Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

17 tribes. And out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with her 18 suburbs, Geba with her suburbs, Anathoth with her suburbs, 19 and Almon with her suburbs; four cities. All the cities of the children of Aaron, the priests, [were] thirteen cities with their suburbs.

20

And the families of the children of Kohath, the Levites which remained of the children of Kohath, even they had the 21 cities of their lot out of the tribe of Ephraim. For they gave them Shechem with her suburbs in mount Ephraim, [to be] a city of refuge for the slayer; and Gezer with her suburbs, 22 And Kibzaim with her suburbs, and Bethhoron with her sub23 urbs; four cities. And out of the tribe of Dan, Eltekeh with 24 her suburbs, Gibbethon with her suburbs, Aijalon with her 25 suburbs, Gathrinimon with her suburbs; four cities. And out of the half tribe of Manasseh, Tanach with her suburbs, 26 and Gathrimmon with her suburbs; two cities. All the cities [were] ten with their suburbs for the families of the children of Kohath that remained.

27

And unto the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, out of the [other] half tribe of Manasseh [they gave] Golan in Bashan with her suburbs, [to be] a city of refuge for the slayer; and Beeshterah with her suburbs; two cities. 28 And out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishon with her suburbs, Da29 bareh with her suburbs, Jarmuth with her suburbs, Engan30 nim with her suburbs; four cities. And out of the tribe of

Asher, Mishal with her suburbs, Abdon with her suburbs, 31 Helkath with her suburbs, and Rehob with her suburbs; four 32 cities. And out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee

with her suburbs, [to be] a city of refuge for the slayer; and Hammothdor with her suburbs, and Kartan with her sub33 urbs; three cities. All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families [were] thirteen cities with their suburbs.

34 And upto the families of the children of Merari, the rest of the Levites, out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with her 35 suburbs, and Kartah with her suburbs, Dimnah with her sub36 urbs, Nahalal with her suburbs ; four cities. And out of the

tribe of Reuben, Bezer with her suburbs, and Jahazah with 37 her suburbs, Kedemoth with her suburbs, and Mephaath with 38 her suburbs; four cities. And out of the tribe of Gad, Ra

moth in Gilead with her suburbs, [to be] a city of refuge 39 for the slayer; and Mahanaim with her suburbs, Heshbon with her suburbs, Jazer with her suburbs ; four cities in all. 40 So all the cities for the children of Merari by their families, which were remaining of the families of the Levites, were 41 [by] their lot twelve cities. All the cities of the Levites

within the possession of the children of Israel [were] forty 42 and eight cities with their suburbs. These cities were

43

every one with their suburbs round about them: thus [were]

all these cities.

And the LORD gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt 44 therein. And the LORD gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the LORD deliv45 ered all their enemies into their hand. There failed not aught of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.

.

CHAP. XXII.

After the account of dividing the land in the preceding chapters, we have here the dismission of the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh; an account of the altar they built on their return, which gave offence to their brethren, who expostulate with them; they vindicate themselves, and all Israel is satisfied in this matter.

1

HEN, when the promises of God were fulfilled, and the

benites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh; he disbanded them, and sent them home with due encouragement 2 and commendation; And said unto them, Ye have kept all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, and 3 have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you: Ye have not left your brethren these many days unto this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the LORD your God: applauding their faithfulness and constancy, their bravery and steadiness, their obedience to Moses, and regard to God; and intimating, that they had behaved well in every re4 spect. And now the LORD your God hath given rest unto your brethren, as he promised them therefore now return ye, and get you unto your tents, [and] unto the land of your pos session, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side Jordan; sending them away, but, like a good 5 man, with good advice, adding, But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. So Joshua blessed them, prayed God to bless them, and sent them away; probably with some presents, some particular tokens of his regard, as being of the same tribe, and descended from Joseph, their common father; and they

7 went unto their tents. Now to the [one] half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given [possession] in Bashan: but unto the [other] half thereof gave Joshua among their brethren on this side Jordan westward. And when Joshua sent them away also unto their tents, then he blessed them, And he spake unto them, saying, Return with much riches unto your tents, and with very much cattle, with silver and with gold, and with brass, and with iron, and with very much raiment : divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren who are left at home, according to what God appointed, Num. xxxi. 27. in a similar case. This was but a proper token of regard to their brethren, of gratitude to God for sparing their own lives, and protecting their families during their absence. And 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 unto the country of Gilead, to the land of their possession, whereof they were possessed, according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses.

10

And when they came unto the borders of Jordan, that [are] in the land of Canaan, on the brink of the river, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by Jordan, a great altar to see to, that is, high and conspicuous, that might be seen a great way off.

And the children of Israel heard say, Behold, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manassah have built an altar in their own country, over against the land of Canaan, in the borders of Jordan, at the passage of the children of Israel, where the waters were miraculously di12 vided. And when the other tribes of the children of Israel heard [of it,] the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up to war against them, according to the command in Deuteronomy xiii. 15. It was natural to infer they would sacrifice on this altar, and whether to the true God, or any other, it was equally forbidden. It had an ill appearance; and however prudent their design 3 was, they should first have consulted God or Joshua. And the children of Israel sent unto 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 And with him ten princes, of each chief house a prince throughout all the tribes of Israel; and each one [was] an head of the house of their fathers among the thousands of Israel. This was proper and prudent, as they were brethren, had behaved well, and shown great regard to Israel, and the God of Israel. They sent to inquire into the matter; a chief man from each tribe, to show they were all unanimous ; and

[ocr errors]

Phinehas, the son of the high priest, who was eminent for piety and zeal, and well knew the law in this case, was probably the 1,5 spokesman. And they came unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, unto the land of Gilead, and they spake with them, saying, 16 Thus saith the whole congregation of the LORD, What trespass [is] this that ye have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the LORD, in that ye have builded you an altar, that ye might rebel this day against the LORD? They accused them of a great trespass, and rebellion against God; committed on the very day when Joshua had just charged them, and they were returning in safety to their families this was indeed rather too hasty, before they had inquired for what end the altar was built; but their fears were alarmed, lest God should be angry, as in former times; and 17 therefore they add, [Is] the iniquity of Peor too little for us, the worship of Baalpeor, (Num. xxv. 3, 4.) which brought a plague that destroyed twenty four thousand? is it not enough that we provoked God to wrath then, but must we provoke him again now? from which we are not cleansed until this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the LORD, the scandal of which still remained; or rather the infection of it 18 and inclination to it; But that ye must turn away this day from following the LORD? and it will be, [seeing] ye rebel today against the LORD, that tomorrow he will be wroth with the whole congregation of Israel; that is, very soon he will be 19 wroth with you, and with all Israel for permitting it: Notwithstanding, if the land of your possession [be] unclean for want of a tabernacle and an altar, [then] pass ye over unto the land of the possession of the LORD, wherein the LORD's tabernacle dwelleth, and take possession among us; a very fair and friendly proposal: but rebel not against the LORD, nor rebel against us, in building you an altar beside the altar of the LORD our God. This expresses great zeal for God, and great pity and charity to their brethren. They only insist upon it that they do not rebel against God, and break the common bond by which they were all united to him and one another. To enforce 20 this they add, Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? and that man perished not alone in his iniquity, his family perished with him, and part of Israel before Ai. Thus, like good magistrates, they were solicitous to remove public vice, lest it should bring ruin on the nation.

21

Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh replied with a great deal of good sense, piety, and candour; and though the speech of their brethren was ill grounded, they did not warmly resent it, but, with all seriousness and mildness, answered and said unto the heads of

22 the thousands of Israel, 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 23 us not this day,) That we have built us an altar to turn from following the LORD, or if to offer thereon burnt offering or meat offering, or if to offer peace offerings thereon, let the LORD himself require [it,] let him punish us for it. They ap peal to God for this in the most solemn manner, mention his name with the highest reverence; He knows we had no such design, and Israel shall know; we will make our integrity appear to all our brethren, by our future carriage, that we had no such design as you charge us with. Then they explain the true rea24 son; And if we have not [rather] done it for fear of [this] thing, with the greatest anxiety lest any such thing should hap pen, saying, In time to come your children might speak unto our children, saying, What have ye to do with the Lord God 25 of Israel? For the LORD hath made Jordan a border between us and you, ye children of Reuben and children of Gad; ye have no part in the LORD, no right to serve him, or expect any favour from him; so shall your children make our children cease from fearing the LORD, from making profession of his 26 name, and worshipping him according to his will. Therefore

we said, Let us now prepare to build us an altar, not for burnt 27 offering, nor for sacrifice: But [that] it [may be] a witness between us, and you, and our generations after us, that we might do the service of the LORD before him with our burnt offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace offer ings; that your children may not say to our children in time to come, Ye have no part in the LORD; let it be a lasting monument, to testify to succeeding ages that we have a true right 28 in the same God and his worship with you. Therefore said we, that it shall be, when they should [so] say to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say [again,] Behold the pattern of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifices; but it [is] a wit29 ness between us and you. God forbid that we should rebel against the LORD, and turn this day from following the LORD, to build an altar for burnt offerings, for meat offerings, or for sacrifices, beside the altar of the LORD our God that [is] before his tabernacle. Thus declaring, in the strongest manner, their utter abhorrence and detestation of any such design.

30

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. They neither questioned their sincerity, nor blamed their imprudence or rashness, but were fully satisfied 31 with their apology. And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the

« AnteriorContinuar »