Either, first, properly, each was a governor of a thousand; for there were among them divers rulers, some of tens, some of hundreds, and some of thousands; or rather, secondly, improperly, and indefinitely, i.e. of the people of Israel, which consist of so many thousands more than you, whose authority therefore you owe a reverence to. For by comparing Joshua 22:14, these seem to be greater persons than those that were rulers of thousands.
Related Commentaries of Joshua 22:21
Joshua 22:21
21 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,