约书亚记 22
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Simplified)
建祭坛之争
22 约书亚召来了吕便、迦得和玛拿西半个支派的人来， 2 对他们说：“你们都遵守了耶和华的仆人摩西的一切吩咐，也遵守了我的一切吩咐。 3 这些日子以来，你们从没有离弃自己的弟兄，遵守了你们的上帝耶和华的吩咐。 4 现在你们的上帝耶和华已经照祂的应许使你们的弟兄安居，你们可以回到约旦河东，到摩西赐给你们作产业的地方。 5 不过，你们要谨遵耶和华的仆人摩西吩咐你们的诫命和律法，要爱你们的上帝耶和华，遵行祂的旨意，听从祂的命令，忠于祂，全心全意地事奉祂。”
6 于是，约书亚为他们祝福，送他们回去，他们就各自返回家园去了。
7 摩西已经在巴珊把土地分给了玛拿西半个支派，约书亚把约旦河西的土地分给了玛拿西另外的半个支派及其他支派。约书亚派他们回家的时候，为他们祝福， 8 说：“现在你们带着大量的财物、牲畜、金银、铜、铁和衣物返回家园，要把从敌人那里得来的财物分给你们的弟兄。” 9 于是，吕便、迦得和玛拿西半个支派的人便离开在迦南的示罗的以色列人，返回耶和华借摩西分配给他们的基列。
10 他们来到约旦河附近的迦南境内，就在约旦河边筑了一座高大的祭坛。 11 以色列人听见吕便、迦得和玛拿西半个支派的人在约旦河西的迦南境内筑起了一座祭坛， 12 便全部聚集在示罗，要讨伐他们。
13 以色列人派祭司以利亚撒的儿子非尼哈去基列见他们， 14 又从每支派差遣一位族长，共十位随行。 15 他们来到基列的吕便、迦得和玛拿西半个支派的人那里，对他们说： 16 “耶和华的全体会众问你们，你们怎能这样背叛以色列的上帝，离弃耶和华，为自己另建祭坛呢？ 17 从前拜毗珥的罪恶不够大吗？那一次，瘟疫降到耶和华的会众身上，直到今日我们还没有洗净这罪。 18 你们今日要离弃耶和华吗？今日你们背叛耶和华，明日祂必向以色列全体会众发怒。 19 如果你们认为自己的土地不洁净，可以搬到耶和华的土地跟我们一起居住，这里有耶和华的圣幕。只是不可在耶和华的祭坛以外，自己另筑祭坛，以致背叛耶和华，连累我们。 20 从前谢拉的曾孙亚干私自留下那些耶和华吩咐要毁灭的东西，以致耶和华的烈怒临到以色列全体会众，因他的罪而死的不只他一个人！”
21 吕便、迦得和玛拿西半个支派的人便回答这些以色列的族长说： 22 “大能的上帝耶和华，大能的上帝耶和华，祂知道一切！以色列人也当知道！如果我们做了违背或干犯耶和华的事，愿祂今天就不放过我们！ 23 如果我们离弃耶和华，为自己造祭坛，或是在坛上献燔祭、素祭和平安祭，愿耶和华亲自惩罚我们。 24 我们这样做是怕以后你们的子孙可能会对我们的子孙说，‘你们和以色列的上帝耶和华有什么关系？ 25 耶和华把约旦河定为我们跟你们吕便和迦得人的边界，你们与耶和华一点关系也没有。’这样，恐怕你们的子孙会使我们的子孙不再敬畏耶和华。 26 因此，我们便商议在这里筑一座祭坛，这坛不是用来献燔祭或别的祭， 27 只是在你们和我们之间，也在彼此的后人之间立个证据，证明我们也献燔祭、平安祭及其他祭事奉耶和华，免得日后你们的子孙对我们的子孙说，‘你们与耶和华一点关系也没有。’ 28 万一你们对我们或我们的子孙这样说，我们可以回答说，‘你们看我们祖先筑的这座祭坛跟耶和华的祭坛一模一样，只是这座坛不是用来献燔祭或别的祭，而是作为你们和我们之间的证据！’ 29 我们根本无意背叛、离弃我们的上帝耶和华，在祂圣幕前的祭坛以外另筑祭坛来献燔祭、素祭和别的祭。”
30 祭司非尼哈和以色列会众的族长听了他们的解释，都很满意。 31 以利亚撒的儿子祭司非尼哈对他们说：“今日我们知道耶和华在我们当中，因为你们没有对耶和华不忠，现在你们使以色列人免遭耶和华的惩罚了。”
32 以利亚撒的儿子非尼哈祭司和众族长便离开吕便人和迦得人，从基列回到迦南向以色列人报告这事。 33 大家听后，都很满意，便颂赞耶和华，打消了出兵讨伐吕便人和迦得人、毁灭他们家园的念头。
34 吕便和迦得人给那座祭坛取名叫“证坛”，意思是这坛在我们中间证明耶和华是上帝。
Joshua 22
King James Version
22 Then Joshua called the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh,
2 And said unto them, Ye have kept all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you:
3 Ye have not left your brethren these many days unto this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the Lord your God.
4 And now the Lord your God hath given rest unto your brethren, as he promised them: therefore now return ye, and get you unto your tents, and unto the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on the other side Jordan.
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 unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.
6 So Joshua blessed them, and sent them away: and they went unto their tents.
7 Now to the one half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given possession in Bashan: but unto the other half thereof gave Joshua among their brethren on this side Jordan westward. And when Joshua sent them away also unto their tents, then he blessed them,
8 And he spake unto them, saying, Return with much riches unto your tents, and with very much cattle, with silver, and with gold, and with brass, and with iron, and with very much raiment: divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren.
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 unto the country of Gilead, to the land of their possession, whereof they were possessed, according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.
10 And when they came unto the borders of Jordan, that are 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 to.
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 over against the land of Canaan, in the borders of Jordan, at the passage of the children of Israel.
12 And when the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up to war against them.
13 And the children of Israel sent unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, into 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 was an head of the house of their fathers among the thousands of Israel.
15 And they came unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, unto the land of Gilead, and they spake with them, saying,
16 Thus saith the whole congregation of the Lord, What trespass is this that ye have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the Lord, in that ye have builded you an altar, that ye might rebel this day against the Lord?
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 ye must turn away this day from following the Lord? and it will be, seeing ye rebel to day against the Lord, that to morrow he will be wroth with the whole congregation of Israel.
19 Notwithstanding, if the land of your possession be unclean, then pass ye over unto the land of the possession of the Lord, wherein the Lord's tabernacle dwelleth, and take possession among us: but rebel not against the Lord, nor rebel against us, in building you an altar beside the altar of the Lord our 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 perished not alone in his iniquity.
21 Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh answered, and said unto the heads of the thousands of Israel,
22 The Lord God of gods, the Lord God of gods, he knoweth, and Israel he shall know; if it be in rebellion, or if in transgression against the Lord, (save us not this day,)
23 That we have built us an altar to turn from following the Lord, or if to offer thereon burnt offering or meat offering, or if to offer peace offerings thereon, let the Lord himself require it;
24 And if we have not rather done it for fear of this thing, saying, In time to come your children might speak unto our children, saying, What have ye to do with the Lord God of Israel?
25 For the Lord hath made Jordan a border between us and you, ye children of Reuben and children of Gad; ye have no part in the Lord: so shall your children make our children cease from fearing the Lord.
26 Therefore we said, Let us now prepare to build us an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice:
27 But that it may be a witness between us, and you, and our generations 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, Ye have no part in the Lord.
28 Therefore said we, that it shall be, when they should so say to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say again, Behold the pattern of the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness between us and you.
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, beside the altar of the Lord our God that is before his tabernacle.
30 And when Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the congregation and heads of the thousands of Israel which were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh spake, it pleased them.
31 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said unto 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 ye have not committed this trespass against the Lord: now ye have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand 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, unto the land of Canaan, to the children of Israel, and brought them word again.
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 wherein the children of Reuben and Gad dwelt.
34 And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad called the altar Ed: for it shall be a witness between us that the Lord is God.
Joshua 22
New English Translation
Joshua Sends Home the Eastern Tribes
22 Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites, the 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.[a] 3 You have not abandoned your fellow Israelites[b] this entire time,[c] right up to this very day. You have completed the task given you by the Lord your God.[d] 4 Now the Lord your God has made your fellow Israelites secure,[e] just as he promised them. So now you may turn around and go to your homes[f] in your own land[g] that 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[h] the Lord your God, follow all his instructions,[i] obey[j] his commands, be loyal to him,[k] and serve him with all your heart and being!”[l]
6 Joshua rewarded[m] them and sent them on their way; they returned to their homes.[n] 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,[o] he rewarded[p] them, 8 saying, “Take home[q] great wealth, a lot of cattle,[r] silver, gold, bronze, iron, and a lot of[s] clothing. Divide up the goods captured from your enemies with your brothers.” 9 So the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh left the Israelites in Shiloh in the land of Canaan and headed home to their own land in Gilead,[t] which they acquired by the Lord’s command through Moses.
Civil War is Averted
10 The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh came to Geliloth near the Jordan in the land of Canaan and built there, near the Jordan, an impressive altar.[u] 11 The Israelites received this report:[v] “Look, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built an altar at the entrance to[w] 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.[x]
13 The Israelites sent Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, to the land of Gilead to the Reubenites, the 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.[y] 15 They went to the land of Gilead to the Reubenites, the 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.[z] 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.[aa] 18 Now today you dare to turn back[ab] from following the Lord! You are rebelling today against the Lord; tomorrow he may break out in anger against[ac] the entire community of Israel. 19 But if your own land[ad] is impure,[ae] cross over to the Lord’s own land,[af] where the Lord himself lives,[ag] and settle down among us.[ah] But don’t rebel against the Lord or us[ai] by building for yourselves an altar other than 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,[aj] though only one man had sinned. He most certainly died for his sin!’”[ak]
21 The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered the leaders[al] of the Israelite clans: 22 “El, God, the Lord![am] El, God, the Lord! He knows the truth![an] Israel must also know! If we have rebelled or disobeyed the Lord,[ao] don’t spare us[ap] today! 23 If we have built[aq] an altar for ourselves to turn back from following the Lord by making[ar] burnt sacrifices and grain offerings on it, or by offering[as] tokens of peace[at] on it, the Lord himself will punish us.[au] 24 We swear we have done this because we were worried that[av] in the future your descendants would say to our descendants, ‘What relationship do you have with the Lord God of Israel?[aw] 25 The Lord made the Jordan a boundary between us and you Reubenites and Gadites. You have no right to worship the Lord.’[ax] In this way your descendants might cause our descendants to stop obeying[ay] 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[az] and our descendants who follow us, that we will honor the Lord in his very presence[ba] with burnt offerings, sacrifices, and tokens of peace.[bb] Then in the future your descendants will not be able to say to our descendants, ‘You have no right to worship the Lord.’[bc] 28 We said, ‘If in the future they say such a thing[bd] to us or to our descendants, we will reply, “See the model of the Lord’s altar that our ancestors[be] made, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices, but as a reminder to us and you.”’[bf] 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[bg] aside from the altar of the Lord our God located in front of his dwelling place!”[bh]
30 When Phinehas the priest and the community leaders and Israel’s clan leaders who accompanied him heard the defense of the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the Manassehites,[bi] they were satisfied.[bj] 31 Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, said to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the Manassehites,[bk] “Today we know that the Lord is among us, because you have not disobeyed the Lord in this.[bl] Now[bm] you have rescued the Israelites from the Lord’s judgment.”[bn]
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.[bo] 33 The Israelites were satisfied with their report and gave thanks to God.[bp] They said nothing more about launching an attack to destroy the land in which the Reubenites and Gadites lived.[bq] 34 The Reubenites and Gadites named the altar, “Surely it is a Reminder to us[br] that the Lord is God.”
Footnotes
- Joshua 22:2 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.”
- Joshua 22:3 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.
- Joshua 22:3 tn Heb “these many days.”
- Joshua 22:3 tn Heb “you have kept the charge of the command of the Lord your God.”
- Joshua 22:4 tn Heb “has given rest to your brothers.”
- Joshua 22:4 tn Heb “tents.”
- Joshua 22:4 tn Heb “the land of your possession.”
- Joshua 22:5 tn Heb “But be very careful to do the commandment and the law which Moses, the Lord’s servant, commanded you, to love.”
- Joshua 22:5 tn Heb “walk in all his paths.”
- Joshua 22:5 tn Or “keep.”
- Joshua 22:5 tn Heb “hug him.”
- Joshua 22:5 tn Or “soul.”
- Joshua 22:6 tn Heb “blessed.” However, see v. 8, where rewards are given.
- Joshua 22:6 tn Heb “and they went to their tents.”
- Joshua 22:7 tn Heb “to their tents.”
- Joshua 22:7 tn Heb “blessed.”
- Joshua 22:8 tn Heb “return to your tents with.”
- Joshua 22:8 tn Heb “very many cattle.”
- Joshua 22:8 tn Heb “very much clothing.”
- Joshua 22:9 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.”
- Joshua 22:10 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.”
- Joshua 22:11 tn Heb “the sons of Israel heard, saying.”
- Joshua 22:11 tn Heb “toward the front of.”
- Joshua 22:12 tn Heb “to go up against them for battle.”
- Joshua 22:14 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.”
- Joshua 22:16 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?”
- Joshua 22:17 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.”
- Joshua 22:18 tn Heb “you are turning back.”
- Joshua 22:18 tn Or “he will be angry with.”
- Joshua 22:19 tn Heb “the land of your possession.”
- Joshua 22:19 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).
- Joshua 22:19 tn Heb “the land of the possession of the Lord.”
- Joshua 22:19 tn Heb “where the dwelling place of the Lord resides.”sn The phrase where the Lord himself lives refers to the tabernacle.
- Joshua 22:19 tn Heb “and take for yourselves in our midst.”
- Joshua 22:19 tc Heb “and us to you rebel.” The reading of the MT, the accusative sign with suffix (וְאֹתָנוּ, veʾotanu), is problematic with the verb “rebel” (מָרַד, marad). Many Hebrew mss correctly read the negative particle אַל (ʾal) for the preposition אֶל (ʾel, “to”).
- Joshua 22:20 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?”
- Joshua 22:20 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 (vehuʾ ʾish ʾekhad, “and he [was] one man”) as a concessive clause and join it with what precedes. The remaining words (לֹא גָוַע בַּעֲוֹנוֹ, loʾ gavaʿ baʿavono) 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.
- Joshua 22:21 tn Heb “answered and spoke to the heads of.”
- Joshua 22:22 sn Israel’s God is here identified with three names: (1) אֵל (ʾel), “El” (or “God”); (2) אֱלֹהִים (ʾelohim), “Elohim” (or “God”), and (3) יְהוָה (yehvah), “Yahweh” (or “the Lord”). The name אֵל (ʾel, “El”) is often compounded with titles, for example, El Elyon, “God Most High.”
- Joshua 22:22 tn Heb “he knows.”
- Joshua 22:22 tn Heb “if in rebellion or if in unfaithfulness against the Lord.”
- Joshua 22:22 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.
- Joshua 22:23 tn Heb “by building.” The prepositional phrase may be subordinated to what precedes, “if in unfaithfulness…by building.”
- Joshua 22:23 tn Heb “or if to offer up.”
- Joshua 22:23 tn Heb “or if to make.”
- Joshua 22:23 tn Or “peace offerings.”
- Joshua 22:23 tn Heb “the Lord, he will seek.” Perhaps this is a self-imprecation in an oath, “may the Lord himself punish us.”
- Joshua 22:24 tn Heb “Surely, from worry concerning a matter we have done this, saying.”
- Joshua 22:24 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!”
- Joshua 22:25 tn Heb “You have no portion in the Lord.”
- Joshua 22:25 tn Heb “fearing.”
- Joshua 22:27 tn Heb “but it is a witness between us and you.”
- Joshua 22:27 tn Heb “to do the service of the Lord before him.”
- Joshua 22:27 tn Or “peace offerings.”
- Joshua 22:27 tn Heb “You have no portion in the Lord.”
- Joshua 22:28 tn The words “such a thing” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
- Joshua 22:28 tn Heb “fathers.”
- Joshua 22:28 tn Heb “but it is a witness between us and you.”
- Joshua 22:29 tn Or “peace offerings.”
- Joshua 22:29 sn The Lord’s dwelling place here refers to the tabernacle.
- Joshua 22:30 tn Heb “the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and the sons of Manasseh.”
- Joshua 22:30 tn Heb “it was good in their eyes.”
- Joshua 22:31 tn Heb “the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and the sons of Manasseh.”
- Joshua 22:31 tn Heb “because you were not unfaithful with this unfaithfulness against the Lord.”
- Joshua 22:31 tn On the use of אָז (ʾaz) in a logical sense, see IBHS 667 §39.3.4f.
- Joshua 22:31 tn Heb “the hand (i.e., power) of the Lord.”
- Joshua 22:32 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.”
- Joshua 22:33 tn Heb “and the word was good in the eyes of the sons of Israel and the sons of Israel blessed God.”
- Joshua 22:33 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.”
- Joshua 22:34 tn Heb “a witness between us.”
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