The Book of Joshua
Joshua 22
Chapter XXII · Vol. I, pp. 572–575
1 The two tribes and half with a blessing are sent home. 10 They build the altar of testimony in their journey. 11 The Israelites are offended thereat. 21 They give them good satisfaction.
1 Then aJoshua called the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh,
a ch.21.43,44. Nu.32.18,21,29.
2 And said unto them, Ye have kept all that Moses, the servant of the LORD, bcommanded you, and have obeyed my voice1 in all that I commanded you:
b Nu.32.29. De.3.18. ch.1.12-18.
1 Joshua here exemplifies a wise principle in the management of human affairs. He exacts no service beyond what is absolutely necessary; he dismisses his allies the moment they can be spared; and, though not with flattery, for that were unworthy the openness and honesty of his character—yet with high and deserved commendation of their faithfulness, patience, and courage.—C.
3 Ye chave not left your brethren these many days2 unto this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the LORD your God.
c He.6.10. Phi.1.27. Nu.32.18,21,29.
2 The exact time required for the conquest is not known, but the Jews calculate it at about seven years. See note on ch.11.18.—C.
4 And now the LORD your God dhath given rest unto your brethren, as he promised them: therefore now return ye, and eget you unto your tents,3 and unto the land of your possession, which Moses, the servant of the LORD, gave you on the other side Jordan.
d ch.1.12-15; 21.43,44. De.12.9,10. He.6.12.
e Nu.32.33-41. ch.13.8-32. De.3.1-17; 29.8.
3 This incidental mention of tents shows the tribes to be still partially unsettled. Indeed tents in warm eastern climates, or such bungalow sheds as are used in India, are matter as much of luxury as of refuge.—C.
5 But ftake diligent heed to do the commandment, and the law, which Moses, the servant of the LORD, charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart, and with all your soul.4
f De.4.1,2,6,9; 6.5,17; 10.12; 11.11,13,22. Ps.119.6. Ex.15.26. 2 Ki.10.31. 1 Ti.1.5. Mat.22.37. Ac.11.23.
A.M. 2560. B.C. 1444.
4 What a simple, yet pious and splendid, parting address from a great general crowned with so many victories, when parting from the brigades of his army! Who can wonder at the conquests of Israel, while God granted them such leaders!—C.
6 So Joshua gblessed them, and sent them away:5 and they went unto their tents.
g ch.14.13. 2 Sa.6.18,20. Ge.47.7. Ex.39.43. Lu.24.50. 1 Sa.2.20.
5 So Joshua blessed them! What a sight! These were the victorious survivors of 44,760 valiant men, men able to bear buckler and sword, and to shoot with the bow, and skilful in war, 1 Ch. 5. 18. Jos. 4 12, 13, that now stand as veterans before their gray-headed general for his last review, and ready to be disbanded and dismissed to their homes; and their general blesses them! Soldiers of the cross! be neither weary nor discouraged in the war. Fight the good fight of faith. You will soon be dismissed to your homes—happier, however, than the parting tribes, for their Joshua sent them away, but yours (Jesus) will take you home to himself.—C.
7 Now to hthe one half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given possession in Bashan; but unto the other half thereof gave Joshua among their brethren on this side Jordan westward. And when Joshua sent them away also unto their tents, then he blessed them;
h ch.13.29-31; 17.1-12.
8 And he spake unto them, saying, iReturn with much riches unto your tents, and with very much cattle, with silver, and with gold, and with brass, and with iron, and with very much raiment: divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren.6
i Nu.31.27. 1 Sa.30.24. Pr.68.12; 19.11. 1 Co.15.58. He.6.10.
6 This inculcates the duty of generosity, and forms a powerful check to covetousness, a perverted principle that can never divide with another, nay, that can scarce spare from its hoardings enough to sustain itself.—C.
9 And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, returned, and departed from the children of Israel out of kShiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go lunto the country of Gilead, to the land of their possession, whereof they were possessed, according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses.
k ch.18.1.
l Nu.32.29-41. ch.13.8-32. De.3.15,16; 4.47,48; 29.8.
10 And when they came unto the borders of Jordan, that are in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, mbuilt there an altar by Jordan,7 a great altar to see to.
11 And the children of Israel nheard say, Behold, the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, have built an altar over against the land of Canaan, in the borders of Jordan, at othe passage of the children of Israel.
n Le.17.8,9. De.13.12-14.
o ch.3.14-16. Jn.1.28.
12 And when the children of Israel heard of it, the pwhole congregation of the children of Israel gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up to war against them.8
p Ju.20.1. De.13.15. Ga.4.18. Ac.11.2,3. Ro.10.2.
8 Because they supposed they had been guilty of idolatry, which was literal rebellion in Israel. See ver. 10. C.——Supposing they had built this altar for sacrifice, in opposition to the command of God, they considered them as rebels against God and the Israelitish constitution. An express command had been given that on one altar should all their sacrifices be offered up, De. 12. 5. The conduct of the western tribes, on this occasion, indicated great zeal for the glory of Jehovah. They were ready, in vindication of his honour, and to enforce obedience to his commands, to go to war with their own brethren, who had so lately been their companions in arms, and who had been their faithful allies in the war.—I.
13 And the children of Israel qsent unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, rPhinehas the son of Eleazar the priest,
14 And with him ten princes, of each chief house9 a prince, throughout all the tribes of Israel; and each one was san head of the house of their fathers among the thousands of Israel.
15 And they came unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, unto the land of Gilead, and they spake with them, saying,1
1 Never was there recorded a finer specimen of gentle, honest, manly, eloquent, godly diplomacy; and the generosity with which it was accompanied and recommended, ver. 19, even had the tribes rebelled against the Lord, must have demonstrated the sincerity and good-will with which the ambassadors were actuated.—C.
16 Thus saith the twhole congregation of the LORD, What trespass is this that ye have committed against the God of Israel, to uturn away this day from following the LORD, in that ye have builded you an altar, that ye might rebel this day against the LORD?
17 Isx the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we are not cleansed until this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the LORD,
18 But that ye must turn away this day from following the LORD? and it will be, seeing ye rebel to-day against the LORD, that yto-morrow he will be wroth with the whole congregation of Israel.
y ch.vii. 2 Sa.xxiv. 1 Ch.xxi.
19 Notwithstanding, if the land of your possession be zunclean, then pass ye over unto the land of the possession of the LORD, wherein the aLORD's tabernacle dwelleth, and take possession among us: but brebel not against the LORD, nor rebel against us, in building you an altar, besides the altar of the LORD our God.
20 Didc not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? and that man perished not alone in his iniquity.
21 Then the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, danswered and said unto the eheads of the thousands of Israel,
d Ac.11.4. 1 Pe.3.15. Pr.15.1,2,23; 18.17.
e Ex.18.21,25. Mi.5.2. ver 13,14.
22 The fLORD God of gods, the LORD God of gods, he knoweth, and gIsrael he shall know; if it be in rebellion, or if in transgression against the LORD,2 (save us not this day,)
f Ex.18.11. De.10.17. Ps.82.1; 7.4,5. 1 Ti.6.15. Re.19.16. He.4.13. Ro.9.1,2. 2 Co.11.31.
g Ac.11.2-18. 1 Pe.3.15.
2 The patience of the accused in listening to the charge of their brethren is well worthy of praise and imitation. Still more, the meekness of their reply; still more, the piety of their principles.—Note, Since Christians are required to be gentle to all men, in meekness instructing them that oppose themselves—how much more should they be gentle and meek towards those who 'love the truth,' though, through ignorance or misrepresentation, they accuse them of principles they deny or practices they abhor. So was our Lord misrepresented; yet when reviled, he reviled not again.—C.
23 That we have built us an altar to turn from following the LORD, or if to offer thereon burnt-offering or meat-offering, or if to offer peace-offerings thereon, hlet the LORD himself require it:
24 And if we have not rather done it ifor fear of this thing, saying, In time to come3 your children might speak unto our children, saying, What have ye to do with the LORD God of Israel?
i Ge.18.19. Ac.20.28,29.
3 Heb. to-morrow.
25 For the LORD hath made Jordan a border between us and you, ye children of Reuben, and children of Gad; kye have no part in the LORD: so shall your children make our children cease from fearing the LORD.
A.M. 2560. B.C. 1444.
k 1 Sa.26.19. 2 Sa.20.1. 1 Ki.12.16. Ne.2.20.
26 Therefore we said, Let us now prepare to build us an altar, not for burnt-offering, nor for sacrifice:
27 But that it may be a lwitness 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.
28 Therefore said we, that it shall be, when they should so say to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say again, Behold the pattern3 of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made, not for burnt-offerings, nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness between us and you.
3 This circumstance was to be a sign that they worshipped the same Jehovah. Their anxiety respecting the privileges of their posterity is worthy of all praise. 'Nothing weighs more deeply on the truly pious heart than the transmission to the latest generations of those inestimable religious privileges which have been the comfort and blessing of their fathers.'—I.
29 Godm forbid4 that we should rebel against the LORD, and turn this day from following the LORD, to build an altar for burnt-offerings, for meat-offerings, or for sacrifices, besides the altar of the LORD our God that is before his tabernacle.
m Ro.3.6; 6.2; 9.14. 1 Sa.12.23.
4 Their answer throughout shows not only that they had no such intentions as had been imputed to them, but that they, as well as their brethren, had great zeal for the honour of God and for the purity of his worship, and recoiled with abhorrence from the idea of creating a schism in the church, or erecting a rival altar to that which Jehovah had appointed.—I.
30 And when Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the congregation, and heads of the thousands of Israel which were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the children of Manasseh spake, nit pleased them.5
n Heb. it was good in their eyes, ver. 33. Pr.15.1. Ac.11.18. 1 Sa.25.32,33. Ju.8.3.
5 A disposition to give explanation or make apology is a striking characteristic of a godly mind. Paul explained both privately and publicly his whole manner of preaching the gospel, and Peter explained his conduct in the case of Cornelius, Ga. 2. 2. Ac. 11. 4. So the tribes here do not angrily take fire at the mistaken charge of their brethren, nor doggedly refuse an account, but calmly explain their conduct till they fully satisfy their brethren. No less characteristic of a pious mind is the disposition to be satisfied when reasonable explanation is given of mistaken conduct, or sincere apology offered for offence.—C.
31 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the children of Manasseh, This day we perceive that the LORD is oamong us, because ye have not committed this trespass against the LORD: pnow6 ye have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the LORD.
32 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the princes, returned from the children of Reuben, and from the children of Gad, out of the land of Gilead, unto the land of Canaan, to the children of Israel, and qbrought them word again.
q Pr.25.13. Ac.15.12,31.
33 And the thing pleased the children of Israel; and the children of Israel rblessed God, and did not intend to go up against them in battle, to destroy the land wherein the children of Reuben and Gad dwelt.
r 1 Sa.25.32. Ps.103.1,2.
34 And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, called the altar Ed:7 fors it shall be a witness between us that the LORD is God.
7 That is, A witness. [The word Ed, witness, is wanting in most modern Hebrew Bibles. It is, however, found in many valuable MSS. and several important translations.—Note, The chief character of religious ordinances is to witness between God and the soul, either by calling up the memory of past events and recognizing the feelings, obligations, and derivative duties, as in the Lord's supper; or the commands, objects, and promises, as in the ordinance of baptism. Our free-will engagements with God, when scriptural, as in the case of the tribes, come under the same description, and require the same literal and faithful observance.—C.]
s ch.24.27. 1 Ki.18.39. Mat.4.10. Is.43.10. ver.27.
Notes
[Ver. 8. Divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren. Such texts form the perpetual targets of infidelity, and although no arrow can pierce them, yet still the bow is bent anew, and another shaft expended, not in the hope of gaining a victory, but with the mere expectation of raising a fool's laugh, or giving annoyance to pious minds. Such men delight to represent Joshua as a robber. Now the answer to such misrepresentations is plain. Joshua was God's avenger against nations sunk into hopeless wickedness. See, ye infidel objectors, the indictment of your protégés, Le. xviii. passim, and especially ver. 27: and when he had cast them out, or rather when 'the land had spued them out,' for their wickedness, such things as were left behind must, as matter of course and necessity, find possessors in the present occupiers of the country. C.]
Reflections.—However desirable our home may be, God's work must be preferred to it. Yea, we ought to stay contentedly out of heaven itself, till our work on earth be finished, and Jesus dismiss us from our warfare with his blessing. And O! what abundant honour and extensive happiness shall we then obtain, as the gracious reward of our exact fulfilment of our dangerous but dutiful engagements! Our right to fellowship with God and his people should be clearly but prudently attested and commemorated, that neither we nor our posterity may lose or neglect the means of grace. And with godly jealousy professors should watch over one another. But all, especially ministers and magistrates, ought to manifest a warm but charitable zeal against every appearance of evil, particularly false worship; for who knows how far and wide, if once admitted, it may spread its baleful influence. And such as have smarted for sin may justly dread the thoughts of renewing their provocation. In this state of imperfection, even in zeal for God, heavy charges are often brought against the innocent: and therefore with great meekness and candour, and, if need be, with solemnity, ought we to explain our conduct, for the satisfaction of our brethren who have mistaken it: and be concerned, not only that our intentions be innocent, but that our brethren may have no occasion to mistake us. And with readiness and pleasure should we receive men's candid exculpation of themselves, and thank God for it. Happy would it be for churches and nations if all their differences were conducted with so much prudent zeal for the glory of God, that it should be, as here, hard to find fault with either party.