Yehoshua 22:10

10 And when they came unto the Gelilot of the Yarden, that is in eretz Kena’an, the Bnei Reuven and the Bnei Gad and the half-tribe of Menasheh built there a mizbe’ach by the Yarden, a mizbe’ach gadol in appearance.

Yehoshua 22:10 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 22:10

And when they came unto the borders of Jordan, that [are] in
the land of Canaan
To the banks of it, or the sand heaps, some take the word to signify, which were thrown up to restrain the waters from overflowing; some by Geliloth understand a place so called; and Jerom ^F7 says it was near Jordan in the tribe of Benjamin: but rather the word signifies the meanders, windings, and turnings, of the river {h}; and such circuits and compasses it fetched near Jericho, as the same writer ^F9 observes, where we may suppose these tribes went over, and at a place where the river jetted out into the land of Canaan:

the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, built there an altar
by Jordan;
or "then"; that is, when they had passed over the river into their own country, for which Josephus is express ^F11; and certain it is, that the altar was built not on the Canaan side of Jordan, but on the opposite side, as is clear from ( Joshua 22:11 ) : and indeed they had no right to build on any other ground than their own; and they pitched upon a spot where the river jetted out into the land of Canaan, as most proper to erect it on, to be a witness, that though separated from the rest of the Israelites by the river Jordan, yet were a part of them, and had a right to join them in the service of God, and bring their sacrifices to the altar of God in the tabernacle, as more fully appears in some after verses:

a great altar to see to;
built up very high, so that it might be seen at a great distance.

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 De loc. Heb. fol. 92. C.
F8 Vid. Gusset. Ebr. Comment. p. 170, 573. Reland. Palestin. Illustrat. tom. 1. l. 1. c. 43. p. 274, 279.
F9 Ut supra, (De loc. Heb. fol. 92.) G.
F11 Antiqu. l. 5. c. 1. sect. 26.

Yehoshua 22:10 In-Context

8 And he spoke unto them, saying, Return with nekasim rabbin (many possessions) unto your ohalim, and with mikneh rav me’od (very much cattle), with kesef, and with zahav, and with nechoshet, and with barzel (iron), and with very much selamot (clothes); divide the plunder of your enemies with your achim.

9 And the Bnei Reuven and the Bnei Gad and the half-tribe of Menasheh returned, and departed from the Bnei Yisroel at Shiloh, which is in Eretz Kana’an, to go unto Eretz Gil‘ad, to the Eretz Achuzzatam (the land of their possession, estate), whereof they had taken as a possession, according to the word of Hashem by the yad Moshe.

10 And when they came unto the Gelilot of the Yarden, that is in eretz Kena’an, the Bnei Reuven and the Bnei Gad and the half-tribe of Menasheh built there a mizbe’ach by the Yarden, a mizbe’ach gadol in appearance.

11 And the Bnei Yisroel heard, Hinei, the Bnei Reuven and the Bnei Gad and the half-tribe of Menasheh have built a mizbe’ach at the edge of Eretz Kena’an, in the region of the Yarden, on the side belonging to the Bnei Yisroel.

12 And when the Bnei Yisroel heard of it, the kol Adat Bnei Yisroel gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up to war against them.