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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Joshua 22:21-29

We may suppose there was a general convention called of the princes and great men of the separate tribes, to give audience to these ambassadors; or perhaps the army, as it came home, was still encamped in a body, and not yet dispersed; however it was, there were enough to represent the two tribes and a half, and to give their sense. Their reply to the warm remonstrance of the ten tribes is very fair and ingenuous. They do not retort their charge, upbraid them with the injustice and unkindness... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 22:24

And if we have not rather done it for fear of this thing ,.... So far they suggest were they from doing this, in order to turn from the pure worship of God, and introduce idolatrous worship, that it was to guard against everything of that kind for the future; and through fear of it, and anxiety and distress of mind, lest some time or another there should be any temptation to it in their posterity, had they built this altar: saying, in time to come your children might speak unto our... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 22:25

For the Lord hath made Jordan a border between us and you ,.... And by it separated them from them, as if they were a distinct people; not that this was really the case, but so they feared it would be represented in time to come; for though Jordan was the border of the land of Canaan, strictly so called, eastward, Numbers 34:12 ; yet it did not exclude the land of the two tribes and a half from being part of the land of promise; for the Amorites, which before inhabited it, and were driven... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 22:24

For fear of this thing - The motive that actuated us was directly the reverse of that of which we have been suspected. 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 22:24

From fear of this thing. This translation cannot be correct. Had the Hebrew original intended to convey this meaning, we should have had מִדְּאָגַת הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה The literal rendering is, "from anxiety, from a word." The word here translated "anxiety" ( LXX . εὐλάβεια ) is applied to the sea, and is translated "sorrow" in Jeremiah 49:23 . It is translated "heaviness" in Proverbs 12:25 . In Ezekiel 4:16 ; Ezekiel 12:18 , Ezekiel 12:19 , it is translated "care,"... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 22:24-25

What have you to do with the Lord God of Israel? For the Lord hath made Jordan a border. Literally, What to you and to Jehovah the God of Israel, since He hath given a border between us and between you, sons of Reuben and sons of Gad, even the Jordan. Thus the reason for the erection of the altar was the very converse of what it had been supposed to be. So far from considering themselves as shut out from the communion of Israel by the natural boundary formed by Jordan, the two and a half... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Joshua 22:23-25

Joshua 22:23-25. Let the Lord himself require it That is, call us to an account and punish us for it. What have you to do with the Lord You have no relation to him, nor interest in him, or his worship. The Lord hath made Jordan a border To shut you out of the land of promise, and consequently from the covenant made between God and our fathers. Ye have no part in the Lord Nothing to do with him; no right to serve him or expect favour from him. Cease from fearing the Lord For they... read more

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