TEXT [Commentary]

2.   Israel’s confrontation of the Transjordanian tribes (22:10-20)

10 But while they were still in Canaan, and when they came to a place called Geliloth[*] near the Jordan River, the men of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh stopped to build a large and imposing altar.

11 The rest of Israel heard that the people of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had built an altar at Geliloth at the edge of the land of Canaan, on the west side of the Jordan River. 12 So the whole community of Israel gathered at Shiloh and prepared to go to war against them. 13 First, however, they sent a delegation led by Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, to talk with the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. 14 In this delegation were ten leaders of Israel, one from each of the ten tribes, and each the head of his family within the clans of Israel.

15 When they arrived in the land of Gilead, they said to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, 16 “The whole community of the LORD demands to know why you are betraying the God of Israel. How could you turn away from the LORD and build an altar for yourselves in rebellion against him? 17 Was our sin at Peor not enough? To this day we are not fully cleansed of it, even after the plague that struck the entire community of the LORD. 18 And yet today you are turning away from following the LORD. If you rebel against the LORD today, he will be angry with all of us tomorrow.

19 “If you need the altar because the land you possess is defiled, then join us in the LORD’s land, where the Tabernacle of the LORD is situated, and share our land with us. But do not rebel against the LORD or against us by building an altar other than the one true altar of the LORD our God. 20 Didn’t divine anger fall on the entire community of Israel when Achan, a member of the clan of Zerah, sinned by stealing the things set apart for the LORD[*]? He was not the only one who died because of his sin.”

NOTES

22:10 Geliloth near the Jordan River. Lit., “the circles of the Jordan” (cf. NLT mg); so also in 22:11.

22:11 on the west side. This phrase does not occur in the Hebrew text. See commentary below.

22:13 sent a delegation. This was in accordance with Moses’s instruction (Deut 13:12-15).

22:14 the ten tribes. These were the tribes west of the Jordan, not counting Levi, but counting both Ephraim and western Manasseh as separate tribes.

22:16 The whole community of the LORD demands to know. Lit., “Thus says all the congregation of Yahweh.” This is a typical introduction to a messenger report in the ancient Near East throughout much of the biblical record. The delegation brought the message the 10 tribes had agreed on when they met at Shiloh upon hearing of the altar at the Jordan.

22:17 Peor. See Num 25.

22:20 Achan. See ch 7.

COMMENTARY [Text]

Given its syntax, and the context of this entire episode, we are justified in translating 22:10: “And they came to the districts [circles] of the Jordan that [still] are in the land of Canaan, and there the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and those of the half-tribe of Manasseh built an altar upon [the bank of] the Jordan, a large, impressive-looking altar [lit., an altar large for seeing].” Geliloth is not the place name of 18:17, nor is it Gilgal (4:19); neither was on the bank of the Jordan as this altar was. We should understand “circles” here in the sense of “districts” of the Jordan, i.e., the area bounded on the east by the Jordan River. Given that these districts are noted emphatically as being “in the land of Canaan” (22:10), we hardly can conclude, from verse 10 alone, anything other than that the altar upon the Jordan also was on its west bank.

The ambiguous language of 22:11, though, allows Boling (1982:511-512) and others to conclude differently. One may reasonably translate verse 11, “Then the Israelites heard that the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the people of the half-tribe of Manasseh had built the altar towards the land of Canaan, at the circles of the Jordan, over against [i.e., across from] the Israelites.” Boling makes several excellent observations on 22:10-11. He suggests the Transjordanian tribes may have built their altar at Shittim, Israel’s original encampment in the plains of Moab east of the Jordan, as in 2:1.

Thus, verse 10 indicates the Transjordanian tribes built the offending altar on the west side of the Jordan, “in the land of Canaan.” Verse 11 places it (though with a bit less certainty) on the east side of the Jordan “towards the land of Canaan,” and “over against the [other] Israelites.” Which was it? We cannot be sure, but the reasoning of the Transjordanian tribes for their building this altar in the first place may favor a location on the east side of the Jordan. They wanted a conspicuous memorial, visible from both sides (v. 10). They also wanted a teaching aid for both sides of the Jordan, so their descendants could not be prevented from coming across the Jordan to worship with (and as part of) Israel (vv. 24-28).

The easterners’ fears were not unfounded. This is conveyed subtly but clearly in the author’s use of “the Israelites” six times in 22:9-13 to refer to the westerners only, excluding the easterners even in the way this narrative was reported and passed down. This may not have been the author/compiler’s own attitude, but the westerners already, at least by implication, were excluding their eastern kin from identity with “Israel.” This attitude usually was not expressed openly, but neither was it far below the surface through much of Israel’s subsequent history.

When they heard of the newly built altar, the western tribes interpreted it as a violation of commands such as those found in Leviticus 17:8-9 and Deuteronomy 13:12-15. Their war preparations were consonant with God’s instructions for such cases as they thought they faced now. God’s instructions included investigation, however, so sending a delegation (22:13) came first. Arrows shot from a bow cannot be summoned back.

The questions and accusations of the delegation were direct and hard-hitting. The modern reader may be startled at the nondiplomatic language. But these leaders of Israel had good reason to be forceful in making sure nothing happened to bring God’s wrath upon the nation again. Two such episodes had happened already, too recently for them to be calm about this new altar. It certainly looked like the beginning of another rebellion. The Hebrew of the first accusatory question is, “What is this trespass you have trespassed against the God of Israel?” The noun and the verb are from the same root, and both are also used in introducing the episode of Achan’s trespass (7:1). The delegation went on to make their fear of a repeat of Achan’s sin explicit (22:20). “Our sin at Peor” (22:17) refers to the idolatrous rebellion in Moab, just as Israel was about to enter Canaan (Num 25). Phinehas, the leader of this delegation, had acted to save Israel from complete destruction at that time. He did not want to see any part of Israel turn away from God again.

Again, the subtle division between the two groups shows up in the phrase, “the LORD’s land,” applied to the land west of the Jordan (22:19). Strictly in terms of promise, there is justification for that phrasing in the consistent wording of God’s promises of the land to include Canaan west of the Jordan, but without reference to Transjordan. But it is important to note, further, that the delegation from the western tribes also made a very generous offer, demonstrating their commitment to national unity in faithfulness to God. The well-being of their eastern kin was more important to them than the size of their own portions in the Land of Promise. This would have been a difficult arrangement to carry out, so it is a mark of the seriousness of the situation, in the eyes of the westerners, that they made the offer.