And when Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the congregation and heads of the thousands of Israel which were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh spake, it pleased them.
| Word | Hebrew | Strong’s | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phinehas | פִּֽינְחָ֣ס pin.Chas | H6372 | Pinechas · proper noun, a man's name |
| priest | הַכֹּהֵ֗ן ha.ko.Hen | H3548 | literally one officiating · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute |
| princes | וּנְשִׂיאֵ֨י u.ne.si.'Ei | H5387 | properly · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct |
| congregation | הָעֵדָ֜ה ha.'e.Dah | H5712 | a stated assemblage (specifically · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute |
| heads | וְרָאשֵׁ֨י ve.ra.Shei | H7218 | the head (as most easily shaken) · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct |
| thousands | אַלְפֵ֤י 'al.Fei | H505 | hence (the ox's head being the first letter of the alph… · noun, common both genders plural construct |
| Israel | יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ Yis.ra.'El | H3478 | Jisrael · proper noun, a place name |
| heard | וַיִּשְׁמַ֞ע vai.yish.Ma' | H8085 | to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular |
| words | הַ֨דְּבָרִ֔ים ha.de.va.Rim | H1697 | a word · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute |
| children | בְּנֵי be.nei- | H1121 | a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct |
| Reuben | רְאוּבֵ֥ן 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 | גָ֖ד gad | H1410 | Gad · proper noun, a man's name |
| children | וּבְנֵ֣י u.ve.Nei | H1121 | a son (as a builder of the family name) · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct |
| Manasseh | מְנַשֶּׁ֑ה me.na.Sheh | H4519 | Menashsheh · proper noun, a man's name |
| spake | דִּבְּר֛וּ di.be.Ru | H1696 | perhaps properly · verb, piel perfect, 3rd person common plural |
| pleased | וַיִּיטַ֖ב vai.yi.Tav | H3190 | to be (causative) make well · conjunction + verb, qal sequential 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].
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.
And when Phinehas the priest,.... For he was, being the son of Eleazar the high priest, so the word "priest", Joshua 22:13; is to be joined, not to Eleazar but to Phinehas: and the princes of the congregation; the ten princes, who were sent by the congregation of Israel, one out of each tribe: and heads out of the thousands of Israel; these are the same with the princes, and this belongs to their title, who were heads of the Chiliarchs, or those who were rulers of thousands in Israel: which were with him; with Phinehas, who were joined with him in the embassy, and now present with him: heard the words that the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the children of Manasseh; sp…
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).
This explanation pleased the delegates of the congregation, so that Phinehas bore this testimony to the tribes on the east of the Jordan: "Now (to-day) we perceive that Jehovah is in the midst of us; because (אשׁר, quod, as in Gen 31:49, etc.) ye have not committed this unfaithfulness towards Jehovah, since (אז, then, if ye had only this intention) ye have saved the children of Israel out of the hand of Jehovah," i.e., preserved them from His judgments.
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).
