What Does Joshua 22:23 Mean?
That we have built us an altar to turn from walking after the LORD, or if to offer on it a burnt offering or a gift, or if to offer wholeness offerings on it, let the LORD himself seek it out.
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
That we have built us an altar to turn from following the LORD, or if to offer thereon burnt offering or meat offering, or if to offer peace offerings thereon, let the LORD himself require it;THE KEY
The accusation is placed under the LORD’s own search: the altar’s meaning cannot be settled by its appearance.
THE MEANING
The verse makes the charge answerable to the LORD himself: if the altar expresses rebellion or is used for offerings, he is the one who seeks and requires the matter. A sacred act does not settle what it expresses; its allegiance remains open before him.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A sacred altar or offering automatically proves allegiance to God. The verse allows for the same outward act to be rebellion and places that question under the LORD’s judgment.
THE ROOT
יְבַקֵּשׁ
yevaqqesh
GROWS FROM
בקשׁ
b-q-sh
To seek, look for, or request; in this clause, to seek out or require the matter.
“seek it out” in this verse is yevaqqesh. The word behind “require” carries the sense of seeking: the speakers put the charge into the LORD’s hands to seek out and demand an answer for it. The verse makes divine inquiry, rather than human accusation alone, the measure of what the altar means.
ALSO GROWS
mevaqqesh: One who seeks; a seeker.
מְבַקֵּשׁ
The shared root keeps the focus on actively searching out what is true.
baqqashah: A request or petition.
בַּקָּשָׁה
The root also names what is asked for, connecting seeking with a matter brought forward for an answer.
שְׁלָמִים
shelamim
GROWS FROM
שׁלם
sh-l-m
To be whole or complete; in related forms, to make whole or repay.
“wholeness offerings” in this verse is shelamim. The offerings called “peace offerings” carry the language of wholeness in their name. Their mention beside the charge of rebellion holds together two possibilities: an altar can be associated with wholeness, yet its purpose still has to be brought before the LORD.
ALSO GROWS
shalom: Wholeness, well-being, peace.
שָׁלוֹם
This is the familiar branch of the same root, showing the depth behind the offering’s name.
shalem: Whole, complete, intact.
שָׁלֵם
It makes explicit the completeness carried by the language of these offerings.
shillem: To repay or make restitution.
שִׁלֵּם
This branch links wholeness with making good what is owed, echoing the verse’s appeal to the LORD to require an account.
לִמְרֹד
limrod
GROWS FROM
מרד
m-r-d
To rebel or revolt against authority.
“turn from following the LORD” in this verse is limrod. The Hebrew verb names rebellion against the LORD; the KJV phrase “turn from following” presents that rupture as a departure from allegiance. The issue is not simply the presence of an altar, but whether it expresses revolt against the one being followed.
ALSO GROWS
mered: Rebellion or revolt.
מֶרֶד
The noun makes explicit the rupture named by the verb in this verse.
moreid: A rebel; one who rebels.
מֹרֵד
This branch turns the act into the identity of the one who breaks allegiance.
THE PATTERN
The LORD searches past outward acts and brings the heart’s hidden allegiance into view.
But the LORD said to Samuel, Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, for I have pushed him away. The LORD does not see as the human sees. The human sees what is outside, but the LORD sees the heart.Probe me, O God, and perceive my heart; test me, and perceive my burning thoughts.Therefore, judge nothing before its season, until the Lord comes, who will light up the hidden things of darkness, and will make visible the plans of the hearts. And then the praise will come to each one from God.THE THREAD
And you will seek me and find me, when you search for me with all your heart.Joshua’s “require” is יְבַקֵּשׁ (yevaqqesh, “seek or require”), from בקשׁ (baqash, “seek”), the same root behind Jeremiah’s “ye shall seek me.” The shared root connects the LORD’s search for an answer here with the wholehearted seeking of God there.
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