Joshua 22:17

17 Was our sin at Peor not enough? To this day we are not fully cleansed of it, even after the plague that struck the entire community of the LORD .

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 When they arrived in the land of Gilead, they said to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh,
16 “The whole community of the LORD demands to know why you are betraying the God of Israel. How could you turn away from the LORD and build an altar for yourselves in rebellion against him?
17 Was our sin at Peor not enough? To this day we are not fully cleansed of it, even after the plague that struck the entire community of the LORD .
18 And yet today you are turning away from following the LORD . If you rebel against the LORD today, he will be angry with all of us tomorrow.
19 “If you need the altar because the land you possess is defiled, then join us in the LORD ’s land, where the Tabernacle of the LORD is situated, and share our land with us. But do not rebel against the LORD or against us by building an altar other than the one true altar of the LORD our God.
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