The word עד ‛êd is not found after “altar” in the text of most manuscripts, nor is it represented in the Septuagint or Vulgate. The passage should probably run: “the children of Reuben and the children of Gad named the altar, that (as they said) it might be, etc.” The title placed on the altar was perhaps simply a witness between them that the Lord was God (Wordsworth).
Related Commentaries of Joshua 22:34
Joshua 22:34
34 And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad called the altar Ed: for it shall be a witness between us that the LORD is God.