Joshua 22:7

Now to the one half of the tribe of Manasseh. We have here, as Keil remarks, a specimen of our author's habit of repetition. Four times do we read ( Joshua 13:14 , Joshua 13:33 ; Joshua 14:3 ; Joshua 18:7 ) that the Levites were to have no share in the division of the land. Four times (in Joshua 13:8 ; Joshua 14:3 ; Joshua 18:7 , and here) does he repeat that the tribe of Manasseh was divided into two, and had its inheritance on either side Jordan. The same kind of repetition occurs in the narrative of the passing of the Jordan. It has been before remarked to be a characteristic of the style of the Old Testament generally, but nowhere is it found to a greater degree than in the Book of Joshua. Yet this, to which critics of the analytical school have objected as a sign of spuriousness, is in fact one of those peculiarities of style which mark the individuality of the writer. It is to inspired history what the Gospel and Epistles of St. John are to inspired theology. The form belongs to the author; the matter, at least as regards its general purport, belongs to God. A Hebrew writer, we are reminded in the 'Speaker's Commentary,' does not quote or refer to what has been already stated. If it is necessary to make his narrative clear, he repeats it.