But that it may be a witness between us, and you, and our generations after us, that we might do the service of the LORD before him with our burnt offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings; that your children may not say to our children in time to come, Ye have no part in the LORD.
| Word | Hebrew | Strong’s | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| witness | עֵ֨ד 'ed | H5707 | concretely · noun, common masculine singular absolute |
| generations | דֹּרוֹתֵינוּ֮ do.ro.tei.Nu | H1755 | properly · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix |
| after | אַחֲרֵינוּ֒ 'a.cha.rei.Nu | H310 | properly · cardinal number, masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix |
| do | לַעֲבֹ֞ד la.'a.Vod | H5647 | to work (in any sense) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct |
| service | עֲבֹדַ֤ת 'a.vo.Dat | H5656 | work of any kind · noun, common feminine singular construct |
| LORD | יְהוָה֙ Yah.weh | H3068 | Jehovah · proper noun, a title |
| before |
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].
An altar, not for burnt-offering, nor for sacrifice - Because this would have been in flat opposition to the law, Lev 17:8, Lev 17:9; Deu 12:4-6, Deu 12:10, Deu 12:11, Deu 12:13, Deu 12:14, which most positively forbade any sacrifice or offering to be made in any other place than that one which the Lord should choose. Therefore the altar built by the Reubenites, etc., was for no religious purpose, but merely to serve as a testimony that they were one people with those on the west of Jordan, having the same religious and civil constitution, and bound by the same interests to keep that constitution inviolate.
But that it may be a witness between us and you, and our generations after us,.... That we are one people, worship one God, and serve at one altar, of which this built was a resemblance, and would put them in mind of it: that we might do the service of the Lord before him; in the tabernacle, and at the altar, in the place where he had chosen to put his name and dwell: with our burnt offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings; to be brought at stated times, or as occasion required: that your children may not say to our children, in time to come, ye have no part in the Lord; nor right to his altar, and so forbid them offering their sacrifices on it; or"have no part in…
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…
And in the sacrifices of our salvation. As the sacrifices are spoken in the plural, that is why the salvations are also in the plural. But we must pay close attention to the fact that it is often called "sacrifice of salvation", because if we accept that Christ is called God's salvation (Le 2,30), we do not see how this word could be understood in the plural. For one is only our Lord Jesus Christ, (Cf 1Co 8,6) although some may be called Christ by his grace, as the psalm reads: Do not touch my Christians (Ps. 104,15). But we should not easily dare to say that we could say saludos (salutares) or salvaciones (salutaria), because he alone is the savior of the body (Eph. 5,23).
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
| H6440 |
| the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular |
| offerings | בְּעֹלוֹתֵ֥ינוּ be.'o.lo.Tei.nu | H5930 | a step or (collectively · preposition + noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix |
| sacrifices | וּבִזְבָחֵ֖ינוּ u.viz.va.Chei.nu | H2077 | properly · conjunction + preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix |
| offerings | וּבִשְׁלָמֵ֑ינוּ u.vish.la.Mei.nu | H8002 | properly · conjunction + preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix |
| children | בְנֵיכֶ֤ם ve.nei.Khem | H1121 | a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural |
| say | יֹאמְר֨וּ yo.me.Ru | H559 | to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural |
| children | לְבָנֵ֔ינוּ le.va.Nei.nu | H1121 | a son (as a builder of the family name) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix |
| come | מָחָר֙ ma.Char | H4279 | properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute |
| part | חֵ֖לֶק Che.lek | H2506 | properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute |
| LORD | בַּיהוָֽה ba.Yah.weh | H3068 | Jehovah · preposition + proper noun, a title |
"So we thought, we will make ourselves to build an altar (an expression derived from the language of ordinary life, for 'we will build ourselves an altar'), not for burnt-offerings and slain-offerings; but it shall be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we may perform the service of Jehovah before His face (i.e., before the tabernacle in which Jehovah was enthroned), with our burnt-offerings, slain-offerings, and peace-offerings," - in order, as they repeat in Jos 22:27 from Jos 22:24, Jos 22:25, that they might not be denied a part in Jehovah in time to come. For if it should so happen in time to come, that this should be said to them and to their descen…
Read the whole note in the consoleThe altar near the bank of the Jordan would stand as a memorial (literally witness) through the generations that the eastern tribes were also part of Israel.
Rather it will bear witness that we have not withdrawn ourselves from the law governing the altar.
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).
