NOTES for Jos 22:1-34
Many conflicts had already taken place among the Israelites, but nothing like this had arisen before. Now both opposing sides acknowledge the same Lord, yet the people's religious unity is nearly shattered by different understandings of piety. Those who built the altar apparently intended no wrong; they meant to glorify the Lord in their own way. But their thoughtless zeal aroused in their brothers the suspicion that they had exceeded their religious authority and almost led to civil war.
That time, the matter ended peacefully. But how many times since then has the desire to glorify the Lord in one's own way, when set against the unity of the Church, led to schisms...