Chapter Twenty-Two

1–9. Joshua’s farewell address to the auxiliary detachment from the eastern tribes of the Jordan before his return. 10–12. The building of a great altar near the Jordan. 13–21. An embassy from the western tribes to the eastern tribes. 22–34. A conciliatory response from the latter and agreement with it.

Joshua 22:1. Then Joshua called the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and said to them: “Then Joshua called the tribe of Reuben,” that is, after the division of the land of Canaan among the 9½ tribes and the appointment of cities for the Levite tribe. At the end of the war, the auxiliary detachment from the eastern tribes of the Jordan was not sent away, it is to be supposed, so that it, as the representative of these tribes, would be present at the gathering of the people in Shiloh (Josh 22:9), which thus was a gathering of the whole people. The final act of this gathering was the decision concerning the return of the auxiliary detachment to its place of residence.

Joshua 22:2. “You have kept all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, and you have obeyed all that I commanded you; Joshua 22:3. “You have not abandoned your brothers these many days, down to this day, and have carefully kept the charge of the Lord your God. Joshua 22:4. “Now the Lord your God has given rest to your brothers, as he promised them; therefore turn and go to your tents, to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you beyond the Jordan; Joshua 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, to walk in all his ways, to keep his commandments, to hold fast to him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. Joshua 22:6. Then Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents. As during the preparation for the crossing of the Jordan, the Israelite leader addressed the eastern tribes with words of reminder and exhortation (Josh 1:12-15), similarly the departing detachment he sends off with a special address and blessing.

Joshua 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 gave a possession beside their brothers on the west side of the Jordan. And when Joshua sent them away to their tents and blessed them, Joshua 22:8. he said to them, “Return to your tents with much wealth, with very much livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, and iron, and with a large quantity of clothing; divide the spoil of your enemies with your brothers. Verses Josh 22:7-8 present an explanation and supplement to what is said in the preceding verses. Verse Josh 22:7 explains why Joshua called together with the tribe of Reuben and Gad “the half-tribe of Manasseh.” Although the writer of this book had said this before (Josh 13:29-31), he, like other Old Testament writers, does not make reference to what precedes, but briefly repeats what he has already said, as a result of which there are numerous repetitions in Old Testament books, constituting one of the distinctive characteristics of Old Testament writings, called breadth of speech, another example of which is that the fact that the Levite tribe did not receive a separate allotment is mentioned four times in this book (Josh 13:14). The words Josh 22:8 can be seen as an addition to Joshua’s farewell address, perhaps drawn by the writer from a special written document, whose words he added to the address, so to speak, as a footnote. The command to divide the spoil with one’s brothers is based on the divine command given to Moses at the end of the war with the Midianites (Num 31:27).

Joshua 22:9. And the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned, and they departed from the Israelites at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead, to the land of their possession, which they had received according to the commandment of the Lord by Moses. The name “Gilead” is used here in the sense of designating the entire land east of the Jordan, in distinction from “the land of Canaan,” that is, the land west of the Jordan.

Joshua 22:10. When they came to the region of the Jordan that is in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by the Jordan, an altar of great size. The place where the auxiliary detachment of the eastern tribes of the Jordan built the altar upon their return is determined by the words “in the region of the Jordan, which is in the land of Canaan.” The designation of the latter, as in the preceding verse and other places (Josh 5:12; Num 32:30), is used to denote the land west of the Jordan, on which, consequently, precisely near the Jordan, on its western side, the altar was built, “great in size,” such as was high and broad to be seen from afar. The location of this altar, a monument, as is evident from the following narrative, which received the name “Ed” (Josh 22:34) – “witness,” was, as indicated by learned travelers, the high mountain jutting out into the Jordan valley, to the north of Jericho, which now bears the name Karn Sartabe, and which was mentioned above (Josh 3:16). The basis for such a representation of the location of this altar is first of all the fact that this mountain “on its northern side is called by the Arabs Tal-atab-u-eid,” that is, “passage leading to Eid” 221. The origin of such a name of the locality, coinciding with the biblical name of the altar, is justly explained by the event that took place here in the time of Joshua. The very features of the locality fully correspond also to the biblical indications concerning the location of the altar. If it was erected on Mount Sartabe, it was indeed in sight, visible from afar, from all sides. It was situated directly on the road from Shiloh to Gilead, which, it is to be supposed, the detachment of the eastern tribes followed upon their return, on the other, eastern side of the Jordan, somewhat to the north of Sartabe there are still preserved ruins of a former bridge across the Jordan, bearing the name Jezr Damia. Together with this, the altar was also “by the Jordan,” on its bank 222. Such correspondence of Mount Sartabe, both in the special name attributed to it by the local inhabitants and in its location, fully inclines one to recognize its summit as the place of the altar erected by the eastern Jordanic detachment-monument.

Joshua 22:11. And the Israelites heard that the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had built an altar at the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region of the Jordan, on the side of the Israelites. Some scholars find in the words cited here of the western Israelites an expression of a different understanding of the altar, as if it were built on the eastern side of the Jordan. This understanding, expressed by Josephus in his Antiquities (Josephus, Ant. 5:1, 26), has also been expressed in our native literature as if a commonly accepted understanding 223. The basis for this is indicated in the fact that the words “in the region of the Jordan” in the LXX are translated ἐπὶ τοῦ Γαλααδ τοῦ Ιορδάνου – “in Gilead of the Jordan,” and that the last words of the verse, read in the Hebrew text (“el ever beney yisrael”) mean “on the other side of the Israelites” 224. Both bases have, however, an illusory character. The translation of the Hebrew word “gelilot,” meaning “district, region,” through the name Gilead is found only in the ancient Vatican manuscript, in other ancient and later Greek manuscripts it is either replaced by the untranslated Γαλιλωθ – in Galilofе, according to the Slavonic Bible, or is excluded, as in the Lucian manuscripts, in which only ἐπὶ τοῦ Ιορδάνου – “by the Jordan” is read. With such a state of readings in the Greek manuscripts regarding this expression, the rendering of the Vatican manuscript “Gilead” as an exclusive phenomenon, not repeated in other manuscripts, cannot serve as a reliable basis for conclusions. Rather it raises the thought of a scribe’s error, who wrote the more well-known name “Gilead” instead of “gelilot,” which error was avoided and not repeated in other Greek manuscripts. As for the translation of the aforementioned Hebrew words, its correctness is more than doubtful. That the word “ever” does not always mean “beyond” was already indicated above (Josh 1:14). That it is not used in this sense in this passage is evident from the unusualness of the expression obtained in translating this word in such a meaning: “on the other side of the Israelites.” The expression “on the other side of the Jordan… river” is understandable, but to say “on the other side of the Israelites” would be to use an expression incomprehensible, unusual, as is evident from the fact that in other places of the Old Testament books such an expression does not occur. If the intention was to designate another, eastern side of the Jordan, then after “ever” would have been placed “Jordan” as in other places. If the biblical writer did not use this necessary complement, then it must be supposed that the word “ever” is used here in another sense, namely in the sense of “crossing, ford,” which is the original meaning of this word as a noun. In such a meaning it was indeed adopted by Symmachus, who translated the words in question πρὸς τὴν διάβασιν τῶν υἱῶν Ισραηλ 225 – “at the crossing of the Israelites.” At that, under “crossing” is meant, as one may suppose, the place of the ford across the Jordan indicated above, located near Mount Sartabe, on the way from the land west of the Jordan to the land east of the Jordan, on which in a later time a bridge was constructed. There is, however, yet another translation of the expression “el-ever” in this passage by the words “on the side of the Israelites” 226, that is, on that side on which “the Israelites” lived, as opposed to “the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.” And with this translation, the expression in question also appears foreign to the representation of the land east of the Jordan as the location of the altar in question. (Further confirmation of the representation of the location of the altar on the western side of the Jordan see in Josh 22:19). Notwithstanding the existence of such translations of the expression in question, critics in the critical direction adhere to the transmission of it by the words: “on the other side of the Israelites,” because the understanding expressed by the latter of the location of the altar on the eastern side of the Jordan, and not on the western, in Josh 22:10 serves to confirm their opinion that there are different written documents in the chapter in question, which differ in their views. This translation, apart from its obscurity, may justly be called tendentious, inspired by the views of negative criticism. The translation “directly opposite the Israelites” corresponds to Jerome’s translation: contra filios Israel – “against the Israelites.”

Joshua 22:12. When the Israelites heard of it, the whole assembly of the Israelites gathered at Shiloh, to make war against them. The incentive by which the Israelites of the western side of the Jordan, upon hearing of the building of the altar, decided to “make war” against the eastern tribes, lay in the fact that they saw in this construction the intention of the latter to offer their own sacrifices to God on this altar, which was prohibited by the law (Lev 17:8-9; Deut 12:5-14).

Joshua 22:13. But the Israelites sent Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, to the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, A preliminary embassy from the western tribes to the eastern tribes was sent in accordance with the law, which required that in case of news of the appearance of wicked people in any of the Israelite cities, the matter should be thoroughly investigated, and only if the news proved to be true should the guilty be punished (Deut 13:12-16).

Joshua 22:17. “Is the iniquity of Peor not enough for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves even to this day, and for which a plague came upon the congregation of the Lord, “Is the iniquity of Peor not enough for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves even to this day,” that is, to which there remained a tendency among the Israelites even at this time.

Joshua 22:19. “But now, if the land of your possession is unclean, cross over into the land of the possession of the Lord, where the Lord’s tabernacle is set up, and take for yourselves a possession among us; only do not rebel against the Lord, or rebel against us by building yourselves an altar other than the altar of the Lord our God; In the words: “If the land of your possession seems to you unclean,” there is in view the fact that the eastern Jordanic detachment had built an altar not in their own, not on the eastern side of the Jordan, but on the western side; this choice of place led to the supposition that the builders of the altar considered their land unclean, in which it was impossible to serve the God of Israel. The building of another altar, besides the one existing in the Tabernacle of the Lord, intended for the offering of sacrifices, was a transgression both against the Lord and against the western Israelites (“against us”), who, if they left this transgression unpunished, would inevitably incur grave responsibility for it, as is evident from the example of Achan that follows.

Joshua 22:22. “God of gods is the Lord, God of gods is the Lord; he knows; and let Israel itself know! If it is in rebellion or in breach of faith toward the Lord, do not spare us this day, The oath in the purity of intentions, with which the eastern Jordanic tribes begin their answer to the ambassadors of the western tribes, is sealed by the invocation of the Lord with the pronouncement of three of His names. In the Hebrew text were pronounced, as also in Ps 49:1, the divine names El, Elohim, Jehovah (or Yahweh). In the manuscripts of the LXX translation and in accordance with them in the Tolkovaya Bibliya they are rendered ὁ Θεὸς ὁ Θεὸς Κύριος... ὁ Θεὸς ὁ Θεὸς Κύριος – “God God, Lord... God God Lord”; also in the translation of Jerome: “Fortissimus Deus Dominus, Fortissimus Deus Dominus” – “Almighty God Lord, Almighty God Lord.” From these translations it is evident that the second divine name (Elohim) was recognized here as a distinctive name of God, and not as a supplement to the first, as it appears in the translation: “God of gods.” The Lord is invoked through the pronouncement of three of His names, which are repeated to confirm the inviolable truth of the oath given and the purity of the intentions with which the altar was built.

Joshua 22:23. “If we have built the altar to turn away from following the Lord [our God], or to offer burnt offerings, or grain offerings, or to make sacrifices of well-being on it, then may the Lord himself take vengeance. Joshua 22:24. “No, but we did this from fear that in time to come your descendants might say to our descendants, ‘What have you to do with the Lord, the God of Israel? Joshua 22:25. “The Lord has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you, you Reubenites and Gadites; you have no portion in the Lord.’ So your descendants might make our descendants cease to worship the Lord. Joshua 22:26. “Therefore we said, ‘Let us build an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice, Joshua 22:27. “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 offerings of well-being; so that your descendants will never say to our descendants, “You have no portion in the Lord. Joshua 22:28. “When they say so to us or to our descendants in time to come, we shall say, ‘Look at this copy of the altar of the Lord, which our ancestors made, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice, but to be a witness between us and you and between our descendants.’ Joshua 22:29. “Far be it from us to rebel against the Lord, and to turn away this day from following the Lord, by building an altar for burnt offering, for grain offering, or for sacrifice, other than the altar of the Lord our God that stands before his tabernacle. These intentions were completely different from those which the western tribes saw in this. The sole aim with which the altar was built consisted in that it should be a perpetual monument of their faithfulness and devotion to God of their ancestors – “be a witness” (in the Hebrew text “Ed”) to the fact, “to serve the service of the Lord” (literally from the Hebrew and in accordance with the Greco-Slavonic translation: “so as to serve the servitude of the Lord with our burnt offerings and sacrifices... The altar was a likeness of the altar of the Lord,” that is, was constructed after the model of the altar that stood in the Tabernacle of the Lord, which was thus distinguished, consequently, by its very structure from pagan altars. The thought of building a monument in the form of precisely an altar could have been inspired by the example of Moses, who in the time of wandering in the wilderness built an altar to commemorate the victory over the Amalekites (Exod 17:15).

Joshua 22:31. Then Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the Reubenites and the Gadites and the Manassites, “Today we know that the Lord is among us, because you have not committed this breach of faith against the Lord; now you have saved the Israelites from the hand of the Lord. “Now you have saved the Israelites from the hand of the Lord,” that is, from the punishment that would have befallen the Israelite people if the eastern tribes had intended to build in the proper sense an altar, separate from the one existing in the Tabernacle of the Lord, and if this violation of the law had been left unpunished by the western tribes.

Joshua 22:33. And the Israelites praised God and spoke of no longer making war against the Reubenites and Gadites to destroy the land where they lived. [And the half-tribe of Manasseh.] “And the Israelites praised God,” that is, gave Him glory and thanksgiving for deliverance from grave sin and inevitable punishment.

Joshua 22:34. The Reubenites and Gadites [and the half-tribe of Manasseh] named the altar, “For it is a witness between us that the Lord is God. In the Slavonic Bible, in accordance with the LXX translation, this verse reads: “And Joshua named the altar of the Reubenites and Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and said: that it is a witness among them, that the Lord is God, God is their God.” According to this translation, it was not the eastern tribes who gave the altar its name, but Joshua the son of Nun. The particular importance of such a translation consists in the fact that it gives the event set forth in chapter 22 a conclusion most fitting for it. If Joshua the son of Nun gave the altar the name “testimony” (μαρτύριόν), which is the rendering of the Hebrew “Ed” – “witness,” then this served as a clear expression of his agreement and that of the whole people with the explanation of the purpose of this altar which the eastern tribes had given (Josh 22:27). If, on the contrary, the giving of this name to the altar was the act only of the eastern tribes, then the last verse of chapter 22 represents in essence nothing more than a repetition of what these tribes had said before, and the thought of universal agreement with the latter becomes unex pressed in the concluding verse of the chapter. Josh 23-24. Like the prophet Moses, Joshua the son of Nun, feeling the approach of death, turned to his people with teachings and exhortations, which are set forth in the last two chapters of the book bearing his name. These exhortations, pronounced at different times, though not far from each other, are directed toward achieving one goal – to establish in the Israelite people an unwavering loyalty and sincere devotion to the Lord God and to His Law, but in relation to the exposition and substantiation of this position they somewhat differ from each other. In the exhortation set forth in Josh 23, Joshua the son of Nun exclusively holds the attention on the immediate events which were directly known to that generation, and from these extracts those basic positions on which the Israelite people should build their life if it wishes itself well: positions consisting in full devotion to the Lord in the observance of the law of Moses and in separation from the remaining Canaanites among the Israelites. This exhortation has a preliminary or preparatory character to the second one, set forth in Josh 24. The second exhortation, pronounced in the name of the Lord, is not limited to immediate events and general teachings, but begins with a reminder of the times of the ancestors of the Israelite people, to whom, as to their descendants, up to the present time the Lord has constantly revealed and reveals the greatest of His mercies, obligating those who receive these mercies to honor the Lord and to serve Him. On this conclusion the one addressing does not stop, but by appealing to the people’s conscience achieves the free decision of the people – to serve the Lord, which decision is confirmed by the Covenant of the people with God. * * * Holy Land, 2:4–44. Tristram. Bible places, 200–201. A. A. Olesnitsky. Megalithic monuments of the Holy Land, p. 159–160. See, for example, Dillmann. Numeri-Iosua, 576–577. Field. Origenis Hexaplorum… Are meant the Hebrew dictionaries: Genesis in the 9th edition and Fürst’s, as well as the translation of the Petersburg Spiritual Academy. The expression “seems to you” is absent in the Hebrew text. Instead of: “unclean” in the Hebrew text is read in the Greek manuscripts: μικρὰ – “small” in the Slavonic Bible; this appeared, as is supposed (Masius in Field), instead of the original μυαρα – “unclean.” Witness