Verses 9-12
The writer used the terms "the land of Canaan" and "the land of Gilead" to refer to the land west and east of the Jordan River respectively in this section, Cisjordan and Transjordan. The altar, then, stood on the west side of the Jordan.
These tribes evidently intended the altar they built to be a replica of the brazen altar in the tabernacle courtyard at Shiloh (cf. Joshua 22:28). If they did, it is easy to understand why the other tribes reacted to its construction so violently. God had prohibited the building of altars in the land apart from the ones He ordained (Deuteronomy 12:1-14). [Note: Woudstra, p. 320.] The Canaanites built many altars, but this was not to be Israel’s practice.
When the other Israelites learned what the two and one-half tribes had done, they prepared to go to war against them (Joshua 22:12). This is what God had commanded the Israelites to do if any of their brethren sought to lead others in Israel away from God and His law (Deuteronomy 13:12-18).
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