And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad called the altar Ed: for it shall be a witness between us that the LORD is God.
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George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
God. Hebrew seems rather defective; (Calmet) "called the altar, (Syriac supplies the altar of witness) for it shall be a witness between us, that the Lord he is the God. Ed, "witness "is placed in the margin of Plantin's edition (Kennicott) and the Protestants have inserted it in the text, though in a different character, (Haydock) as "it is confirmed by the Syriac, Arabic, and Vulgate versions. "Kimchi quotes the Chaldean paraphrase, as having the word seid, "witness "twice, which, if read in two places formerly, has been lately omitted in one, as many other alterations have perhaps been made in it, in conformity to the later copies of the Hebrew text. It is still found in one Chaldean manuscript and in that of Masius. Between the two last words of this verse, some Hebrew manuscripts read eva, "He. ""The Lord, He is the God "which not only gives an emphasis, but is expressly confirmed by the Chaldean; and indeed this seems to have been a common form of confessing the belief of the one true God, 3 Kings xviii. 39. (Kennicott, Diss. i.)
Masius would translate, "They made an inscription upon the altar, declaring that it should be an eternal witness of their attachment to the Lord. "Cora, in effect, sometimes means to write, as Alco ran, in the Arabic tongue, signifies "the scripture "(Calmet) of the Mahometans, which they hold in the utmost veneration, as containing the life and doctrine of their great prophet. The Septuagint (Grabe) insinuate that Josue approved of what had been done, "and Jesus gave a name to the altar. And said, it is a witness in the midst of them, that the Lord God is their God. "Thus, instead of war and destruction, which seemed to threaten Israel on all sides, all ended in peace and harmony. If Christians would imitate the conduct of the Israelites, they would not so rashly condemn their neighbours on every idle report; and, if our adversaries would condescend to examine seriously into the grounds of charging idolatry upon us, and on that account waging an eternal war against us, it is to be hoped they would pronounce our doctrine innocent, and reform their own iniquitous proceedings. (Haydock)
