Joshua 22:21

_THEN THE CHILDREN OF REUBEN AND THE CHILDREN OF GAD AND THE HALF TRIBE OF MANASSEH ANSWERED, AND SAID UNTO THE HEADS OF THE THOUSANDS OF ISRAEL,_ THEN THE CHILDREN OF REUBEN ... ANSWERED - repudiating in the strongest terms the alleged crime, and deponing that, so far from entertaining the intention imputed to them, their only object was to perpetuate the memory of their alliance with Israel, and their adherence to the worship of Israel's God....

21._Then the children of Reuben, _etc The state of the case turns on the definition. For the children of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, explain that they had a different intention, and thus exculpate themselves from the charge, inasmuch as the nature of the proceeding was quite different from what the others supposed. In not making a disturbance, (185) nor picking a quarrel for the injustice done, to them they give an example of rare modesty, which is held forth for our imitation; so that if at any time anything we have rightly done happen to be unjustly and falsely blamed by those not acquainted with its nature, we may deem it sufficient to refute the censure only so far as may be necessary for clearing ourselves. Moreover, that the more credit may be given to them, and that they may the better attest their integrity, they, by a solemn protest, put far from them the wickedness of which they...

21-29 The tribes took the reproofs of their brethren in good part. With solemnity and meekness they proceeded to give all the satisfaction in their power. Reverence of God is expressed in the form of their appeal. This brief confession of faith would remove their brethren's suspicion that they intended to worship other gods. Let us always speak of God with seriousness, and mention his name with a solemn pause. Those who make appeals to Heaven with a careless "God knows," take his name in vain: it is very unlike this. They express great confidence of their own uprightness in the matter of their appeal. "God knows it," for he is perfectly acquainted with the thoughts and intents of the heart. In every thing we do in religion, it highly concerns us to approve ourselves to God, remembering that he knows the heart. And if our sincerity be known to God, we should study likewise to let others...

Verse Joshua 22:21. _THEN THE CHILDREN OF REUBEN - ANSWERED_] Though conscious of their own innocency they permitted Phinehas to finish his discourse, though composed of little else than accusations; there was a decency in this, and such a full proof of good breeding, as does them the highest credit. There are many public assemblies in the present day which lay claim to the highest refinement, who might take a very useful lesson from these Reubenites and their associates....

EXPOSITION JOSHUA 22:1 THE REUBENITES AND THE GADITES. According to the Hebrew idiom, these are in the original in the singular, as in Genesis 12:6. Thus a tribe, as has been before remarked, or even a family (Joshua 6:25), is spoken of frequently as a single individual (cf. Joshua 17:14, Joshua 17:15, Joshua 17:17, Joshua 17:18). It seems prob

THEN THE CHILDREN OF REUBEN, AND THE CHILDREN OF GAD, AND THE HALF TRIBE OF MANASSEH, ANSWERED,.... By some person whom they appointed to deliver the answer in their name: AND SAID UNTO THE HEADS OF THE THOUSANDS OF ISRAEL; who were over those that were rulers of the thousands of Israel, persons of greater authority than they, being princes of the respective tribes to which they belonged....

III. THE FINAL WORDS OF JOSHUA AND THE EPILOGUE 1. The Two and One-half Tribes and the Altar Ed CHAPTER 22 _ 1. Joshua's address (Joshua 22:1)_ 2. The tribes dismissed and their return (Joshua 22:7) 3. The great altar erected (Joshua 22:10) 4. War proposed (Joshua 22:11) 5. The mission of Phinehas and the explanation (Joshua 22:13) 6. The explanation accepted (Joshua 22:30) 7. The altar Ed ...

THE ALTAR OF WITNESS ERECTED BY THE E. JORDAN TRIBES. This narrative is clearly not historical, and the question arises, Why should it have been composed? The answer is that it is a Midrash (p. 314, 2 Chronicles 13:22 *) of the same nature as those in Numbers 15:32, the man gathering sticks on the Sabbath, and Numbers 31:25, the law for the division of the spoil. In this connexion we may quote the admirable words of Mr. Ball: We have to bear in mind a fact familiar enough to students of Talmudic and Midrashic literature, the inveterate tendency to convey their doctrine not in the form of abstract discourse, but in a mode appealing directly to the imagination.. The Rabbi embodies his lesson in a story, whether

Defence of the Two Tribes and a Half 21. _Then the children of Reuben_ The two tribes and a half proceed to defend themselves and to shew that their object was in all respects the very reverse of that imputed to them....

_VER._ 21, 22. _THEN THE CHILDREN OF REUBEN, &C.—ANSWERED—THE LORD GOD OF GODS,_ &C.— No sooner had Phinehas ended his discourse, than the president of the congregation of the two tribes and a half, to remove the suspicions that had been entertained of their faith, takes up the conference, and begins by calling God to witness the purity of their intentions. _"The Lord God of gods,"_ they begin; in which their design is first to shew, that they worshipped no other God than _Him,_ whom their fathers had worshipped, that great Being, who, infinitely exalted above all the creatures, is the first and original cause of every thing that exists: after which, in a noble emotion of zeal, they immediately repeat the same appellation; _the Lord God of gods:_ which flows as it were from an ardent desire to wash off the reproach that Phinehas had just cast upon them; and is a mark of the sincerity whe...