Worthy.Bible » STRONG » Joshua » Chapter 24 » Verse 15-22

Joshua 24:15-22 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

15 And if it seem evil H7489 unto you H4310 to serve H5647 the LORD, H3068 choose H977 you this day H3117 whom H5869 ye will serve; H5647 whether the gods H430 which your fathers H1 served H5647 that were on the other side H5676 of the flood, H5104 or the gods H430 of the Amorites, H567 in whose land H776 ye dwell: H3427 but as for me and my house, H1004 we will serve H5647 the LORD. H3068

16 And the people H5971 answered H6030 and said, H559 God forbid H2486 that we should forsake H5800 the LORD, H3068 to serve H5647 other H312 gods; H430

17 For the LORD H3068 our God, H430 he it is that brought us up H5927 and our fathers H1 out of the land H776 of Egypt, H4714 from the house H1004 of bondage, H5650 and which did H6213 those great H1419 signs H226 in our sight, H5869 and preserved H8104 us in all the way H1870 wherein we went, H1980 and among all the people H5971 through H7130 whom we passed: H5674

18 And the LORD H3068 drave out H1644 from before H6440 us all the people, H5971 even the Amorites H567 which dwelt H3427 in the land: H776 therefore will we also serve H5647 the LORD; H3068 for he is our God. H430

19 And Joshua H3091 said H559 unto the people, H5971 Ye cannot H3201 serve H5647 the LORD: H3068 for he is an holy H6918 God; H430 he is a jealous H7072 God; H410 he will not forgive H5375 your transgressions H6588 nor your sins. H2403

20 If ye forsake H5800 the LORD, H3068 and serve H5647 strange H5236 gods, H430 then he will turn H7725 and do you hurt, H7489 and consume H3615 you, after H310 that he hath done you good. H3190

21 And the people H5971 said H559 unto Joshua, H3091 Nay; but we will serve H5647 the LORD. H3068

22 And Joshua H3091 said H559 unto the people, H5971 Ye are witnesses H5707 against yourselves that ye have chosen H977 you the LORD, H3068 to serve H5647 him. And they said, H559 We are witnesses. H5707

Commentary on Joshua 24 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible


CHAPTER 24

Jos 24:1. Joshua Assembling the Tribes.

1. Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem—Another and final opportunity of dissuading the people against idolatry is here described as taken by the aged leader, whose solicitude on this account arose from his knowledge of the extreme readiness of the people to conform to the manners of the surrounding nations. This address was made to the representatives of the people convened at Shechem, and which had already been the scene of a solemn renewal of the covenant (Jos 8:30, 35). The transaction now to be entered upon being in principle and object the same, it was desirable to give it all the solemn impressiveness which might be derived from the memory of the former ceremonial, as well as from other sacred associations of the place (Ge 12:6, 7; 33:18-20; 35:2-4).

they presented themselves before God—It is generally assumed that the ark of the covenant had been transferred on this occasion to Shechem; as on extraordinary emergencies it was for a time removed (Jud 20:1-18; 1Sa 4:3; 2Sa 15:24). But the statement, not necessarily implying this, may be viewed as expressing only the religious character of the ceremony [Hengstenberg].

Jos 24:2-13. Relates God's Benefits.

2. Joshua said unto all the people—His address briefly recapitulated the principal proofs of the divine goodness to Israel from the call of Abraham to their happy establishment in the land of promise; it showed them that they were indebted for their national existence as well as their peculiar privileges, not to any merits of their own, but to the free grace of God.

Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood—The Euphrates, namely, at Ur.

Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor—(see Ge 11:27). Though Terah had three sons, Nahor only is mentioned with Abraham, as the Israelites were descended from him on the mother's side through Rebekah and her nieces, Leah and Rachel.

served other gods—conjoining, like Laban, the traditional knowledge of the true God with the domestic use of material images (Ge 31:19, 34).

3. I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan—It was an irresistible impulse of divine grace which led the patriarch to leave his country and relatives, to migrate to Canaan, and live a "stranger and pilgrim" in that land.

4. I gave unto Esau mount Seir—(See on Ge 36:8). In order that he might be no obstacle to Jacob and his posterity being the exclusive heirs of Canaan.

12. I sent the hornet before you—a particular species of wasp which swarms in warm countries and sometimes assumes the scourging character of a plague; or, as many think, it is a figurative expression for uncontrollable terror (see on Ex 23:28).

14-28. Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth—After having enumerated so many grounds for national gratitude, Joshua calls on them to declare, in a public and solemn manner, whether they will be faithful and obedient to the God of Israel. He avowed this to be his own unalterable resolution, and urged them, if they were sincere in making a similar avowal, "to put away the strange gods that were among them"—a requirement which seems to imply that some were suspected of a strong hankering for, or concealed practice of, the idolatry, whether in the form of Zabaism, the fire-worship of their Chaldean ancestors, or the grosser superstitions of the Canaanites.

26. Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God—registered the engagements of that solemn covenant in the book of sacred history.

took a great stone—according to the usage of ancient times to erect stone pillars as monuments of public transactions.

set it up there under an oak—or terebinth, in all likelihood, the same as that at the root of which Jacob buried the idols and charms found in his family.

that was by the sanctuary of the Lord—either the spot where the ark had stood, or else the place around, so called from that religious meeting, as Jacob named Beth-el the house of God.

Jos 24:29, 30. His Age and Death.

29, 30. Joshua … died—Lightfoot computes that he lived seventeen, others twenty-seven years, after the entrance into Canaan. He was buried, according to the Jewish practice, within the limits of his own inheritance. The eminent public services he had long rendered to Israel and the great amount of domestic comfort and national prosperity he had been instrumental in diffusing among the several tribes, were deeply felt, were universally acknowledged; and a testimonial in the form of a statue or obelisk would have been immediately raised to his honor, in all parts of the land, had such been the fashion of the times. The brief but noble epitaph by the historian is, Joshua, "the servant of the Lord."

31. Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua—The high and commanding character of this eminent leader had given so decided a tone to the sentiments and manners of his contemporaries and the memory of his fervent piety and many virtues continued so vividly impressed on the memories of the people, that the sacred historian has recorded it to his immortal honor. "Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua."

32. the bones of Joseph—They had carried these venerable relics with them in all their migrations through the desert, and deferred the burial, according to the dying charge of Joseph himself, till they arrived in the promised land. The sarcophagus, in which his mummied body had been put, was brought thither by the Israelites, and probably buried when the tribe of Ephraim had obtained their settlement, or at the solemn convocation described in this chapter.

in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought … for an hundred pieces of silver—Kestitah translated, "piece of silver," is supposed to mean "a lamb," the weights being in the form of lambs or kids, which were, in all probability, the earliest standard of value among pastoral people. The tomb that now covers the spot is a Mohammedan Welce, but there is no reason to doubt that the precious deposit of Joseph's remains may be concealed there at the present time.

33. Eleazar the son of Aaron died, and they buried him in … mount Ephraim—The sepulchre is at the modern village Awertah, which, according to Jewish travellers, contains the graves also of Ithamar, the brother of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar [Van De Velde].