Joshua 22:30

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Joshua 22:30-34

We have here the good issue of this controversy, which, if there had not been on both sides a disposition to peace, as there was on both sides a zeal for God, might have been of ill consequence; for quarrels about religion, for want of wisdom and love, often prove the most fierce and most difficult to be accommodated. But these contending parties, when the matter was fairly stated and argued, were so happy as to understand one another very well, and so the difference was presently compromised.... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 22:30

And when Phinehas the priest ,.... For he was, being the son of Eleazar the high priest, so the word "priest", Joshua 22:13 ; is to be joined, not to Eleazar but to Phinehas: and the princes of the congregation ; the ten princes, who were sent by the congregation of Israel, one out of each tribe: and heads out of the thousands of Israel ; these are the same with the princes, and this belongs to their title, who were heads of the Chiliarchs, or those who were rulers of thousands in... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 22:30

Verse 30 30.And when Phinehas the priest, etc Phinehas and the ambassadors rightly temper their zeal, when, instead of harshly insisting and urging the prejudice which they had conceived, they blandly and willingly admit the excuse. Many persons, if once offended and exasperated by any matter, cannot be appeased by any defense, and always find something maliciously and unjustly to carp at, rather than seem to yield to reason. The example here is worthy of observation. It teaches us that if at... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 22:1-34

Reuben and Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh at home. Three points are especially noticeable in this chapter. First, the reward of those who have laboured on behalf of their brethren; next, the duty of claiming our privileges as Christians when severed from our brethren; and lastly, the necessity of zeal for the purity of religion. I. SELF DENIAL SHALL HAVE ITS REWARD . Our Lord tells us that he who gives a cup of cold water to his brother shall not lose his reward. We... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 22:10-34

Misunderstandings among good people. Bitter contention often arises from simple misunderstanding. The Israelites were on the verge of a civil war as a result of a simple mistake of judgment. Much unhappiness might be avoided if the lessons of this incident were well considered by Christian people. I. CONSIDER THE INCIDENT IN RELATION TO THE TRANS - JORDANIC TRIBES . They erected an altar of witness which was supposed by their brethren to be an altar of sacrifice, a... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 22:21-34

Its Vindication The Reubenites and Gadites easily vindicate their conduct. They have had no intention of setting up a rival altar, for they do not mean to offer any sacrifices except in the place appointed by God. Their altar is to be simply a memorial. They have built it under a sort of apprehension that possibly, in times to come, their children might be led, in ungrateful forgetfulness of the past, to forsake the Lord and His service. The Reubenites and Gadites teach us a wholesome... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 22:30

It pleased them. The genuine. ness of their zeal for God's service is shown by their readiness to be appeased by a plain explanation. Had they been actuated by jealousy or party spirit, they would have admitted no defence, or have endeavoured out of the clearest exculpation to find some new topic for complaint. So religious party spirit has been wont to inflame men's minds in later times, so that they desired rather victory over a supposed antagonist than the discovery that no offence at all... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 22:30

A misunderstanding. Rarely do we find such an instance of misconception as is here recounted. The two and a half tribes, whose territory lay to the west of Jordan, had acted with the highest honour. During the five or six years occupied in the conquest of their land, they had voluntarily accepted the task of fighting—and fighting in the van in all the battles of Israel. When they leave completed task behind them, they return laden with spoil: rich in the gratitude of their brethren;... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 22:30-31

A mistake and its rectification. When Joshua dismissed the trans-Jordanic tribes to their homes he pronounced his benediction upon them, in grateful acknowledgment of the services they had rendered to their brethren of the other tribes, and with full confidence in their loyalty to the God of Israel. It soon seemed, however, as if this confidence had been misplaced. Their building of a "great altar over against the Land of Canaan" had a suspicious appearance. What could it be intended for... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Joshua 22:30-31

Joshua 22:30-31. It pleased them They were fully satisfied with this answer. We perceive that the Lord is among us By his gracious presence and preventing goodness, in keeping you from so great an offence, and all of us from those calamities that would have followed it. Out of the hand of the Lord That is, from the wrath and dreadful judgments of God. By avoiding that sin which would have involved both you and us in a most bloody war, you have delivered us from the evils we feared. He... read more

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