Joshua 22:26

26 Then we said, 'Let's build an altar for ourselves. It will not be for burnt offerings or sacrifices,

Joshua 22:26 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 22:26

Therefore we said
One to another, in order to prevent the apostasy of our children from God, their departure from his worship, and going into idolatry:

let us now prepare to build us an altar;
get materials ready, and set about it instantly, without any delay, while the thing dwells upon our minds:

not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice;
not for offerings of any kind required by the law, neither for sin offerings nor trespass offerings, nor any other not named.

Joshua 22:26 In-Context

24 "We were worried because of the situation we're in. We thought sometime in the future your children might say to our children, 'What relationship do you have with the LORD God of Israel?

25 The LORD has made the Jordan River a dividing line between us and you, the descendants of Reuben and Gad. You have no connection with the LORD!' So your descendants would stop our descendants from worshiping the LORD.

26 Then we said, 'Let's build an altar for ourselves. It will not be for burnt offerings or sacrifices,

27 but it will stand as a witness between us for generations to come. It will stand as a witness that we may worship in the presence of the LORD with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and fellowship offerings.' Then your descendants cannot say to our descendants, 'You have no connection with the LORD!'

28 So we thought, if this statement is made to us or to our descendants in the future, we will answer, 'Look at the model of the LORD's altar our ancestors made. They didn't make it for burnt offerings or sacrifices but to stand as a witness between us.'