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Joshua 24

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Joshua Assembles Israel at Shechem 1–13

1
And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God. ​
2
And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt of old time beyond the River, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor: and they served other gods. ​
3
And I took your father Abraham from beyond the River, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac.
4
And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave unto Esau mount Seir, to possess it; and Jacob and his children went down into Egypt.
5
And I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did in the midst thereof: and afterward I brought you out.
6
And I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and ye came unto the sea; and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and with horsemen unto the Red Sea.
7
And when they cried out unto Jehovah, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt: and ye dwelt in the wilderness many days. ​
8
And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, that dwelt beyond the Jordan: and they fought with you; and I gave them into your hand, and ye possessed their land; and I destroyed them from before you.
9
Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel: and he sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you;
10
but I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed you still: so I delivered you out of his hand. ​
11
And ye went over the Jordan, and came unto Jericho: and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Girgashite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I delivered them into your hand.
12
And I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; not with thy sword, nor with thy bow. ​
13
And I gave you a land whereon thou hadst not labored, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell therein; of vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat. ​

We Will Serve the Lord 14–18

14
Now therefore fear Jehovah, and serve him in sincerity and in truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, and in Egypt; and serve ye Jehovah. ​
15
And if it seem evil unto you to serve Jehovah, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve Jehovah. ​
16
And the people answered and said, Far be it from us that we should forsake Jehovah, to serve other gods;
17
for Jehovah our God, he it is that brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and that did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the peoples through the midst of whom we passed;
18
and Jehovah drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites that dwelt in the land: therefore we also will serve Jehovah; for he is our God.

The People's Vow and Joshua's Warning 19–24

19
And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve Jehovah; for he is a holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgression nor your sins. ​
20
If ye forsake Jehovah, and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you evil, and consume you, after that he hath done you good.
21
And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve Jehovah.
22
And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you Jehovah, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses. ​
23
Now therefore put away, said he, the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto Jehovah, the God of Israel.
24
And the people said unto Joshua, Jehovah our God will we serve, and unto his voice will we hearken.

The Covenant Is Ratified 25–28

25
So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. ​
26
And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God; and he took a great stone, and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of Jehovah. ​
27
And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us; for it hath heard all the words of Jehovah which he spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness against you, lest ye deny your God.
28
So Joshua sent the people away, every man unto his inheritance.

The Deaths of Joshua and Eleazar 29–33

29
And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Jehovah, died, being a hundred and ten years old. ​
30
And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-serah, which is in the hill-country of Ephraim, on the north of the mountain of Gaash.
31
And Israel served Jehovah all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, and had known all the work of Jehovah, that he had wrought for Israel. ​
32
And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in the parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of money: and they became the inheritance of the children of Joseph. ​
33
And Eleazar the son of Aaron died; and they buried him in the hill of Phinehas his son, which was given him in the hill-country of Ephraim. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Joshua 24

Verse 1

Shechem — The place where the LORD told Abram 'Unto thy seed will I give this land' and he 'builded… an altar' (Gen 12:6–7), and where Jacob bought a field and raised an altar (Gen 33:18–20). The four groups of leaders are those of 23:2. 'Presented themselves' is yatsab in a reflexive stem, to take one's stand.

Verse 2

the other side of the flood — 'Flood' here is nahar, a river. Terah's household left Ur of the Chaldees (Gen 11:31), and Joshua says 'they served other gods'. The review is spoken as the LORD's own word, 'Thus saith the LORD God of Israel', and from v.3 turns to the first person: 'I took your father Abraham'.

Verse 7

he put darkness between you and the Egyptians — The cloud of Ex 14:20, which 'came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel' and was 'a cloud and darkness to them'. The people had first 'cried out unto the LORD' (Ex 14:10). 'Your eyes have seen' turns the crossing into testimony the hearers can give.

Verse 10

I would not hearken unto Balaam — The LORD had said to Balaam, 'Thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed' (Num 22:12). Moses states the result: the LORD 'turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because the LORD thy God loved thee' (Deut 23:5). The Hebrew 'he blessed you still' doubles the verb.

Verse 12

the hornet — The LORD's promise before entry: 'I will send hornets before thee' (Ex 23:28), repeated by Moses, 'the LORD thy God will send the hornet among them' (Deut 7:20). The 'two kings of the Amorites' are Sihon and Og (Josh 2:10). 'Not with thy sword, nor with thy bow' is the confession of Ps 44:3, 6.

Verse 13

a land for which ye did not labour — Moses foretold this before the entry: 'great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not… vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not' (Deut 6:10–11). Yaga, 'labour', is toil to weariness. The gift is the proof of 21:45, 'There failed not ought of any good thing'.

Verse 14

in sincerity and in truth — Tamim, whole or complete, the word for an unblemished offering (Ex 12:5), joined with emeth, truth. 'Serve' occurs three times in this verse. 'Put away the gods' repeats Jacob's order to his household at this same place, 'Put away the strange gods that are among you' (Gen 35:2).

Verse 15

choose you this day — Bachar, the verb of Moses' last appeal, 'therefore choose life' (Deut 30:19). The choice lies among three: the gods beyond the river, the gods of the Amorites, and the LORD. 'Serve' (abad) occurs four times in it. The people answer, 'Nay; but we will serve the LORD' (v.21).

Verse 19

Ye cannot serve the LORD — Joshua gives his grounds: 'an holy God', 'a jealous God' (qanna, as in Ex 20:5), who 'will not forgive' (cf. Ex 23:21, 'he will not pardon your transgressions'). The holiness is the standard of Lev 19:2, 'Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy'. The people repeat their choice in v.21.

Verse 22

witnesses against yourselves — Ed, witness. Their own word becomes the testimony, and they say it back: 'We are witnesses.' Two further witnesses follow: the stone that 'hath heard all the words of the LORD' (v.27), and the book of the law, which Moses had ordered placed by the ark 'for a witness against thee' (Deut 31:26).

Verse 25

a statute and an ordinance — Chok and mishpat, the pair first given at Marah, 'there he made for them a statute and an ordinance' (Ex 15:25). 'Made a covenant' is karath, literally 'cut', the verb used for covenants throughout. The law's blessings and cursings had been read to all Israel between Ebal and Gerizim (8:33–34).

Verse 26

the book of the law of God — Joshua adds 'these words' to the law Moses had written (Deut 31:24–26). The 'great stone' beside 'the sanctuary of the LORD' is explained in v.27 as a witness 'lest ye deny your God'. Jacob had once hidden the household's strange gods 'under the oak which was by Shechem' (Gen 35:4).

Verse 29

the servant of the LORD — The title Moses carries (11:12). It is given to Joshua in this verse and in Judg 2:8, which repeats it. He dies 'an hundred and ten years old', the age at which Joseph died (Gen 50:26), the man whose bones are buried in v.32.

Verse 31

all the days of Joshua — Judg 2:7 repeats the sentence. 'Overlived' is arak, to be long: the elders whose days were prolonged after Joshua, and who 'had known all the works of the LORD'. The sequel follows in Judg 2:10: 'another generation after them, which knew not the LORD'.

Verse 32

the bones of Joseph — Joseph made Israel swear, 'ye shall carry up my bones from hence' (Gen 50:25); Moses took them at the Exodus (Ex 13:19). The field is the one Jacob bought at Shechem (Gen 33:19), and Hebrews counts the charge about his bones as an act of faith (Heb 11:22).

Verse 33

Eleazar the son of Aaron — Eleazar was clothed in Aaron's garments when Aaron died on the mount (Num 20:28). His son Phinehas, to whom this hill belonged, is later found serving before the ark: 'Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days' (Judg 20:28).