XXII.
DISMISSAL OF THE TWO AND A HALF TRIBES TO THEIR INHERITANCE ON THE EAST OF JORDAN.
(1-6) Charge to the two and a half tribes by Joshua.
The words of Joshua 22:2-3 recall the promise of Joshua 1:16, and Joshua’s charge in Joshua 22:5 recalls that which he himself had received at first (Joshua 1:7), and finds a further parallel in what he said to Israel before his death (Joshua 23, 24).
1 Then Joshua called the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh,
2 And said unto them, Ye have kept all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you:
3 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.
4 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 possession, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side Jordan.
5 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.
6 So Joshua blessed them, and sent them away: and they went unto their tents.