1 And Joshua H3091 gathered H622 all the tribes H7626 of Israel H3478 to Shechem, H7927 and called H7121 for the elders H2205 of Israel, H3478 and for their heads, H7218 and for their judges, H8199 and for their officers; H7860 and they presented H3320 themselves before H6440 God. H430
And Joshua H3091 called H7121 for all Israel, H3478 and for their elders, H2205 and for their heads, H7218 and for their judges, H8199 and for their officers, H7860 and said H559 unto them, I am old H2204 and stricken H935 in age: H3117
And ye have this day H3117 rejected H3988 your God, H430 who himself saved H3467 you out of all your adversities H7451 and your tribulations; H6869 and ye have said H559 unto him, Nay, but set H7760 a king H4428 over us. Now therefore present H3320 yourselves before H6440 the LORD H3068 by your tribes, H7626 and by your thousands. H505
And Jacob H3290 came H935 to Shalem, H8004 a city H5892 of Shechem, H7927 which is in the land H776 of Canaan, H3667 when he came H935 from Padanaram; H6307 and pitched his tent H2583 before H6440 the city. H5892 And he bought H7069 a parcel H2513 of a field, H7704 where he had spread H5186 his tent, H168 at the hand H3027 of the children H1121 of Hamor, H2544 Shechem's H7927 father, H1 for an hundred H3967 pieces of money. H7192
And they gave H5414 unto Jacob H3290 all the strange H5236 gods H430 which were in their hand, H3027 and all their earrings H5141 which were in their ears; H241 and Jacob H3290 hid H2934 them under the oak H424 which was by Shechem. H7927
And Moses H4872 chose H977 able H2428 men H582 out of all Israel, H3478 and made H5414 them heads H7218 over the people, H5971 rulers H8269 of thousands, H505 rulers H8269 of hundreds, H3967 rulers H8269 of fifties, H2572 and rulers H8269 of tens. H6235 And they judged H8199 the people H5971 at all seasons: H6256 the hard H7186 causes H1697 they brought H935 unto Moses, H4872 but every small H6996 matter H1697 H1992 they judged H8199 themselves.
And Abimelech H40 the son H1121 of Jerubbaal H3378 went H3212 to Shechem H7927 unto his mother's H517 brethren, H251 and communed H1696 with them, and with all the family H4940 of the house H1004 of his mother's H517 father, H1 saying, H559 Speak, H1696 I pray you, in the ears H241 of all the men H1167 of Shechem, H7927 Whether is better H2896 for you, either that all the sons H1121 of Jerubbaal, H3378 which are threescore and ten H7657 persons, H376 reign H4910 over you, or that one H259 reign H4910 over you? remember H2142 also that I am your bone H6106 and your flesh. H1320 And his mother's H517 brethren H251 spake H1696 of him in the ears H241 of all the men H1167 of Shechem H7927 all these words: H1697 and their hearts H3820 inclined H5186 to follow H310 Abimelech; H40 for they said, H559 He is our brother. H251
And Rehoboam H7346 went H3212 to Shechem: H7927 for all Israel H3478 were come H935 to Shechem H7927 to make him king. H4427
Immediately G1824 therefore G3767 I sent G3992 to G4314 thee; G4571 and G5037 thou G4771 hast well G2573 done G4160 that thou art come. G3854 Now G3568 therefore G3767 are G3918 we G2249 all G3956 here present G3918 before G1799 God, G2316 to hear G191 all things G3956 that are commanded G4367 thee G4671 of G5259 God. G2316
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Joshua 24
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].