Joshua 22:1-34

Dismissal of the Two and a Half Tribes. The Axtar set up at Ed, and the Controversy it Raised

1-9. The dismissal of the tribes.

10-34. The controversy at Ed. Here, as in Numbers 25:7, we see Phinehas playing a prominent part, and the contrast between the scenes is instructive. Swift, stern, and relentless when occasion demanded, he appears in Numbers as the hero who, by prompt execution of judgment, stayed the plague at Shittim (cp. Psalms 106:30); here, on the other hand, though not unmindful of that crisis (Joshua 22:17), he shows tact and gentleness, and under circumstances of the utmost delicacy and tension, helps to avert a disastrous civil war.