God forbid that we should rebel against the LORD, and turn this day from following the LORD, to build an altar for burnt offerings, for meat offerings, or for sacrifices, beside the altar of the LORD our God that is before his tabernacle.
| Word | Hebrew | Strong’s | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| forbid | חָלִילָה֩ cha.li.Lah | H2486 | literal fora profaned thing · interjection |
| rebel | לִמְרֹ֣ד lim.Rod | H4775 | to rebel · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct |
| LORD | בַּֽיהוָ֗ה ba.Yah.weh | H3068 | Jehovah · preposition + proper noun, a title |
| turn | וְלָשׁ֤וּב ve.la.Shuv | H7725 | to turn back (hence · conjunction + preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct |
| day | הַיּוֹם֙ hai.yOm | H3117 | a day (as the warm hours) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute |
| following | מֵאַחֲרֵ֣י me.'a.cha.Rei | H310 | properly · preposition + cardinal number, masculine plural construct |
| LORD | יְהוָ֔ה Yah.weh | H3068 | Jehovah · proper noun, a title |
| build | לִבְנ֣וֹת 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 |
| offerings | לְעֹלָ֖ה le.'o.Lah | H5930 | a step or (collectively · preposition + noun, common feminine singular absolute |
| offerings | לְמִנְחָ֣ה le.min.Chah | H4503 | a donation · preposition + noun, common feminine singular absolute |
| sacrifices | וּלְזָ֑בַח u.le.Za.vach | H2077 | properly · conjunction + preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute |
| altar | מִזְבַּח֙ miz.Bach | H4196 | an altar · noun, common masculine singular construct |
| LORD | יְהוָ֣ה Yah.weh | H3068 | Jehovah · proper noun, a title |
| God | אֱלֹהֵ֔ינוּ 'e.lo.Hei.nu | H430 | gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix |
| before | לִפְנֵ֥י lif.Nei | H6440 | the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct |
| tabernacle | מִשְׁכָּנֽוֹ mish.ka.No | H4908 | a residence (including a shepherd's hut · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 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].
God forbid that we should rebel - These words not only express their strong abhorrence of this crime, but also show that without God they could do no good thing, and that they depended upon him for that strength by which alone they could abstain from evil.
God forbid that we should rebel against the Lord,.... Against the command of the Lord, who ordered one altar to be made, to which all sacrifices were to be brought from the several parts of the land of Israel, and there to be offered on it; or "against the Word of the Lord,''as the Targum, Christ typified both by the altar and the sacrifices on it; and who is but one, one priest, one sacrifice, one altar, one Mediator and Saviour: and turn this day from following the Lord; apostatize from him, and from his worship: to build an altar for burnt offerings, for meat offerings, or for sacrifices; which was never our intention, or ever entered into our hearts to erect one for such a purpose: b…
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…
The speakers conclude with an expression of horror at the thought of rebelling against Jehovah. ממּנּוּ לנוּ חלילה, "far be it from us away from Him (ממּנּוּ = מיהוה, Sa1 24:7; Sa1 26:11; Kg1 21:3), to rebel against Jehovah," etc.
This 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).
