Chapter 22
The Eastern Tribes Released to Go Home
22:1 At that time Joshua summoned the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, 2 and said to them, “You have kept all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you and have obeyed my voice in all that I have commanded you. 3 You have not forsaken your brothers these many days, down to this day, but have been careful to keep the charge of the LORD your God. 4 And now the LORD your God has given rest to your brothers, as he promised them. Therefore turn and go to your tents in the land where your possession lies, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side of the Jordan.
Joshua gathers the men of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh and told them that they fulfilled their obligation to help conquer and purge the inhabitants of the Promised Land (see Numbers 32:20-22; Deuteronomy 3:18-20). So they are excused to return to their land on the east side of the Jordan River.
22:5 Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.” 6 So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents.
He warns them to be careful to be obedient to the law, to love YHWH, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to cling on to Him, and to serve Him with all their heart and all their soul. Then Joshua blessed them and sent them on their way.
22:7 Now to the one half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given a possession in Bashan, but to the other half Joshua had given a possession beside their brothers in the land west of the Jordan. And when Joshua sent them away to their homes and blessed them, 8 he said to them, “Go back to your tents with much wealth and with very much livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, and iron, and with much clothing. Divide the spoil of your enemies with your brothers.”
One half of the tribe of Manasseh inherited land on the east side of the Jordan, and the other half of the tribe on the west side. When Joshua sent the half tribe home over the Jordan he also told them to divide the spoil with their fellow tribesmen. They would return very wealthy with a great amount of livestock, precious metals, things made of bronze and iron, and clothing.
22:9 So the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned home, parting from the people of Israel at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead, their own land of which they had possessed themselves by command of the LORD through Moses.
The people of the two and one half tribes that whose land inheritance was on the east side of the Jordan River went over the river to Gilead. Note the use of the wording “in the land of Canaan,” used as a metonym for the whole Promised Land on the west side of the Jordan, even though the territory had contained several different people groups.
Consternation Over an Altar
22:10 And when they came to the region of the Jordan that is in the land of Canaan, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by the Jordan, an altar of imposing size.
When the men from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh approached the Jordan River they built an altar of imposing size (Hebrew mǎr· ̛ě(h)’, meaning a sight, a spectacle) essentially saying that the altar was very large in appearance. Some Bible versions (NIV, NLT, etc.) transliterate the Hebrew gelî·lôṯ’, as Geliloth, (translated here as ‘region’) believed to be a city west of the Jordan, north of the Dead Sea, but Joshua 18:17 places that city between Benjamin and Judah.
22:11 And the people of Israel heard it said, “Behold, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built the altar at the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region about the Jordan, on the side that belongs to the people of Israel.” 12 And when the people of Israel heard of it, the whole assembly of the people of Israel gathered at Shiloh to make war against them.
There is no time frame mentioned when the people of Israel (non-specific but implies those that dwell on the west side of the Jordan) heard about the altar at the frontier (Hebrew mûl’, a position in front of something) of the land of Canaan near the Jordan River on the west side. Since sacrifices were only to be made at the Tabernacle by the priests, the people of Israel thought this new altar would violate the covenant between them and God, so they assembled at Shiloh to go into battle against them.
22:13 Then the people of Israel sent to the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, 14 and with him ten chiefs, one from each of the tribal families of Israel, every one of them the head of a family among the clans of Israel.
An envoy of Phinehas a priest and ten tribal leaders, one from each tribe, was sent to Gilead to investigate why they built this oversized altar.
22:15 And they came to the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, and they said to them, 16 “Thus says the whole congregation of the LORD, ‘What is this breach of faith that you have committed against the God of Israel in turning away this day from following the LORD by building yourselves an altar this day in rebellion against the LORD? 17 Have we not had enough of the sin at Peor from which even yet we have not cleansed ourselves, and for which there came a plague upon the congregation of the LORD, 18 that you too must turn away this day from following the LORD? And if you too rebel against the LORD today then tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel. 19 But now, if the land of your possession is unclean, pass over into the LORD’s land where the LORD’s tabernacle stands, and take for yourselves a possession among us. Only do not rebel against the LORD or make us as rebels by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of the LORD our God. 20 Did not Achan the son of Zerah break faith in the matter of the devoted things, and wrath fell upon all the congregation of Israel? And he did not perish alone for his iniquity.’ ”
When they arrive they ask what is this breach of faith that they have committed against God. In their minds they saw this altar as being unauthorized by God, and possibly to be used to make sacrifices to pagan gods. They remind the eastern tribes of the time when the Israelites sinned in Peor (yoking themselves to Baal) resulting in 24,000 Israelites dying from a plague (see Numbers 25:1-9; Deuteronomy 4:3). That the sin of a few will affect many, that due to their construction of an unauthorized altar it made their whole land unclean. They then ask them, did not Achan break faith by stealing the devoted things followed by the wrath of God falling on all of the people of Israel? (See Joshua 7:1, 10-26) They feared that God was no longer with them as this would be a breach in the covenant similar to the time Achan caused a breach after the victory over Jericho. In verse nineteen we see that they were willing to give the tribes to the east a portion of their land as a possession, once commentary notes:
The presence of “the LORD’s tabernacle” was further evidence to them that the land west of the Jordan was especially blessed. Their willingness to “share the land” reveals a beautifully generous spirit and is proof of the sincerity of their concern for orthodox worship.[1]
22:21 Then the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh said in answer to the heads of the families of Israel, 22 “The Mighty One, God, the LORD! The Mighty One, God, the LORD! He knows; and let Israel itself know! If it was in rebellion or in breach of faith against the LORD, do not spare us today 23 for building an altar to turn away from following the LORD. Or if we did so to offer burnt offerings or grain offerings or peace offerings on it, may the LORD himself take vengeance.
The people of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh quickly proclaim, “The Mighty One, God, YHWH, the Mighty One, God YHWH! He knows; and let Israel itself know!” They acknowledge that YHWH is the only true God, and that He knows the truth regarding the altar and now it is to be told to the rest of Israel. They agree that if they built the altar in rebellion or in breach of faith against YHWH, then their lives should not be spared. Which would also include using the altar to offer any burnt, grain, or peace offerings (multiple issues including but not limited to: must be done by priest following specific procedure, on an altar as specified by God, in a specific location), if that was true, then YHWH should take vengeance against them.
22:24 No, but we did it from fear that in time to come your children might say to our children, ‘What have you to do with the LORD, the God of Israel? 25 For the LORD has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you, you people of Reuben and people of Gad. You have no portion in the LORD.’ So your children might make our children cease to worship the LORD. 26 Therefore we said, ‘Let us now build an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice, 27 but to be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we do perform the service of the LORD in his presence with our burnt offerings and sacrifices and peace offerings, so your children will not say to our children in time to come, “You have no portion in the LORD.” ’ 28 And we thought, ‘If this should be said to us or to our descendants in time to come, we should say, “Behold, the copy of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifice, but to be a witness between us and you.” ’ 29 Far be it from us that we should rebel against the LORD and turn away this day from following the LORD by building an altar for burnt offering, grain offering, or sacrifice, other than the altar of the LORD our God that stands before his tabernacle!”
But the truth was that the altar was built as a witness for future generations to see and understand that even though separated by the Jordan River that they are all descendants of Israel and share the service to YHWH which includes the proper and required burnt offerings, sacrifices, and peace offerings. The newly constructed altar was not to be used for any of these, only the altar of YHWH which stands in front of His tabernacle.
22:30 When Phinehas the priest and the chiefs of the congregation, the heads of the families of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the people of Manasseh spoke, it was good in their eyes. 31 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the people of Manasseh, “Today we know that the LORD is in our midst, because you have not committed this breach of faith against the LORD. Now you have delivered the people of Israel from the hand of the LORD.”
Their explanation pleased Phinehas and the tribal leaders. Phinehas responded, that they now knew that YHWH was still in their midst because they did not commit a breach of faith. That they have delivered the people of Israel from the hand of YHWH (averted His judgment).
22:32 Then Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the chiefs, returned from the people of Reuben and the people of Gad in the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the people of Israel, and brought back word to them. 33 And the report was good in the eyes of the people of Israel. And the people of Israel blessed God and spoke no more of making war against them to destroy the land where the people of Reuben and the people of Gad were settled. 34 The people of Reuben and the people of Gad called the altar Witness, “For,” they said, “it is a witness between us that the LORD is God.”
Phineas and the leaders returned to the land of Canaan to the people of Israel on the west side of the Jordan. Their report was received favorably and they praised God. They ceased thinking about any war against the east side. The altar was named ‘Witness’ by the tribes of Reuben and Gad, as it serves as a witness that YHWH is the God of all of Israel regardless of which side of the river they’re on.
[1] Madvig, D. H. (1992). Joshua. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel (Vol. 3, p. 358). Zondervan Publishing House.