JosuaKapitel 22

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Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh

and said to them: "You have kept everything Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, and you have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you.

You have not deserted your brothers through all this long time, down to this very day, but have faithfully kept the charge laid on you by the LORD your God.

Now the LORD your God has given rest to your brothers, as he promised them. So turn back and go to your tents, to the land you hold as your own, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you beyond the Jordan.

Only be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave 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 all your soul."

Then Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents.

To one half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given land in Bashan, and to the other half Joshua gave land alongside their brothers west of the Jordan. And when Joshua sent them away to their tents, he blessed them

and said to them: "Return to your tents with great wealth—with vast herds, with silver and gold, bronze and iron, and with a great quantity of clothing. Divide the spoil taken from your enemies with your brothers."

So the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh left the Israelites at Shiloh in the land of Canaan and set out for the land of Gilead, the land they held as their own, where they had settled according to the command of the LORD through Moses.

When they came to the region of the Jordan that lies in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan—a great altar, imposing to see.

And the Israelites heard it said: "Look, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built an altar facing the land of Canaan, in the region of the Jordan, on the Israelite side."

When the Israelites heard this, the whole assembly of Israel gathered at Shiloh to go up and wage war against them.

The Israelites sent Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in the land of Gilead,

and with him ten leaders, one from each ancestral house of every tribe of Israel; each was the head of an ancestral house among the clans of Israel.

They came to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in the land of Gilead and said to them:

"This is what the whole assembly of the LORD says: What is this treachery you have committed against the God of Israel, turning away this day from the LORD by building yourselves an altar and rebelling against the LORD today?

Was the sin at Peor not enough for us? To this day we have not cleansed ourselves of it, and a plague came upon the assembly of the LORD.

And now you turn away from the LORD! If you rebel against the LORD today, tomorrow he will be angry with the whole assembly of Israel.

If the land you hold is unclean, then cross over to the land the LORD holds as his own, where the LORD's tabernacle stands, and take your possession among us. But do not rebel against the LORD, and do not rebel against us by building yourselves an altar other than the altar of the LORD our God.

When Achan son of Zerah broke faith concerning what was devoted to destruction, did not wrath fall upon the whole assembly of Israel? And he was only one man—yet he was not the only one who died for his sin."

Then the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered the heads of the clans of Israel:

"The Mighty One, God, the LORD! The Mighty One, God, the LORD—he knows, and let Israel itself know! If this was done in rebellion or treachery against the LORD, then do not spare us this day.

If we built an altar to turn away from the LORD, or to offer burnt offerings and grain offerings on it, or to present fellowship offerings on it, may the LORD himself call us to account.

No—we did this out of concern, for we thought: In time to come your children might say to our children, 'What have you to do with the LORD, the God of Israel?

The LORD has set the Jordan as a boundary between us and you Reubenites and Gadites. You have no share in the LORD.' So your children might make our children stop fearing the LORD.

That is why we said, 'Let us now build this altar—not for burnt offerings or sacrifices,

but as a witness between us and you and the generations after us, that we too perform the service of the LORD before him with our burnt offerings, our sacrifices, and our fellowship offerings.' Then in time to come your children will not say to our children, 'You have no share in the LORD.'

And we said: If in time to come they say this to us or to our descendants, we will answer, 'Look at the replica of the LORD's altar that our fathers built—not for burnt offerings or sacrifices, but as a witness between us and you.'

Far be it from us to rebel against the LORD and turn away from him today by building an altar for burnt offerings, grain offerings, or sacrifices, other than the altar of the LORD our God that stands before his tabernacle."

When Phinehas the priest and the leaders of the assembly and the heads of the clans of Israel who were with him heard what the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the Manassites said, they were satisfied.

And Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest said to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the Manassites, "Today we know that the LORD is among us, because you have not committed this treachery against the LORD. Now you have delivered the Israelites from the hand of the LORD."

Then Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest and the leaders left the Reubenites and the Gadites in the land of Gilead and returned to the land of Canaan, to the Israelites, and reported to them.

The Israelites were satisfied with the report and praised God; they spoke no more of going up to wage war against them and ravaging the land where the Reubenites and Gadites lived.

And the Reubenites and the Gadites gave the altar this name: "A Witness Between Us That the LORD Is God."[^1] [^1]: The Hebrew text does not state the name itself; it reads simply "they named the altar, for it is a witness between us that the LORD is God." The name given here is drawn from the words that follow.

Nachschlagen

Zusammenfassung2

Kapitel 22

Main Theme: The Return of the Eastern Tribes and the Altar as a Witness to Unity in Faith in the Lord.

Content: Joshua sends the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half-tribe of Manasseh back to their territories east of the Jordan after they faithfully helped conquer Canaan. He exhorts them to love the Lord and keep His commandments. At the Jordan, they build a large altar, which causes the western tribes to fear apostasy and gather for war. However, the delegation led by the priest Phinehas learns that the altar is not for sacrifices but serves as a witness that the eastern tribes also belong to the Lord. The conflict is resolved, and unity is preserved.

Key Words/Images:

The Altar at the Jordan: A memorial testifying to the eastern tribes' belonging to the God of Israel, not a competing place of sacrifice.
Phinehas: The priest who leads the delegation and confirms that the tribes have not been unfaithful to the Lord.
Unfaithfulness (ma'al): The fear that one tribe's sin could bring God's judgment upon the entire people, as seen at Peor and with Achan.
Unity in Faith: The tribes' shared confession of faith in the Lord despite geographical separation.

Historischer Kontext

People

Phinehas, son of Eleazar the priest, plays a central role as the leader of the delegation sent to the Transjordan tribes. Phinehas was known for his zeal for the Lord, especially demonstrated during the Peor incident (Numbers 25:7-13), where he stopped a plague by killing an Israelite man and a Midianite woman. For this, he received the promise of "a covenant of an everlasting priesthood" (Numbers 25:12-13). It is significant that he specifically was sent in this situation—his presence underscores the seriousness of the accusation and his authority to judge religious matters. As the son of the high priest Eleazar, he represented the highest religious authority in Israel after his father.

The ten leaders who accompany Phinehas represent the western tribes, one from each tribe. This reflects Israel's tribe-based leadership structure where "heads of their fathers' houses" (רֹאשׁ בֵּית־אֲבוֹתָם) had authority to speak on behalf of their tribes in important matters.

Achan (עָכָן בֶּן־זֶרַח) is mentioned in verse 20 as a warning precedent. His treachery (ma'al) regarding the devoted things (Joshua 7) brought God's wrath upon all Israel, not just upon himself. This example is used to emphasize the danger that one person's sin can strike the entire people.

Places

Gilead (הַגִּלְעָד) designates the mountainous region east of the Jordan that was allotted to Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh. The area extends from the Arnon River in the south to Bashan in the north and was known for its pastures and balsam trees. The name's similarity to "Gal-Ed" (witness heap) from Genesis 31:47 provides an interesting resonance with the chapter's theme of the altar as a "witness."

Gelilot by the Jordan (גְּלִילוֹת הַיַּרְדֵּן)—the place where the altar was built—is geographically disputed. The word gelilot can mean "districts" or "circles/stone circles." Verse 10 places it "in the land of Canaan," while verse 11 describes it as "opposite the land of Canaan... on the Israelite side" (אֶל־עֵ֖בֶר בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל), making its exact location a matter of debate. Regardless of precise localization, the altar was visible and monumental—"a great altar" (מִזְבֵּ֥חַ גָּד֖וֹל).

Shiloh was at this time Israel's religious center where the tabernacle stood. From here the assembly gathered for war (v. 12), and this underscores the contrast between the one legitimate place of sacrifice and the seemingly rival altar.

Events and Customs

The Altar as a Witness (עֵד, ed) represents a known custom in the ancient Near East where monuments, stone heaps, or structures were erected as "witnesses" to agreements or boundaries. Similar practices are seen in Genesis 31:44-52, where Jacob and Laban raise a stone heap called Gal-Ed (גַּלְעֵד, "witness heap") as a witness to their covenant—an interesting parallel given that the Transjordan tribes' land is named Gilead. The Transjordan tribes' altar was explicitly not intended for sacrifices, but as a visual memorial for future generations—a "tavnit" (תַּבְנִית, "likeness/copy") of the Lord's altar.

Fear of Religious Centralization shown in the chapter reflects the tension between tribal autonomy and national religious unity. It was strictly forbidden to build alternative altars for sacrifice (Deuteronomy 12:5-14), and the assembly reacted by preparing for war—the prescribed response to idolatry in an Israelite city (Deuteronomy 13:13-16).

Key Terms

Ma'al (מַעַל)—"treachery" or "breach of faith"—is a key word that appears several times in the chapter (vv. 16, 20, 22, 31). The term denotes a serious offense against the Lord, often linked to sanctuary violations or covenant breaches. An accusation of ma'al was extremely serious and could result in capital punishment for the entire community.

The Sin of Peor (עֲוֺן פְּעוֹר, v. 17) refers to the incident in Numbers 25 where Israelites participated in idolatry and sexual immorality with Moabite women at Baal-Peor. This resulted in a plague that killed 24,000 (Numbers 25:9). The reference serves as a warning about collective punishment—one man's sin can strike the entire people.

"El, Elohim, YHWH" (אֵל אֱלֹהִים יְהוָה)—the triple divine designation in verse 22 is unusual and expresses a solemn oath. The repetition emphasizes that the Transjordan tribes are invoking God as witness with maximum seriousness, a practice known from other oath formulas in ancient Israel.

Personen10

Reuben (Leah's son)11 Joshua3 Achan1 Eleazar3 Jacob1 Gad (son of Zilpah)11 Phinehas4 Moses4 Zerah1 Manasse (Joseph's son)10

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Schlüsselwörter8

Joshua — The main character in the book and leader of Israel's people after Moses, who helps them take possession of the promised land.
Promised Land — The area God had promised to give to Israel's people, also known as Canaan.
Altar — A structure used for offering gifts and sacrifices to God as part of religious rituals and ceremonies.
Tribes — The twelve groups of Israel's people, each descending from one of Jacob's sons.
Peace — A state of harmony and absence of conflict between people or nations.
Reconciliation — The process of restoring a good relationship between people or groups who have been in conflict.
Obedience — The act of following God's commands and instructions, which is important for maintaining a good relationship with him.
Inheritance — Land and possessions given to Israel's tribes as part of God's promise.