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Geneva Bible

Joshua 22:21

Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad, and halfe the tribe of Manasseh answered, and saide vnto the heads ouer the thousands of Israel,

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Government;   Haste;   Misjudgment;   Motive;   Phinehas;   Prudence;   Reubenites;   Uncharitableness;   War;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Gad, the Tribe of;   Reuben, the Tribe of;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Phinehas;   Reuben;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Manasseh;   Thousands;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Jordan;   Pentateuch;   Phinehas;   Holman Bible Dictionary - High Priest;   Joshua, the Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Joshua;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Phinehas ;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Phin'ehas;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Altar;   Government of the Hebrews;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Conquest of Canaan;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Altar;   Joshua, Book of;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh answered the heads of the Israelite clans,
Hebrew Names Version
Then the children of Re'uven and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Menashsheh answered, and spoke to the heads of the thousands of Yisra'el,
King James Version
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,
Lexham English Bible
And the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh spoke with the heads of the clans of Israel,
English Standard Version
Then the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh said in answer to the heads of the families of Israel,
New Century Version
The people from Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh answered,
New English Translation
The Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered the leaders of the Israelite clans:
Amplified Bible
Then the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered and said to the heads of the families of Israel,
New American Standard Bible
Then the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered and spoke to the heads of the families of Israel.
Legacy Standard Bible
Then the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered and spoke to the heads of the thousands of Israel.
Contemporary English Version
The tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh answered:
Complete Jewish Bible
Then the descendants of Re'uven, the descendants of Gad and the half-tribe of M'nasheh answered the leaders of the thousands of Isra'el:
Darby Translation
And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh answered and said to the heads of the thousands of Israel,
Easy-to-Read Version
The people from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh answered the eleven men. They said,
George Lamsa Translation
Then the Reubenites the Gadites and the half tribe of Manasseh answered and said to Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest and to the heads of the armies of Israel,
Good News Translation
The people of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh answered the heads of the families of the western tribes:
Literal Translation
And the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh answered and spoke with the heads of the thousands of Israel,
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Then answered the children of Ruben, and the children of Gad, and the halfe trybe of Manasse, and sayde vnto the heades and prynces of Israel:
American Standard Version
Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered, and spake unto the heads of the thousands of Israel,
Bible in Basic English
Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh said in answer to the heads of the families of Israel,
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Then the chyldren of Ruben, and the chyldren of Gad, and the halfe tribe of Manasses aunswered, and sayde vnto the heades ouer the thousandes of Israel:
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered, and spoke unto the heads of the thousands of Israel:
King James Version (1611)
Then the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the halfe tribe of Manasseh, answered and saide vnto the heads of the thousands of Israel,
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the sons of Ruben, and the sons of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasse answered, and spoke to the captains of the thousands of Israel, saying,
English Revised Version
Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh answered, and spake unto the heads of the thousands of Israel,
Berean Standard Bible
Then the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered the leaders of the clans of Israel,
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the sones of Ruben, and of Gad, and of half the lynage of Manasses, answeriden to the princes of the message of Israel,
Young's Literal Translation
And the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and the half of the tribe of Manasseh, answer and speak with the heads of the thousands of Israel:
Update Bible Version
Then the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered, and spoke to the heads of the thousands of Israel,
Webster's Bible Translation
Then the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered, and said to the heads of the thousands of Israel,
World English Bible
Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered, and spoke to the heads of the thousands of Israel,
New King James Version
Then the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh answered and said to the heads of the divisions [fn] of Israel:
New Living Translation
Then the people of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered the heads of the clans of Israel:
New Life Bible
Then the people of Reuben and Gad and the half-family group of Manasseh answered the leaders of the families of Israel, saying,
New Revised Standard
Then the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh said in answer to the heads of the families of Israel,
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then responded the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh, - and spake unto the heads of the thousands of Israel:
Douay-Rheims Bible
And the children of Ruben, and of Gad, and of the half tribe of Manasses answered the princes of the embassage of Israel:
Revised Standard Version
Then the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manas'seh said in answer to the heads of the families of Israel,
THE MESSAGE
The Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh replied to the heads of the tribes of Israel: The God of Gods is God , The God of Gods is God ! "He knows and he'll let Israel know if this is a rebellious betrayal of God . And if it is, don't bother saving us. If we built ourselves an altar in rebellion against God , if we did it to present on it Whole-Burnt-Offerings or Grain-Offerings or to enact there sacrificial Peace-Offerings, let God decide. "But that's not it. We did it because we cared. We were anxious lest someday your children should say to our children, ‘You're not connected with God , the God of Israel! God made the Jordan a boundary between us and you. You Reubenites and Gadites have no part in God .' And then your children might cause our children to quit worshiping God . "So we said to ourselves, ‘Let's do something. Let's build an altar—but not for Whole-Burnt-Offerings, not for sacrifices.' "We built this altar as a witness between us and you and our children coming after us, a witness to the Altar where we worship God in his Sacred Dwelling with our Whole-Burnt-Offerings and our sacrifices and our Peace-Offerings. "This way, your children won't be able to say to our children in the future, ‘You have no part in God .' "We said to ourselves, ‘If anyone speaks disparagingly to us or to our children in the future, we'll say: Look at this model of God 's Altar which our ancestors made. It's not for Whole-Burnt-Offerings, not for sacrifices. It's a witness connecting us with you.' "Rebelling against or turning our backs on God is the last thing on our minds right now. We never dreamed of building an altar for Whole-Burnt-Offerings or Grain-Offerings to rival the Altar of our God in front of his Sacred Dwelling." Phinehas the priest, all the heads of the congregation, and the heads of the military divisions of Israel who were also with him heard what the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had to say. They were satisfied. Priest Phinehas son of Eleazar said to Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, "Now we're convinced that God is present with us since you haven't been disloyal to God in this matter. You saved the People of Israel from God 's discipline." Then Priest Phinehas son of Eleazar left the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh (from Gilead) and, with the chiefs, returned to the land of Canaan to the People of Israel and gave a full report. They were pleased with the report. The People of Israel blessed God—there was no more talk of attacking and destroying the land in which the Reubenites and Gadites were living. Reuben and Gad named the altar: A Witness Between Us. God Alone Is God.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered and spoke to the heads of the families of Israel.

Contextual Overview

21 Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad, and halfe the tribe of Manasseh answered, and saide vnto the heads ouer the thousands of Israel, 22 The Lorde God of gods, the Lorde God of gods, he knoweth, and Israel himselfe shal know: if by rebellion, or by transgression against ye Lord we haue done it, saue thou vs not this day. 23 If we haue built vs an altar to returne away from the Lord, either to offer thereon burnt offering, or meate offering, or to offer peace offerings thereon, let the Lord himselfe require it: 24 And if we haue not rather done it for feare of this thing, saying, In time to come your children might say vnto our children, What haue ye to doe with the Lord God of Israel? 25 For the Lorde hath made Iorden a border betweene vs and you, ye children of Reuben, and of Gad: therefore ye haue no part in the Lord: so shall your children make our children cease from fearing the Lord. 26 Therefore we said, We will nowe go about to make vs an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice, 27 But it shall be a witnesse betweene vs and you, and betweene our generations after vs, to execute the seruice of the Lorde before him in our burnt offerings, and in our sacrifices, and in our peace offerings, and that your children should not say to our children in time to come, Ye haue no part in the Lord. 28 Therefore said we, If so be that they should so say to vs or to our generations in time to come, then will we answere, Beholde the facion of the altar of the Lorde, which our fathers made, not for burnt offering nor for sacrifice, but it is a witnesse betweene vs and you. 29 God forbid, that we should rebell against the Lord, and turne this day away from the Lorde to builde an altar for burnt offering, or for meate offering, or for sacrifice, saue the altar of the Lord our God, that is before his Tabernacle.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Then the children: The conduct and answer of these Reubenites and the associates are worthy of admiration and imitation. Though conscious of their innocence, they permitted Phinehas to finish his speech, though composed of little else than accusations, without any interruption; and taking in good part the suspicions, reproofs, and even harshness of their brethren, with the utmost meekness and solemnity they explain their intention, give all the satisfaction in their power, and with great propriety and reverence, appeal to that God against whom they were supposed to have rebelled.

answered: Proverbs 15:1, Proverbs 16:1, Proverbs 18:13, Proverbs 24:26, Acts 11:4, James 1:19, 1 Peter 3:15

heads: Exodus 18:21-25, Micah 5:2

Cross-References

Genesis 22:1
And after these things God did proue Abraham, and said vnto him, Abraham. Who answered, Here am I.
Genesis 22:12
Then he said, Lay not thine hand vpon the childe, neither doe any thing vnto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing for my sake thou hast not spared thine onely sonne.
Genesis 24:10
So the seruant tooke ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed: (for he had all his masters goods in his hand:) and so he arose, and went to Aram Naharaim, vnto the citie of Nahor.
Numbers 23:7
Then he vttered his parable, and sayde, Balak the king of Moab hath brought mee from Aram out of the mountaines of the East, saying, Come, curse Iaakob for my sake: come, and detest Israel.
Job 1:1
There was a man in the lande of Vz called Iob, & this man was an vpright and iust man, one that feared God, and eschewed euill.
Job 32:2
Then the wrath of Elihu the sonne of Barachel the Buzite, of the familie of Ram, was kindled: his wrath, I say, was kindled against Iob, because he iustified himselfe more then God.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, answered,.... By some person whom they appointed to deliver the answer in their name:

and said unto the heads of the thousands of Israel; who were over those that were rulers of the thousands of Israel, persons of greater authority than they, being princes of the respective tribes to which they belonged.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Joshua 22:21. Then the children of Reuben - answered — Though conscious of their own innocency they permitted Phinehas to finish his discourse, though composed of little else than accusations; there was a decency in this, and such a full proof of good breeding, as does them the highest credit. There are many public assemblies in the present day which lay claim to the highest refinement, who might take a very useful lesson from these Reubenites and their associates.


 
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