Continuing a chronological Bible study:
(Joshua 22:1) Then Joshua called the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh,
In the past few chapters, all of the promised land had been divided and given to each of the tribes. Cities of refuge had been established, and each tribe gave some of their cities to the Levites where they could dwell since they did not have their own land. Then Joshua called to him the two and a half tribes who had their inheritance east of the Jordan River.
(2) And said to them, "You have kept all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you."
When the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh desired their lots to be east of the Jordan River, Moses agreed because they said they would leave their families there in safety but would fight with the other tribes west of the Jordan, and they promised not to return to their lots on the east until the land was subdued and every tribe had its inheritance (Numbers 32:18). The two and a half tribes had obeyed Joshua's every command and went wherever he told them to go (Joshua 1:16).
(3) "You have not left your brethren these many days until this day but have kept the charge of the commandment of the Lord your God."
Joshua commended the men of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh, for staying with their brethren on the west side of the Jordan up to that point. It had been very many days according to Dr. John Gill in his Exposition of the Bible, who wrote that the consensus of the Jews was that it had been fourteen years, seven years subduing the land and seven years dividing it.
(4) "And now the Lord your God has given rest to your brethren as He promised them; therefore now return and go to your tents to the land of your possession which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on the other side of Jordan."
Now that the Lord had given all Israel rest from their enemies and every tribe had been given his lot, Joshua gave the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh, permission to return to their homes on the east side of the Jordan. They had fulfilled the condition that they wait until the land of Canaan was subdued and only then would they be given their inheritance east of the Jordan (Numbers 32:22).
(5) "But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord charged you, to love the Lord your God and to walk in all His ways, and to keep His commandments, and to cleave to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul."
Joshua advised his brethren to make sure that they diligently followed the commandments of their Lord to love, honor, and serve Him with all their hearts and souls, and to cleave to Him, walk in His ways, and obey all His commandments.
(6) So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents. (7) Now to the half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given in Bashan, but to the other half Joshua gave among their brethren on this side of Jordan westward. And when Joshua sent them away also to their tents, then he blessed them.
It appears that all of Manasseh had come before Joshua, but as only half of them had received land on the east of the Jordan, Bashan, the kingdom of Og, Joshua sent the half tribe living on the west side of the Jordan to their tents. Then he sent the two and a half tribes back to their tents on the east of Jordan, and he blessed them.
(8) And he spoke to them, saying, "Return with much riches to your tents, and with very much cattle, with silver, and with gold, and with brass, and with iron, and with very much clothing; divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren."
Joshua told them to return to their homes with a division of the spoil they had acquired from their enemies, of the cattle, silver, gold, brass, iron, and fine clothing. Some Biblical scholars think this meant they were to divide the spoil with their brethren who had remained at home on the east of the Jordan to protect the women, children, and livestock. That may be, as only 40,000 (Joshua 4:13) of the approximately 110,000 able to go to war, according to the census taken in Numbers 26, went to help their brethren in the west.
(9) And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh returned and departed from the children of Israel out of Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the country of Gilead, to the land of their possession which they possessed according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.
And so the men of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, departed Shiloh in Canaan to return to their land east of the Jordan River, the country of Gilead (and Bashan), the land they were given according to the word of the Lord through Moses.
(10) And when they came to the borders of Jordan in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by Jordan, a great altar to see.
When the two and a half tribes arrived at the Jordan River, they built a great altar built very high to be seen from far away. Although verse 10 makes it sound as if they built the altar in the land of Canaan, the next verse indicates they built it on their own side of the Jordan, but perhaps visible from Canaan.
(11) And the children of Israel heard say, "Behold, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh have built an altar across from Canaan in the borders of Jordan at the passage of the children of Israel."
The Israelites on the west side of the Jordan River learned by hearsay that the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, had built an altar across from Canaan on the banks of the Jordan where they had passed over when they first came into Canaan.
(12) And when the children of Israel heard, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up to war against them.
When the Israelites in the land of Canaan learned about the altar, they gathered themselves together at Shiloh where the tabernacle and altar of the Lord were. They considered the altar built by the two and a half tribes an offense to the Lord that needed to be avenged, and they discussed going to war against them.
(13) And the children of Israel sent to the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, (14) And with him ten princes, of each chief house a prince throughout all the tribes of Israel, and each one a head of the house of their fathers among the thousands of Israel.
The Israelites in Canaan on the west of the Jordan sent Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, and ten princes, one from each tribe, each from the chief house in their tribe, over the Jordan River to Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh.
(15) And they came to the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them, saying, (16) "Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord, 'What trespass is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the Lord, in that you have built you an altar, that you might rebel this day against the Lord?'"
The delegation came to the eastern tribes, telling them that the entire congregation in Canaan wanted to know why they had committed such iniquity against their Lord by building an altar to rebel against Him. Many people before them had built altars to honor God, but God had said in Deuteronomy 12:13-14, that they were not to offer burnt offerings in any place they wanted, but only in the one place that the Lord Himself would choose. The western Israelites must have assumed that the tribes on the east wanted to sacrifice at the altar they had made.
(17) "'Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us from which we are not cleansed until this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the Lord? (18) But that you must turn away this day from following the Lord? And it will be, if you rebel today against the Lord, that tomorrow He will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel.'"
They asked if the sin of worshipping the idol Peor in the plains of Moab (Numbers 25:2) was so small a sin that they must add to it a much greater sin of what they assumed to be continuous idol worship. They said they had not been cleansed from the shame and disgrace of that sin until this time when they started anew in their promised land, although there had been 24,000 people killed by a plague because of it (Numbers 25:9). They were convinced that if the two and a half tribes continued with their altar the Lord would be angry with the entire congregation.
(19) "'Nevertheless, if the land of your possession is unclean, pass over to the land of the possession of the Lord where the Lord's tabernacle dwells and take possession among us, but do not rebel against the Lord, nor rebel against us, in building an altar besides the altar of the Lord our God.'"
I believe the sense is that if the two and a half tribes felt their land was unclean because it had not been cleansed from the sins of the former inhabitants, and they felt a need for an altar where they could sacrifice for the atonement of sin, then they should go back to the land of Canaan on the west of the Jordan and possess land there. But they asked that they not rebel against the Lord and their brethren by building an altar besides the one altar of their Lord God.
(20) "'Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? And that man did not perish alone in his iniquity.'"
They reminded them of the sin of Achan when he sinned against the Lord by taking of the accursed things against the commandment of the Lord (Joshua 7:11). Achan had not perished alone in his iniquity. The Israelites had lost their first battle with Ai where they fled before their enemies, and thirty-six of them were killed by the men of Ai (Joshua 7:5).
(21) Then the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, answered and said to the heads of the thousands of Israel, (22) "The Lord God of gods, He knows, and Israel shall know; if it is in rebellion or if in transgression against the Lord, do not save us this day, (23) That we have built us an altar to turn from following the Lord, or if to offer on it burnt offering or meat offering, or if to offer peace offerings on it, let the Lord Himself require it."
Then the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, answered their accusers. Their Lord God knew their hearts, and now all of Israel would know, because if they had rebelled against the Lord or transgressed against Him, they asked that the Lord not save them alive that day. If they had built that altar in order to turn away from following the Lord or to offer sacrifices on it, even if to their Lord God, then let the Lord Himself require their punishment.
(24) "And if we have not done it for fear of this, saying, 'In time to come your children might speak to our children, saying, "What have you to do with the Lord God of Israel? (25) For the Lord has made Jordan a border between us and you, you children of Reuben and children of Gad, you have no part in the Lord." So shall your children make our children cease from fearing the Lord.'"
However, they declared they had rather built the altar because they feared their children might turn away from the Lord. They saw a time when the children of the Israelites in Canaan would notice a border between them and the two and a half tribes east of the Jordan and determine that it must mean the eastern tribes had no part in the Lord, that He Himself had placed a border between them. They feared that their children might then cease from fearing and following their Lord God.
(26) "Therefore we said, 'Let us now prepare to build us an altar, not for burnt offering nor for sacrifice, (27) But as a witness between us and you and our generation after us, that we might do the service of the Lord before Him with our burnt offerings and with our sacrifices and with our peace offerings, that your children may not say to our children in time to come, "You have no part in the Lord."'"
Therefore the two and a half tribes built an altar, not for offerings or sacrifice, but as a symbol of their solidarity with Israel and in the worship of the Lord God of Israel. In the future, children of the tribes in Canaan would know that the two and a half tribes indeed had a part in their Lord God and would allow them to come to Canaan to the altar of the Lord with their offerings and sacrifices.
(28) "Therefore we said that it shall be when they should say so to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say, 'Behold the pattern of the altar of the Lord which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifices, but as a witness between us and you.'"
They built the altar so that in generations to come if the tribes in Canaan suggested that they had no part in their Lord, that they could point to the pattern of their altar built by their fathers, that it was an exact replica of the altar in Canaan, not for offerings or sacrifices, but as a witness between the tribes that they all worshipped the same God.
(29) "God forbid that we should rebel against the Lord and turn this day from following the Lord, to build an altar for burnt offerings, for meat offerings, or for sacrifices, besides the altar of the Lord our God that is before His tabernacle."
The two and a half tribes proclaimed that God forbid they should do such an abhorrent thing as to rebel against their Lord God and build an altar at which to bring sacrifices and offerings, besides the one true altar of the Lord at His tabernacle.
(30) And when Phinehas the priest and the princes of the congregation and heads of the thousands of Israel with him heard the words that the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them.
When Phinehas the priest and the ten princes representing thousands in Israel heard what the two and a half tribes said about the purpose of their altar, they were pleased.
(31) And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the children of Manasseh, "This day we perceive that the Lord is among us because you have not committed this trespass against the Lord; now you have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the Lord."
Phinehas the priest then told the two and half tribes that he was sure the Lord was among them all because they had not done what the western Israelites had feared they had done. And because their hearts and motives were pure, they had saved all of Israel from the anger of the Lord.
(32) And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest and the princes returned from the children of Reuben and from the children of Gad, out of the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan to the children of Israel and brought them back word.
Phinehas and the ten princes returned to their tribes on the west of the Jordan River and told them what had transpired with the two and a half tribes on the east side.
(33) And the thing pleased the children of Israel, and the children of Israel blessed God and did not intend to go up against them in battle to destroy the land in which the children of Reuben and Gad dwelt.
All of western Israel was pleased to hear the outcome, and they blessed and thanked God that no trespass had been made against Him, and therefore they did not intend to go to battle against their brethren in the east.
(34) And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad named the altar, "For it is a witness between us that the Lord is God."
The eastern tribes named their altar as it was always to be remembered as a witness between the Israelites on both sides of the Jordan that the Lord was the one true God worshiped by both. The KJV and many other translations inserted the word "Ed" which meant "witness" to say that the eastern tribes named the altar Ed because it was a witness. However, the original text did not specify a name, only that it was named for it was to be remembered as a witness that the Israelites on both sides of the Jordan worshipped the same God.
The western tribes had jumped to a wrong conclusion about their eastern brethren. It may have been wrong to judge them without knowing the facts, but they were zealous for their Lord, wanting no trespass against Him nor any sin in the house of Israel. Although they had initially planned to go to war with them, they first sent a delegation to confront the two and a half tribes and gave them a chance to respond, so all was worked out peacefully. It's a good lesson in how Christians ought to resolve conflicts, and additionally, they ought always to remember that God judges the heart, and they can't be too quick to jump to erroneous conclusions just because of how they think a thing looks.
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