Joshua 22:28
New International Version
“And we said, ‘If they ever say this to us, or to our descendants, we will answer: Look at the replica of the LORD’s altar, which our ancestors built, not for burnt offerings and sacrifices, but as a witness between us and you.’

New Living Translation
“If they say this, our descendants can reply, ‘Look at this copy of the LORD’s altar that our ancestors made. It is not for burnt offerings or sacrifices; it is a reminder of the relationship both of us have with the LORD.’

English Standard Version
And we thought, ‘If this should be said to us or to our descendants in time to come, we should say, “Behold, the copy of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifice, but to be a witness between us and you.”’

Berean Standard Bible
Therefore we said, ‘If they ever say this to us or to our descendants, we will answer: Look at the replica of the altar of the LORD that our fathers made, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices, but as a witness between us and you.’

King James Bible
Therefore said we, that it shall be, when they should so say to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say again, Behold the pattern 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.

New King James Version
Therefore we said that it will be, when they say this to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say, ‘Here is the replica of the altar of the LORD which our fathers made, though not for burnt offerings nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness between you and us.’

New American Standard Bible
Therefore we said, ‘It shall also come about if they say this to us or to our generations in time to come, then we shall say, “See the copy of the altar of the LORD which our fathers made, not for burnt offering or for sacrifice; rather, it is a witness between us and you.”’

NASB 1995
“Therefore we said, ‘It shall also come about if they say this to us or to our generations in time to come, then we shall say, “See the copy of the altar of the LORD which our fathers made, not for burnt offering or for sacrifice; rather it is a witness between us and you."’

NASB 1977
“Therefore we said, ‘It shall also come about if they say this to us or to our generations in time to come, then we shall say, “See the copy of the altar of the LORD which our fathers made, not for burnt offering or for sacrifice; rather it is a witness between us and you.”’

Legacy Standard Bible
Therefore we said, ‘It will also be that if they say this to us or to our generations in time to come, then we shall say, “See the copy of the altar of Yahweh which our fathers made, not for burnt offering or for sacrifice; rather it is a witness between us and you.”’

Amplified Bible
So we said, ‘If your descendants should say this to us or to our descendants in time to come, then we can reply, “See the copy of the altar of the LORD which our fathers made, not for burnt offering or for sacrifice, but rather it is a witness between us and you.”’

Christian Standard Bible
We thought that if they said this to us or to our generations in the future, we would reply: Look at the replica of the LORD’s altar that our ancestors made, not for burnt offering or sacrifice, but as a witness between us and you.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
We thought that if they said this to us or to our generations in the future, we would reply: Look at the replica of the LORD’s altar that our fathers made, not for burnt offering or sacrifice, but as a witness between us and you.

American Standard Version
Therefore said we, It shall be, when they so say to us or to our generations in time to come, that we shall say, Behold the pattern of the altar of Jehovah, which our fathers made, not for burnt-offering, nor for sacrifice; but it is a witness between us and you.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And we said, “Whenever they have spoken to us and to our generations of tomorrow, they will say to them: ‘See the likeness of the altar of LORD JEHOVAH that our fathers have made, not for burnt offerings peace and not for sacrifices, but that there will be a witness between us and you’

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And we said, If ever it should come to pass that they should speak so to us, or to our posterity hereafter; then shall they say, Behold the likeness of the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for the sake of burnt-offerings, nor for the sake of meat-offerings, but it is a witness between you and us, and between our sons.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And if they will say so, they shall answer them: Behold the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for holocausts, nor for sacrifice, but for a testimony between us and you.

English Revised Version
Therefore said we, It shall be, when they so say to us or to our generations in time to come, that we shall say, Behold the pattern of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice; but it is a witness between us and you.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
So we thought, if this statement is made to us or to our descendants in the future, we will answer, 'Look at the model of the LORD's altar our ancestors made. They didn't make it for burnt offerings or sacrifices but to stand as a witness between us.'

Good News Translation
It was our idea that, if this should ever happen, our descendants could say, 'Look! Our ancestors made an altar just like the LORD's altar. It was not for burning offerings or for sacrifice, but as a sign for our people and yours.'

International Standard Version
"That's also why we said, 'It may be if they say these things to us and to our descendants in the future, so we will respond, "Look at this replica of the altar of the LORD that our ancestors made, not for burnt offerings or sacrifice, but rather as a reminder between us and you.

JPS Tanakh 1917
Therefore said we: It shall be, when they so say to us or to our generations in time to come, that we shall say: Behold the pattern of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made, not for burnt-offering, nor for sacrifice; but it is a witness between us and you.

Literal Standard Version
And we say, And it has been, when they say [so] to us, and to our generations hereafter, that we have said, See the pattern of the altar of YHWH, which our fathers made—not for burnt-offering nor for sacrifice—but it [is] a witness between us and you.

Majority Standard Bible
Therefore we said, ‘If they ever say this to us or to our descendants, we will answer: Look at the replica of the altar of the LORD that our fathers made, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices, but as a witness between us and you.’

New American Bible
Our thought was that, if in the future they should speak thus to us or to our descendants, we could answer: ‘Look at the copy of the altar of the LORD which our ancestors made, not for burnt offerings or for sacrifices, but to witness between you and us.’

NET Bible
We said, 'If in the future they say such a thing to us or to our descendants, we will reply, "See the model of the LORD's altar that our ancestors made, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices, but as a reminder to us and you."'

New Revised Standard Version
And we thought, If this should be said to us or to our descendants in time to come, we could say, ‘Look at this copy of the altar of the LORD, which our ancestors made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifice, but to be a witness between us and you.’

New Heart English Bible
Therefore we said, 'It shall be, when they tell us or our generations this in time to come, that we shall say, "Look the pattern of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice; but it is a witness between us and you."'

Webster's Bible Translation
Therefore said we, that it shall be, when they shall so say to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say, Behold the pattern 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.

World English Bible
“Therefore we said, ‘It shall be, when they tell us or our generations this in time to come, that we shall say, “Behold the pattern of Yahweh’s altar, which our fathers made, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice; but it is a witness between us and you.”’

Young's Literal Translation
And we say, And it hath been, when they say so unto us, and unto our generations hereafter, that we have said, See the pattern of the altar of Jehovah, which our fathers made -- not for burnt-offering nor for sacrifice -- but a witness it is between us and you.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Offensive Altar
27Rather, let it be a witness between us and you and the generations to come, that we will worship the LORD in His presence with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and peace offerings.’ Then in the future, your descendants cannot say to ours, ‘You have no share in the LORD!’ 28Therefore we said, ‘If they ever say this to us or to our descendants, we will answer: Look at the replica of the altar of the LORD that our fathers made, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices, but as a witness between us and you.’ 29Far 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.”…

Cross References
Joshua 22:27
Rather, let it be a witness between us and you and the generations to come, that we will worship the LORD in His presence with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and peace offerings.' Then in the future, your descendants cannot say to ours, 'You have no share in the LORD!'

Joshua 22:29
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."


Treasury of Scripture

Therefore said we, that it shall be, when they should so say to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say again, Behold the pattern 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.

Behold

Exodus 25:40
And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount.

2 Kings 16:10
And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus: and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof.

Ezekiel 43:10,11
Thou son of man, shew the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities: and let them measure the pattern…

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Joshua 22
1. The two tribes and a half with a blessing are sent home,
10. They build the altar of testimony in their journey
11. The Israelites are offended thereat
21. They vindicate their conduct, and give them good satisfaction














(28) The altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifices.--The words suggest the reflection that there are many other "altars" so called in the present day, also an occasion of dispute; and it would tend greatly to peace and acquiescence in their existence if we could be assured that, like this altar, they are "not for sacrifice" but for a witness to that common worship of Christ as God which is an essential feature of Christianity.

Verse 28. - Behold the pattern. Rather, Look at this facsimile. The Hebrew is even stronger than our version. The existence of an exact reproduction of the altar in Shiloh, erected on Canaanitish ground by the two and a half tribes before their departure across Jordan, was an incontestible proof of their original connection with Israel. And the fact that they had erected it, not on their own territory, but on that of their brethren, was, though they do not use the argument, proof positive that it was not intended to be used in contravention of the precepts of the law. The nature of the facsimile is explained by Exodus 20:24, where the precise form of altar seems to have been presented as a contrast to the stone altars employed by the heathen.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Therefore we said,
וַנֹּ֕אמֶר (wan·nō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - first person common plural
Strong's 559: To utter, say

‘If they ever
כִּֽי־ (kî-)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

say [this]
יֹאמְר֥וּ (yō·mə·rū)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 559: To utter, say

to us
אֵלֵ֛ינוּ (’ê·lê·nū)
Preposition | first person common plural
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

or
וְאֶל־ (wə·’el-)
Conjunctive waw | Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

to our descendants,
דֹּרֹתֵ֖ינוּ (dō·rō·ṯê·nū)
Noun - masculine plural construct | first person common plural
Strong's 1755: A revolution of time, an age, generation, a dwelling

we will answer:
וְאָמַ֡רְנוּ (wə·’ā·mar·nū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - first person common plural
Strong's 559: To utter, say

Here is
רְא֣וּ (rə·’ū)
Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine plural
Strong's 7200: To see

the copy
תַּבְנִית֩ (taḇ·nîṯ)
Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 8403: Structure, a model, resemblance

of the altar
מִזְבַּ֨ח (miz·baḥ)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 4196: An altar

of the LORD
יְהוָ֜ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

that
אֲשֶׁר־ (’ă·šer-)
Pronoun - relative
Strong's 834: Who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order that

our fathers
אֲבוֹתֵ֗ינוּ (’ă·ḇō·w·ṯê·nū)
Noun - masculine plural construct | first person common plural
Strong's 1: Father

made,
עָשׂ֣וּ (‘ā·śū)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 6213: To do, make

not
לֹ֤א (lō)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

for burnt offerings
לְעוֹלָה֙ (lə·‘ō·w·lāh)
Preposition-l | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 5930: Whole burnt offering

or sacrifices,
לְזֶ֔בַח (lə·ze·ḇaḥ)
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2077: A slaughter, the flesh of an animal, a sacrifice

but
כִּי־ (kî-)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

as a witness
עֵ֣ד (‘êḏ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 5707: A witness, testimony, a recorder, prince

between us
בֵּינֵ֖ינוּ (bê·nê·nū)
Preposition | first person common plural
Strong's 996: An interval, space between

and you.�
וּבֵינֵיכֶֽם׃ (ū·ḇê·nê·ḵem)
Conjunctive waw | Preposition | second person masculine plural
Strong's 996: An interval, space between


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OT History: Joshua 22:28 Therefore we said 'It shall be when (Josh. Jos)
Joshua 22:27
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