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Joshua 22:10-34
New English Translation

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.[a] 11 The Israelites received this report:[b] “Look, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built an altar at the entrance to[c] 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.[d]

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.[e] 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.[f] 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.[g] 18 Now today you dare to turn back[h] from following the Lord! You are rebelling today against the Lord; tomorrow he may break out in anger against[i] the entire community of Israel. 19 But if your own land[j] is impure,[k] cross over to the Lord’s own land,[l] where the Lord himself lives,[m] and settle down among us.[n] But don’t rebel against the Lord or us[o] 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,[p] though only one man had sinned. He most certainly died for his sin!’”[q]

21 The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered the leaders[r] of the Israelite clans: 22 “El, God, the Lord![s] El, God, the Lord! He knows the truth![t] Israel must also know! If we have rebelled or disobeyed the Lord,[u] don’t spare us[v] today! 23 If we have built[w] an altar for ourselves to turn back from following the Lord by making[x] burnt sacrifices and grain offerings on it, or by offering[y] tokens of peace[z] on it, the Lord himself will punish us.[aa] 24 We swear we have done this because we were worried that[ab] in the future your descendants would say to our descendants, ‘What relationship do you have with the Lord God of Israel?[ac] 25 The Lord made the Jordan a boundary between us and you Reubenites and Gadites. You have no right to worship the Lord.’[ad] In this way your descendants might cause our descendants to stop obeying[ae] 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[af] and our descendants who follow us, that we will honor the Lord in his very presence[ag] with burnt offerings, sacrifices, and tokens of peace.[ah] Then in the future your descendants will not be able to say to our descendants, ‘You have no right to worship the Lord.’[ai] 28 We said, ‘If in the future they say such a thing[aj] to us or to our descendants, we will reply, “See the model of the Lord’s altar that our ancestors[ak] made, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices, but as a reminder to us and you.”’[al] 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[am] aside from the altar of the Lord our God located in front of his dwelling place!”[an]

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,[ao] they were satisfied.[ap] 31 Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, said to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the Manassehites,[aq] “Today we know that the Lord is among us, because you have not disobeyed the Lord in this.[ar] Now[as] you have rescued the Israelites from the Lord’s judgment.”[at]

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.[au] 33 The Israelites were satisfied with their report and gave thanks to God.[av] They said nothing more about launching an attack to destroy the land in which the Reubenites and Gadites lived.[aw] 34 The Reubenites and Gadites named the altar, “Surely it is a Reminder to us[ax] that the Lord is God.”

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Footnotes

  1. 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.”
  2. Joshua 22:11 tn Heb “the sons of Israel heard, saying.”
  3. Joshua 22:11 tn Heb “toward the front of.”
  4. Joshua 22:12 tn Heb “to go up against them for battle.”
  5. 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.”
  6. 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?”
  7. 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.”
  8. Joshua 22:18 tn Heb “you are turning back.”
  9. Joshua 22:18 tn Or “he will be angry with.”
  10. Joshua 22:19 tn Heb “the land of your possession.”
  11. 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).
  12. Joshua 22:19 tn Heb “the land of the possession of the Lord.”
  13. 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.
  14. Joshua 22:19 tn Heb “and take for yourselves in our midst.”
  15. 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”).
  16. 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?”
  17. 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.
  18. Joshua 22:21 tn Heb “answered and spoke to the heads of.”
  19. 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.”
  20. Joshua 22:22 tn Heb “he knows.”
  21. Joshua 22:22 tn Heb “if in rebellion or if in unfaithfulness against the Lord.”
  22. 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.
  23. Joshua 22:23 tn Heb “by building.” The prepositional phrase may be subordinated to what precedes, “if in unfaithfulness…by building.”
  24. Joshua 22:23 tn Heb “or if to offer up.”
  25. Joshua 22:23 tn Heb “or if to make.”
  26. Joshua 22:23 tn Or “peace offerings.”
  27. 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.”
  28. Joshua 22:24 tn Heb “Surely, from worry concerning a matter we have done this, saying.”
  29. 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!”
  30. Joshua 22:25 tn Heb “You have no portion in the Lord.”
  31. Joshua 22:25 tn Heb “fearing.”
  32. Joshua 22:27 tn Heb “but it is a witness between us and you.”
  33. Joshua 22:27 tn Heb “to do the service of the Lord before him.”
  34. Joshua 22:27 tn Or “peace offerings.”
  35. Joshua 22:27 tn Heb “You have no portion in the Lord.”
  36. Joshua 22:28 tn The words “such a thing” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
  37. Joshua 22:28 tn Heb “fathers.”
  38. Joshua 22:28 tn Heb “but it is a witness between us and you.”
  39. Joshua 22:29 tn Or “peace offerings.”
  40. Joshua 22:29 sn The Lord’s dwelling place here refers to the tabernacle.
  41. Joshua 22:30 tn Heb “the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and the sons of Manasseh.”
  42. Joshua 22:30 tn Heb “it was good in their eyes.”
  43. Joshua 22:31 tn Heb “the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and the sons of Manasseh.”
  44. Joshua 22:31 tn Heb “because you were not unfaithful with this unfaithfulness against the Lord.”
  45. Joshua 22:31 tn On the use of אָז (ʾaz) in a logical sense, see IBHS 667 §39.3.4f.
  46. Joshua 22:31 tn Heb “the hand (i.e., power) of the Lord.”
  47. 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.”
  48. 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.”
  49. 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.”
  50. Joshua 22:34 tn Heb “a witness between us.”
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Joshua 22:10-34
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

A Memorial Altar East of the Jordan

10 When they came to the region[a] near the Jordan that lies in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by the Jordan, an altar of great size. 11 The Israelites heard that the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh had built an altar opposite the land of Canaan, in the region[b] near the Jordan, across from the Israelites.(A) 12 And when the people of Israel heard of it, the whole assembly of the Israelites gathered at Shiloh to make war against them.(B)

13 Then the Israelites sent the priest Phinehas son of Eleazar to the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead,(C) 14 and with him ten chiefs, one from each of the tribal families of Israel, every one of them the head of a family among the clans of Israel. 15 They came to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, and they said to them, 16 “Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord: What is this treachery that you have committed against the God of Israel in turning away today from following the Lord, by building yourselves an altar today in rebellion against the Lord?(D) 17 Have we not had enough of the sin at Peor, from which even yet we have not cleansed ourselves and for which a plague came upon the congregation of the Lord,(E) 18 that you must turn away today from following the Lord? If you rebel against the Lord today, he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel tomorrow. 19 But now, if your land is unclean, cross over into the Lord’s land, where the Lord’s tabernacle now stands, and take for yourselves a possession among us; only do not rebel against the Lord or rebel against us[c] by building yourselves an altar other than the altar of the Lord our God.(F) 20 Did not Achan son of Zerah break faith in the matter of the devoted things, and wrath fell upon all the congregation of Israel? And he did not perish alone for his iniquity!”(G)

21 Then the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh said in answer to the heads of the families of Israel, 22 “The Lord, God of gods! The Lord, God of gods! He knows, and let Israel itself know! If it was in rebellion or in breach of faith toward the Lord, do not spare us today(H) 23 for building an altar to turn away from following the Lord, or if we did so to offer burnt offerings or grain offerings or offerings of well-being on it, may the Lord himself take vengeance.(I) 24 No! We did it from fear that in time to come your children might say to our children, ‘What have you to do with the Lord, the God of Israel? 25 For the Lord has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you, you Reubenites and Gadites; you have no portion in the Lord.’ So your children might make our children cease to worship the Lord. 26 Therefore we said, ‘Let us now build an altar, not for burnt offering nor for sacrifice, 27 but to be a witness between us and you and between the generations after us, that we do perform the service of the Lord in his presence with our burnt offerings and sacrifices and offerings of well-being, so that your children may never say to our children in time to come, “You have no portion in the Lord.” ’(J) 28 And we thought, ‘If this should be said to us or to our descendants in time to come, we could say, “Look at this copy of the altar of the Lord that our ancestors made, not for burnt offerings nor for sacrifice, but to be a witness between us and you.” 29 Far be it from us that we should rebel against the Lord and turn away this day from following the Lord by building an altar for burnt offering, grain offering, or sacrifice other than the altar of the Lord our God that stands before his tabernacle!’ ”(K)

30 When the priest Phinehas and the chiefs of the congregation, the heads of the families of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the Reubenites and the Gadites and the Manassites spoke, they were satisfied. 31 The priest Phinehas son of Eleazar said to the Reubenites and the Gadites and the Manassites, “Today we know that the Lord is among us, because you have not committed this treachery against the Lord; now you have saved the Israelites from the hand of the Lord.”(L)

32 Then the priest Phinehas son of Eleazar and the chiefs returned from the Reubenites and the Gadites in the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the Israelites, and brought back word to them. 33 The report pleased the Israelites, and the Israelites blessed God and spoke no more of making war against them, to destroy the land where the Reubenites and the Gadites were settled.(M) 34 The Reubenites and the Gadites called the altar Witness,[d] “for,” they said, “it is a witness between us that the Lord is God.”(N)

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Footnotes

  1. 22.10 Or to Geliloth
  2. 22.11 Or at Geliloth
  3. 22.19 Or make rebels of us
  4. 22.34 Heb mss Syr: MT lacks Witness
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