Therefore said we, that it shall be, when they should so say to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say again, Behold the pattern of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness between us and you.
| Word | Hebrew | Strong’s | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| said | וַנֹּ֕אמֶר va.No.mer | H559 | to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 1st person common plural |
| say | יֹאמְר֥וּ yo.me.Ru | H559 | to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural |
| generations | דֹּרֹתֵ֖ינוּ do.ro.Tei.nu | H1755 | properly · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix |
| come | מָחָ֑ר ma.Char | H4279 | properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute |
| say | וְאָמַ֡רְנוּ ve.'a.Mar.nu | H559 | to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 1st person common plural |
| Behold | רְא֣וּ re.'U | H7200 | to see · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural |
| pattern | תַּבְנִית֩ tav.Nit | H8403 | structure · noun, common feminine singular construct |
| altar | מִזְבַּ֨ח miz.Bach | H4196 | an altar · noun, common masculine singular construct |
| LORD | יְהוָ֜ה Yah.weh | H3068 | Jehovah · proper noun, a title |
| fathers | אֲבוֹתֵ֗ינוּ 'a.vo.Tei.nu | H1 | father · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix |
| made | עָשׂ֣וּ 'a.Su | H6213 | to do or make · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural |
| offerings | לְעוֹלָה֙ le.'o.Lah | H5930 | a step or (collectively · preposition + noun, common feminine singular absolute |
| sacrifices | לְזֶ֔בַח le.Ze.vach | H2077 | properly · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute |
| witness | עֵ֣ד 'ed | H5707 | concretely · noun, common masculine singular absolute |
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.
Therefore said we,.... To prevent any such usage of our children, and that they might have a ready answer to give: that it shall be, when they should so say unto us, or to our generations, in time to come; as above suggested, that they were a separate people from them, and had no interest in the Lord, nor right to his altar, nor concern in his worship: that we may say again; in reply, that is, our posterity: behold the pattern of the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made; which exactly agrees with the Mosaic altar, and which they could never have framed in so exact a manner if they had not seen it, and served at it; wherefore this was a plain proof of their being originally worshipper…
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…
"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 consoleThis altar was a copy, intended to be seen, not used.
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).
