Joshua 22:3

3 neither ye have left your brethren in much time till into present day, and ye kept the commandment of your Lord God. (nor have ye ever left your brothers, or your kinsmen, unto this present day, and ye have obeyed the commandments of the Lord your God.)

Joshua 22:3 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 22:3

Ye have not left your brethren these many days unto this day,
&c.] For the space of fourteen years, which is the commonly received notion of the Jews F6; seven years according to them the land was subduing, and seven more spent in dividing it, and then these tribes were sent for and dismissed; all this time they stayed close by their brethren, and assisted them in their wars, and never offered to return to their wives and children, until they had an order from their general:

but have kept the charge of the commandment of the Lord your God;
for what both Moses and Joshua commanded them was from the mouth of the Lord; so that, in obeying them, they obeyed him.


FOOTNOTES:

F6 Seder Olam Rabba, c. 11. p. 32.

Joshua 22:3 In-Context

1 In the same time Joshua called the men of Reuben, and the men of Gad, and half the lineage of Manasseh, (At that time Joshua called the men of Reuben, and the men of Gad, and the eastern half of the tribe of Manasseh,)
2 and said to them, Ye have done all things which Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded to you, also ye [have] obeyed to me in all things;
3 neither ye have left your brethren in much time till into present day, and ye kept the commandment of your Lord God. (nor have ye ever left your brothers, or your kinsmen, unto this present day, and ye have obeyed the commandments of the Lord your God.)
4 Therefore for your Lord God hath given rest and peace to your brethren, as he promised, turn ye again, and go ye into your tabernacles, and into the land of your possession, which land Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave to you beyond (the) Jordan; (And so for the Lord your God hath given rest and peace to your kinsmen, as he promised, now return ye, and go ye back to your tents, or your homes, in the land of your possession, which land Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave you on the east side of the Jordan River;)
5 so only that ye keep busily, and [ful]fill in work the commandment and [the] law, which law Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded to you; that ye love your Lord God, and go in all his ways, and keep his behests, and cleave to him, and serve him in all your heart, and in all your soul. (so only that ye busily obey, and fulfill in deeds, the commandments and the law, which law Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded to you; yea, that ye love the Lord your God, and go in all his ways, and obey his commands, and cleave to him, and serve him with all your heart, and with all your soul.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.