Joshua 22:21, commentary and pictures

The verse is the opening of the reply made by the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh, through their representatives, to the heads of the thousands of Israel, that is to Phinehas and the princes sent to them. Those who answer are the two and a half tribes who had received their inheritance on the east before crossing the Jordan, having chosen the wide upland plains and rich forests of Gilead and Bashan as grazing land for their flocks and herds, for they were a pastoral people. They had pledged a proportion of their armed men to cross the Jordan with their brethren and share their battles until the rest also entered their inheritance, so forty thousand prepared for war passed over to the plains of Jericho and fought bravely beside their brethren for years. They then returned with much riches, with very much cattle and with silver and gold and brass and iron and very much clothing, to share with those who had remained behind with the families and flocks, to dwell at a distance from the sanctuary where isolation and a wandering life brought strong temptation to fall into the customs of the heathen tribes on their borders.

Their reply comes in the midst of a serious misunderstanding in which the other tribes, remembering the divine rebuke over Achan's sin and acting from zeal to guard Israel from sin and to defend true worship, suspected them of abandoning the worship of Israel and sharply censured them without first courteously asking what had happened. In answering, they courteously allowed Phinehas to finish his discourse before defending themselves, showed no anger or resentment at ungrounded suspicion and sharp rebuke, and in a sincere and solemn manner declared their innocence, appealing to the Lord who knew their hearts to testify against them if at fault and admitting that their lives would justly be forfeited if guilty of the sin charged against them. They then explained their motive, that they feared their children in future years might be excluded from the tabernacle as having no part in Israel, so the altar they had built after the pattern of the altar of the Lord at Shiloh would stand as a witness that its builders were also worshipers of the living God.

Their candid explanation and measured conduct convinced the ambassadors that their hearts were still true to the God of Jacob, so all thoughts of war were dismissed and Israel was united in rejoicing and praise to God, thereby preventing a conflict that could have cost many lives. The episode thus makes the verse a lesson in Christian forbearance, teaching that one unjustly suspected or censured should answer with meekness and forbearance rather than with anger or retaliation. Its setting likewise teaches that zeal to defend true religion and to oppose sin must be joined with care to learn the facts, since mistaken suspicion can lead to grave harm, and believers must avoid both laxness toward sin and harsh, groundless judgment.