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約書亞記 22
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Traditional)

建祭壇之爭

22 約書亞召來了呂便、迦得和瑪拿西半個支派的人來， 2 對他們說：「你們都遵守了耶和華的僕人摩西的一切吩咐，也遵守了我的一切吩咐。 3 這些日子以來，你們從沒有離棄自己的弟兄，遵守了你們的上帝耶和華的吩咐。 4 現在你們的上帝耶和華已經照祂的應許使你們的弟兄安居，你們可以回到約旦河東，到摩西賜給你們作產業的地方。 5 不過，你們要謹遵耶和華的僕人摩西吩咐你們的誡命和律法，要愛你們的上帝耶和華，遵行祂的旨意，聽從祂的命令，忠於祂，全心全意地事奉祂。」

6 於是，約書亞為他們祝福，送他們回去，他們就各自返回家園去了。

7 摩西已經在巴珊把土地分給了瑪拿西半個支派，約書亞把約旦河西的土地分給了瑪拿西另外的半個支派及其他支派。約書亞派他們回家的時候，為他們祝福， 8 說：「現在你們帶著大量的財物、牲畜、金銀、銅、鐵和衣物返回家園，要把從敵人那裡得來的財物分給你們的弟兄。」 9 於是，呂便、迦得和瑪拿西半個支派的人便離開在迦南的示羅的以色列人，返回耶和華藉摩西分配給他們的基列。

10 他們來到約旦河附近的迦南境內，就在約旦河邊築了一座高大的祭壇。 11 以色列人聽見呂便、迦得和瑪拿西半個支派的人在約旦河西的迦南境內築起了一座祭壇， 12 便全部聚集在示羅，要討伐他們。

13 以色列人派祭司以利亞撒的兒子非尼哈去基列見他們， 14 又從每支派差遣一位族長，共十位隨行。 15 他們來到基列的呂便、迦得和瑪拿西半個支派的人那裡，對他們說： 16 「耶和華的全體會眾問你們，你們怎能這樣背叛以色列的上帝，離棄耶和華，為自己另建祭壇呢？ 17 從前拜毗珥的罪惡不夠大嗎？那一次，瘟疫降到耶和華的會眾身上，直到今日我們還沒有洗淨這罪。 18 你們今日要離棄耶和華嗎？今日你們背叛耶和華，明日祂必向以色列全體會眾發怒。 19 如果你們認為自己的土地不潔淨，可以搬到耶和華的土地跟我們一起居住，這裡有耶和華的聖幕。只是不可在耶和華的祭壇以外，自己另築祭壇，以致背叛耶和華，連累我們。 20 從前謝拉的曾孫亞干私自留下那些耶和華吩咐要毀滅的東西，以致耶和華的烈怒臨到以色列全體會眾，因他的罪而死的不只他一個人！」

21 呂便、迦得和瑪拿西半個支派的人便回答這些以色列的族長說： 22 「大能的上帝耶和華，大能的上帝耶和華，祂知道一切！以色列人也當知道！如果我們做了違背或干犯耶和華的事，願祂今天就不放過我們！ 23 如果我們離棄耶和華，為自己造祭壇，或是在壇上獻燔祭、素祭和平安祭，願耶和華親自懲罰我們。 24 我們這樣做是怕以後你們的子孫可能會對我們的子孫說，『你們和以色列的上帝耶和華有什麼關係？ 25 耶和華把約旦河定為我們跟你們呂便和迦得人的邊界，你們與耶和華一點關係也沒有。』這樣，恐怕你們的子孫會使我們的子孫不再敬畏耶和華。 26 因此，我們便商議在這裡築一座祭壇，這壇不是用來獻燔祭或別的祭， 27 只是在你們和我們之間，也在彼此的後人之間立個證據，證明我們也獻燔祭、平安祭及其他祭事奉耶和華，免得日後你們的子孫對我們的子孫說，『你們與耶和華一點關係也沒有。』 28 萬一你們對我們或我們的子孫這樣說，我們可以回答說，『你們看我們祖先築的這座祭壇跟耶和華的祭壇一模一樣，只是這座壇不是用來獻燔祭或別的祭，而是作為你們和我們之間的證據！』 29 我們根本無意背叛、離棄我們的上帝耶和華，在祂聖幕前的祭壇以外另築祭壇來獻燔祭、素祭和別的祭。」

30 祭司非尼哈和以色列會眾的族長聽了他們的解釋，都很滿意。 31 以利亞撒的兒子祭司非尼哈對他們說：「今日我們知道耶和華在我們當中，因為你們沒有對耶和華不忠，現在你們使以色列人免遭耶和華的懲罰了。」

32 以利亞撒的兒子非尼哈祭司和眾族長便離開呂便人和迦得人，從基列回到迦南向以色列人報告這事。 33 大家聽後，都很滿意，便頌讚耶和華，打消了出兵討伐呂便人和迦得人、毀滅他們家園的念頭。

34 呂便和迦得人給那座祭壇取名叫「證壇」，意思是這壇在我們中間證明耶和華是上帝。

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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

  1. 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.”
  2. 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.
  3. Joshua 22:3 tn Heb “these many days.”
  4. Joshua 22:3 tn Heb “you have kept the charge of the command of the Lord your God.”
  5. Joshua 22:4 tn Heb “has given rest to your brothers.”
  6. Joshua 22:4 tn Heb “tents.”
  7. Joshua 22:4 tn Heb “the land of your possession.”
  8. 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.”
  9. Joshua 22:5 tn Heb “walk in all his paths.”
  10. Joshua 22:5 tn Or “keep.”
  11. Joshua 22:5 tn Heb “hug him.”
  12. Joshua 22:5 tn Or “soul.”
  13. Joshua 22:6 tn Heb “blessed.” However, see v. 8, where rewards are given.
  14. Joshua 22:6 tn Heb “and they went to their tents.”
  15. Joshua 22:7 tn Heb “to their tents.”
  16. Joshua 22:7 tn Heb “blessed.”
  17. Joshua 22:8 tn Heb “return to your tents with.”
  18. Joshua 22:8 tn Heb “very many cattle.”
  19. Joshua 22:8 tn Heb “very much clothing.”
  20. 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.”
  21. 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.”
  22. Joshua 22:11 tn Heb “the sons of Israel heard, saying.”
  23. Joshua 22:11 tn Heb “toward the front of.”
  24. Joshua 22:12 tn Heb “to go up against them for battle.”
  25. 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.”
  26. 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?”
  27. 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.”
  28. Joshua 22:18 tn Heb “you are turning back.”
  29. Joshua 22:18 tn Or “he will be angry with.”
  30. Joshua 22:19 tn Heb “the land of your possession.”
  31. 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).
  32. Joshua 22:19 tn Heb “the land of the possession of the Lord.”
  33. 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.
  34. Joshua 22:19 tn Heb “and take for yourselves in our midst.”
  35. 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”).
  36. 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?”
  37. 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.
  38. Joshua 22:21 tn Heb “answered and spoke to the heads of.”
  39. 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.”
  40. Joshua 22:22 tn Heb “he knows.”
  41. Joshua 22:22 tn Heb “if in rebellion or if in unfaithfulness against the Lord.”
  42. 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.
  43. Joshua 22:23 tn Heb “by building.” The prepositional phrase may be subordinated to what precedes, “if in unfaithfulness…by building.”
  44. Joshua 22:23 tn Heb “or if to offer up.”
  45. Joshua 22:23 tn Heb “or if to make.”
  46. Joshua 22:23 tn Or “peace offerings.”
  47. 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.”
  48. Joshua 22:24 tn Heb “Surely, from worry concerning a matter we have done this, saying.”
  49. 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!”
  50. Joshua 22:25 tn Heb “You have no portion in the Lord.”
  51. Joshua 22:25 tn Heb “fearing.”
  52. Joshua 22:27 tn Heb “but it is a witness between us and you.”
  53. Joshua 22:27 tn Heb “to do the service of the Lord before him.”
  54. Joshua 22:27 tn Or “peace offerings.”
  55. Joshua 22:27 tn Heb “You have no portion in the Lord.”
  56. Joshua 22:28 tn The words “such a thing” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
  57. Joshua 22:28 tn Heb “fathers.”
  58. Joshua 22:28 tn Heb “but it is a witness between us and you.”
  59. Joshua 22:29 tn Or “peace offerings.”
  60. Joshua 22:29 sn The Lord’s dwelling place here refers to the tabernacle.
  61. Joshua 22:30 tn Heb “the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and the sons of Manasseh.”
  62. Joshua 22:30 tn Heb “it was good in their eyes.”
  63. Joshua 22:31 tn Heb “the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and the sons of Manasseh.”
  64. Joshua 22:31 tn Heb “because you were not unfaithful with this unfaithfulness against the Lord.”
  65. Joshua 22:31 tn On the use of אָז (ʾaz) in a logical sense, see IBHS 667 §39.3.4f.
  66. Joshua 22:31 tn Heb “the hand (i.e., power) of the Lord.”
  67. 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.”
  68. 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.”
  69. 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.”
  70. Joshua 22:34 tn Heb “a witness between us.”
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