And when they came unto the borders of Jordan, that [are] in
the land of Canaan
To the banks of it, or the sand heaps, some take the word to signify, which were thrown up to restrain the waters from overflowing; some by Geliloth understand a place so called; and Jerom F7 says it was near Jordan in the tribe of Benjamin: but rather the word signifies the meanders, windings, and turnings, of the river {h}; and such circuits and compasses it fetched near Jericho, as the same writer F9 observes, where we may suppose these tribes went over, and at a place where the river jetted out into the land of Canaan:
the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, built there an altar
by Jordan;
or "then"; that is, when they had passed over the river into their own country, for which Josephus is express F11; and certain it is, that the altar was built not on the Canaan side of Jordan, but on the opposite side, as is clear from ( Joshua 22:11 ) : and indeed they had no right to build on any other ground than their own; and they pitched upon a spot where the river jetted out into the land of Canaan, as most proper to erect it on, to be a witness, that though separated from the rest of the Israelites by the river Jordan, yet were a part of them, and had a right to join them in the service of God, and bring their sacrifices to the altar of God in the tabernacle, as more fully appears in some after verses:
a great altar to see to;
built up very high, so that it might be seen at a great distance.