Joshua 22:31

31 Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, said to them, "Now we know that the Lord is with us. You have not rebelled against him, and so you have saved the people of Israel from the Lord's punishment."

Joshua 22:31 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 22:31

And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest
As the mouth of the deputation, and in their name:

said unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to
the children of Manasseh;
the representatives of them assembled together on this occasion:

this day we perceive that the Lord [is] among us;
his Shechinah, as the Targum; his powerful Presence in preserving their brethren from committing a trespass, as they feared; his gracious Presence smiling upon them; and as the God of peace and order, and not of confusion, uniting and cementing their hearts in love to one another:

because ye have not committed this trespass against the Lord;
which they were fearful and jealous of they had, but they found that the Lord had been good and gracious in preserving them from it:

now ye have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the
Lord;
into which they would have fallen, had that been the case, and would have felt the effects of the divine resentment, but now they were secure from them.

Joshua 22:31 In-Context

29 We would certainly not rebel against the Lord or stop following him now by building an altar to burn offerings on or for grain offerings or sacrifices. We would not build any other altar than the altar of the Lord our God that stands in front of the Tent of his presence."

30 Phinehas the priest and the ten leading men of the community who were with him, the heads of families of the western tribes, heard what the people of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh had to say, and they were satisfied.

31 Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, said to them, "Now we know that the Lord is with us. You have not rebelled against him, and so you have saved the people of Israel from the Lord's punishment."

32 Then Phinehas and the leaders left the people of Reuben and Gad in the land of Gilead and went back to Canaan, to the people of Israel, and reported to them.

33 The Israelites were satisfied and praised God. They no longer talked about going to war to devastate the land where the people of Reuben and Gad had settled.