Joshua 22:3

3 All this time you have not abandoned your kinsmen but have obeyed your commission, as ADONAI your God ordered.

Joshua 22:3 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 22:3

Ye have not left your brethren these many days unto this day,
&c.] For the space of fourteen years, which is the commonly received notion of the Jews ^F6; seven years according to them the land was subduing, and seven more spent in dividing it, and then these tribes were sent for and dismissed; all this time they stayed close by their brethren, and assisted them in their wars, and never offered to return to their wives and children, until they had an order from their general:

but have kept the charge of the commandment of the Lord your God;
for what both Moses and Joshua commanded them was from the mouth of the Lord; so that, in obeying them, they obeyed him.

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FOOTNOTES:

F6 Seder Olam Rabba, c. 11. p. 32.

Joshua 22:3 In-Context

1 Then Y'hoshua called the Re'uveni, the Gadi and the half-tribe of M'nasheh,

2 and said to them, "You have done everything Moshe the servant of ADONAI ordered you to do and heeded what I said in all the orders I gave you.

3 All this time you have not abandoned your kinsmen but have obeyed your commission, as ADONAI your God ordered.

4 Now ADONAI your God has given rest to your kinsmen, as he told them he would. So you too, return to your tents in the land which is your possession, which Moshe the servant of ADONAI gave you beyond the Yarden.

5 Only take great care to obey the mitzvah and the Torah which Moshe the servant of ADONAI gave you - to love ADONAI your God, follow all his ways, observe his mitzvot, cling to him, and serve him with all your heart and being."