Far be it from us to rebel against the Lord or turn away from him by building our own altar for burnt offerings, grain offerings, or sacrifices. Only the altar of the Lord our God that stands in front of the Tabernacle may be used for that purpose.”
Parallel translations
- WEB “Far be it from us that we should rebel against Yahweh, and turn away today from following Yahweh, to build an altar for burnt offering, for meal offering, or for sacrifice, besides Yahweh our God’s altar that is before his tabernacle!”
- KJV God forbid that we should rebel against the LORD, and turn this day from following the LORD, to build an altar for burnt offerings, for meat offerings, or for sacrifices, beside the altar of the LORD our God that is before his tabernacle.
- BSB Far be it from us to rebel against the LORD and turn away from Him today by building an altar for burnt offerings, grain offerings, or sacrifices, other than the altar of the LORD our God, which stands before His tabernacle.”
- NKJV Far be it from us that we should rebel against the Lord, and turn from following the Lord this day, to build an altar for burnt offerings, for grain offerings, or for sacrifices, besides the altar of the Lord our God which is before His tabernacle.”
- NASB Far be it from us that we should rebel against the Lord and turn away from following the Lord this day, by building an altar for burnt offering, for grain offering, or for sacrifice, besides the altar of the Lord our God which is before His tabernacle.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
They firmly deny any intent to rebel or to rival the Lord's true altar. It is their emphatic declaration of loyalty.
Overview
The eastern tribes recoil at the very thought of building an altar to compete with the one before the tabernacle. They affirm their full commitment to worship God only in the way He commanded. Their words remove all suspicion and reveal hearts devoted to the Lord.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Josh 24:16The people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake Yahweh, to serve other gods;
- Deut 12:13–14Be careful that you don’t offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see;
- Rom 3:6May it never be! For then how will God judge the world?
- 1 Kgs 21:3Naboth said to Ahab, “May Yahweh forbid me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you!”
- 1 Sam 12:23Moreover as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against Yahweh in ceasing to pray for you: but I will instruct you in the good and the right way.
- Rom 6:2May it never be! We who died to sin, how could we live in it any longer?
- Gen 44:7They said to him, “Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants that they should do such a thing!
- Gen 44:17He said, “Far be it from me that I should do so. The man in whose hand the cup is found, he will be my slave; but as for you, go up in peace to your father.”
- 2 Kgs 18:22But if you tell me, ‘We trust in Yahweh our God;’ isn’t that he whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?’
- Rom 9:14What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? May it never be!
- 2 Chr 32:12Hasn’t the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, ‘You shall worship before one altar, and you shall burn incense on it?’
- Josh 22:26“Therefore we said, ‘Let’s now prepare to build ourselves an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice;
- Josh 22:23that we have built us an altar to turn away from following Yahweh; or if to offer burnt offering or meal offering, or if to offer sacrifices of peace offerings, let Yahweh himself require it.
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Christ at the center
Joshua — the same name as Jesus, 'the LORD saves' — leads God's people into their inheritance, a shadow of the greater Joshua who brings us into the true rest and the promised land that remains.
How Joshua 22:29 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.