Joshua 22:14
Ver. 14. And with him ten princes, of each chief house a prince,throughout all the tribes of Israel,.... The nine tribes and a half, so that the half tribe of Manasseh sent a prince, as well as the whole tribes:and each one [was] an head of the house of their fathers among the thousands of Israel; that is, among the rulers of the thousands of Israel; and so the Greek version calls them Chiliarchs, rulers of thousands; for the people were divided into tens, fifties, hundreds, and thousands, over whom there were distinct rulers, Ex 18:25. Now these were among the chief of them, of the highest rank and authority; they were the chief princes, heads of several tribes; a very honourable deputation this! the son of the high priest, and ten princes, the heads of the tribes; these were chosen and sent, partly in honour to their brethren beyond Jordan, and partly that they might carry the greater authority with them, and prevail upon them to hearken to them. Joshua 22:15Ver. 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,.... The deputation came thither; they either sent for the chiefs among the two tribes and a half, to meet them at some place, or they, having a notion of their coming, assembled together to receive them, and hear what they had to say to them:and they spake with them, saying; as follows; very probably Phinehas was the mouth of the whole, for there could be but one speaker. Joshua 22:16Ver. 16. Thus saith the whole congregation of the Lord,.... By whom they were sent, and whom they represented; and they do not call them the congregation of Israel, but of the Lord, because it was not on a civil but religious account they were come, and not to plead their own cause, but the cause of God; and not so much to show a concern for their own honour and interest as for the glory of God:what trespass [is] this that ye have committed against the God of Israel; they took it for granted that they had committed a sin, and that so great, they were not able to express the greatness of it in all its aggravated circumstances, and plainly suggest it was idolatry; which was too premature, when as yet they had not inquired into it; but their zeal for God, and his honour, hurried them into this hasty step:to turn away this day from following the Lord; they intimate, that they had begun a revolt from the worship of God, which is aggravated by their falling into it so soon, having received so many favours from God, and had so lately seen such wonderful appearances of his power and goodness, and had just had such excellent instructions, exhortations, and cautions given them by Joshua, when he dismissed them:in that ye have built you an altar; which they supposed was to offer sacrifices upon; whereas there was to be but one altar, and that in the place which the Lord should choose to put his name in, and which he had now chosen, where all sacrifices were to be brought and offered up; see Ex 20:24;that ye might rebel this day against the Lord? against the commandment of the Lord expressed in the places referred to, which they charge with rebellion against himself, a very high and heavy charge indeed! but they should first have inquired whether they were guilty of the trespass, or with what view they had built the altar, whether for sacrifice, or for some other use; but they took it for granted it was for sacrifice. Joshua 22:17Ver. 17. [Is] the iniquity of Peor too little for us,.... The worshipping of that idol, when in the plains of Moab; the history of which, see in Nu 25:2, was that so small a sin, that another must be added to it, or a greater committed? since building an altar seemed designed not for a single action of idolatrous worship, but for the continuance of it, whereas the sin of Peor was only committed at one time, and not continued in:from which we are not cleansed until this day; not cleared from the shame and disgrace of it, or the guilt of it expiated or removed; but it might be expected, as in the case of the golden calf, that God would still at times punish for it, when provoked by new crimes; or the sense is, that there were those among them that were infected with the same contagion, and whose inclinations were to commit the same, or like sin of idolatry:although there was a plague in congregation of the Lord; of which twenty four thousand died, Nu 25:9. Joshua 22:18Ver. 18. But that you must turn away this day from following the Lord?.... From the worship of the Lord, as the Targum, and so on Jos 22:16; not content with the former transgression, but must add this revolt unto it, and at a time which sadly aggravates it:and it will be, that [seeing] ye rebel to, day against the Lord; against the Word of the Lord, as the Targum, and so on Jos 22:16;that tomorrow he will be wroth with the whole congregation of Israel; or, in a little time, if a stop is not put to this revolt, the whole body of the people will suffer for it: here they express a concern for the whole nation of Israel, as well as for the glory of God; for sometimes the whole congregation has been charged with the sins of individuals, and punished for it, as a case after mentioned shows; see Jos 7:1. Joshua 22:19Ver. 19. Notwithstanding, if the land of your possession [be] unclean,.... That is, if it was judged to be so by them, because not cleansed from the sins of the former inhabitants of it by sacrifice, or because there was no altar in it to offer up sacrifice for the expiation of sin:[then] pass ye over unto the land of the possession of the Lord,wherein the Lord's tabernacle dwelleth; if you repent of the choice you have made of a country to dwell in, quit it, and come over into the land of Canaan, which the Lord has taken possession of, and residence in, and where his tabernacle is fixed, the place of his presence and worship, and where an altar is erected to sacrifice upon:and take possession among us; they were willing to quit possession of their own, and make room for them in each of their tribes, and even though they straitened themselves, and parted with much of their estates, rather than they should make a schism, or go into idolatrous practices; which was a brave, noble, spirit indeed, and showed their great concern for the honour and glory of God, and his worship, and their love to their brethren, and affectionate regard for their spiritual welfare, above their own private, personal, and temporal good:but rebel not against the Lord: the Word of the Lord, as the Targum, either Christ the essential Word, the Angel of Jehovah's presence, or his word of command:nor rebel against us; by breaking off from us, and setting up another religion or form of worship:in building you an altar beside the altar of the Lord our God: which ought to be common to both, and no other to be set up against it, or used beside it. Joshua 22:20Ver. 20. Did not Achan the son of Zerah,.... One that descended from Zerah the son of Judah, Jos 7:18;commit a trespass in the accursed thing; in taking what was devoted to sacred uses:and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? and which was what was feared now; and this instance is brought to show that such fears were not groundless:and that man perished not alone in his iniquity: which seems to confirm the notion of those who think that his children suffered with him; though it may be observed, that it was through his sin that thirty six men were slain by the men of Ai, Jos 7:5. Joshua 22:21Ver. 21. Then the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, answered,.... By some person whom they appointed to deliver the answer in their name:and said unto the heads of the thousands of Israel; who were over those that were rulers of the thousands of Israel, persons of greater authority than they, being princes of the respective tribes to which they belonged. Joshua 22:22Ver. 22. The Lord God of gods, the Lord God of gods,.... They first set out in their answer with asserting their firm belief of Jehovah, the God of Israel, being the supreme God, God over all; over all that are called gods, whether angels, of whom Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it; or civil magistrates and judges of the earth, who bare the same name; nor are the gods of the Gentiles to be spoken of with Jehovah, the God of Israel, who is the supreme Being, self-existent, the Being of beings, eternal and immutable, all which is contained in his name Jehovah; now this is repeated by them for the confirmation of their faith in this great article of it, and shows the steadiness of it, and to express their earnest and vehement affection for this truth, and to clear themselves from any imputation of idolatry, or thought of it, or doing anything that might have a tendency to it:he knoweth; he is the omniscient God, the searcher of the hearts and the trier of the reins of the children of men; he knows our cordial belief of this truth, the integrity of our hearts, the intention of our minds, that we never had a thought in us of departing from his worship, and of setting up an altar beside his in opposition to it:and Israel he shall know; our brethren the Israelites that dwell in the land of Canaan, whose representatives you are, shall know, not only by our present declaration, but by our future conduct, and strict adherence to the pure worship of God in time to come, that it was never our view by what we have done to depart from it:if [it be] in rebellion, or if in transgression against the Lord; with a design to rebel against his word, and transgress his command:save us not this day; this is said with respect to God, and as an apostrophe to him, as Jarchi, Kimchi, and Abarbinel observe; as expressing their desire to have no mercy shown them by him, but that vengeance might be taken on them by him, to whom all things were naked and open, and who full well knew whether they were guilty or not; or else the address is to Phinehas, and the princes, that they would rise up and put them to death by sword, if this appeared to be the case; or that all the other tribes would rise up, and make war against them, and cut them off with the edge of the sword, and not spare them. Joshua 22:23Ver. 23. That we have built us an altar, to turn from following the Lord,.... That is, we desire, as we deserve, to be cut to pieces, and not saved, if it should appear to be our view, in building this altar, to revolt from the pure worship of God:or if to offer thereon burnt offering, or meat offering, or if to offer peace offerings; even to the Lord himself: they declare that as they had no design to apostatize from God, and worship idols, so it was not their intention to offer any kind of sacrifice on the altar they had built, even to the Lord himself; and they take notice of every kind of offering, to remove every charge of this sort from them, and to purge themselves of every imputation of this nature: thenlet the Lord himself require [it]; seek it out, who is the omniscient God, and revenge it, who is the Lord God Almighty, just and true. Joshua 22:24Ver. 24. And if we have not [rather] done it for fear of [this] thing,.... So far they suggest were they from doing this, in order to turn from the pure worship of God, and introduce idolatrous worship, that it was to guard against everything of that kind for the future; and through fear of it, and anxiety and distress of mind, lest some time or another there should be any temptation to it in their posterity, had they built this altar:saying, in time to come your children might speak unto our children; or "tomorrow" {m}, in a short time after your heads, and ours, are laid in the grave, your posterity will accost us:saying, what have you to do with the Lord God of Israel? you are aliens and strangers from the commonwealth of Israel, live in a foreign land, and not in the land, of Canaan; are separated from us by the river Jordan, are a different people from us, and have nothing to do with the tabernacle of the Lord, and the service of it, or with the altar of the Lord, to offer sacrifice on it. Now as they returned to their own country, or when got there, such anxious thoughts and fears rose up in their minds, which they communicated to one another, and thought of this expedient to prevent what would be so fatal to their posterity. The Targum is,"you have no part in the Word of the Lord God of Israel;''see Joh 13:8.{m} rxm "cras", Pagninus, Montanus, &c. Joshua 22:25Ver. 25. For the Lord hath made Jordan a border between us and you,.... And by it separated them from them, as if they were a distinct people; not that this was really the case, but so they feared it would be represented in time to come; for though Jordan was the border of the land of Canaan, strictly so called, eastward, Nu 34:12; yet it did not exclude the land of the two tribes and a half from being part of the land of promise; for the Amorites, which before inhabited it, and were driven out of it, were Canaanites, and were one part of the people, whose land the Lord promised to Abraham, Ge 15:18;ye children of Reuben, and children of Gad, have no part in the Lord; in his covenant and promises, in his worship, word, and ordinances; these are things you have nothing to do with, being separated from us his peculiar people; or "have no part in the Word of the Lord", as the Targum, the promised Messiah, being without, or separated from him, as the Gentiles are said to be, Eph 2:12;so shall your children make our children cease from fearing the Lord; from worshipping the Lord, the fear of the Lord being often put for the whole worship of God, external and internal, Ec 12:13; by behaving in the above manner towards them, they would be the cause and occasion of their apostasy from the true God, and it would be in effect to say to them, "go, serve other gods", 1Sa 26:19. Joshua 22:26Ver. 26. Therefore we said,.... One to another, in order to prevent the apostasy of our children from God, their departure from his worship, and going into idolatry:let us now prepare to build us an altar; get materials ready, and set about it instantly, without any delay, while the thing dwells upon our minds:not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice; not for offerings of any kind required by the law, neither for sin offerings nor trespass offerings, nor any other not named. Joshua 22:27Ver. 27. But [that] it [may be] a witness between us and you, and our generations after us,.... That we are one people, worship one God, and serve at one altar, of which this built was a resemblance, and would put them in mind of it:that we might do the service of the Lord before him; in the tabernacle, and at the altar, in the place where he had chosen to put his name and dwell:with our burnt offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings; to be brought at stated times, or as occasion required:that your children may not say to our children, in time to come, ye have no part in the Lord; nor right to his altar, and so forbid them offering their sacrifices on it; or"have no part in the Word of the Lord,''as the Targum; the Messiah, whose sacrifice was typified by the sacrifices of the legal dispensation, and all such, who offered theirs in the faith of that, had a part in it, and their sins were expiated by it. Joshua 22:28Ver. 28. Therefore said we,.... To prevent any such usage of our children, and that they might have a ready answer to give:that it shall be, when they should [so] say unto us, or to our generations, in time to come; as above suggested, that they were a separate people from them, and had no interest in the Lord, nor right to his altar, nor concern in his worship:that we may say [again]; in reply, that is, our posterity:behold the pattern of the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made; which exactly agrees with the Mosaic altar, and which they could never have framed in so exact a manner if they had not seen it, and served at it; wherefore this was a plain proof of their being originally worshippers of the same God, partakers of the same altar, and were in the faith, fellowship, and communion of Israel. According to Gussetius {n}, this was not the altar the Reubenites, &c. built, which the children of Israel would be bid to behold, but the Mosaic altar at the tabernacle or temple, which was the archetype and exemplar, according to which that of the Reubenites was formed; and therefore say not, come and behold, but behold the altar present before them, that of Moses, and acknowledge that to be a type and exemplar, which they had related, and so confess it to be a testimony of their mutual fellowship: and what they had made in imitation of it, which exactly answered to it, wasnot for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifices; of any sort, that was not the intention of erecting it:but it [is] a witness between us and you; that we worship the same God, and are of the same faith and fellowship.{n} Ebr. Comment. p. 135. Joshua 22:29Ver. 29. God forbid that we should rebel against the Lord,.... Against the command of the Lord, who ordered one altar to be made, to which all sacrifices were to be brought from the several parts of the land of Israel, and there to be offered on it; or"against the Word of the Lord,''as the Targum, Christ typified both by the altar and the sacrifices on it; and who is but one, one priest, one sacrifice, one altar, one Mediator and Saviour:and turn this day from following the Lord; apostatize from him, and from his worship:to build an altar for burnt offerings, for meat offerings, or for sacrifices; which was never our intention, or ever entered into our hearts to erect one for such a purpose:besides the altar of the Lord our God, that [is] before his tabernacle; it standing in the court of the tabernacle before the holy place. Joshua 22:30Ver. 30. And when Phinehas the priest,.... For he was, being the son of Eleazar the high priest, so the word "priest", Jos 22:13; is to be joined, not to Eleazar but to Phinehas:and the princes of the congregation; the ten princes, who were sent by the congregation of Israel, one out of each tribe:and heads out of the thousands of Israel; these are the same with the princes, and this belongs to their title, who were heads of the Chiliarchs, or those who were rulers of thousands in Israel:which [were] with him; with Phinehas, who were joined with him in the embassy, and now present with him:heard the words that the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad,and the children of Manasseh; spake; in defence of themselves, explaining the meaning and design of the altar they had built:it pleased them; they were not only satisfied with their answer, but highly delighted with what they had done, as tending to preserve the common faith and fellowship of Israel. Joshua 22:31Ver. 31. And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest,.... As the mouth of the deputation, and in their name:said unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the children of Manasseh; the representatives of them assembled together on this occasion:this day we perceive that the Lord [is] among us; his Shechinah, as the Targum; his powerful Presence in preserving their brethren from committing a trespass, as they feared; his gracious Presence smiling upon them; and as the God of peace and order, and not of confusion, uniting and cementing their hearts in love to one another:because ye have not committed this trespass against the Lord; which they were fearful and jealous of they had, but they found that the Lord had been good and gracious in preserving them from it:now ye have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the Lord; into which they would have fallen, had that been the case, and would have felt the effects of the divine resentment, but now they were secure from them. Joshua 22:32Ver. 32. And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the princes,.... Being fully satisfied with the relation of things that had been given them, and having taken their leave of the assembly:returned from the children of Reuben, and from the children of Gad; the Greek version adds, "and from the half tribe of Manasseh"; which, though not in the Hebrew text, is undoubtedly meant:out of the land of Gilead: which, though only a part of the country these tribes inhabited, is put for the whole, and it is not improbable that the assembly might be held in it:unto the land of Canaan, to the children of Israel; the rest of the children of Israel who dwelt in the land of Canaan, properly so called:and brought them word again; reported the whole affair, related all that had passed, and acquainted them with the intention and design of their brethren erecting the altar, and what had been the issue of their embassy to them. Joshua 22:33Ver. 33. And the thing pleased the children of Israel,.... They were quite satisfied with the account of things, and were pleased and delighted with what their brethren, the other two tribes, had done:and the children of Israel blessed God: returned thanks to him, that there was no trespass committed against him, and no schism like to be made among them, nor any wrath to come upon them:and did not intend to go up against them in battle; for though upon first hearing of their building an altar, which they supposed was for idolatry, they had intended to make war against them, but now understanding the design of that building, they laid aside all thoughts of that kind:to destroy the land wherein the children of Reuben and Gad dwelt; which they judged by the law in De 13:12 they were obliged to do. The Greek version here adds also, "and the half tribe of Manasseh", and renders the last clause, and "they dwelt in it"; continued to dwell in it undisturbed by their brethren. Joshua 22:34Ver. 34. And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, called the altar [Ed],.... Which signifies a "witness"; they caused such an inscription to be put upon it, or this word to be engraved on it, that so the intention of erecting it might be known in future time; that it was not for sacrifice, but to be a testimony of their being one with their brethren on the other side Jordan, in worship, faith, and fellowship:for [it shall be] a witness between us that the Lord [is] God; is the one God, the God of them both, of all Israel, whether on the one or the other side of Jordan; to be worshipped by them in one and the same manner, and their sacrifices to be offered to him on his altar before the tabernacle.
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