In Gilead, on the east side of the Jordan, they addressed the two and one-half eastern tribes (verse 15).

The language in verse 16 stresses the strong reaction of the western tribes; they consider what the eastern tribes have done to be “treachery,” “sacrilege,” “rebellion,” an act of desertion (no longer following the Lord). It is not, they say, so much a sin against their fellow Israelites as against the God of Israel.

Verse 15 may be considerably reduced in length, if it is assumed that the reader can recall two things from the previous two verses: (1) These tribal representatives are going to the land of Gilead, and (2) they are going there to speak to the people of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh. But before making a proposal for restructuring verse 15, at least three observations should be made concerning verse 16. First, speaking for the whole community of the LORD actually refers only to the western tribes and so may be included as part of their address to the eastern tribes. Second, in Hebrew the quotation contained in this verse is in the form of a single, lengthy question (compare Revised Standard Version). Good News Translation slightly rearranges the sentence parts and restructures them as a question followed by two exclamatory statements. Third, done this evil thing and rebelled translate two separate verbs in Hebrew, but the verbs are close enough in meaning to be considered synonyms.

On the basis of these observations, verse 16 may be translated:

• Then they (or, Phinehas and the men with him) said, “We speak on behalf of all the LORD’s people. ‘Why did you rebel against the LORD and build this altar for yourselves? Why did you quit following the God of Israel and do such an evil thing?’ ”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Newman, Barclay M. A Handbook on Joshua. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .