Joshua 22:17

17 [Is] not the sin of Peor {enough for us}, from which we have not cleansed ourselves today, and for which a plague came to the congregation of Yahweh,

Joshua 22:17 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 22:17

[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 ( Numbers 25:2 Numbers 25:3 ) , 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, ( Numbers 25:9 ) .

Joshua 22:17 In-Context

15 They came to the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them, saying,
16 "Thus says all the congregation of Yahweh: 'What [is] this treachery that you have committed against the God of Israel by turning away today from following Yahweh, by building for yourselves an altar to rebel today against Yahweh?
17 [Is] not the sin of Peor {enough for us}, from which we have not cleansed ourselves today, and for which a plague came to the congregation of Yahweh,
18 that you must turn today from following Yahweh? [If] you rebel today against Yahweh, tomorrow he will be angry with all of the congregation of Israel;
19 if, however, the land of your property [is] unclean, cross [over] to the land of Yahweh's property, where Yahweh's tabernacle resides, and take possession among us. But you must not rebel against Yahweh or against us by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of Yahweh our God.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Literally "too little for us"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.