Yehoshua 22:25

25 For Hashem hath made the Yarden a boundary between us and you, ye Bnei Reuven and Bnei Gad; ye have no chelek in Hashem; so might your banim make our banim cease from fearing Hashem.

Yehoshua 22:25 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 22:25

For the Lord hath made Jordan a border between us and you,
&c.] 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, ( Numbers 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, ( Genesis 15:18-21 ) ;

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, ( Ephesians 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, ( Ecclesiastes 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", ( 1 Samuel 26:19 ) .

Yehoshua 22:25 In-Context

23 That we have built us a mizbe’ach to turn away from following Hashem, or if to offer thereon olah or minchah, or if to offer zivkhei shelamim thereon, let Hashem Himself call it to account;
24 No, rather have we not done it for fear, for this reason, saying, In time to come your banim might speak unto our banim, saying, What have ye to do with Hashem Elohei Yisroel?
25 For Hashem hath made the Yarden a boundary between us and you, ye Bnei Reuven and Bnei Gad; ye have no chelek in Hashem; so might your banim make our banim cease from fearing Hashem.
26 Therefore we said, Let us now prepare to build us the mizbe’ach, not for olah nor for zevach,
27 But that it may be an ed (witness) between us, and you, and doroteinu (our generations) after us, that we might do the avodas Hashem before Him with oloteinu, and with zevakheinu, and with shelameinu; that your banim may not say to our banim in time to come, Ye have no chelek in Hashem.
The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.