Bible Strands
Joshua 22:8
saying, “Return to your homes with your great wealth, with immense herds of livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, iron, and very many clothes. Divide with your brothers the spoil of your enemies.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Joshua addresses the combined tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh as he commissions them to depart Shiloh and return to their inherited territory east of the Jordan.
The words — The Hebrew verb שׁוּבוּ (shuvu) commands a literal "return," while the phrase בִּנְכָסִים רַבִּים (bin'kasim rabbim) denotes the "great wealth" or "riches" being distributed to the departing groups.
The thread — The directive to share the conquered territory's material gains echoes the distribution mandates of Numbers 31:27 and stands in direct contrast to the warning in Deuteronomy 8:17 against claiming personal credit for such wealth.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to recognize that military success and material provision are explicitly framed as communal spoils to be divided with kin, rather than as individual achievements.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And he spake unto them, saying, Return with much riches unto your tents, and with very much cattle, with silver, and with gold, and with brass, and with iron, and with very much raiment: divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren.
Cross-references
- Numbers 31:27 Then divide the captives between the troops who went out to battle and the rest of the congregation.
- Deuteronomy 8:9 a land where you will eat food without scarcity, where you will lack nothing; a land whose rocks are iron and whose hills are ready to be mined for copper.
- Deuteronomy 8:17 You might say in your heart, “The power and strength of my hands have made this wealth for me.”
- 1 Samuel 30:24 Who will listen to your proposal? The share of the one who went to battle will match the share of the one who stayed with the supplies. They will share alike.”
- Proverbs 3:16 Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.
- 1 Samuel 30:16 So he led David down, and there were the Amalekites spread out over all the land, eating, drinking, and celebrating the great amount of plunder they had taken from the land of the Philistines and the land of Judah.
- 2 Chronicles 17:5 So the LORD established the kingdom in his hand, and all Judah brought him tribute, so that he had an abundance of riches and honor.
- Psalms 68:12 “Kings and their armies flee in haste; she who waits at home divides the plunder.
- 1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast and immovable. Always excel in the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
- Hebrews 11:26 He valued disgrace for Christ above the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his reward.