Joshua 22:10

And when they came unto the borders of Jordan, that [are] in the land of Canaan,.... To the banks of it, or the sand heaps, some take the word to signify, which were thrown up to restrain the waters from overflowing; some by Geliloth understand a place so called; and Jerom g says it was near Jordan in the tribe of Benjamin: but rather the word signifies the meanders, windings, and turnings, of the river h; and such circuits and compasses it fetched near Jericho, as the same writer i observes, where we may suppose these tribes went over, and at a place where the river jetted out into the land of Canaan:

the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, built there an altar by Jordan; or "then"; that is, when they had passed over the river into their own country, for which Josephus is express k; and certain it is, that the altar was built not on the Canaan side of Jordan, but on the opposite side, as is clear from Joshua 22:11: and indeed they had no right to build on any other ground than their own; and they pitched upon a spot where the river jetted out into the land of Canaan, as most proper to erect it on, to be a witness, that though separated from the rest of the Israelites by the river Jordan, yet were a part of them, and had a right to join them in the service of God, and bring their sacrifices to the altar of God in the tabernacle, as more fully appears in some after verses:

a great altar to see to; built up very high, so that it might be seen at a great distance.

g De loc. Heb. fol. 92. C. h Vid. Gusset. Ebr. Comment. p. 170, 573. Reland. Palestin. Illustrat. tom. 1. l. 1. c. 43. p. 274, 279. i Ut supra, (De loc. Heb. fol. 92.) G. k Antiqu. l. 5. c. 1. sect. 26.