Joshua 22:18

18 And today ye have forsaken the Lord, and tomorrow, that is, in time to coming (that is, in the time to come), the ire of him shall be fierce against all Israel.

Joshua 22:18 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 22:18

But that you must turn away this day from following the
Lord?
&c.] From the worship of the Lord, as the Targum, and so on ( Joshua 22:16 ) ; not content with the former transgression, but must add this revolt unto it, and at a time which sadly aggravates it:

and it will be, that [seeing] ye rebel to, day against the Lord;
against the Word of the Lord, as the Targum, and so on ( Joshua 22:16 ) ;

that tomorrow he will be wroth with the whole congregation of Israel;
or, in a little time, if a stop is not put to this revolt, the whole body of the people will suffer for it: here they express a concern for the whole nation of Israel, as well as for the glory of God; for sometimes the whole congregation has been charged with the sins of individuals, and punished for it, as a case after mentioned shows; see ( Joshua 7:1 Joshua 7:5 ) .

Joshua 22:18 In-Context

16 All the people of the Lord sendeth to you, (and asketh) these things; What is this trespassing? Why have ye forsaken the Lord God of Israel, and have builded a cursed altar, and have gone away from the worshipping of him?
17 Whether the sin of Peor is little to you, of which we (still) be not clean till to this day, and many of the people felled down (there)?
18 And today ye have forsaken the Lord, and tomorrow, that is, in time to coming (that is, in the time to come), the ire of him shall be fierce against all Israel.
19 That if ye guess that the land of your possession is unclean, pass ye (over) to the land, in which the tabernacle of the Lord is, and dwell ye among us, only that ye go not away from the Lord, and from our fellowship, by an altar builded beside the altar of our Lord God. (But if ye think that the land of your possession is unclean, then come ye back here to the land where the Tabernacle of the Lord is, and live ye among us, so only that ye go not away from the Lord, and from our fellowship, with an altar built in addition to the altar of the Lord our God.)
20 Whether not Achan, the son of Zerah, passed the commandment of the Lord, and his ire felled on all the people of Israel? And he was one man; and we would that he alone had perished in his trespass. (Did not Achan, the son of Zerah, pass over the Lord's command, and then the Lord's anger fell on all the people of Israel? And Achan was but one man; and we wish that he alone had perished for his trespass.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.