiah 46:8–9
Remember this and be brave; take it to heart, you transgressors!
- Isaiah 41:4
About Joshua
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); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.