Commentary on Joshua - Keil & Delitzsch - David Cox

Keil and Delitzsch <strong>Commentary</strong> on the Old Testament
Return of the Two Tribes and a Half to Their Own Inheritance. Ch. 22.
Joshua 22:1-8
Then Joshua called the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of
Manasseh,
After the conquest and division of the land, Joshua sent the auxiliaries of the tribes of
Reuben, Gad, and half Manasseh back to their homes, with a laudatory
acknowledgment of the help they had given to their brethren, and a paternal
admonition to adhere faithfully to the Lord and His law, and with a parting blessing
(vv. 1-6). By the expression "then Joshua called," etc., the occurrence described in
this chapter is placed in a general manner after the conquest and subjugation of
Canaan, though not of necessity at the close of the distribution of the land. As the
summons to these tribes to go with their brethren into Canaan, to assist them in the
war, formed the commencement of Joshua's plans for the conquest of Canaan (Josh
1:12ff.), their dismission to their home very properly forms the conclusion to the
history of the conquest of this land by the Israelites. We might therefore assume,
without in any way contradicting the words of the text, that these auxiliaries had been
dismissed immediately after the war was ended. Even in that case, the account of
their dismission would stand in its proper place, "since it was only right that the
history itself, which relates to the conquest and possession of the land, should be fully
completed before any other narratives, or any casual occurrences which took place,
were introduced to break the thread" ( Lightfoot , App. i. p. 42). On the other hand,
however, the circumstance that the two tribes and a half were dismissed from Shiloh,
where the tribes assembled for the first time during the casting of the lots, favours the
conclusion that the dismission did not take place till after the lots had been cast; that
is to say, contemporaneously with the advance of the other tribes into their
possessions.
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