What Does Joshua 22:10 Mean?
And when they came to the borders of the Jordan, which are in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by the Jordan, a great altar to look upon.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And when they came unto the borders of Jordan, that are in the land of Canaan, 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.THE KEY
The altar is made impossible to miss at the boundary, though its visible form does not reveal its purpose.
THE MEANING
A conspicuous structure at your boundary can be seen before its purpose is understood. Its scale makes it impossible to overlook, while its placement between territories means its meaning reaches across the divide.
THE ROOT
מִזְבֵּחַ
mizbēaḥ
GROWS FROM
זבח
To slaughter, especially as a sacrifice.
The Hebrew word for altar carries the act of sacrifice inside its name. Here the altar is enormous to the eye, so its familiar form can be read before its purpose is known.
ALSO GROWS
zāvaḥ: To slaughter or sacrifice.
זָבַח
The verb makes clear that the altar’s name is rooted in an act, not merely in a structure.
zevaḥ: A sacrifice or sacrificial meal.
זֶבַח
This related noun shows the range of the root: the altar is associated with the offering and the shared meal.
THE PATTERN
A public sign can carry testimony across a divide and beyond the moment in which it is made.
But it may be a witness between us and you, and our generations after us, that we may serve the LORD before him with our burnt offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our wholeness offerings; and that your children may not say to our children in the days to come, You have no portion in the LORD.And Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and you this day. Therefore its name was called Galeed, the heap of witness.For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you show the Lord's death until he comes.THE THREAD
Therefore we said, It shall be, when they say so to us, or to our generations in the days to come, that we may say again, Behold the shape of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness between us and you.The same Hebrew word, מִזְבֵּחַ (mizbēaḥ, altar), names this structure, while this connected verse calls its purpose a witness rather than an offering-place. Its immense altar-shape is visible first; its testimony across the divide gives that appearance a second meaning.
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