Joshua 22:10-34

The Eastern Tribes' Altar of Witness

10 And when they came to the region of the Jordan that is in the land of Canaan, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by the Jordan, an altar of imposing size.

11 And the people of Israel ¹heard it said, "Behold, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built the altar at the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region about the Jordan, on the side that belongs to the people of Israel."

12 And when the people of Israel heard of it, ²the whole assembly of the people of Israel gathered at Shiloh to make war against them.

13 Then the people of Israel sent to the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, ³Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest,

14 and with him ten chiefs, one from each of the tribal families of Israel, ⁴every one of them the head of a family among the clans of Israel.

15 And they came to the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, and they said to them,

16 "Thus says the whole congregation of the LORD, 'What is this breach of faith that you have committed against the God of Israel in turning away this day from following the LORD by building yourselves an altar this day ⁵in rebellion against the LORD?

17 Have we not had enough of ⁶the sin at Peor from which even yet we have not cleansed ourselves, and for which there came a plague upon the congregation of the LORD,

18 that you too must turn away this day from following the LORD? And if ⁷you too rebel against the LORD today then tomorrow ⁸he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel.

19 But now, if the land of your possession is unclean, pass over into the LORD's land ⁹where the LORD's tabernacle stands, and take for yourselves a possession among us. ¹⁰Only do not rebel against the LORD or make us as rebels by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of the LORD our God.

20 ¹¹Did not Achan the son of Zerah break faith in the matter of the devoted things, and ¹²wrath fell upon all the congregation of Israel? And he did not perish alone for his iniquity.'"

21 Then the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh said in answer to the heads of the families of Israel,

22 "The Mighty One, ¹³God, the LORD! The Mighty One, God, the LORD! ¹⁴He knows; and let Israel itself know! If it was in rebellion or in breach of faith against the LORD, do not spare us today

23 for building an altar to turn away from following the LORD. Or if we did so to offer burnt offerings or grain offerings or peace offerings on it, may the LORD himself ¹⁵take vengeance.

24 No, but we did it from fear that ¹⁶in time to come your children might say to our children, 'What have you to do with the LORD, the God of Israel?

25 For the LORD has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you, you people of Reuben and people of Gad. You have no portion in the LORD.' So your children might make our children cease to worship the LORD.

26 Therefore we said, 'Let us now build an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice,

27 but to be ¹⁷a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we ¹⁸do perform the service of the LORD in his presence with our burnt offerings and sacrifices and peace offerings, so your children will not say to our children in time to come, "You have no portion in the LORD."'

28 And we thought, If this should be said to us or to our descendants in time to come, we should say, 'Behold, the copy of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifice, but to be ¹⁹a witness between us and you.'

29 Far be it from us that we should ²⁰rebel against the LORD and turn away this day from following the LORD ²¹by building an altar for burnt offering, grain offering, or sacrifice, other than the altar of the LORD our God that stands before his tabernacle!"

30 When ²²Phinehas the priest and the chiefs of the congregation, the heads of the families of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the people of Manasseh spoke, ²³it was good in their eyes.

31 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the people of Manasseh, "Today we know that ²⁴the LORD is in our midst, because you have not committed this breach of faith against the LORD. Now you have delivered the people of Israel from the hand of the LORD."

32 Then Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the chiefs, returned from the people of Reuben and the people of Gad ²⁵in the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the people of Israel, and brought back word to them.

33 And the report ²⁶was good in the eyes of the people of Israel. And the people of Israel ²⁷blessed God and spoke no more of making war against them to destroy the land where the people of Reuben and the people of Gad were settled.

34 The people of Reuben and the people of Gad called the altar Witness, "For," they said, ²⁸"it is a witness between us that the LORD is God."

Joshua 22:10-34 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JOSHUA 22

The war with the Canaanites being ended, Joshua called to him the two tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, who came over Jordan with him to assist in it, and commended them for their obedience to Moses and to himself, and to God by them; and then dismissed them, with some instructions to keep the ways and worship of God, and with his blessing upon them, Jos 22:1-8; upon which they returned to their country, and when they came to the borders of it set up an altar by Jordan, Jos 22:9,10; which, when the children of Israel heard of, it gave them great offence, they fearing they were going to make a revolt from the pure worship of God, and therefore sent a deputation of princes to them, with the son of the high priest, to inquire into the matter, and expostulate with them about it, who did, Jos 22:11-20; and who received from them a very satisfactory answer, Jos 22:21-31; with which they returned and reported to the children of Israel, and which gave them pleasure, Jos 22:32-34.

Cross References

• 1. See Deuteronomy 13:12-15
• 2. Judges 20:1
• 3. Exodus 6:25; Numbers 25:7; Judges 20:28
• 4. Numbers 1:4
• 5. ver. 18, 19; Numbers 14:9; [Leviticus 17:8, 9; Deuteronomy 12:13, 14]
• 6. Numbers 25:3; Deuteronomy 4:3; Psalms 106:28
• 7. [See ver. 16 above]
• 8. Numbers 16:22
• 9. Joshua 18:1
• 10. ver. 16, 18
• 11. Joshua 7:1, 5
• 12. [See ver. 18 above]
• 13. Deuteronomy 10:17
• 14. 1 Kings 8:39
• 15. Deuteronomy 18:19; 1 Samuel 20:16
• 16. See Joshua 4:6, 21
• 17. ver. 34; Joshua 24:27; Genesis 31:48
• 18. Deut. 12:5, 6, 17, 18
• 19. [See ver. 27 above]
• 20. See ver. 16
• 21. See ver. 16
• 22. ver. 13, 14
• 23. ver. 33
• 24. Leviticus 26:11, 12
• 25. ver. 10, 11, 15
• 26. ver. 30
• 27. 1 Chronicles 29:20; Nehemiah 8:6; Daniel 2:19; Luke 2:28
• 28. ver. 27