Joshua 22:22-34

22:22 “El, God, the Lord!¹ El, God, the Lord! He knows the truth!² Israel must also know! If we have rebelled or disobeyed the Lord,³ don’t spare us⁴ today! 22:23 If we have built⁵ an altar for ourselves to turn back from following the Lord by making⁶ burnt sacrifices and grain offerings on it, or by offering⁷ tokens of peace⁸ on it, the Lord himself will punish us.⁹ 22:24 We swear we have done this because we were worried that¹⁰ in the future your descendants would say to our descendants, ‘What relationship do you have with the Lord God of Israel?¹¹ 22:25 The Lord made the Jordan a boundary between us and you Reubenites and Gadites. You have no right to worship the Lord.’¹² In this way your descendants might cause our descendants to stop obeying¹³ the Lord. 22:26 So we decided to build this altar, not for burnt offerings and sacrifices, 22:27 but as a reminder to us and you,¹⁴ and to our descendants who follow us, that we will honor the Lord in his very presence¹⁵ with burnt offerings, sacrifices, and tokens of peace.¹⁶ Then in the future your descendants will not be able to say to our descendants, ‘You have no right to worship the Lord.’¹⁷ 22:28 We said, ‘If in the future they say such a thing¹⁸ to us or to our descendants, we will reply, “See the model of the Lord’s altar that our ancestors¹⁹ made, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices, but as a reminder to us and you.”’²⁰ 22:29 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 peace²¹ aside from the altar of the Lord our God located in front of his dwelling place!”²²

22:30 When Phinehas the priest and the community leaders and clan leaders who accompanied him heard the defense of the Reubenites, Gadites, and the Manassehites,²³ they were satisfied.²⁴ 22:31 Phinehas, son of Eleazar, the priest, said to the Reubenites, Gadites, and the Manassehites,²⁵ “Today we know that the Lord is among us, because you have not disobeyed the Lord in this.²⁶ Now²⁷ you have rescued the Israelites from the Lord’s judgment.”²⁸

22:32 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.²⁹ 22:33 The Israelites were satisfied with their report and gave thanks to God.³⁰ They said nothing more about launching an attack to destroy the land in which the Reubenites and Gadites lived.³¹ 22:34 The Reubenites and Gadites named the altar, “Surely it is a Reminder to us³² that the Lord is God.”

¹sn 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.”

²tn Heb “he knows.”

³tn Heb “if in rebellion or if in unfaithfulness against the Lord.”

⁴tn 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.

⁵tn Heb “by building.” The prepositional phrase may be subordinated to what precedes, “if in unfaithfulness…by building.”

⁶tn Heb “or if to offer up.”

⁷tn Heb “or if to make.”

⁸tn Or “peace offerings.”

⁹tn Heb “the Lord, he will seek.” Perhaps this is a self-imprecation in an oath, “may the Lord himself punish us.”

¹⁰tn Heb “Surely, from worry concerning a matter we have done this, saying.”

¹¹tn 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!”

¹²tn Heb “You have no portion in the Lord.”

¹³tn Heb “fearing.”

¹⁴tn Heb “but it is a witness between us and you.”

¹⁵tn Heb “to do the service of the Lord before him.”

¹⁶tn Or “peace offerings.”

¹⁷tn Heb “You have no portion in the Lord.”

¹⁸tn The words “such a thing” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

¹⁹tn Heb “fathers.”

²⁰tn Heb “but it is a witness between us and you.”

²¹tn Or “peace offerings.”

²²sn The Lord’s dwelling place here refers to the tabernacle.

²³tn Heb “the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and the sons of Manasseh.”

²⁴tn Heb “it was good in their eyes.”

²⁵tn Heb “the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and the sons of Manasseh.”

²⁶tn Heb “because you were not unfaithful with this unfaithfulness against the Lord.”

²⁷tn On the use of אָז in a logical sense, see Waltke-O’Connor, Hebrew Syntax, 667.

²⁸tn Heb “the hand (i.e., power) of the Lord.”

²⁹tn 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.”

³⁰tn Heb “and the word was good in the eyes of the sons of Israel and the sons of Israel blessed God.”

³¹tn 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.”

³²tn Heb “a witness between us.”