Joshua 22:31

31 Pinechas the son of El`azar the Kohen said to the children of Re'uven, and to the children of Gad, and to the children of Menashsheh, This day we know that the LORD is in the midst of us, because you have not committed this trespass against the LORD: now have you delivered the children of Yisra'el out of the hand of the LORD.

Joshua 22:31 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 22:31

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 22:31 In-Context

29 Far be it from us that we should rebel against the LORD, and turn away this day from following the LORD, to build an altar for burnt-offering, for meal-offering, or for sacrifice, besides the altar of the LORD our God that is before his tent.

30 When Pinechas the Kohen, and the princes of the congregation, even the heads of the thousands of Yisra'el that were with him, heard the words that the children of Re'uven and the children of Gad and the children of Menashsheh spoke, it pleased them well.

31 Pinechas the son of El`azar the Kohen said to the children of Re'uven, and to the children of Gad, and to the children of Menashsheh, This day we know that the LORD is in the midst of us, because you have not committed this trespass against the LORD: now have you delivered the children of Yisra'el out of the hand of the LORD.

32 Pinechas the son of El`azar the Kohen, and the princes, returned from the children of Re'uven, and from the children of Gad, out of the land of Gil`ad, to the land of Kana`an, to the children of Yisra'el, and brought them word again.

33 The thing pleased the children of Yisra'el; and the children of Yisra'el blessed God, and spoke no more of going up against them to war, to destroy the land in which the children of Re'uven and the children of Gad lived.