That we have built us an altar to turn from following the LORD, or if to offer thereon burnt offering or meat offering, or if to offer peace offerings thereon, let the LORD himself require it;
| Word | Hebrew | Strong’s | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| built | לִבְנ֥וֹת liv.Not | H1129 | to build (literally and figuratively) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct |
| altar | מִזְבֵּ֔חַ miz.Be.ach | H4196 | an altar · noun, common masculine singular absolute |
| turn | לָשׁ֖וּב la.Shuv | H7725 | to turn back (hence · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct |
| following | מֵאַחֲרֵ֣י me.'a.cha.Rei | H310 | properly · preposition + cardinal number, masculine plural construct |
| LORD | יְהוָ֑ה Yah.weh | H3068 | Jehovah · proper noun, a title |
| offer | לְהַעֲל֨וֹת le.ha.'a.Lot | H5927 | to ascend · preposition + verb, hiphil infinitive construct |
| offering | עוֹלָ֣ה o.Lah | H5930 | a step or (collectively · noun, common feminine singular absolute |
| offering | וּמִנְחָ֗ה u.min.Chah | H4503 | a donation · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular absolute |
| offer | לַעֲשׂ֤וֹת la.'a.Sot | H6213 | to do or make · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct |
| peace | שְׁלָמִ֔ים she.la.Mim | H8002 | properly · noun, common masculine plural absolute |
| offerings | זִבְחֵ֣י ziv.Chei | H2077 | properly · noun, common masculine plural construct |
| LORD | יְהוָ֖ה Yah.weh | H3068 | Jehovah · proper noun, a title |
| require | יְבַקֵּֽשׁ ye.va.Kesh | H1245 | to search out (by any method · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular |
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].
The Lord God of gods - The original words are exceedingly emphatic, and cannot be easily translated. אל אלהים יהוה El Elohim Yehovah, are the three principal names by which the supreme God was known among the Hebrews, and may be thus translated, the strong God, Elohim, Jehovah, which is nearly the version of Luther, der starcte Gott der Herr, "The strong God the Lord." And the Reubenites, by using these in their very solemn appeal, expressed at once their strong unshaken faith in the God of Israel; and by this they fully showed the deputation from the ten tribes, that their religious creed had not been changed; and, in the succeeding part of their defense they show that their practice corres…
Read the whole note in the consoleThat we have built us an altar, to turn from following the Lord,.... That is, we desire, as we deserve, to be cut to pieces, and not saved, if it should appear to be our view, in building this altar, to revolt from the pure worship of God: or if to offer thereon burnt offering, or meat offering, or if to offer peace offerings; even to the Lord himself: they declare that as they had no design to apostatize from God, and worship idols, so it was not their intention to offer any kind of sacrifice on the altar they had built, even to the Lord himself; and they take notice of every kind of offering, to remove every charge of this sort from them, and to purge themselves of every imputation of thi…
Read the whole note in the consoleJoshua 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…
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).
In 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 swore by the name of the Lord that they were not guilty. • The instructions for sacrifices prescribed burnt offerings or grain offerings or peace offerings (Lev 1–3). At this time, Israel’s worship was centered at the Tabernacle in Shiloh. To offer sacrifices anywhere but the central sanctuary was a violation of God’s covenant.
Let Him prosecute—Let him punish us.
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).
