Joshua 22 Footnotes

22:9-34 While returning to their homes in the Transjordan the men of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh provoked a crisis by erecting an altar at Geliloth. Their altar was a replica (v. 28) of the one at the tabernacle, intended as a witness to future generations of the legitimacy of their share in the inheritance. This was an innocent act on their part as they did not intend the altar to be used for sacrifices. The Cisjordan tribes, however, viewed such an altar as a threat to the unity of Israel as a whole. The western tribes sent a delegation, headed by Phinehas son of Eleazar, to investigate the matter. The eastern tribes explained their purpose in erecting the altar to the satisfaction of the rest (vv. 21-31), and the crisis was resolved.