Joshua 22
22
Joshua Sends Home the Eastern Tribes
1 Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh 2 and told them: “You have carried out all the instructions of Moses the Lord’s servant, and you have obeyed all I have told you.#tn Heb “You have kept all which Moses, the Lord’s servant, commanded you, and you have listened to my voice, to all which I commanded you.” 3 You have not abandoned your fellow Israelites#tn Heb “your brothers” (also in vv. 4, 7), but this does not refer to siblings or necessarily even to relatives. It refers to the Israelites of the remaining tribes. this entire time,#tn Heb “these many days.” right up to this very day. You have completed the task given you by the Lord your God.#tn Heb “you have kept the charge of the command of the Lord your God.” 4 Now the Lord your God has made your fellow Israelites secure,#tn Heb “has given rest to your brothers.” just as he promised them. So now you may turn around and go to your homes#tn Heb “tents.” in your own land#tn Heb “the land of your possession.” which Moses the Lord’s servant assigned to you east of the Jordan. 5 But carefully obey the commands and instructions Moses the Lord’s servant gave you. Love#tn Heb “But be very careful to do the commandment and the law which Moses, the Lord’s servant, commanded you, to love.” the Lord your God, follow all his instructions,#tn Heb “walk in all his paths.” obey#tn Or “keep.” his commands, be loyal to him,#tn Heb “hug him.” and serve him with all your heart and being!”#tn Or “soul.”
6 Joshua rewarded#tn Heb “blessed.” However, see v. 8, where rewards are given. them and sent them on their way; they returned to their homes.#tn Heb “and they went to their tents.” 7 (Now to one half-tribe of Manasseh, Moses had assigned land in Bashan; and to the other half Joshua had assigned land on the west side of the Jordan with their fellow Israelites.) When Joshua sent them home,#tn Heb “to their tents.” he rewarded#tn Heb “blessed.” them, 8 saying, “Take home#tn Heb “return to your tents with.” great wealth, a lot of cattle,#tn Heb “very many cattle.” silver, gold, bronze, iron, and a lot of#tn Heb “very much clothing.” clothing. Divide up the goods captured from your enemies with your brothers.” 9 So the Reubenites, Gadites, and half-tribe of Manasseh left the Israelites in Shiloh in the land of Canaan and headed home to their own land in Gilead,#tn Heb “returned and went from the sons of Israel, from Shiloh which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead, to the land of their possession.” which they acquired by the Lord’s command through Moses.
Civil War is Averted
10 The Reubenites, Gadites, and half-tribe of Manasseh came to Geliloth near the Jordan in the land of Canaan and built there, near the Jordan, an impressive altar.#tn Heb “and they went to Geliloth of the Jordan which is in the land of Canaan, and the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an altar near the Jordan, an altar great with respect to appearance.” 11 The Israelites received this report:#tn Heb “the sons of Israel heard, saying.” “Look, the Reubenites, Gadites, and half-tribe of Manasseh have built an altar at the entrance to#tn Heb “toward the front of.” the land of Canaan, at Geliloth near the Jordan on the Israelite side.” 12 When the Israelites heard this, the entire Israelite community assembled at Shiloh to launch an attack against them.#tn Heb “to go up against them for battle.”
13 The Israelites sent Phinehas, son of Eleazar, the priest, to the land of Gilead to the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. 14 He was accompanied by ten leaders, one from each of the Israelite tribes, each one a family leader among the Israelite clans.#tn Heb “ten leaders with him, one leader, one leader for a paternal house, for all the tribes of Israel, and each a head of the house of their father, they belong to the clans of Israel.” 15 They went to the land of Gilead to the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and said to them: 16 “The entire community of the Lord says, ‘Why have you disobeyed the God of Israel by turning back today from following the Lord? You built an altar for yourselves and have rebelled today against the Lord.#tn Heb “What is this unfaithfulness with which you have been unfaithful against the God of Israel, turning today from after the Lord, when you built for yourselves an altar, rebelling today against the Lord?” 17 The sin we committed at Peor was bad enough. To this very day we have not purified ourselves; it even brought a plague on the community of the Lord.#tn Heb “Was the sin of Peor too insignificant for us, from which we have not made purification to this day? And there was a plague in the assembly of the Lord.” 18 Now today you dare to turn back#tn Heb “you are turning back.” from following the Lord! You are rebelling today against the Lord; tomorrow he may break out in anger against#tn Or “he will be angry with.” the entire community of Israel. 19 But if your own land#tn Heb “the land of your possession.” is impure,#sn The western tribes here imagine a possible motive for the action of the eastern tribes. T. C. Butler explains the significance of the land’s “impurity”: “East Jordan is impure because it is not Yahweh’s possession. Rather it is simply ‘your possession.’ That means it is land where Yahweh does not live, land which his presence has not sanctified and purified” (Joshua [WBC], 247). cross over to the Lord’s own land,#tn Heb “the land of the possession of the Lord.” where the Lord himself lives,#tn Heb “where the dwelling place of the Lord resides.”sn The phrase where the Lord himself lives refers to the tabernacle. and settle down among us.#tn Heb “and take for yourselves in our midst.” But don’t rebel against the Lord or us#tc Heb “and us to you rebel.” The reading of the MT, the accusative sign with suffix (וְאֹתָנוּ, vÿ’otanu), is problematic with the verb “rebel” (מָרַד, marad). Many Hebrew mss correctly read the negative particle אַל (’al) for the preposition אֶל (’el, “to”). by building for yourselves an altar aside from the altar of the Lord our God. 20 When Achan son of Zerah disobeyed the command about the city’s riches, the entire Israelite community was judged,#tn Heb “Is it not [true that] Achan son of Zerah was unfaithful with unfaithfulness concerning what was set apart [to the Lord] and against all the assembly of Israel there was anger?” though only one man had sinned. He most certainly died for his sin!’”#tn The second half of the verse reads literally, “and he [was] one man, he did not die for his sin.” There are at least two possible ways to explain this statement: (1) One might interpret the statement to mean that Achan was not the only person who died for his sin. In this case it could be translated, “and he was not the only one to die because of his sin.” (2) Another option, the one reflected in the translation, is to take the words וְהוּא אִישׁ אֶחָד (vÿhu’ ’ish ’ekhad, “and he [was] one man”) as a concessive clause and join it with what precedes. The remaining words (לֹא גָוַע בַּעֲוֹנוֹ, lo’ gava’ ba’avono) must then be taken as a rhetorical question (“Did he not die for his sin?”). Taking the last sentence as interrogative is consistent with the first part of the verse, a rhetorical question introduced with the interrogative particle. The present translation has converted these rhetorical questions into affirmative statements to bring out more clearly the points they are emphasizing. For further discussion, see T. C. Butler, Joshua (WBC), 240.
21 The Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered the leaders#tn Heb “answered and spoke to the heads of.” of the Israelite clans: 22 “El, God, the Lord!#sn Israel’s God is here identified with three names: (1) אֵל (’el), “El” (or “God”); (2) אֱלֹהִים (’elohim), “Elohim” (or “God”), and (3) יְהוָה (yÿhvah), “Yahweh” (or “the Lord”). The name אֵל (’el, “El”) is often compounded with titles, for example, El Elyon, “God Most High.” El, God, the Lord! He knows the truth!#tn Heb “he knows.” Israel must also know! If we have rebelled or disobeyed the Lord,#tn Heb “if in rebellion or if in unfaithfulness against the Lord.” don’t spare us#tn Heb “do not save us.” The verb form is singular, being addressed to either collective Israel or the Lord himself. The LXX translates in the third person. today! 23 If we have built#tn Heb “by building.” The prepositional phrase may be subordinated to what precedes, “if in unfaithfulness…by building.” an altar for ourselves to turn back from following the Lord by making#tn Heb “or if to offer up.” burnt sacrifices and grain offerings on it, or by offering#tn Heb “or if to make.” tokens of peace#tn Or “peace offerings.” on it, the Lord himself will punish us.#tn Heb “the Lord, he will seek.” Perhaps this is a self-imprecation in an oath, “may the Lord himself punish us.” 24 We swear we have done this because we were worried that#tn Heb “Surely, from worry concerning a matter we have done this, saying.” in the future your descendants would say to our descendants, ‘What relationship do you have with the Lord God of Israel?#tn Heb “What is there to you and to the Lord God of Israel?” The rhetorical question is sarcastic in tone and anticipates a response, “Absolutely none!” 25 The Lord made the Jordan a boundary between us and you Reubenites and Gadites. You have no right to worship the Lord.’#tn Heb “You have no portion in the Lord.” In this way your descendants might cause our descendants to stop obeying#tn Heb “fearing.” the Lord. 26 So we decided to build this altar, not for burnt offerings and sacrifices, 27 but as a reminder to us and you,#tn Heb “but it is a witness between us and you.” and to our descendants who follow us, that we will honor the Lord in his very presence#tn Heb “to do the service of the Lord before him.” with burnt offerings, sacrifices, and tokens of peace.#tn Or “peace offerings.” Then in the future your descendants will not be able to say to our descendants, ‘You have no right to worship the Lord.’#tn Heb “You have no portion in the Lord.” 28 We said, ‘If in the future they say such a thing#tn The words “such a thing” are supplied in the translation for clarification. to us or to our descendants, we will reply, “See the model of the Lord’s altar that our ancestors#tn Heb “fathers.” made, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices, but as a reminder to us and you.”’#tn Heb “but it is a witness between us and you.” 29 Far be it from us to rebel against the Lord by turning back today from following after the Lord by building an altar for burnt offerings, sacrifices, and tokens of peace#tn Or “peace offerings.” aside from the altar of the Lord our God located in front of his dwelling place!”#sn The Lord’s dwelling place here refers to the tabernacle.
30 When Phinehas the priest and the community leaders and clan leaders who accompanied him heard the defense of the Reubenites, Gadites, and the Manassehites,#tn Heb “the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and the sons of Manasseh.” they were satisfied.#tn Heb “it was good in their eyes.” 31 Phinehas, son of Eleazar, the priest, said to the Reubenites, Gadites, and the Manassehites,#tn Heb “the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and the sons of Manasseh.” “Today we know that the Lord is among us, because you have not disobeyed the Lord in this.#tn Heb “because you were not unfaithful with this unfaithfulness against the Lord.” Now#tn On the use of אָז in a logical sense, see Waltke-O’Connor, Hebrew Syntax, 667. you have rescued the Israelites from the Lord’s judgment.”#tn Heb “the hand (i.e., power) of the Lord.”
32 Phinehas, son of Eleazar, the priest, and the leaders left the Reubenites and Gadites in the land of Gilead and reported back to the Israelites in the land of Canaan.#tn Heb “and Phinehas…returned from the sons of Reuben and from the sons of Gad, from the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the sons of Israel. And they brought back to them a word.” 33 The Israelites were satisfied with their report and gave thanks to God.#tn Heb “and the word was good in the eyes of the sons of Israel and the sons of Israel blessed God.” They said nothing more about launching an attack to destroy the land in which the Reubenites and Gadites lived.#tn Heb “and they did not speak about going up against them for battle to destroy the land in which the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad were living.” 34 The Reubenites and Gadites named the altar, “Surely it is a Reminder to us#tn Heb “a witness between us.” that the Lord is God.”
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Joshua 22: NET
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Joshua 22
22
The Eastern Tribes Return
1Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, 2and he said to them, “You have observed all that Moses Yahweh’s servant commanded you, and you have listened#Or “you have obeyed” to my voice in all that I have commanded you; 3you have not forsaken your kinsmen#Or “brothers” these many days, up to this day, and you have observed the obligation of the command of Yahweh your God. 4So then, Yahweh your God has given rest to your kinsmen,#Or “brothers” just as he promised them; so then, turn and go to your tents to the land of your possession, which Moses Yahweh’s servant gave to you beyond the Jordan. 5Only be very careful to observe the commandment and law that Moses Yahweh’s servant commanded you, to love Yahweh your God, to walk in all his ways, to keep his commandments, to hold fast to him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”#Or “inner self” 6And Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents. 7And to the half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given a possession in Bashan, but to the other half Joshua had given a possession with their kinsmen#Or “brothers” beyond the Jordan to the west; and when Joshua sent them to their tents and blessed them, 8he said to them, “Return to your tents with much wealth, and with very much livestock, with silver, gold, copper, iron, and with very much clothing; divide the war-booty of your enemies with your kinsmen.”#Or “brothers” 9So the descendants#Or “sons” of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned home and departed with the Israelites#Literally “sons/children of Israel” at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead to the land of their possession, which they had acquired according to the command of Yahweh#Literally “on the mouth of Yahweh” through the hand of Moses.
10And they came to the region of the Jordan that is in the land of Canaan, and the descendants#Or “sons” of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an altar on the Jordan, a large and imposing altar.#Literally “a large altar to appearance” 11And the Israelites#Literally “sons/children of Israel” heard it said that the descendants#Or “sons” of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had built an altar next to the land of Canaan, in the region of the Jordan, on the side belonging to the Israelites.#Literally “sons/children of Israel” 12When the Israelites#Literally “sons/children of Israel” heard of it, the whole congregation of the Israelites#Literally “sons/children of Israel” gathered at Shiloh to go up against them for battle. 13And the Israelites#Literally “sons/children of Israel” sent to the descendants#Or “sons” of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, Phinehas the priest son of Eleazar, 14and ten leaders with him, one leader for each#Literally “one leader, one leader” family#Literally “of the house of father” from each of the tribes of Israel; and each one was the head of his family#Literally “house of their fathers” among the clans of Israel.#Or “thousands of Israel” 15They came to the descendants#Or “sons” of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them, saying, 16“Thus says all the congregation of Yahweh: ‘What is this treachery that you have committed against the God of Israel by turning away today from following Yahweh, by building for yourselves an altar to rebel today against Yahweh? 17Is not the sin of Peor enough for us,#Literally “too little for us” from which we have not cleansed ourselves today, and for which a plague came to the congregation of Yahweh, 18that you must turn today from following Yahweh? If you rebel today against Yahweh, tomorrow he will be angry with all of the congregation of Israel; 19if, however, the land of your property is unclean, cross over to the land of Yahweh’s property, where Yahweh’s tabernacle resides,#Or “stands” and take possession among us. But you must not rebel against Yahweh or against us by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of Yahweh our God. 20Did not Achan son of Zerah commit treachery with devoted things,#Or “consecrated possession” and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? And he alone#Literally “And he is one man that” did not perish because of his iniquity.’ ”
21And the descendants#Or “sons” of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh spoke with the heads of the clans#Or “thousands” of Israel, 22“Yahweh, God of gods! Yahweh, God of gods knows. And let Israel itself know, if it was in rebellion or treachery against Yahweh, do not spare us this day 23for building for ourselves an altar to turn away from Yahweh, or if it was to offer burnt offerings,#Hebrew “offering” grain offerings,#Hebrew “offering” or fellowship offerings on it, may Yahweh himself take vengeance. 24But in fact, we have done this because of anxiety, because of a reason, saying, ‘In the future your children may say to our children, ‘What is the relationship between you and Yahweh the God of Israel?#Literally “What is to you and to Yahweh the God of Israel” 25Yahweh has made the Jordan a border between us and you, the descendants#Or “sons” of Reuben and Gad; you have no portion in Yahweh.’ So your children may put an end to our children worshiping#Or “seeing” Yahweh. 26So we said, ‘Let us build immediately for ourselves an altar, not for burnt offerings#Hebrew “offering” or for sacrifices;#Hebrew “sacrifice” 27instead, it is a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us for performing the serving of Yahweh in his presence with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and fellowship offerings; so that your children may not say in the future to our children, “You have no portion in Yahweh.” ’ 28And we thought, if they say to us and to our children in the future, we can say, ‘Look at this replica of the altar of Yahweh, which our ancestors#Or “fathers” made, not for burnt offerings#Hebrew “offering” or sacrifices;#Hebrew “sacrifice” rather, it is a witness between us and you.’ 29Far be it from us to rebel against Yahweh, to turn today from following Yahweh, to build an altar for burnt offerings,#Hebrew “offering” grain offerings,#Hebrew “offering” or sacrifices,#Hebrew “sacrifice” instead of the altar of Yahweh our God that is before his tabernacle.”
30Phinehas the priest, the leaders of the congregation, and the heads of the clans#Or “thousands” of Israel who were with him heard the words that the descendants#Or “sons” of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh spoke, and they were satisfied.#Literally “it was good in their eyes” 31Phinehas the priest, son of Eleazar, said to the descendants#Or “sons” of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, “Today we know that Yahweh is among us, because you have not committed this treachery against Yahweh. Therefore you have rescued the Israelites#Literally “sons/children of Israel” from the hand of Yahweh.”
32And Phinehas the priest, son of Eleazar, and the leaders returned from the descendants#Or “sons” of Reuben and Gad, from the land of Gilead, to the land of Canaan to the Israelites,#Literally “sons/children of Israel” and they gave them their report.#Literally “they brought back a word to them” 33The report satisfied the Israelites;#Literally “The report was good in the eyes of the children of Israel” they blessed God, and they did not speak of going up for battle against them to destroy the land in which the descendants#Or “sons” of Reuben and Gad were living.#Or “dwelling” 34The descendants#Or “sons” of Reuben and Gad called the altar Witness, “Because,” they said, “it is a witness between us that Yahweh is God.”
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