The events of this chap. are no doubt recorded in their proper historical order. The auxiliary forces of the trans-Jordanic tribes were not sent away immediately after the campaigns against the Canaanites were over. They set forth from Shiloh, Joshua 22:9, to which place the sanctuary had been remov... [ Continue Reading ]
The insertion of this explanation about the half tribe, and the repetition of Joshua’s farewell, are examples of a marked characteristic of very ancient writers and of Hebrew writers as much as any - that of giving a completeness and finish to each section of their story. The Jewish historian scarce... [ Continue Reading ]
GILEAD - Here used in the widest sense for the whole trans-Jordanic district.... [ Continue Reading ]
The two tribes and a half erected this altar in order to keep alive their claim to have the same interest as the other tribes had in the sanctuary of God, which was established on the west side of Jordan: and in order to forestall any assertion that the Jordan itself was a natural barrier of exclusi... [ Continue Reading ]
GATHERED THEMSELVES TOGETHER - The various tribes had already dispersed to their homes, and were now summoned together again.... [ Continue Reading ]
FROM WHICH WE ARE NOT CLEANSED UNTIL THIS DAY - Phinehas, who had borne a conspicuous part in vindicating the cause of God against those who fell away to Baal-peor, means that terrible as the punishment had been, there were still those among them who hankered after Baal worship, and even practiced i... [ Continue Reading ]
UNCLEAN - i. e. unholy because the sanctuary was not in it, but on the other side of Jordan.... [ Continue Reading ]
The repeated invocation of God, and that by His three names - אל _'êl_, אלהים _'ĕlohı̂ym_, יהוה _y__e__hovâh_: compare Psalms 50:1 - marks the earnestness of the protestation. The conduct of the two tribes and a half has often been noted as exemplary. They had had a grave and capital crime most u... [ Continue Reading ]
The word עד _‛__êd_ is not found after “altar” in the text of most manuscripts, nor is it represented in the Septuagint or Vulgate. The passage should probably run: “the children of Reuben and the children of Gad named the altar, that (as they said) it might be, etc.” The title placed on the altar... [ Continue Reading ]