The Eastern Tribes Sent Home
1 Then Joshua called the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, 2 and said to them, “You have kept all that Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded you, and have listened to my voice in all that I commanded you. 3 You have not left your brothers these many days to this day, but have performed the duty of the commandment of Yahweh your God. 4 Now Yahweh your God has given rest to your brothers, as he spoke to them. Therefore now return and go to your tents, to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of Yahweh gave you beyond the Jordan. 5 Only take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded you, to love Yahweh your God, to walk in all his ways, to keep his commandments, to hold fast to him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.” 6 So Joshua blessed them, and sent them away; and they went to their tents. 7 Now to the one half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given inheritance in Bashan; but Joshua gave to the other half among their brothers beyond the Jordan westward. Moreover when Joshua sent them away to their tents, he blessed them, 8 and spoke to them, saying, “Return with much wealth to your tents, with very much livestock, with silver, with gold, with bronze, with iron, and with very much clothing. Divide the plunder of your enemies with your brothers.” 9 The children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned, and departed from the children of Israel out of Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead, to the land of their possession, which they owned, according to the commandment of Yahweh by Moses. 10 When they came to the region near the Jordan, that is in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan, a great altar to look at. 11 The children of Israel heard this, “Behold, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built an altar along the border of the land of Canaan, in the region around the Jordan, on the side that belongs to the children of Israel.” 12 When the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up against them to war. 13 The children of Israel sent to the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest. 14 With him were ten princes, one prince of a fathers’ house for each of the tribes of Israel; and they were each head of their fathers’ houses among the thousands of Israel. 15 They came to the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them, saying, 16 “The whole congregation of Yahweh says, ‘What trespass is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away today from following Yahweh, in that you have built yourselves an altar, to rebel today against Yahweh? 17 Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, although there came a plague on the congregation of Yahweh, 18 that you must turn away today from following Yahweh? It will be, since you rebel today against Yahweh, that tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel. 19 However, if the land of your possession is unclean, then pass over to the land of the possession of Yahweh, in which Yahweh’s tabernacle dwells, and take possession among us; but don’t rebel against Yahweh, nor rebel against us, in building an altar other than Yahweh our God’s altar. 20 Didn’t Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the devoted thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? That man didn’t perish alone in his iniquity.’”
Seven years' service is discharged with blessing and wealth — and one report of an altar brings Israel to the edge of civil war, with Peor and Achan as the reasons.
2 and said to them, “You have kept all that Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded you, and have listened to my voice in all that I commanded you. 3 You have not left your brothers these many days to this day, but have performed the duty of the commandment of Yahweh your God.
The book's longest-running promise is discharged. The eastern tribes had pledged their fighting men until their brothers had rest Joshua 1:16–18 Numbers 32:20–22; roughly seven years on, Joshua releases them with a commendation of pure faithfulness — these many days of war for land not theirs. His farewell charge compresses Deuteronomy into one sentence: love Yahweh your God... walk in all his ways... hold fast to him... serve him with all your heart and with all your soul Joshua 22:5 Deuteronomy 6:5 Deuteronomy 10:12 — and they go home wealthy, with orders to share the plunder with the brothers who stayed Joshua 22:8.
When they came to the region near the Jordan, that is in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan, a great altar to look at.
Then, at the river, they build — and the report that crosses the water is a spark in dry tinder: the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up against them to war Joshua 22:12. The escalation looks fanatical until the law is remembered: one altar, at the sanctuary, was the covenant's load-bearing wall Leviticus 17:8–9 Deuteronomy 12:13–14; a second altar meant a second worship, and the last generation had buried the cost of tolerated apostasy.
"Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us...? Didn't Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the devoted thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel?" Joshua 22:17 Joshua 22:20.
Before the swords, a delegation — Phinehas, whose spear had stopped Peor's plague Numbers 25:7–8, with ten princes Joshua 22:13–14 — and their indictment names its precedents. Peor: sin entertained, twenty-four thousand dead. Achan: one man's trespass, wrath on everyone — that man didn't perish alone in his iniquity. The theology driving the war party is the covenant's solidarity, learned in graves: in one body, no sin stays private Joshua 7:1 1 Corinthians 12:26. Even the offer folded into the accusation is generous at bottom — if the land of your possession is unclean, then pass over... and take possession among us Joshua 22:19: better to redraw the map and crowd the west bank than to split the worship.
The scene holds Israel at its best on its worst day: alarmed for God's honor, armed — and talking first, with its best men sent to ask before anyone strikes Deuteronomy 13:12–14 Matthew 18:15. Everything now depends on the answer from the east.
settled What this mark means