CHAPTER 22 THE TRANSJORDAN CONTINGENTS RETURN HOME - THE MEMORIAL ALTAR. The initial war with the Canaanites being over, Joshua called to him the warriors from the two tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, who had came over Jordan with him to assist in the warfare, and commended... [ Continue Reading ]
CHAPTER 22 THE TRANSJORDAN CONTINGENTS RETURN HOME - THE MEMORIAL ALTAR. The initial war with the Canaanites being over, Joshua called to him the warriors from the two tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, who had came over Jordan with him to assist in the warfare, and commended... [ Continue Reading ]
“ And now YHWH your God has given rest to your brothers, as he said to them. Now therefore turn you, and get you to your tents, to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of YHWH gave you, Beyond Jordan.” Now YHWH with their help had given rest to their brothers. They were settling in t... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ Only take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of YHWH commanded you, to love YHWH your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave to him, and to serve him with all your heart, and with all your soul.' Here Joshua was charging... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ So Joshua blessed them, and sent them away, and they went to their tents.' To bless was to wish God's power and favour on them. But the idea here would also seem to include the spoils that they shared as a result of the conquests. Then they retired to their tents to prepare for their journey (com... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ Now to the one half tribe of Manasseh Moses had given inheritance in Bashan, but to the other half gave Joshua an inheritance among their brothers in Beyond Jordan westward. And when Joshua sent them away to their tents, he blessed them, and spoke to them, saying, “Return with much wealth to your... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ 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 to the land of Gilead, to the land of their possession, of which they were possessed according to the command... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And when they came to the region about Jordan, that is 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 look to.' This building of a memorial altar, in the land of Canaan west of Jordan, was imi... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And the children of Israel heard it said, “See, the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, have built an altar before (at the frontier of) the land of Canaan in the circles of Jordan on the side that belongs to the children of Israel.' Word about the building... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And when the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered themselves together at Shiloh to be ready to go up to war against them.' The gathering at Shiloh indicated a summons by the authorities from the central sanctuary for Israel to gather with their... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And the children of Israel, sent to 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, and with him ten princes, one prince of a father's house for each of the tribes of Israel, and they were ever... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And they came to the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them, saying, “Thus says the whole congregation of YHWH, ‘What trespass is this that you have committed against the God of Israel to turn this day from... [ Continue Reading ]
“ Is the iniquity of Peor too small for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, although there came a plague on the congregation of YHWH, that you must turn away this day from following YHWH? And it will be, seeing you rebel today against YHWH, that tomorrow he will be filled with... [ Continue Reading ]
“ However, if the land of your possession seems to you unclean, then pass you over to the land of the possession of YHWH, in which YHWH's Dwellingplace (Tabernacle) abides, and take possession among us. But do not rebel against YHWH, nor rebel against us, in building yourselves an altar besides the... [ Continue Reading ]
“ Did not Achan the son of Zerah, commit a trespass in the devoted thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? And that man did not perish alone in his iniquity.” The Israelites now cited a second case, the case of Achan (Joshua 7). There too there had been disobedience to God in relat... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ Then the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, answered, and spoke to the heads of the sub-tribes (thousands) of Israel, “God, the God YHWH, God, the God YHWH, he knows, and Israel, he will know, if it be in rebellion, or if in trespass against YHWH, (do not... [ Continue Reading ]
“ And if we have not rather done this out of deep concern and with a purpose, saying, ‘In time to come your children might speak to our children, saying, “What have you to do with YHWH, the God of Israel? For YHWH has made Jordan a border between us and you, you children of Reuben, and you children... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ Therefore we said, “Let us now build us an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice, But it shall be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we might do the service of YHWH before him, with our burnt offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace of... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ Therefore we said, “It shall be when they say so to us, or to our generations in time to come, that we shall say, ‘See the pattern of the altar of YHWH, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifice. But it is a witness between us and you'.” ' Thus the presence of the altar,... [ Continue Reading ]
“ God forbid that we should rebel against YHWH, and turn away this day from following YHWH, to build an offering for burnt offering, for meal offering, or for sacrifice, besides the altar of YHWH our God which is before his Dwellingplace (Tabernacle).” The Transjordan tribes then swore through thei... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And when Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the congregation, even the heads of the families (thousands) of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the children of Manasseh, spoke, it pleased them well.' Phinehas and the princes cons... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, said to the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the children of Manasseh, “This day we know that YHWH is among us, because you have not committed this trespass against YHWH. Now you have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ 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, to the land of Canaan, to the children of Israel and brought them word again.' Phinehas and the princes now returned to the waiting children... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And the thing pleased the children of Israel, and the children of Israel blessed God, and did not speak any more of going up against them to war, to destroy the land in which the children of Reuben and the children of Gad dwelt.' This seems to confirm that the warlike plans had centred on attacki... [ Continue Reading ]
‘ And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, called the altar [Ed], for ‘it is a witness between us that YHWH is God'.' The actual name is not in the Massoretic Text. However it is found in some Hebrew manuscripts and in the Peshitta (the Syriac version). We could translate ‘named the alt... [ Continue Reading ]