Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh answered, and said unto the heads of the thousands of Israel,
| Word | Hebrew | Strong’s | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| children | בְּנֵי be.nei- | H1121 | a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct |
| Reuben | רְאוּבֵ֣ן re.'u.Ven | H7205 | Reuben · proper noun, a man's name |
| children | וּבְנֵי u.ve.nei- | H1121 | a son (as a builder of the family name) · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct |
| Gad | גָ֔ד Gad | H1410 | Gad · proper noun, a man's name |
| half | וַחֲצִ֖י va.cha.Tzi | H2677 | the half or middle · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct |
| tribe | שֵׁ֣בֶט She.vet | H7626 | a scion · noun, common masculine singular construct |
| Manasseh | הַֽמְנַשֶּׁ֑ה ham.na.Sheh | H4519 | Menashsheh · definite article + noun, gentilic both genders singular absolute |
| answered | וַֽיַּעֲנוּ֙ vai.ya.'a.Nu | H6030 | properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural |
| said | וַֽיְדַבְּר֔וּ vay.da.be.Ru | H1696 | perhaps properly · conjunction + verb, piel sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural |
| heads | רָאשֵׁ֖י ra.Shei | H7218 | the head (as most easily shaken) · noun, common masculine plural construct |
| thousands | אַלְפֵ֥י 'al.Fei | H505 | hence (the ox's head being the first letter of the alph… · noun, common both genders plural construct |
| Israel | יִשְׂרָאֵֽל Yis.ra.'El | H3478 | Jisrael · proper noun, a place name |
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Then the children of Reuben . . . answered--repudiating, in the strongest terms, the alleged crime, and deponing that so far from entertaining the intention imputed to them, their only object was to perpetuate the memory of their alliance with Israel [Jos 22:24-25], and their adherence to the worship of Israel's God [Jos 22:26-27].
Then the children of Reuben - answered - Though conscious of their own innocency they permitted Phinehas to finish his discourse, though composed of little else than accusations; there was a decency in this, and such a full proof of good breeding, as does them the highest credit. There are many public assemblies in the present day which lay claim to the highest refinement, who might take a very useful lesson from these Reubenites and their associates.
Then the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, answered,.... By some person whom they appointed to deliver the answer in their name: and said unto the heads of the thousands of Israel; who were over those that were rulers of the thousands of Israel, persons of greater authority than they, being princes of the respective tribes to which they belonged.
Joshua 22:21-34 21. Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh answered, and said unto the heads of the thousands of Israel, 21. Responderunt autem filii Ruben, et filii Gad, et dimidia tribus Manasse, loquutique sunt cum principibus millium Israel. 22. The LORD God of gods, the LORD God of gods, he knoweth, and Israel he shall know; if it be in rebellion, or if in transgression against the LORD, (save us not this day,) 22. Deus deorum Jehova, Deus deorum Jehova ipse novit, et Israel cognoscet, si per rebellionem, et si per prevaricationem in Jehovam, ne serves nos die hac. 23. That we have built us an altar to turn from following the LORD, or if…
Read the whole note in the consoleIn utter amazement at the suspicion expressed by the delegates of the congregation, the two tribes and a half affirm with a solemn oath, that it never entered into their minds to build an altar as a place of sacrifice, to fall away from Jehovah. The combination of the three names of God-El, the strong one; Elohim, the Supreme Being to be feared; and Jehovah, the truly existing One, the covenant God (Jos 22:22), - serves to strengthen the invocation of God, as in Psa 50:1; and this is strengthened still further by the repetition of these three names. God knows, and let Israel also know, sc., what they intended, and what they have done. The אם which follows is the usual particle used in an oat…
Read the whole note in the consoleThe eastern tribes defended their action.
If the land of Your posession is impure. Since the Holy blessed is He, did not choose to rest His Presence there. Do not rebel against us.—וְאוֹתָנוּ אַל תִּמְרדוּ This is the same as—וּבָּנוּ אַל תִּמְרדוּ
Henry, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, Clarke, Gill, Calvin and Keil & Delitzsch are in the public domain; Tyndale Open Study Notes © Tyndale House Publishers, CC BY-SA 4.0 — all from the Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org). Rashi: the Rosenbaum & Silbermann Pentateuch (public domain) and the Judaica Press and Metsudah Tanakh (CC BY), via Sefaria. Spurgeon's Treasury of David: public domain (lyteword's markdown edition, CC0).
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
