Joshua gathered the tribes of Israel at Shechem to renew their covenant with God. He summoned the elders, leaders, judges and officials, and they presented themselves before God. Shechem was a fitting place for the covenant renewal as it was the site of a previous covenant ceremony and held patriarchal significance. Scholars discuss whether the ark was brought to Shechem to mark the solemnity of the occasion. Joshua sought to further exhort the people not to turn to idolatry before the end of his life.

1. JOSHUA 24 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
The Covenant Renewed at Shechem
1 Then Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel at
Shechem. He summoned the elders, leaders,
judges and officials of Israel, and they presented
themselves before God.
BAR ES, "Shechem, situated between those mountains, Ebal and Gerizim, which
had already been the scene of a solemn rehearsal of the covenant soon after the first
entry of the people into the promised land Jos_8:30-35, was a fitting scene for the
solemn renewal on the part of the people of that covenant with God which had been on
His part so signally and so fully kept. The spot itself suggested the allusions to Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, etc., in Joshua’s address; and its associations could not but give special
force and moving effect to his appeals. This address was not made to the rulers only but
to the whole nation, not of course to the tribes assembled in mass, but to their
representatives.
CLARKE, "Joshua gathered all the tribes - This must have been a different
assembly from that mentioned in the preceding chapter, though probably held not long
after the former.
To Shechem - As it is immediately added that they presented themselves before God,
this must mean the tabernacle; but at this time the tabernacle was not at Shechem but at
Shiloh. The Septuagint appear to have been struck with this difficulty, and therefore
read Σηλω. Shiloh, both here and in Jos_24:25, though the Aldine and Complutensian
editions have Συχεµ, Shechem, in both places. Many suppose that this is the original
reading, and that Shechem has crept into the text instead of Shiloh. Perhaps there is
more of imaginary than real difficulty in the text. As Joshua was now old and incapable
of travelling, he certainly had a right to assemble the representatives of the tribes
wherever he found most convenient, and to bring the ark of the covenant to the place of
assembling: and this was probably done on this occasion. Shechem is a place famous in

2. the patriarchal history. Here Abraham settled on his first coming into the land of
Canaan, Gen_12:6, Gen_12:7; and here the patriarchs were buried, Act_7:16. And as
Shechem lay between Ebal and Gerizim, where Joshua had before made a covenant with
the people, Jos_8:30, etc., the very circumstance of the place would be undoubtedly
friendly to the solemnity of the present occasion. Shuckford supposes that the covenant
was made at Shechem, and that the people went to Shiloh to confirm it before the Lord.
Mr. Mede thinks the Ephraimites had a proseucha, or temporary oratory or house of
prayer, at Shechem, whither the people resorted for Divine worship when they could not
get to the tabernacle; and that this is what is called before the Lord; but this conjecture
seems not at all likely, God having forbidden this kind of worship.
GILL, "And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem,.... The nine
tribes and a half; not all the individuals of them, but the chief among them, their
representatives, as afterwards explained, whom he gathered together a second time,
being willing, as long as he was among them, to improve his time for their spiritual as
well as civil good; to impress their minds with a sense of religion, and to strengthen,
enlarge, and enforce the exhortations he had given them to serve the Lord; and
Abarbinel thinks he gathered them together again because before they returned him no
answer, and therefore he determined now to put such questions to them as would oblige
them to give one, as they did, and which issued in making a covenant with them; the
place where they assembled was Shechem, which some take to be Shiloh, because of
what is said Jos_24:25; that being as they say in the fields of Shechem; which is not
likely, since Shiloh, as Jerom says (u), was ten miles from Neapolis or Shechem. This
place was chosen because nearest to Joshua, who was now old and infirm, and unfit to
travel; and the rather because it was the place where the Lord first appeared to
Abraham, when he brought him into the land of Canaan, and where he made a promise
of giving the land to his seed, and where Abraham built an altar to him, Gen_12:6; where
also Jacob pitched his tent when he came from Padanaram, bought a parcel of a field,
and erected an altar to the Lord, Gen_33:18; and where Joshua also repeated the law to,
and renewed the covenant with the children of Israel, quickly after their coming into the
land of Canaan, for Ebal and Gerizim were near to Shechem, Jos_8:30;
and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges,
and for their officers: See Gill on Jos_23:2;
and they presented themselves before God; Kimchi and Abarbinel are of opinion
that the ark was fetched from the tabernacle at Shiloh, and brought hither on this
occasion, which was the symbol of the divine Presence; and therefore the place
becoming sacred thereby is called the sanctuary of the Lord, and certain it is that here
was the book of the law of Moses, Jos_24:26; which was put on the side of the ark, Deu_
31:26.
HE RY, "Joshua thought he had taken his last farewell of Israel in the solemn
charge he gave them in the foregoing chapter, when he said, I go the way of all the
earth; but God graciously continuing his life longer than expected, and renewing his
strength, he was desirous to improve it for the good of Israel. He did not say, “I have
taken my leave of them once, and let that serve;” but, having yet a longer space given
him, he summons them together again, that he might try what more he could do to
engage them for God. Note, We must never think our work for God done till our life is

3. done; and, if he lengthen out our days beyond what we thought, we must conclude it is
because he has some further service for us to do.
The assembly is the same with that in the foregoing chapter, the elders, heads, judges,
and officers of Israel, Jos_24:1. But it is here made somewhat more solemn than it was
there.
I. The place appointed for their meeting is Shechem, not only because that lay nearer
to Joshua than Shiloh, and therefore more convenient now that he was infirm and unfit
for travelling, but because it was the place where Abraham, the first trustee of God's
covenant with this people, settled at his coming to Canaan, and where God appeared to
him (Gen_12:6, Gen_12:7), and near which stood mounts Gerizim and Ebal, where the
people had renewed their covenant with God at their first coming into Canaan, Jos_
8:30. Of the promises God had made to their fathers, and of the promises they
themselves had made to God, this place might serve to put them in mind.
II. They presented themselves not only before Joshua, but before God, in this
assembly, that is, they came together in a solemn religious manner, as into the special
presence of God, and with an eye to his speaking to them by Joshua; and it is probable
the service began with prayer. It is the conjecture of interpreters that upon this great
occasion Joshua ordered the ark of God to be brought by the priests to Shechem, which,
they say, was about ten miles from Shiloh, and to be set down in the place of their
meeting, which is therefore called (Jos_24:26) the sanctuary of the Lord, the presence
of the ark making it so at that time; and this was done to grace the solemnity, and to
strike an awe upon the people that attended. We have not now any such sensible tokens
of the divine presence, but are to believe that where two or three are gathered together
in Christ's name he is as really in the midst of them as God was where the ark was, and
they are indeed presenting themselves before him.
JAMISO , "Jos_24:1. Joshua assembling the tribes.
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, Jos_8:35).
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
(Gen_12:6, Gen_12:7; Gen_33:18-20; Gen_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 (Jdg_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].
K&D, "Renewal of the Covenant at the National Assembly in Shechem. - Jos_24:1.
Joshua brought his public ministry to a close, as Moses had done before him, with a
solemn renewal of the covenant with the Lord. For this solemn act he did not choose
Shiloh, the site of the national sanctuary, as some MSS of the lxx read, but Shechem, a
place which was sanctified as no other was for such a purpose as this by the most sacred
reminiscences from the times of the patriarchs. He therefore summoned all the tribes of

4. Israel, in their representatives (their elders, etc., as in Jos_23:2), to Shechem, not
merely because it was at Shechem, i.e., on Gerizim and Ebal, that the solemn
establishment of the law in the land of Canaan, to which the renewal of the covenant, as
a repetition of the essential kernel of that solemn ceremony, was now to be appended,
had first taken place, but still more because it was here that Abraham received the first
promise from God after his migration into Canaan, and built an altar at the time (Gen_
12:6-7); and most of all, as Hengstenberg has pointed out (Diss. ii. p. 12), because Jacob
settled here on his return from Mesopotamia, and it was here that he purified his house
from the strange gods, burying all their idols under the oak (Gen_33:19; Gen_35:2,
Gen_35:4). As Jacob selected Shechem for the sanctification of his house, because this
place was already consecrated by Abraham as a sanctuary of God, so Joshua chose the
same place for the renewal of the covenant, because this act involved a practical
renunciation on the part of Israel of all idolatry. Joshua expressly states this in Jos_
24:23, and reference is also made to it in the account in Jos_24:26. “The exhortation to
be faithful to the Lord, and to purify themselves from all idolatry, could not fail to make
a deep impression, in the place where the honoured patriarch had done the very same
things to which his descendants were exhorted here. The example preached more loudly
in this spot than in any other” (Hengstenberg). “And they placed themselves before
God.” From the expression “before God,” it by no means follows that the ark had been
brought to Shechem, or, as Knobel supposes, that an altar was erected there, any more
than from the statement in Jos_24:26 that it was “by the sanctuary of the Lord.” For, in
the first place, “before God” (Elohim) is not to be identified with “before Jehovah,”
which is used in Jos_18:6 and Jos_19:51 to denote the presence of the Lord above the
ark of the covenant; and secondly, even “before Jehovah” does not always presuppose
the presence of the ark of the covenant, as Hengstenberg has clearly shown. “Before
God” simply denotes in a general sense the religious character of an act, or shows that
the act was undertaken with a distinct reference to the omnipresent God; and in the case
before us it may be attributed to the fact that Joshua delivered his exhortation to the
people in the name of Jehovah, and commenced his address with the words, “Thus saith
Jehovah.”
(Note: “It is stated that they all stood before God, in order that the sanctity and
religious character of the assembly may be the more distinctly shown. And there can
be no doubt that the name of God was solemnly invoked by Joshua, and that he
addressed the people as in the sight of God, so that each one might feel for himself
that God was presiding over all that was transacted there, and that they were not
engaged in any merely private affair, but were entering into a sacred and inviolable
compact with God himself.” - Calvin.)
CALVI , "1.And Joshua gathered all the tribes, etc He now, in my opinion,
explains more fully what he before related more briefly. For it would not have been
suitable to bring out the people twice to a strange place for the same cause.
Therefore by the repetition the course of the narrative is continued. And he now
states what he had not formerly observed, that they were all standing before the
Lord, an expression which designates the more sacred dignity and solemnity of the
meeting. I have accordingly introduced the expletive particle Therefore, to indicate
that the narrative which had been begun now proceeds. For there cannot be a doubt
that Joshua, in a regular and solemn manner, invoked the name of Jehovah, and, as
in his presence, addressed the people, so that each might consider for himself that
God was presiding over all the things which were done, and that they were not there

5. engaged in a private business, but confirming a sacred and inviolable compact with
God himself. We may add, as is shortly afterwards observed, that there was his
sanctuary. Hence it is probable that the ark of the covenant was conveyed thither,
not with the view of changing its place, but that in so serious an action they might
sist themselves before the earthly tribunal of God. (196) For there was no religious
obligation forbidding the ark to be moved, and the situation of Sichem was not far
distant.
BE SO , ". Joshua gathered — It is likely that Joshua, living longer than he
expected when he delivered the foregoing discourse to the Israelites, called the
people together once more, that he might give them still further advice before he
died; as Moses addressed them in several pathetic speeches before his departure
from them. Or perhaps it was Joshua’s custom to assemble them frequently, in
order that he might remind them of their duty, and enforce it upon them. All the
tribes of Israel — amely, their representatives, or, as it follows, their elders, their
heads, their judges, and officers. To Shechem — To the city of Shechem, a place
convenient for the purpose, not only because it was a Levitical city, and a city of
refuge, and a place near Joshua’s city, but especially for the two main ends for
which he summoned them thither. 1st, For the solemn burial of the bones of Joseph,
and probably of some others of the patriarchs, for which this place was designed.
2d, For the solemn renewing of their covenant with God; which in this place was
first made between God and Abraham, (Genesis 12:6-7,) and afterward renewed by
the Israelites at their first entrance into the land of Canaan, between the two
mountains of Ebal and Gerizim, (chap. Joshua 8:30, &c.,) which were very near
Shechem: and therefore this place was most proper, both to remind them of their
former obligations to God, and to engage them to a further ratification of them.
Before God — As in God’s presence, to hear what Joshua was to speak to them in
God’s name, and to receive God’s commands from his mouth. He had taken a
solemn farewell before: but as God renewed his strength, he desired to improve it
for their good. We must never think our work for God done till our life be done.
COFFMA , "Verse 1
The Book of Joshua closes with a solemn ceremony led by Joshua in which Israel
again ratified the covenant with Jehovah their God, their true King and deliverer.
During the last two or three decades there has been a great breakthrough in
understanding a feature of the Pentateuch and of Joshua that had never been
known until very recently, and this new knowledge has made practically all of the
comments that one may still read in many commentaries absolutely out-of-date and
incorrect.
ERRO EOUS COMME TS
Rather than taking time to refute the allegations of critical scholars on a verse-by-
verse basis, we here cite a number of declarations applied by various critics to
various verses, paragraphs, or even chapters in Joshua, which are no longer
acceptable:

6. "The book appears to be a medley of contradictory narratives, most of which are
unhistorical.[1] There were a number of editors of Joshua.[2] The last several verses
were probably added by the final editor.[3] This is the address as "E" thought of it.
[4]; Joshua 24:17-18, the people's response is a performed liturgical unit (later than
Joshua, of course).[5] We have recognized Josiah's reign (about 621 B.C.) as the
most probable setting for the first edition of Joshua (Deuteronomy 1)."[6] Etc., etc.,
etc.
The AUTHE TICITY of Joshua as an historical and genuine narrative given by
Joshua himself within the very shadow of the days of Moses is today, by
conservative scholars, accepted as virtually CERTIFIED and PROVED by the
archeological discoveries a few years ago of many records of the old Hittite Empire
regarding their relations with their vassal states, dated by George E. Mendenhall in
the mid-second pre-Christian millennium (1450-1200 B.C.). Of very great
significance are copies of the old suzerainty-treaties, summarizing the covenant
obligations imposed upon vassals by the Hittite King. The form of those old
covenants is followed closely both in Deuteronomy and here in the Book of Joshua,
and this positively identifies both the Pentateuch and Joshua as having been written
in that early period. There are no examples of that particular form of suzerainty-
covenant treaty documents after the year 1000 B.C.[7] The major critical thesis that
seventh-century B.C. priests "produced" large sections of these early books is
DISPROVED by this. The very knowledge of that old form was lost for millenniums
following 1000 B.C., and only in the last two or three decades has been
"discovered." Yet, right here it is in Joshua!
Thus, as Kline said of Deuteronomy, we may also say of Joshua:
"The plain claims of Deuteronomy itself to be the farewell ceremonial addresses of
Moses himself to the children of Israel in the plains of Moab are accepted by current
orthodox Christian scholarship."[8]
Blair referred to this new information as, "One of the most important landmarks in
recent study of the O.T."[9] It is based upon the publication of George Mendenhall's
Law and Covenant in Israel and the Ancient ear East, published in the Biblical
Archeologist in 1954.
Of course, there is no point in alleging that Joshua reported his own burial. or, is
it in any way appropriate to refer to that account as the work of some "editor."
That some I SPIRED MA added the account is certain, but there is no need to
call that unknown person an "editor," implying that he wrote the whole book, or
revised it! Sir Isaac ewton in all probably was correct in his supposition that it was
the prophet Samuel who added the record of the deaths of Moses and of Joshua,
saying that, "Samuel had leisure in the reign of Saul, to put them into the form of
the Books of Moses and of Joshua now extant."[10]
Many very reputable and learned men are accepting this new understanding that
gives so much assurance of the historicity, accuracy, and authenticity of these
Biblical books. Woudstra cited the following:

7. "Commentators who have applied this scheme to their interpretation of Joshua 24
include: J. J. De Vault, John Rea, C. F. Pfeiffer, E. F. Harrison, (editors), Wycliffe
Bible Commentary (Chicago, 1962), C. Vonk, P. C. Craigie (his Deuteronomy is
structured entirely around the covenant-treaty pattern)."[11]
To the above list, we may also add Merrill F. Unger, Hugh J. Blair, and others.
It is also significant that practically all recent liberal scholars admit the existence of
these ancient covenant-treaty forms, and describe them somewhat fully, yet cling in
some instances to the very theories which are denied by this information. In fact, we
are indebted to Morton for this good description of an ancient suzerainty-treaty:
Six elements are typically found in the Hittite treaty texts. Listed with each element
are corresponding references from this chapter:
1. Identification of the Great King and author of the covenant (Joshua 24:2; Exodus
20:1-2).
2. Enumeration of the gracious acts of the King, obligating the vassal to loyalty
(Joshua 24:2-13; Exodus 20:2).
3. Covenant obligations of the vassal, typically demanding absolute loyalty and
expressly prohibiting official relationships with foreign powers (Joshua 24:14,23;
Exodus 20:3).
4. Instructions for depositing the document in the sanctuary for regular public
reading (Joshua 24:25,26; Deuteronomy 31:9-13).
5. Deities of covenanting parties invoked as witnesses (Joshua 24:22); in
monotheistic Israel, an adaptation was required (Isaiah 1:2; Micah 6:1-2).
6. Blessings accompanying fidelity; curses resulting from violation (Joshua 24:20;
8:34; Deuteronomy 27-28).[12]
Another very important element that should be included in this summary is the
provision for renewing the covenant from time to time. This has been called "the
Dynastic Requirement." We shall notice it below.
Again from Morton, "From this summary, it appears that Joshua 24 bears a clear
relation to the covenant forms of ear Eastern ancient treaties."[13] Morton indeed
conceded that this indicates "the unity and antiquity of the core traditions on which
the Shechem covenant was based," but, in our view it goes much further than that.
It indicates the A TIQUITY and U ITY of the Pentateuch and the Book of Joshua.
"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. And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith

8. Jehovah the God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt of old time beyond the River, even
Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of ahor: and they served other gods.
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."
The mention here of all the judges and officers of the people stresses the strict
formality of this solemn ceremony. Joshua 23 and Joshua 24 both feature an address
by Joshua; and on that basis, critics rush to the conclusion that they are separate
accounts of the same event; "But Joshua 23 is Joshua's informal address to the
leaders of the people, and Joshua 24 is a formal, public renewal of the
covenant."[14] Thus, the last public action of Joshua was that of leading his people
in a formal and ceremonial renewal of the covenant at Shechem.
"To Shechem ..." (Joshua 24:1). Some scholars marvel that this ceremony was held
at Shechem, instead of Shiloh where the tabernacle was located, apparently
forgetting that the Tabernacle was a moveable thing. The simple and obvious truth
is that it was moved down there to Shechem for this very occasion; the fact of its not
being specifically mentioned is of no importance. The Tabernacle must have rested
at a hundred different places in the history of Israel, and yet there is hardly any
information given in the Bible concerning the actual making of such moves, an
exception being the removal of it to Jerusalem in David's new cart! How do we
know the Tabernacle with its ark of the covenant and all the other sacred furniture
was at Shechem? The words, "before God" in Joshua 24:1 prove this. A hundred
places in Exodus and Leviticus make it evident that when a worshipper came before
God with a sacrifice, it was at the Tabernacle! The translators of the Septuagint
(LXX) knew this, but in the year 255 B.C., when the Septuagint (LXX) was done,
the "one place only" theory was widely accepted. So, in order to conform to that,
they simply moved the location of this covenant renewal ceremony to Shiloh (Joshua
24:1,25 in the LXX), where of course, the Tabernacle rested until they moved it
down to Shechem for this ceremony. Scholars reject the Shiloh location for this
ceremony. The great probability of the Tabernacle's being moved to Shechem for
the event described here clears up everything. The clause, "They presented
themselves before God," simply cannot be understood in any other way. As Boling
pointed out, "Before God implies the presence of the ark."[15] The deduction by
Plummer regarding this question is simply that, "The Tabernacle was no doubt
moved on that great occasion to Shechem."[16]
Woudstra pointed out that some do not think "before God" necessarily refers to the
Ark or the Tabernacle; but, "The expression is sufficiently accounted for by
Shechem's sacred associations going back to patriarchal times."[17] Such
associations, of course, were very important, and we shall notice these under the
article "Shechem," below, but we cannot accept the statement of Jacob after the
dream at Bethel that, "Surely God is in this place," as any proof whatever that God
had taken up PERMA E T residence in Shechem!
SHECHEM

9. Another great renewal of the covenant ceremony had already been conducted there,
as we read in Joshua 8. The place was rich in the history of the patriarchs. It was
the scene of God's first covenant with Abraham (Genesis 12:6-7). Abraham built an
altar here, the first built in Canaan, on his way from Haran, after the death of
Terah. Jacob is supposed to have come here on his flight from Esau. It was here, in
all probability that Jacob commanded his family to bury their idols. Jacob chose
this as his residence and remained there until the rape of Dinah and the terrible
vengeance against the citizens of that place by Simeon and Levi. It was a Levitical
city, and one of the cities of Refuge. Jacob bought a field for a tomb here, and
Joseph's bones were buried there. "Shechem was a locality calculated to inspire the
Israelites with the deepest feelings."[18] (See further information on Shechem in
Joshua 21.)
"Beyond the River ..." This is a reference to the Euphrates.
"Your fathers ... served other gods." Both Terah (Abraham's father) and ahor, his
uncle, were idolaters, but it is OT stated that Abraham was an idolater. There is
no reason to doubt the Jewish tradition that, "Abraham, while in Ur of the Chaldees
was persecuted for his abhorrence of idolatry, and hence, was called away by God
from his native land."[19] Throughout Israel's history, there remained for many
years a preference by some of them for idolatry. It will be remembered that Laban's
household gods were stolen by Rachel, and right here in this chapter, (Joshua
24:14), Joshua pleaded with the people to, "Put away the gods which your fathers
served beyond the River."
Blair pointed out that here in Joshua 24:1, we have the identification of the Maker
of the Covenant in the preamble. "This is the regular pattern of the suzerainty-
treaty covenants."[20] One of the features of that ancient form of covenant, "was
the necessity for its renewal from time to time, and that is exactly what we have here
at Shechem."[21]
TRAPP, "Joshua 24:1 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.
Ver. 1. And Joshua gathered all the tribes to Shechem.] The chief city of Ephraim,
near to old Joshua, who called this parliament thither, and not far from mount
Gerizim and mount Ebal, where the people had lately renewed their covenant,
which they were now to do again; and the identity of the place might be some
advantage: whence it is that they that give rules of direction concerning prayer, do
advise us, amongst other helps, to accustom ourselves to the same place.
And they presented themselves before God,] i.e., Before the ark brought hither for
the purpose.
COKE, "Ver. 1. And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel— Calmet thinks, that

10. the discourse in the former chapter is to be considered only as the exordium or
introduction to the present: which is nearly the opinion of Calvin. But the two
discourses seem very distinct in the text, and we see no reason for putting them
together.
To Shechem— Some copies of the LXX, particularly the Roman edition, and
Alexandrian manuscript, read here, and in ver. 25 to Shiloh. What renders this
reading very probable is, that we find the Israelites assembled before God; that is,
before the ark, which certainly resided in the tabernacle; and that, undoubtedly,
was at Shiloh. Of this opinion likewise are Grotius, Junius, Wells, and others. In
answer to which it is to be considered, 1. That, according to Eusebius and St.
Jerome, there were not less than ten or twelve miles distance between these two
places. 2. Other copies of the LXX, as well as the Hebrew, Chaldee, and other
eastern versions, read Shechem, and not Shiloh; and to these we may add Josephus,
Hist. Jud. lib. 5: cap. 1. See Dr. Wall. 3. It is easy to account for this convocation of
the assembly at Shechem. For, not to mention that this city was the capital of the
tribe of Ephraim, and in the neighbourhood of Timnath-serah, where Joshua
resided, who, on account of his great age, might very possibly be unable to go to
Shiloh; it is probable, that he thought it proper to renew the divine covenant in the
place where Abraham had first settled, and had erected an altar on his entering into
the land of Canaan (Genesis 13:6-7.); where the patriarchs were interred, Acts
7:16.; and where Joshua himself had first entered into covenant with the Israelites,
chap. Joshua 8:30, &c.; for Ebal and Gerizzim were very near Shechem. See Le
Clerc and Calmet. We will presently consider the objection brought by some, that
the assembly in question was held before God; observing here, that an able critic
thinks, that the several opinions respecting the matter may be reconciled, by
supposing the congregation to have met in the fields of Shechem, and that thence the
people went in companies to Shiloh, as it were to confirm before God what they had
promised to Joshua, who had received the assembly at Timnath-serah, his place of
residence, situate between Shechem and Shiloh. See Shuckford's Connection, vol. 3:
p. 427.
They presented themselves before God— That is to say, before his tabernacle.
"But," say some, "this tabernacle was at Shiloh." It rested there, it is true; but we
apprehend, that upon this grand solemnity it was removed from Shiloh to Shechem;
and the kings and leaders of Israel certainly had a right to have the ark removed
from its usual station to any other place upon extraordinary occasions. See 1 Samuel
4:3-4. 2 Samuel 15:24., and Bertram de Repub. Jude 1:25; Jude 1:15 p. 249. This
was such an occasion: The whole nation had been convened at Shechem to renew
the divine covenant; Joshua, one hundred and twenty years of age, was come up
from Timnath-serah to that city, his strength not allowing him a longer journey:
and was not this sufficient to authorise the sending for the ark, that the people
might thus assemble before the Lord? We must not, however, pass over the opinion
of the learned Mede, who thinks that the Ephraimites had built at Shechem a
proseucha, a kind of oratory or chapel, whither the people resorted to divine
worship when they could not go so far as the tabernacle; and that it was before this
house of prayer that the assembly was held. But for more respecting this ingenious

11. conjecture, see on ver. 26.
WHEDO , "JOSHUA’S FAREWELL ADDRESS AT SHECHEM, Joshua 24:1-24.
1. All the tribes — By their representatives. See Joshua 23:2, note. We have no
means of determining the date of this transaction. Some suppose that a considerable
period had elapsed after the speech recorded in the last chapter, when Joshua,
seeing his life was unexpectedly prolonged, resolved on another farewell to his
people of a more solemn and formal character. Others hold that there was but one
assembly and but one address, begun, perhaps, at Shiloh, and concluded at
Shechem, to which place the assembly adjourned for the renewal of the covenant.
The Septuagint version has the assembly at Shiloh; but there are good reasons for
regarding the Hebrew as the correct version. At Shechem Abraham built his first
altar in Canaan. Genesis 12:7. Here Jacob had “sanctified” his family, and exhorted
them to “put away the strange gods,” (Genesis 35:2-4;) and Joshua, following the
command of Moses, had visited the same sanctuary to inscribe the law on a stone
monument, and to exact an oath of allegiance to Jehovah with the impressive
sanctions of the blessings and the curses. Joshua 8:30-35.
[Presented themselves before God — As the expression before God, or before
Jehovah, frequently means before the Ark of the Covenant, many expositors have
supposed that the Ark was brought from Shiloh to Shechem at this time. But
Hengstenberg and Keil have abundantly shown that the words do not always imply
the presence of the Ark. “If before Jehovah could only refer to the ceremonies at the
sanctuary, Jehovah would be present only there, shut up in his holy place; an
absurd idea, destructive of the divine omnipresence, and one which can never be
found in the Holy Scriptures.” — Hengstenberg. Rather does the expression mean
that the assembly met as in the presence of God, whose holy name Joshua doubtless
invoked. All present realized that the eye of Jehovah was upon them.]
CO STABLE, "Verse 1
1. Preamble24:1
Shechem was a strategic location for this important ceremony. Joshua called on the
Israelites to renew formally their commitment to the Mosaic Covenant at the site
that was very motivating to them to do so.
"If you were to put Plymouth Rock and Yorktown and Lexington and
Independence Hall together, you would not have what Shechem is to Israel." [ ote:
Clarence Macartney, The Greatest Texts of the Bible, pp74-75.]
At Shechem, God had first appeared to Abraham when he had entered the land and
promised to give him the land of Canaan. In response to that promise Abraham
built his first altar to Yahweh in the land there ( Genesis 12:7). Jacob buried his
idols at Shechem after returning to the Promised Land from Paddan-aram. He
made this his home and built an altar to Yahweh there ( Genesis 33:18-20), and later
God moved him to Bethel ( Genesis 35:1-4) where he built another altar.

12. "As Jacob selected Shechem for the sanctification of his house, because this place
was already consecrated by Abraham as a sanctuary of God, so Joshua chose the
same place for the renewal of the covenant, because this act involved a practical
renunciation on the part of Israel of all idolatry." [ ote: Keil and Delitzsch, pp226-
27.]
At Shechem the same generation of Israelites that Joshua now addressed had
pledged itself to the Mosaic Covenant shortly after it had entered the land ( Joshua
8:30-35). They had also built an altar there.
"For the Christian, regular presentation before God in worship is an essential
feature of a life of faith ( Hebrews 10:25)." [ ote: Hess, p300.]
Verses 1-28
C. Israel"s second renewal of the covenant24:1-28
"Joshua did not merely settle for a series of public admonitions in order to guide
Israel after his death. The twenty-fourth chapter describes a formal covenant
renewal enacted at the site of Shechem for the purpose of getting a binding
commitment on the part of the people of Israel to the written Word of God." [ ote:
Davis and Whitcomb, pp87-88.]
The structure of this covenant renewal speech is similar to the typical Hittite
suzerainty treaty. It includes a preamble ( Joshua 24:1-2 a), historical prologue (
Joshua 24:2-13), stipulations for the vassals with the consequences of disobedience (
Joshua 24:14-24), and the writing of the agreement ( Joshua 24:25-28).
" Joshua 24completes the book by giving the theological definition of the people of
God. Here we suddenly find highly loaded theological language, defining God and
the God-man relationship. This makes the chapter one of the most important
chapters in the OT for biblical theologians." [ ote: Butler, p278.]
ELLICOTT, "(b) JOSHUA’S LAST CHARGE TO THE PEOPLE.
(1, 2) Joshua gathered all the tribes . . .—At the former address the rulers alone
appear to have been present; on this occasion all Israel was gathered. And what is
spoken is addressed to the people in the hearing of the rulers. In the speech that now
follows Joshua briefly recapitulates the national history; he had not thought this
necessary for the rulers. To them he had said, “Ye know;” but “the people”
embraced many persons of but little thought and education, whom it was necessary
to inform and remind and instruct, even as to the leading events of their national
history. The simple lesson which Joshua’s words are intended to enforce is the duty
of serving Jehovah, and serving Him alone. It is the first great lesson of the old
covenant. “I am Jehovah, thy God; thou shalt have no other gods beside Me.” The
ark of this covenant had brought them over Jordan into the promised land.

13. (2) Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood.—The flood, i.e., the river—
probably Euphrates, though it may be Jordan, or both. Flood in our English Bible
has been used for river in several places: e.g., Job 22:16, “whose foundation was
overflown with a flood,” i.e., a river; Psalms 66:6, “He turned the sea into dry land:
they went through the flood (the river, i.e., Jordan) on foot;” Matthew 7:25;
Matthew 7:27, “The rain descended, and the floods (i.e., the rivers) came.”
They served other gods.—They, i.e., Terah, Abraham, and achor.
PI K, "Shechem
Three geographic points were of vital importance to Israel during their early years
in the Land of Promise: Gilgal, Shiloh, and Shechem. Gilgal was the military
headquarters of the invasion; Shiloh, the religious center of the people; and
Shechem, the political cradle of the nation. These might illustrate different periods
in the life of a Christian, periods not altogether consecutive, for what these
represent may transpire also concurrently. They illustrate the stages of spiritual
preparation, revitalized devotion, and progressive consolidation.
GILGAL: This military bridgehead where Israel raised the memorial of twelve
stones was near Jericho. It was not only used as a headquarters by Joshua in the
early days; it became a center of administration some 350 years later, and was thus
used by Samuel. We read, "He went forth from year to year in a circuit to Bethel,
and Gilgal, and Mizpeh, and judged Israel in all these places" (1 Sam. 7:16). It was
there that Samuel anointed Saul as king (1 Sam. 10:1), and there he slew Agag (1
Sam. 15:33).
During the Israelitish invasion of the land, Gilgal was the place to which Joshua
frequently returned to reorganize his forces, to replenish his supplies, and to
strengthen his men. This place may illustrate for us the many privileges and
experiences of the child of God in the heavenly places. "God, . . . even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ,...And hath raised us up
together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:4-6).
Israel had entered into her promised possessions by descending into and ascending
out of Jordan; Gilgal, therefore, figuratively speaking, was the place of resurrection,
illustrating the present spiritual position of the believer as risen with Christ and
seated in heavenly places.
Gilgal was not only the place of resurrection, it was also the place of responsibility.
The enemy was near, and any apparent failure of his strength was only temporary
(Josh. 5:1). He soon mobilized his military strength and presented a united
resistance to Israel (Josh. 11:1-5).
The Christian faces an array of invisible offensive powers. "We wrestle not against
flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the

14. darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Eph. 6:12). We
need therefore to put on the whole armor of God and to stand and withstand in an
evil day.
The reproach of Egypt was rolled away at Gilgal for it was to the nation a place of
recovery. There Israel accepted again the sign of the Abrahamic covenant,
circumcision. This act was by the law of God (Gen. 17:10-14; Leviticus 12:3). It
became a rite so distinctive of Israel that their oppressors tried to prevent its
observance. There is a reference in the writings of the Maccabees to this wickedness
of Antiochus Epiphanes, who decreed that every one in his realm should forsake his
former laws, as these were keeping the people apart and from acting as one. He
forbade the Jews the right to offer burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and drink
offerings, in the temple. He decreed that they should profane the Sabbath and feast
days, and that they should also leave their children uncircumcised. It may have been
that the Egyptians did likewise, and that this humiliation was rolled away on a
national basis at Gilgal.
During the years in the wilderness, circumcision, for one cause or another had not
been practiced; it was, therefore, necessary in order to claim the promises and
presence of God in a fuller measure to comply with His law. "Joshua made him
sharp knives and circumcised the children of Israel." According to Jewish tradition,
these knives were buried with Joshua. Some, considering the highly spiritual and
typical significance of circumcision (Deut. 10:16; Romans 2:27), make the burying of
these knives the symbolic cause of the spiritual decline and lawlessness recorded in
the Book of Judges.
SHILOH: How deeply emotions are stirred by the very mention of the name Shiloh!
This city situated east of the main road from Jerusalem to Bethel, and about nine
miles north of Bethel, was the place chosen for the sanctuary. The religious life of
the people revolved around this center all during the years of occupation, and
throughout the days of the Judges. It was there that Israel replenished their
spiritual strength, and, so it seems, it was there that they eventually lost it.
Since the sanctuary was at Shiloh, God’s people resorted there to enjoy His
presence; the godly Elkanah "went up out of his city yearly to worship and to
sacrifice unto the LORD of hosts in Shiloh" (1 Sam. 1:3). Furthermore, in the early
days of national life with its difficulties, it was there that Israel sought the mind of
the Lord (Josh. 22). As has been suggested, it may have been at Shiloh that Joshua
addressed the elders, heads, judges, and officers of the nation as he anticipated his
departure from them (Josh. 23:1).
Young Samuel was given to the Lord at Shiloh, and served Him there in his youth;
his prophetic ministry actually began there.
Apparently the ark was taken there shortly after the occupation of the land by
Israel, and it remained there until it was carried into the camp of Israel from
whence it was captured by the Philistines. Eli’s wicked sons lived at Shiloh and by

15. their deeds profaned the place where the Lord had put His name.
Excavations by archaeologists at the site of Shiloh sustain the contention that at the
time the Philistines captured the ark, they destroyed the city and the sanctuary.
Such evidence explains why the ark, when returned to Israel, was not set up at
Shiloh. This destruction of Shiloh, while probably carried out by the Philistines, was
the disciplinary act of God because of the sin and declension of His people. Of this
the Psalmist wrote centuries later, "When God heard this, he was wroth and greatly
abhorred Israel: So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he
placed among men; And delivered his strength into captivity and his glory into the
enemy’s hand" (Ps. 78:59-61).
The Word of the Lord through Jeremiah recalled the spiritual departure which
characterized Israel in the early days of Samuel, the weakness of Eli, the gross sins
of his sons, and the consequent judgment of God upon the nation at large and upon
the place of the ark and the tabernacle, Shiloh. Furthermore, in this way the Lord
draws a parallelism with conditions in Jeremiah’s day, and refers to the destruction
of Shiloh as a warning of impending doom (Jer. 7:12-15; 26:6-7).
Shiloh was indeed the spiritual pivot of national life. God’s grace, guidance, and
power had all been manifested there. The devout of the people had made
pilgrimages to the sacred city, and their leaders had received indications of divine
purposes at the sanctuary within its area; but, alas, there had been at Shiloh so
great a departure from God, that seven centuries later, it was remembered and used
to warn God’s apostate people.
Similar spiritual conditions, with the corresponding punishment, have been seen in
the lives of more than one professed believer. Where grace has been abundantly
bestowed, responsibility is increased; where this responsibility is not assumed in all
humility, where indolence and neglect result in a conformity to the things of this
present evil age, nothing can be expected but acts of divine displeasure.
SHECHEM: This ancient city was situated on the floor of a valley near its entrance,
Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal forming the respective walls. The contour of the
land resulted in a natural amphitheater, the acoustics of which were so good that the
human voice carried to exceptional distances. Shechem was not only the geographic
center of Canaan; it was in some respects the moral heart of the nation. It was at
this city that Abraham built the first altar to the Lord within the land, and it was
here that God appeared to him, and promised, "Unto thy seed will I give this land"
(Gen. 12:7).
ear this same city the patriarch Jacob purchased a field (Gen. 33:18-20), and
settled there for a while on his return to his father’s home. His two sons, Simeon and
Levi, displayed their subtlety and cruelty here, acts which forced him to withdraw
in shame and fear from the area.
ot only had the two great patriarchs of the nation been there but the nation itself

16. had previously visited this vicinity. Joshua, after final victory at Ai and in
compliance with the prediction of Moses, in faith called the nation together. As they
stood, six tribes on Mount Gerizim and six tribes on Mount Ebal, he raised a cairn
of stones, upon the plaster of which he wrote the law. Moreover, he read to the
nation the curses and the blessings of the law to which the nation replied, "Amen."
In that manner he renewed the covenant of God with Israel.
ow at the close of his full and active life, Joshua calls all the tribes back again to
Shechem, to present themselves there before the Lord.
It may have been that the gathering together of the representatives of the nation at
Shiloh was a regular administrative council and that he took that occasion to
address himself to the national leaders; but the mighty convocation gathered before
God at Shechem was extraordinary. Thirty years before, the same people had
gathered in the same place in order to renew their covenant with God; they now
gather to say farewell to the talented and noble leader, and to listen to his last words
of encouragement and admonition.
A mental picture of Joshua addressing the tribes of Israel positioned on the slopes of
Gerizim and Ebal suggests similar scenes. One is reminded thereby of aged and
grieved Samuel, disappointed by the behavior of his own sons, and displeased by the
desires of Israel for a king, standing among the elders of the nation praying to the
Lord on their behalf, and repeating in their hearing the divine message of God to
them (1 Sam. 8:1-10).
A ew Testament scene in like manner comes to mind. Peter, an aged apostle, sitting
in a room away in the city of Babylon, dictating a letter to the churches of the saints,
passes on to their younger leaders the commission which he had himself received
from the Lord: "Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight
thereof" (1 Pet. 5).
Joshua was a soldier and an administrator; Samuel a judge and a prophet; and
Peter a servant and an apostle of the Lord Jesus; but all had one burden in
common: the welfare of the people of God. In Joshua’s case the opposing influence
was mostly external; in Samuel’s case, it was mostly internal; but, in the case of
Peter the adverse influences were both external and internal.
The voice of Joshua that resounded throughout the valley and over the slopes of
Gerizim and Ebal was not the last to be heard in the great amphitheater. Jotham
stood on the top of Gerizim and told his parable to the men of Shechem. His attitude
was one of defiance and fear, for we read, "And Jotham ran away, and fled, and
went to Beer, and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother" (Judg. 9:21). In
the case of Joshua at Shechem there is dependence upon God, not defiance; there is
quietness, not fear; there is authority, not weakness; there is clear instruction, not
parabolism. With authority "Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem . . .
they presented themselves before God" (Josh. 24:1). Oh, that Israel had remained
submissive to divine authority, and receptive to the Word of God! This they were

17. throughout the period of the elders that overlived Joshua (Josh. 24:31); but
lawlessness and idolatry invaded their hearts. We read, consequently, "There was
no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes" (Judg.
17:6; 21:25). Hope for a theocracy in the nation vanished with the up-surging
disregard of authority and the disrespect of divine revelation.
The Church of God might well learn from the sad history recorded in the Book of
Judges. Departure resulted in discipline; reprobation in partial recovery. In spite of
the deterrents placed in the way, the decline was progressive until Eli’s daughter-in-
law exclaimed, "The glory is departed from Israel!" The Lord apparently withdrew
His presence and allowed His people to suffer the consequence of their own folly. In
this Laodicean period of the Church’s history when the Lord seems to be on the
outside, on the outside appealing to the individual, oh, that wills might be brought
into subjection to divinely constituted authority, and hearts made receptive to the
Scriptures of Truth!
There is a belief among some Christians that the gifts of the apostles and prophets
have forever passed away, and that these gifts have no important influence upon the
Church of God today. True, the persons who were the embodiments of those gifts
have gone home to Glory and, unlike the other three public gifts—the evangelist, the
pastor, and the teacher—these were not transferable from one generation to
another. When a great evangelist dies, God raises up another; when a pastor or
teacher passes away, these gifts are entrusted to other persons. This was not so with
the two important gifts, the apostle and the prophet. These men in the early Church
were fitted for a special ministry, and when that ministry was fulfilled, they were
removed and not replaced. Undoubtedly, there is a succession of evangelists,
pastors, and teachers; certainly not of apostles and prophets.
While this is true, we must maintain a proper and scriptural perspective. The
apostles themselves have passed to their eternal reward, but we have their
authoritative writings. In these writings we still hear the apostles speaking with a
power which was invested in them exclusively. o man today possesses the authority
of, say, the Apostle Paul. Only such an one could write to the church of God at
Corinth and say, "What will ye? shall I come unto you with a rod [a scepter of
authority], or in love, and in the spirit of meekness?" (1 Cor. 4:21). The divine
authority conferred upon Paul (and of course the same is true of all the other
apostles) ended with his death.
In contrast to the temporary investment of the persons, the sacred Writings given by
inspiration through them possess a permanent authority. "For the prophecy came
not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved
by the Holy Ghost" (2 Pet. 1:21). The words of the ew Testament possess for the
Church of God today all the authority of faraway apostolic times.
There are four important verbs used in apostolic writings which emphasize the
divine authority of the ew Testament Scriptures. These are: "to command," "to
charge," "to ordain," and "to will." There, no doubt, are others, but these will

18. suffice for our present consideration. These verbs do not all possess the same force
and power: in fact, their power seems to decrease in the order in which they have
been listed. "To command" is to demand obedience. This verb is used in connection
with the words of Christ and with the words of His apostles. Both Paul and Peter
use it. Paul’s commands are given in connection with domestic affairs (1 Cor. 7:10);
public ministry (1 Cor. 14:37); church fellowship (Col. 4:10); and personal holiness
and behavior (1 Thess. 4:2). Peter uses it in relation to the entire ministry of all the
apostles (2 Pet. 3:2).
The attitude of lawlessness so prevalent in the world frequently infiltrates the
congregations of the Lord’s people. Such a spirit resents authority and refuses all
commands. While the verb "to charge" is weaker than the previous one,
nevertheless, it imposes responsibility. Paul not only did this himself, but he
authorized Timothy to do likewise. Paul charged the elders at Thessalonica to read
his epistle to the entire church (1 Thess. 5:27). He charged Timothy to observe the
instruction concerning the qualifications of elders (1 Tim. 5:21); to keep the divine
command relative to moral standards (1 Tim. 6:13-14); and to perform the ministry
that he had received from the Lord (2 Tim. 4:1).
"To ordain" suggests the making of an appointment or arrangement with some
authority. The idea of ordaining or appointing was used by the Lord, by His
apostles, and by certain apostolic delegates. Paul used this verb in regard to marital
relationships (1 Cor. 7:17), certain abuses existing within the church at Corinth (1
Cor. 11:34), and overseers (Titus 1:5). It was also used by Paul and Barnabas at
Galatia (Acts 14:23), and by the elders and apostles at Jerusalem in connection with
Christian liberty (Acts 16:4).
The last verb suggested, "to will," while being the weakest of the four, expresses the
idea of a preference made by conviction. Paul thus uses the word asserting that the
males should pray publicly (1 Tim. 2:8); that younger women should marry (1 Tim.
5:14); and that believers should maintain good works (Titus 3:8).
Jesus marveled at the humility of the Roman centurion who said, "I also am a man
set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth;
and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it"
(Luke 7:8). While possessing authority to command others, he himself was under
superior authority. In reading the ew Testament, we must ever remember that
while the apostles with authority commanded, charged, ordained, and willed, they
were under the supreme authority of Christ. As the authority of the Roman
centurion, an officer over one hundred men, was only the expression of the
authority of his general; even so, divine authority expressed in the writings of these
holy men is but the transmission through them of the absolute authority of the risen
Christ and Lord, the supreme authority to be obeyed.
May the Lord’s beloved people learn from the history of the nation of Israel that "to
obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams" (1 Sam. 15:22).

19. EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE COMME TARY
JOSHUA'S LAST APPEAL.
Joshua 24:1-33.
IT was at Shechem that Joshua's last meeting with the people took place. The
Septuagint makes it Shiloh in one verse (Joshua 24:1), but Shechem in another
(Joshua 24:25); but there is no sufficient reason for rejecting the common reading.
Joshua might feel that a meeting which was not connected with the ordinary
business of the sanctuary, but which was more for a personal purpose, a solemn
leave-taking on his part from the people, might be held better at Shechem. There
was much to recommend that place. It lay a few miles to the northwest of Shiloh,
and was not only distinguished (as we have already said) as Abraham's first resting-
place in the country, and the scene of the earliest of the promises given in it to him;
but likewise as the place where, between Mounts Ebal and Gerizim, the blessings
and curses of the law had been read out soon after Joshua entered the land, and the
solemn assent of the people given to them. And whereas it is said (Joshua 24:26) that
the great stone set up as a witness was "by the sanctuary of the Lord," this stone
may have been placed at Shiloh after the meeting, because there it would be more
fully in the observation of the people as they came up to the annual festivals (see 1
Samuel 1:7; 1 Samuel 1:9). Shechem was therefore the scene of Joshua's farewell
address. Possibly it was delivered close to the well of Jacob and the tomb of Joseph;
at the very place where, many centuries later, the ew Testament Joshua sat
wearied with His journey, and unfolded the riches of Divine grace to the woman of
Samaria.
1. In the record of Joshua's speech contained in the twenty-fourth chapter, he begins
by rehearsing the history of the nation. He has an excellent reason for beginning
with the revered name of Abraham, because Abraham had been conspicuous for
that very grace, loyalty to Jehovah, which he is bent on impressing on them.
Abraham had made a solemn choice in religion. He had deliberately broken with
one kind of worship, and accepted another. His fathers had been idolaters, and he
had been brought up an idolater. But Abraham renounced idolatry for ever. He did
this at a great sacrifice, and what Joshua entreated of the people was, that they
would be as thorough and as firm as he was in their repudiation of idolatry. The
rehearsal of the history is given in the words of God to remind them that the whole
history of Israel had been planned and ordered by Him. He had been among them
from first to last; He had been with them through all the lives of the patriarchs; it
was He that had delivered them from Egypt by Moses and Aaron, that had buried
the Egyptians under the waters of the sea, that had driven the Amorites out of the
eastern provinces, had turned the curse of Balaam into a blessing, had dispossessed
the seven nations, and had settled the Israelites in their pleasant and peaceful
abodes.

20. We mark in this rehearsal the well-known features of the national history, as they
were always represented; the frank recognition of the supernatural, with no
indication of myth or legend, with nothing of the mist or glamour in which the
legend is commonly enveloped. And, seeing that God had done all this for them, the
inference was that He was entitled to their heartiest loyalty and obedience. " ow
therefore fear the Lord, and serve Him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the
gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and
serve ye the Lord." It seems strange that at that very time the people needed to be
called to put away other gods. But this only shows how destitute of foundation the
common impression is, that from and after the departure from Egypt the whole host
of Israel were inclined to the law as it had been given by Moses. There was still a
great amount of idolatry among them, and a strong tendency towards it. They were
not a wholly reformed or converted people. This Joshua knew right well; he knew
that there was a suppressed fire among them liable to burst into a conflagration;
hence his aggressive attitude, and his effort to foster an aggressive spirit in them; he
must bind them over by every consideration to renounce wholly all recognition of
other gods, and to make Jehovah the one only object of their worship. ever was a
good man more in earnest, or more thoroughly persuaded that all that made for a
nation's welfare was involved in the course which he pressed upon them.
2. But Joshua did not urge this merely on the strength of his own conviction. He
must enlist their reason on his side; and for this cause he now called on them
deliberately to weigh the claims of other gods and the advantages of other modes of
worship, and choose that which must be pronounced the best. There were four
claimants to be considered: (1) Jehovah; (2) the Chaldaean gods worshipped by
their ancestors; (3) the gods of the Egyptians; and (4) the gods of the Amorites
among whom they dwelt. Make your choice between these, said Joshua, if you are
dissatisfied with Jehovah. But could there be any reasonable choice between these
gods and Jehovah? It is often useful, when we hesitate as to a course, to set down the
various reasons for and against, - it may be the reasons of our judgment against the
reasons of our feelings; for often this course enables us to see how utterly the one
outweighs the other. May it not be useful for us to do as Joshua urged Israel to do?
If we set down the reasons for making God, God in Christ, the supreme object of
our worship, against those in favour of the world, how infinitely will the one scale
outweigh the other! In the choice of a master, it is reasonable for a servant to
consider which has the greatest claim upon him; which is intrinsically the most
worthy to be served; which will bring him the greatest advantages; which will give
him most inward satisfaction and peace; which will exercise the best influence on his
character, and which comes recommended most by old servants whose testimony
ought to weigh with him. If these are the grounds of a reasonable choice in the case
of a servant engaging with a master, how much more in reference to the Master of
our spirits! othing can be plainer than that the Israelites in Joshua's time had
every conceivable reason for choosing their fathers' God as the supreme object of
their worship, and that any other course would have been alike the guiltiest and the
silliest that could have been taken. Are the reasons a whit less powerful why every
one of us should devote heart and life and mind and soul to the service of Him who

21. gave Himself for us, and has loved us with an everlasting love?
3. But Joshua is fully prepared to add example to precept. Whatever you do in this
matter, my mind is made up, my course is clear - "as for me and my house, we will
serve Jehovah." He reminds us of a general exhorting his troops to mount the
deadly breach and dash into the enemy's citadel. Strong and urgent are his appeals;
but stronger and more telling is his act when, facing the danger right in front, he
rushes on, determined that, whatever others may do, he will not flinch from his
duty. It is the old Joshua back again, the Joshua that alone with Caleb stood faithful
amid the treachery of the spies, that has been loyal to God all his life, and now in the
decrepitude of old age is still prepared to stand alone rather than dishonour the
living God. ''As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." He was happy in
being able to associate his. house with himself as sharing his convictions and his
purpose. He owed this, in all likelihood, to his own firm and intrepid attitude
throughout his life. His house saw how consistently and constantly he recognised the
supreme claims of Jehovah. ot less clearly did they see how constantly he
experienced the blessedness of his choice.
4. Convinced by his arguments, moved by his eloquence, and carried along by the
magnetism of his example, the people respond with enthusiasm, deprecate the very
thought of forsaking Jehovah to serve other gods, and recognise most cordially the
claims he has placed them under, by delivering them from Egypt, preserving them
in the wilderness, and driving out the Amorites from their land. After this an
ordinary leader would have felt quite at ease, and would have thanked God that his
appeal had met with such a response, and that such demonstration had been given
of the loyalty of the people. But Joshua knew something of their fickle temper. He
may have called to mind the extraordinary enthusiasm of their fathers when the
tabernacle was in preparation; the singular readiness with which they had
contributed their most valued treasures, and the grievous change they underwent
after the return of the spies. Even an enthusiastic burst like this is not to be trusted.
He must go deeper; he must try to induce them to think more earnestly of the
matter, and not trust to the feeling of the moment.
5. Hence he draws a somewhat dark picture of Jehovah's character. He dwells on
those attributes which are least agreeable to the natural man, His holiness, His
jealousy, and His inexorable opposition to sin. When he says, "He will not forgive
your transgressions nor your sins," he cannot mean that God is not a God of
forgiveness. He cannot wish to contradict the first part of that gracious memorial
which God gave to Moses: ''The Lord, the Lord God merciful and gracious,
longsuffering and abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity and
transgression and sin." His object is to emphasize the clause, "and that will by no
means clear the guilty." Evidently he means that the sin of idolatry is one that God
cannot pass over, cannot fail to punish, until, probably through terrible judgments,
the authors of it are brought to contrition, and humble themselves in the dust before
him. "Ye cannot serve the Lord," said Joshua; "take care how you undertake what
is beyond your strength!" Perhaps he wished to impress on them the need of Divine
strength for so difficult a duty. Certainly he did not change their purpose, but only

22. drew from them a more resolute expression. '' ay; but we will serve the Lord, And
Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen
the Lord to serve Him. And they said, We are witnesses."
6. And now Joshua comes to a point which had doubtless been in his mind all the
time, but which he had been waiting for a favourable opportunity to bring forward.
He had pledged the people to an absolute and unreserved service of God, and now
he demands a practical proof of their sincerity. He knows quite well that they have
"strange gods" among them. Teraphim, images, or ornaments having a reference to
the pagan gods, he knows that they possess. And he does not speak as if this were a
rare thing, confined to a very few. He speaks as if it were a common practice,
generally prevalent. Again we see how far from the mark we are when we think of
the whole nation as cordially following the religion of Moses, in the sense of
renouncing all other gods. Minor forms of idolatry, minor recognitions of the gods
of the Chaldaeans and the Egyptians and the Amorites, were prevalent even yet.
Probably Joshua called to mind the scene that had occurred at that very place
hundreds of years before, when Jacob, rebuked by God, and obliged to remove from
Shechem, called on his household: ''Put away the strange gods that are among you,
and be clean, and change your garments. . . . And they gave unto Jacob all the
strange gods which were in the land, and all the ear-rings which were in their ears;
and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem." Alas! that, centuries
later, it was necessary for Joshua in the same place to issue the same order, - Put
away the gods which are among you, and serve ye the Lord. What a weed sin is, and
how it is for ever reappearing! And reappearing among ourselves too, in a different
variety, but essentially the same. For what honest and earnest heart does not feel
that there are idols and images among ourselves that interfere with God's claims
and God's glory as much as the teraphim and the ear-rings of the Israelites did? The
images of the Israelites were little images, and it was probably at by-times and in
retirement that they made use of them; and so, it may not be on the leading
occasions or in the outstanding work of our lives that we are wont to dishonour
God. But who that knows himself but must think with humiliation of the numberless
occasions on which he indulges little whims or inclinations without thinking of the
will of God; the many little acts of his daily life on which conscience is not brought
to bear; the disengaged state of his mind from that supreme controlling influence
which would bear on it if God were constantly recognised as his Master? And who
does not find that, despite his endeavour from time to time to be more conscientious,
the old habit, like a weed whose roots have only been cut over, is ever showing itself
alive?
7. And now comes the closing and clinching transaction of this meeting at Shechem.
Joshua enters into a formal covenant with the people; he records their words in the
book of the law of the Lord; he takes a great stone and sets it up under an oak that
was by the sanctuary of the Lord; and he constitutes the stone a witness, as if it had
heard all that had been spoken by the Lord to them and by them to the Lord. The
covenant was a transaction invested with special solemnity among all Eastern
peoples, and especially among the Israelites. Many instances had occurred in their
history, of covenants with God, and of other covenants, like that of Abraham with

23. Abimelech, or that of Jacob with Laban. The wanton violation of a covenant was
held an act of gross impiety, deserving the reprobation alike of God and man. When
Joshua got the people bound by a transaction of this sort, he seemed to obtain a new
guarantee for their fidelity; a new barrier was erected against their lapsing into
idolatry. It was natural for him to expect that some good would come of it, and no
doubt it contributed to the happy result; "for Israel served the Lord all the days of
Joshua, and all the days of the elders which over lived Joshua, and which had
known all the works of the Lord that He had done for Israel." And yet it was but a
temporary barrier against a flood which seemed ever to be gathering strength
unseen, and preparing for another fierce discharge of its disastrous waters.
At the least, this meeting secured for Joshua a peaceful sunset, and enabled him to
sing his " unc dimittis." The evil which he dreaded most was not at work as the
current of life ebbed away from him; it was his great privilege to look round him
and see his people faithful to their God. It does not appear that Joshua had any very
comprehensive or far-reaching aims with reference to the moral training and
development of the people. His idea of religion seems to have been, a very simple
loyalty to Jehovah, in opposition to the perversions of idolatry. It is not even very
plain whether or not he was much impressed by the capacity of true religion to
pervade all the relations and engagements of men, and brighten and purify the
whole life. We are too prone to ascribe all the virtues to the good men of the Old
Testament, forgetting that of many virtues there was only a progressive
development, and that it is not reasonable to look for excellence beyond the measure
of the age. Joshua was a soldier, a soldier of the Old Testament, a splendid man for
his day, but not beyond his day. As a soldier, his business was to conquer his
enemies, and to be loyal to his heavenly Master. It did not lie to him to enforce the
numberless bearings which the spirit of trust in God might have on all the interests
of life - on the family, on books, on agriculture and commerce, or on the
development of the humanities, and the courtesies of society. Other men were raised
up from time to time, many other men, with commission from God to devote their
energies to such matters.
It is quite possible that, under Joshua, religion did not appear in very close relation
to many things that are lovely and of good report. A celebrated English writer
(Matthew Arnold) has asked whether, if Virgil or Shakespeare had sailed in the
Mayflower with the puritan fathers, they would have found themselves in congenial
society. The question is not a fair one, for it supposes that men whose destiny was to
fight as for very life, and for what was dearer than life, were of the same mould with
others who could devote themselves in peaceful leisure to the amenities of literature,
Joshua had doubtless much of the ruggedness of the early soldier, and it is not fair
to blame him for want of sweetness and light. Very probably it was from him that
Deborah drew somewhat of her scorn, and Jael, the wife of Heber, of her rugged
courage. The whole Book of Judges is penetrated by his spirit. He was not the
apostle of charity or gentleness. He had one virtue, but it was the supreme virtue -
he honoured God. Wherever God's claims were involved, he could see nothing,
listen to nothing, care for nothing, but that He should obtain His due. Wherever
God's claims were acknowledged and fulfilled, things were essentially right, and

24. other interests would come right. For his absolute and supreme loyalty to his Lord
he is entitled to our highest reverence. This loyalty is a rare virtue, in the sublime
proportions in which it appeared in him. When a man honours God in this way, he
has something of the appearance of a supernatural being, rising high above the fears
and the feebleness of poor humanity. He fills his fellows with a sort of awe.
Among the reformers, the puritans, and the covenanters such men were often found.
The best of them, indeed, were men of this type, and very genuine men they were.
They were not men whom the world loved; they were too jealous of God's claims for
that, and too severe on those who refused them. And we have still the type of the
fighting Christian. But alas! it is a type subject to fearful degeneration. Loyalty to
human tradition is often substituted, unconsciously no doubt, for loyalty to God.
The sublime purity and nobility of the one passes into the obstinacy, the self-
righteousness, the self-assertion of the other. When a man of the genuine type does
appear, men are arrested, astonished, as if by a supernatural apparition. The very
rareness, the eccentricity of the character, secures a respectful homage. And yet,
who can deny that it is the true representation of what every man should be who
says, "I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth"?
After a life of a hundred and ten years the hour comes when Joshua must die. We
have no record of the inner workings of his spirit, no indication of his feelings in
view of his sins, no hint as to the source of his trust for forgiveness and acceptance.
But we readily think of him as the heir of the faith of his father Abraham, the heir
of the righteousness that is by faith, and as passing calmly into the presence of his
Judge, because, like Jacob, he has waited for His salvation. He was well entitled to
the highest honours that the nation could bestow on his memory; for all owed to him
their homes and their rest. His name must ever be coupled with that of the greatest
hero of the nation: Moses led them out of the house of bondage; Joshua led them
into the house of rest. Sometimes, as we have already said, it has been attempted to
draw a sharp antithesis between Moses and Joshua, the one as representing the law,
and the other as representing the gospel. The antithesis is more in word than in
deed. Moses represented both gospel and law, for he brought the people out of the
bondage of Egypt; he brought them to their marriage altar, and he unfolded to the
bride the law of her Divine husband's house. Joshua conducted the bride to her
home, and to the rest which she was to enjoy there; but he was not less emphatic
than Moses in insisting that she must be an obedient wife, following the law of her
husband. It were difficult to say which of them was the more instructive type of
Christ, both in feeling and in act. The love of each for his people was most intense,
most self-denying; and neither of them, had he been called on, would have hesitated
to surrender his life for their sake.
It is probably a mere incidental arrangement that the book concludes with a record
of the burial of Joseph, and of the death and burial of Eleazar, the son of Aaron. In
point of time, we can hardly suppose that the burial of Joseph in the field of his
father Jacob in Shechem was delayed till after the death of Joshua. It would be a
most suitable transaction after the division of the country, and especially after the
territory that contained the field had been assigned to Ephraim, Joseph's son. It

25. would be like a great doxology - a Te Deum celebration of the fulfilment of the
promise in which, so many centuries before, Joseph had so nobly shown his trust.
But why did not Joseph's bones find their resting-place in the time-honoured cave of
Macpelah? Why was he not laid side by side with his father, who would doubtless
have liked right well that his beloved son should be laid at his side? We can only say
in regard to Joseph as in regard to Rachel, that the right of burial in that tomb
seems to have been limited to the wife who was recognised by law, and to the son
who inherited the Messianic promise. The other members of the family must have
their resting-place elsewhere; moreover, there was this benefit in Joseph having his
burial-place at Shechem, that it was in the very centre of the country, and near the
spot where the tribes were to assemble for the great annual festivals. For many a
generation the tomb of Joseph would be a memorable witness to the people; by it the
patriarch, though dead, would continue to testify to the faithfulness of God; while
he would point the hopes of the godly people still onward to the future, when the last
clause of the promise to Abraham would be emphatically fulfilled, and that Seed
would come forth among them in whom all the families of the earth would be
blessed.
Was there a reason for recording the death of Eleazar? Certainly there was a fitness
in placing together the record of the death of Joshua and the death of Eleazar. For
Joshua was the successor of Moses, and Eleazar was the successor of Aaron. The
simultaneous mention of the death of both is a significant indication that the
generation to which they belonged had now passed away. A second age after the
departure from Egypt had now slipped into the silent past. It was a token that the
duties and responsibilities of life had now come to a new generation, and a silent
warning to them to remember how
"Time like an ever-rolling stream Bears all its sons away; They fly forgotten, as a
dream Dies at the opening day."
How short the life of a generation seems when we look back to these distant days!
How short the life of the individual when he realizes that his journey is practically
ended! How vain the expectation once cherished of an indefinite future, when there
would be ample time to make up for all the neglects of earlier years! God give us all
to know the true meaning of that word, ''the time is short," and "so teach us to
number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom!"
CHAPTER XXXIII.
JOSHUA'S WORK FOR ISRAEL.
IT now only remains for us to take a retrospective view of the work of Joshua, and
indicate what he did for Israel and the mark he left on the national history.
1. Joshua was a soldier - a believing soldier. He was the first of a type that has
furnished many remarkable specimens. Abraham had fought, but he had fought as

26. a quaker might be induced to fight, for he was essentially a man of peace. Moses had
superintended military campaigns, but Moses was essentially a priest and a prophet.
Joshua was neither quaker, nor priest, nor prophet, but simply a soldier. There
were fighting men in abundance, no doubt, before the flood, but so far as we know,
not believing men. Joshua was the first of an order that seems to many a moral
paradox - a devoted servant of God, yet an enthusiastic fighter. His mind ran
naturally in the groove of military work. To plan expeditions, to devise methods of
attacking, scattering, or annihilating opponents, came naturally to him. A military
genius, he entered con amore into his work.
Yet along with this the fear of God continually controlled and guided him. He would
do nothing deliberately unless he was convinced that it was the will of God. In all his
work of slaughter, he believed himself to be fulfilling the righteous purposes of
Jehovah. His life was habitually guided by regard to the unseen. He had no ambition
but to serve his God and to serve his country. He would have been content with the
plainest conditions of life, for his habits were simple and his tastes natural. He
believed that God was behind him, and the belief made him fearless. His career of
almost unbroken success justified his faith.
There have been soldiers who were religious in spite of their being soldiers - some of
them in their secret hearts regretting the distressing fortune that made the sword
their weapon; but there have also been men whose energy in religion and in fighting
have supported and strengthened each other. Such men, however, are usually found
only in times of great moral and spiritual struggle, when the brute force of the world
has been mustered in overwhelming mass to crush some religious movement. They
have an intense conviction that the movement is of God, and as to the use of the
sword, they cannot help themselves; they have no choice, for the instinct of self-
defence compels them to draw it. Such are the warriors of the Apocalypse, the
soldiers of Armageddon; for though their battle is essentially spiritual, it is
presented to us in that military book under the symbols of material warfare. Such
were the Ziskas and Procopses of the Bohemian reformation; the Gustavus
Adolphuses of the Thirty Years' War; the Cromwells of the Commonwealth, and
the General Leslies of the Covenant. Ruled supremely by the fear of God, and
convinced of a Divine call to their work, they have communed about it with Him as
closely and as truly as the missionary about his preaching or his translating, or the
philanthropist about his homes or his rescue agencies. To God's great goodness it
has ever been their habit to ascribe their successes; and when an enterprise has
failed, the causes of failure have been sought for in the Divine displeasure. or in
their intercourse with their families and friends have they been usually wanting in
gentler graces, in affection, in generosity, or in pity. All this must be freely admitted,
even by those to whom war is most obnoxious. It is quite consistent with the
conviction that a large proportion of wars has been utterly unjustifiable, and that in
ordinary circumstances the sword is no more to be regarded as the right and proper
weapon for settling the quarrels of nations than the duel for settling the quarrels of
individuals. And the best of soldiers cannot but feel that fighting is at best a cruel
necessity, and that it will be a happy day for the world when men shall beat their
swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning-hooks.

27. 2. Being a soldier, Joshua confined himself in the main to the work of a soldier. That
work was to conquer the enemy and to divide the land. To these two departments he
limited himself, in subordination, however, to his deep conviction that they were
only means to an end, and that that end would be utterly missed unless the people
were pervaded by loyalty to God and devotion to the mode of worship which He had
prescribed. o opportunity of impressing that consideration on their minds was
neglected. It lay at the root of all their prosperity; and if Joshua had not pressed it
on them by every available means, all his work would have been like pouring water
on sand or sowing seed upon the rocks of the seashore.
Joshua was not called to ecclesiastical work, certainly not in the sense of carrying
out ecclesiastical details That department belonged to the high priest and his
brethren. While Moses lived, it had been under him, because Moses was head of all
departments. either did Joshua take in hand the arrangement in detail of the civil
department of the commonwealth. That was mainly work for the elders and officers
appointed to regulate it. It is from the circumstance that Joshua personally confined
himself to his two great duties, that the book which bears his name travels so little
beyond these. Reading Joshua alone, we might have the impression that very little
attention was paid to the ritual enacted in the books of Moses. We might suppose
that but little was done to carry out the provisions of the Torah, as the law came to
be called. But the inference would not be warranted, for the plain reason that such
things did not come within the sphere of Joshua or the scope of the book which
bears his name. We may make what we can of incidental allusions, but we need not
expect elaborate descriptions. There are many things that it would have been highly
interesting for us to know regarding this period of the history of Israel; but the book
limits itself as Joshua limited himself. It is not a full history of the times. It is not a
chapter of universal national annals. It is a history of the settlement, and of Joshua's
share in the settlement.
And the fact that it has this character is a testimony to its authenticity. Had it been a
work of much later date, it is not likely that it would have been confined within such
narrow limits. It would in all likelihood have presented a much larger view of the
state and progress of the nation than the existing book does. The fact that it is made
to revolve so closely round Joshua seems to indicate that Joshua's personality was
still a great power; the remembrance of him was bright and vivid when the book
was written. Moreover, the lists of names, many of which seem to have been the old
Canaanite names, and to have dropped out of the Hebrew history because the cities
were not actually taken from the Canaanites, and did not become Hebrew cities, is
another testimony to the contemporary date of the book, or of the documents on
which it is founded.
3. If we examine carefully Joshua's character as a soldier, or rather as a strategist,
we shall probably find that he had one defect. He does not appear to have succeeded
in making his conquests permanent. What he gained one day was often won back by
the enemy after a little time. To read the account of what happened after the victory
of Gibeon and Bethhoron, one would infer that all the region south of Gibeon fell

28. completely into his hands. Yet by-and-by we find Hebron and Jerusalem in
possession of the enemy, while a hitherto unheard-of king has come into view,
Adonibezek, of Bezek, of whose people there were slain, after the death of Joshua,
ten thousand men ( 1:4). With regard to Hebron we read first that Joshua "fought
against it and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and the king thereof,
and all the cities thereof, and all the souls that were therein; he left none remaining,
but destroyed it utterly, and all the souls that were therein " (Joshua 10:37). Yet not
long after, when Caleb requested Hebron for his inheritance, it was (as we have
seen) on the very ground that it was strongly held by the enemy: ''if so be the Lord
will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord said" (Joshua
14:12). Again, in the campaign against Jabin, King of Hazor, while it is said that
Hazor was utterly destroyed, it is also said that Joshua did not destroy "the cities
that stood on their mounds" (Joshua 11:13, R.V.); accordingly we find that some
time after, another Jabin was at the head of a restored Hazor, and it was against
him that the expedition to which Barak was stimulated by the prophetess Deborah
was undertaken ( 4:2). Whether Joshua miscalculated the number and resources of
the Canaanites in the country; or whether he was unable to divide his own forces so
as to prevent the re-occupation and restoration of places that had once been
destroyed; or whether he over-estimated the effects of his first victories and did not
allow enough for the determination of a conquered people to fight for their homes
and their altars to the last, we cannot determine; but certainly the result was, that
after being defeated and scattered at the first, they rallied and gathered together,
and presented a most formidable problem to the tribes in their various settlements.
There is no reason for resorting to the explanation of our modern critics that we
have here traces of two writers, of whom the policy of the one was to represent that
Joshua was wholly victorious, and of the other that he was very far from successful.
The true view is, that his first invasion, or run-over, as it may be called, was a
complete success, but that, through the rallying of his opponents, much of the
ground which he gained at the beginning was afterwards lost.
4. The great service of Joshua to his people (as we have already remarked) was, that
he gave them a settlement. He gave them - Rest. Some, indeed, may be disposed to
question whether that which Joshua did give them was worthy of the name of rest.
If the Canaanites were still among them, disputing the possession of the country; if
savage Adonibezeks were still at large, whose victims bore in their mutilated bodies
the marks of their cruelty and barbarity; if the power of the Philistines in the south,
the Sidonians in the north, and the Geshurites in the north-east was still unbroken,
how could they be said to have obtained rest?
The objection proceeds from inability to estimate the force of the comparative
degree. Joshua gave them rest in the sense that he gave them homes of their own.
There was no more need for the wandering life which they had led in the wilderness.
They had more compact and comfortable habitations than the tents of the desert
with their slim coverings that could effectually shut out neither the cold of winter,
nor the heat of summer, nor the drenching rains. They had brighter objects to look
out on than the scanty and monotonous vegetation of the wilderness. o doubt they
had to defend their new homes, and in order to do so they had to expel the

29. Canaanites who were still hovering about them. But still they were real homes; they
were not homes which they merely expected or hoped to get, but homes which they
had actually gotten. They were homes with the manifold attractions of country life -
the field, the well, the garden, the orchard, stocked with vine, fig, and pomegranate;
the olive grove, the rocky crag, and the quiet glen. The sheep and the oxen might be
seen browsing in picturesque groups on the pasture grounds, as if they were part of
the family. It was an interest to watch the progress of vegetation, to mark how the
vine budded, and the lily sprang into beauty, to pluck the first rose, or to divide the
first ripe pomegranate. Life had a new interest when on a bright spring morning the
young man could thus invite his bride: -
"Rise up my love, my fair one, and come away. For, lo, the winter is past. The rain is
over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; The time of the singing of birds is
come. And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; The fig tree putteth forth her
green figs, And the vines with the tender grape give a good smell."
This, as it were, was Joshua's gift to Israel, or rather God's gift through Joshua. It
was well fitted to kindle their gratitude, and though not yet complete or perfectly
secure, it was entitled to be called "rest." For if there was still need of fighting to
complete the conquest, it was fighting under easy conditions. If they went out under
the influence of that faith of which Joshua had set them so memorable an example,
they were sure of protection and of victory. Past experience had shown to
demonstration that none of their enemies could stand before them, and the future
would be as the past had been. God was still among them; if they called on Him, He
would arise, their enemies would be scattered, and they that hated Him would flee
before Him. Fidelity to Him would secure all the blessings that had been read out at
Mount Gerizim, and to which they had enthusiastically shouted, Amen. The picture
drawn by Moses before his death would be realized in its brightest colours: "Blessed
shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the
fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase
of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.
Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed when thou goest out."
But here a very serious objection may be interposed. Is it conceivable, it may be
asked, that this serene satisfaction was enjoyed by the Israelites when they had got
their new homes only by dispossessing the former owners; when all around them
was stained by the blood of the slain, and the shrieks and groans of their
predecessors were yet sounding in their ears? If these homes were not haunted by
the ghosts of their former owners, must not the hearts and consciences of the new
occupants have been haunted by recollections of the scenes of horror which had
been enacted there? is it possible that they should have been in that tranquil and
happy frame in which they would really enjoy the sweetness of their new abodes?
The question is certainly a disturbing one, and any answer that may be given to it
must seem imperfect, just because we are incapable of placing ourselves wholly in
the circumstances of the children of Israel.

30. We are incapable of entering into the callousness of the Oriental heart in reference
to the sufferings or the death of enemies. Exceptions there no doubt were; but, as a
rule, indifference to the condition of enemies, whether in life or in death, was the
prevalent feeling.
Two parts of their nature were liable to be affected by the change which put the
Israelites in possession of the houses and fields of the destroyed Canaanites - their
consciences and their hearts.
With regard to their consciences the case was clear: "The earth is the Lord's, and
the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein." God, as owner of the
land of Canaan, had given it, some six hundred years before, to Abraham and his
seed. That gift had been ratified by many solemnities, and belief in it had been kept
alive in the hearts of Abraham's descendants from generation to generation. There
had been no secret about it, and the Canaanites must have been familiar with the
tradition. Consequently, during all these centuries, they had been but tenants at
will. When, under the guidance of Jehovah, Israel crossed the Red Sea and the army
of Pharaoh was drowned, a pang must have shot through the breasts of the
Canaanites, and the news must have come to them as a notice to quit. The echoes of
the Song of Moses reverberated through the whole region: -
"The peoples have heard, they tremble: Pangs have taken hold of the inhabitants of
Philistia. Then were the dukes of Edom amazed; The mighty men of Moab,
trembling taketh hold of them: All the inhabitants of Canaan are melted away.
Terror and dread falleth upon them; By the greatness of Thine arm they are as still
as a stone; Till Thy people pass over, O Lord, Till the people pass over which Thou
hast purchased. Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of Thine
inheritance The place, O Lord, which Thou hast made for Thee to dwell in, The
sanctuary, O Lord, which Thy hands have established. The Lord shall reign for ever
and ever."
It was well known, therefore, that, so far as Divine right went, the children of Israel
were entitled to the land. But even after that, the Canaanites had a respite and
enjoyed possession for forty years. Besides, they had been judicially condemned on
account of their sins; and, moreover, when they first came into the country, they had
dispossessed the former inhabitants. At last, after long delay, the hour of destiny
arrived. When the Israelites took possession they felt that they were only regaining
their own. It was not they, but the Canaanites, that were the intruders, and any
feeling on the question of right in the minds of the Israelites would rather be that of
indignation at having been kept out so long of what had been promised to Abraham,
than of squeamishness at dispossessing the Canaanites of property which was not
their own.
Still, one might suppose there remained scope for natural pity. But this was not very
active. We may gather something of the prevalent feeling from the song of Deborah
and the action of Jael. It was not an age of humanity. The whole period of the
Judges was indeed an "iron age." Gideon, Jephthah, Samson, were men of the

31. roughest fibre. Even David's treatment of his Ammonite prisoners was revolting. All
that can be said for Israel is, that their treatment of enemies did not reach that
infamous pre-eminence of cruelty for which the Assyrians and the Babylonians were
notorious. But they had enough of the prevailing callousness to enable them to enter
without much discomfort on the homes and possessions of their dispossessed foes.
They had no such sentimental reserve as to interfere with a lively gratitude to
Joshua as the man who had given them rest.
Probably, in looking back on those times, we fail to realize the marvellous influence
in the direction of all that is humane and loving that came into our world, and began
to operate in full force, with the advent of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We
forget how much darker a world it must have been before the true light entered,
that lighteth every man coming into the world. We forget what a gift God gave to
the world when Jesus entered it, bringing with Him the light and love, the joy and
peace, the hope and the holiness of heaven. We forget that the coming of Jesus was
the rising of the Sun of Righteousness with healing in His wings. Coming among us
as the incarnation of Divine love, it was natural that He should correct the
prevailing practice in the treatment of enemies, and infuse a new spirit of humanity.
Even the Apostle who afterwards became the Apostle of Love could manifest all the
bitterness of the old spirit when he suggested the calling down of fire from heaven to
burn up the Samaritan village that would not receive them. "Ye know not what
manner of spirit ye are of, for the Son of man came not to destroy men's lives, but to
save them." Who does not feel the humane spirit of Christianity to be one of its
brightest gems, and one of its chief contrasts with the imperfect economy that
preceded it? It is when we mark the inveteracy of the old spirit of hatred that we see
how great a change Christ has introduced. If it was the great distinction of Christ's
love that "while we were yet enemies Christ died for us," His precept to us to love
our enemies ought to meet with our readiest obedience. ot without profound
prophetic insight did the angel who announced the birth of Jesus proclaim, ''Glory
to God in the highest, on earth peace, good-will to men."
Alas! it is with much humiliation we must own that in practising this humane spirit
of her Lord the progress of the Church has been slow and small. It seemed to be
implied in the prophecies that Christianity would end war; yet one of the most
outstanding phenomena of the world is, the so-called Christian nations of Europe
armed to the teeth, expending millions of treasure year by year on destructive
armaments, and withdrawing millions of soldiers from those pursuits which
increase wealth and comfort, to be supported by taxes wrung from the sinews of the
industrious, and to be ready, when called on, to scatter destruction and death
among the ranks of their enemies. Surely it is a shame to the diplomacy of Europe
that so little is done to arrest this crying evil; that nation after nation goes on
increasing its armaments, and that the only credit a good statesman can gain is that
of retarding a collision, which, when it does occur, will be the widest in its
dimensions, and the vastest and most hideous in the destruction it deals, that the
world has ever seen! All honour to the few earnest men who have tried to make
arbitration a substitute for war.

32. And surely it is no credit to the Christian Church that, when its members are
divided in opinion, there should be so much bitterness in the spirit of its
controversies. Grant that what excites men so keenly is the fear that the truth of
God being at stake, that which they deem most sacred in itself, and most vital in its
influence for good is liable to suffer; hence they regard it a duty to rebuke sharply
all who are apparently prepared to betray it or compromise it. Is it not apparent
that if love is not mingled with the controversies of Christians, it is vain to expect
violence and war to cease among the nations? More than this, if love is not more
apparent among Christians than has been common, we may well tremble for the
cause itself. One of the leaders of German unbelief is said to have remarked that he
did not think Christianity could be Divine, because he did not find the people called
Christians paying more heed than others to the command of Jesus to love their
enemies.
5. One other service of Joshua to the nation of Israel remains to be noticed: he
sought with all his heart that they should be a God-governed people, a people that in
every department of life should be ruled by the endeavour to do God's will. He
pressed this on them with such earnestness, he commended it by his own example
with such sincerity, he brought his whole authority and influence to bear on it with
such momentum, that to a large extent he succeeded, though the impression hardly
survived himself. ''The people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the
days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of the Lord
that He had wrought for Israel." Joshua seemed always to be contending with an
idolatrous virus which poisoned the blood of the people, and could not be
eradicated. The only thing that seemed capable of crushing it was the outstretched
arm of Jehovah, showing itself in some terrible form. While the effect of that display
lasted the tendency to Idolatry was subdued, but not extirpated; and as soon as the
impression of it was spent, the evil broke out anew. It was hard to instil into them
ruling principles of conduct that would guide them in spite of outward influences.
As a rule, they were not like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, or like Moses who
''endured as seeing Him who is invisible." Individuals there were among them, like
Caleb and Joshua himself, who walked by faith; but the great mass of the nation
were carnal, and they exemplified the drift or tendency of that spirit - "The carnal
mind is enmity against God." Still Joshua laboured to press the lesson - the great
lesson of the theocracy - Let God rule you; follow invariably His will. It is a rule for
nations, for churches, for individuals. The Hebrew theocracy has passed away; but
there is a sense in which every Christian nation should be a modified theocracy. So
far as God has given abiding rules for the conduct of nations, every nation ought to
regard them. If it be a Divine principle that righteousness exalteth a nation; if it be a
Divine command to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy; if it be a Divine
instruction to rulers to deliver the needy when he crieth, the poor also and him that
hath no helper, in these and in all such matters nations ought to be divinely ruled. It
is blasphemous to set up rules of expediency above these eternal emanations of the
Divine will.
So, too, churches should be divinely ruled. There is but one Lord in the Christian
Church, He that is King of kings, and Lord of lords. There may be many details in

33. Church life which are left to the discretion of its rulers, acting in accordance with
the spirit of Scripture; but no church should accept of any ruler whose will may set
aside the will of her Lord, nor allow any human authority to supersede what He has
ordained.
And for individuals the universal rule is: "Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all
in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks unto God and the Father by Him."
Each true Christian heart is a theocracy - a Christ-governed soul. ot ruled by
external appliances, nor by mechanical rules, nor by the mere effort to follow a
prescribed example; but by the indwelling of Christ's Spirit, by a vital force
communicated from Himself. The spring of the Christian life is here - " ot I, but
Christ liveth in me." This is the source of all the beautiful and fruitful Christian
lives that ever have been, of all that are, and of all that ever shall be.
PETT, "Introduction
Chapter 24 The Great Covenant Ceremony.
The book closes with an account of a great covenant ceremony at Shechem. The
chapter begins with an account of the gathering of the tribes by Joshua. There
Joshua again addresses the people, rehearses to them the many great and good
things YHWH has done for them, from the time of their ancestor Abraham to that
day, and then exhorts them to fear and serve YHWH, and reject idols. Then he lays
before them the stark choice as to whether they will serve the true God, or the gods
of the Canaanites. When they choose the former, he advises them to abide by their
choice, and finalises a covenant with them to that purpose. Then he sends them
away and the chapter concludes with an account of the death and burial of Joshua
and Eleazar, and of the interment of the bones of Joseph.
Verse 1
Chapter 24 The Great Covenant Ceremony.
The book closes with an account of a great covenant ceremony at Shechem. The
chapter begins with an account of the gathering of the tribes by Joshua. There
Joshua again addresses the people, rehearses to them the many great and good
things YHWH has done for them, from the time of their ancestor Abraham to that
day, and then exhorts them to fear and serve YHWH, and reject idols. Then he lays
before them the stark choice as to whether they will serve the true God, or the gods
of the Canaanites. When they choose the former, he advises them to abide by their
choice, and finalises a covenant with them to that purpose. Then he sends them
away and the chapter concludes with an account of the death and burial of Joshua
and Eleazar, and of the interment of the bones of Joseph.
Joshua 24:1
‘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.’

34. Shechem was the place where Joshua had previously written the words of the
covenant on stones (Joshua 8:32) and had built an altar in accordance with Exodus
20:24-25, establishing a sanctuary there in response to God’s revelation through
Moses (Deuteronomy 27:5), in a great covenant ceremony. It was also the place
where Moses had declared that such a covenant ceremony should take place on
entering the land (Deuteronomy 27:2-8). It was therefore logical that for this great
covenant renewal Joshua should once again gather the people at Shechem on Mount
Ebal where they could again see those stones that bore witness to the words of the
covenant and were a reminder of their first successful entry into the land. Shechem
lay in the valley between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim.
As he grew even more certain of approaching death he felt the need to remind his
people of that first great and significant event, and to renew what had been done
there so that they would remember it once he was gone. So he called the people
together once more and then summoned the leaders of the people, but this time it
was not only to an address to the nation but to a solemn covenant ceremony. During
it he would recount what YHWH had done for his people (Joshua 24:2-13). Then he
would call on them to make a solemn response as to where their loyalties lay (Joshua
24:14-15) which the people immediately did (Joshua 24:16-18), after which he would
put his challenge the second time (Joshua 24:19-20) resulting in a second response,
thus confirming the certainty of their promise. Joshua would then vocally accept
their response, receiving their third and final confirmation, and write the covenant
in a written record, and set up a memorial stone at the sanctuary he had previously
established there. Thus was the covenant sealed.
We note that this gathering was not at Shiloh. There Eleazar or Phinehas would
have been prominent. But this was a gathering re-enacting the earlier covenant
ceremony at Shechem at the beginning (Joshua 8:30-35) and it was to the great
Servant of YHWH that they all looked. At that ceremony the Shechemites had been
incorporated into Israel as worshippers of ‘the Lord of the Covenant’, as partly
Habiru, and as being descended in part from the men of Jacob who had settled
there to watch over Jacob’s land and had settled the city after its male inhabitants
were slaughtered (Genesis 34). (Although Judges 9 reveals that much of their
worship was tainted with Canaanite influence and association of ‘the Lord of the
Covenant’ with Baal).
“Presented themselves.” The word can mean ‘stationed for a certain purpose’.
Compare Exodus 2:4; Exodus 9:13; Exodus 14:13; Exodus 19:17; umbers 11:16.
BI 1-33, "Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem.
Joshua’s last farewell
I. God’s threefold mercies.
1. Israel’s enlargement (verses 2-4).
2. Israel’s exodus (verses 5-7).

35. 3. Israel’s entrance into Canaan (verses 8-12).
II. Joshua’s threefold appeal.
1. He exhorts them to fear and serve this great and this good God.
2. To manifest in yet clearer light that the service of God is a reasonable service, and
to show the utter folly of idolatry, Joshua, in the gravest irony, upholds the
alternative for the adoption of the people, and mocks the apostasy, the latent germs
of which he knew too well ware in the hearts of the great assembly before him.
3. Then, having, both with tender love and with withering scorn, set forth the two
alternatives, he declares his own resolute decision in words which should be the
motto for every ruler, and for every householder. This is the true order of the growth
of piety. First, individual consecration; then follows family control; and then the
third stage in the gradation—namely, public influence—will not be lacking.
III. Israel’s threefold covenant.
IV. A threefold affidavit to Israel’s covenant.
1. The first is the memory of the transaction in the minds of the people themselves.
2. Joshua himself, moreover, puts the whole matter into writing, even as we have it
here before us in this last chapter.
3. But there is another testimony that shall witness against Israel if they apostatise—
“a great stone,” which he places beneath the oak in Shechem, “that was by the
sanctuary of the Lord.”
V. A threefold seal to god’s promises. The Book closes with the mention of three burials.
In the peaceful graves of three of God’s saints we seem to see three seals to the truth of
God’s Word. These holy men once served Him among strange nations, but now their
bones are laid within the borders of the promised land. (G. W. Butler, M. A.)
Joshua’s last appeal
It was at Shechem that Joshua’s last meeting with the people took place. There was
much to recommend that place. It lay a few miles to the north-west of Shiloh, and was
not only distinguished as Abraham’s first resting-place in the country, and the scene of
the earliest of the promises given in it to him; but likewise as the place where, between
Mount Ebal and Gerizim, the blessings and curses of the law had been read out soon
after Joshua entered the land, and the solemn assent of the people given to them. And
whereas it is said (verse 26) that the great stone set up as a witness was “by the
sanctuary of the Lord,” this stone may have been placed at Shiloh after the meeting,
because there it would be more fully in the observation of the people as they came up to
the annual festivals (1Sa_1:7; 1Sa_1:9).
1. In the record of Joshua’s speech contained in the twenty-fourth chapter, he begins
by rehearsing the history of the nation. He has an excellent reason for beginning with
the revered name of Abraham, because Abraham had been conspicuous for that very
grace, loyalty to Jehovah, which he is bent on impressing on them. We mark in this
rehearsal the well-known features of the national history, as they were always
represented; thy frank recognition of the supernatural, with no indication of myth or
legend, with nothing of the mist or glamour in which the legend is commonly
enveloped. And, seeing that God hath done all this for them, the inference was that

36. He was entitled to their heartiest loyalty and obedience. Never was a good man more
in earnest, or more thoroughly persuaded that all that made for a nation’s welfare
was involved in the course which he pressed upon them.
2. But Joshua did not urge this merely on the strength of his own conviction. He
must enlist their reason on his side; and for this cause he now called on them
deliberately to weigh the claims of other gods and the advantages of other modes of
worship, and choose that which must be pronounced the best. There were four
claimants to be considered—
(1) Jehovah;
(2) the Chaldaean gods worshipped by their ancestors;
(3) the gods of the Egyptians; and
(4) the gods of the Amorites among whom they dwelt.
Make your choice between these, said Joshua, if you are dissatisfied With Jehovah. But
could there be any reasonable choice between these gods and Jehovah? It is often useful,
when we hesitate as to a course, to set down the various reasons for and against—it may
be the reasons of our judgment against the reasons of our feelings; for often this course
enables us to see how utterly the one outweighs the other. May it not be useful for us to
do as Joshua urged Israel to do?
3. But Joshua is fully prepared to add example to precept. Whatever you do in this
matter, my mind is made up, my course is clear—“as for me and my house, we will
serve Jehovah.” He was happy in being able to associate his house with himself as
sharing his convictions and his purpose. He owed this, in all likelihood, to his own
firm and intrepid attitude throughout his life. His house saw how consistently and
constantly he recognised the supreme claims of Jehovah. Not less clearly did they see
how constantly he experienced the blessedness of his choice.
4. Convinced by his arguments, moved by his eloquence, and carried along by the
magnetism of his example, the people respond with enthusiasm. But Joshua knew
something of their fickle temper. He may have called to mind the extraordinary
enthusiasm of their fathers when the tabernacle was in preparation; the singular
readiness with which they had contributed their most valued treasures, and the
grievous change they underwent after the return of the spies. Even an enthusiastic
burst like this is not to be trusted. He must go deeper; he must try to induce them to
think more earnestly of the matter, and not trust to the feeling of the moment.
5. Hence he draws a somewhat dark picture of Jehovah’s character, lie dwells on
those attributes which are least agreeable to the natural man—His holiness, His
jealousy, and His inexorable opposition to sin. “Ye cannot serve the Lord,” said
Joshua; “take care how you undertake what is beyond your strength.” Perhaps he
wished to impress on them the need of Divine strength for so difficult a duty.
Certainly he did not change their purpose, but only drew from them a more resolute
expression.
6. And now Joshua comes to a point which had doubtless been in his mind all the
time, but which he had been waiting for a favourable opportunity to bring forward.
He had pledged the people to an absolute and unreserved service of God, and now he
demands a practical proof of their sincerity. He knows quite well that they have
“strange gods” among them. Minor forms of idolatry, minor recognitions of the gods
of the Chaldaeans and the Egyptians and the Amorites, were prevalent even yet.

37. What a weed sin is, and how it is for ever reappearing! And reappearing among
ourselves too, in a different variety, but essentially the same. For what honest and
earnest heart does not feel that there are idols and images among ourselves that
interfere with God’s claims and God’s glory as much as the teraphim and the earrings
of the Israelites did?
7. And now comes the closing and the clinching transaction of this meeting at
Shechem. Joshua enters into a formal covenant with the people. When Joshua got
the people bound by a transaction of this sort, he seemed to obtain a new guarantee
for their fidelity; a new barrier was erected against their lapsing into idolatry. And
yet it was but a temporary barrier against a flood which seemed ever to be gathering
strength unseen, and preparing for another fierce discharge of its disastrous waters.
8. At the least, this meeting secured for Joshua a peaceful sunset, and enabled him
to sing his “Nunc dimittis.” The evil which he dreaded most was not at work as the
current of life ebbed away from him; it was his great privilege to look round him and
see his people faithful to their God. It does not appear that Joshua had any very
comprehensive or far-reaching aims with reference to the moral training and
development of the people. His idea of religion seems to have been a very simple
loyalty to Jehovah, in opposition to the perversions of idolatry. For his absolute and
supreme loyalty to his Lord he is entitled to our highest reverence, This loyalty is a
rare virtue, in the sublime proportions in which it appeared in him. The very
rareness, the eccentricity of the character, secures a respectful homage. And yet who
can deny that it is the true representation of what every man should be who says, “I
believe in God the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth”? (W. G. Blaikie, D.
D.)
Dying charges
The world long remembers Jonathan Edwards’s dying charge to his family: “Trust in
God, and you have nothing to fear”; or the English Samuel Johnson’s exhortation to his
physician, “Doctor, believe a dying man: nothing but salvation by Christ can comfort you
when you come to lie here”; or a departing President, like Jackson, saying, “Religion is a
great reality: the Bible is true.” These and a thousand other instances testify that a
thoughtful man going the way of all the earth is pretty certain to have his thoughts fixed
on the place to which he is going and the preparation he and those around him may need
for that journey. (W. E. Knox, D. D.)
2 Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the
Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your
ancestors, including Terah the father of Abraham
and ahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River and

38. worshiped other gods.
BAR ES, "The other side of the flood - Better “On the other side of the river,” i.
e. the Euphrates. See the marginal reference.
They served other gods - Possibly the “images,” or teraphim, which we find their
ancestor Laban calling “his gods” (see the marginal reference); and of which it would
seem that there were, as Joshua spoke, some secret devotees among the people Jos_
24:14, Jos_24:25. It is not stated that Abraham himself was an idolater, though his
fathers were. Jewish tradition asserts that Abraham while in Ur of the Chaldees was
persecuted for his abhorrence of idolatry, and hence, was called away by God from his
native land. The reference in the text to the original state of those who were the
forefathers of the nation, is made to show that they were no better than others: God
chose them not for their excellences but of His own mere motion.
CLARKE, "On the other side of the flood - The river Euphrates.
They served other gods - Probably Abraham as well as Terah his father was an
idolater, till he received the call of God to leave that land. See on Gen_11:31 (note); Gen_
12:1 (note).
GILL, "And Joshua said unto all the people,.... Then present, or to all Israel by
their representatives:
thus saith the Lord God of Israel; he spoke to them in the name of the Lord, as the
prophet did, being himself a prophet, and at this time under a divine impulse, and spirit
of prophecy. According to an Arabic writer (w): the Angel of God appeared in the form of
a man, and with a loud voice delivered the following, though they are expressed by him
in a different manner; perhaps he mean, the Captain of the Lord's host, Jos_15:13; and
which is not unlikely:
your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time; on the offer side
the, river Euphrates; so the Targum,"beyond Perat;''i.e. Euphrates; in Mesopotamia and
Chaldea; meaning not the remotest of their ancestors, Noah and Shem, but the more
near, and who are expressly named:
even Terah the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor; the Israelites
sprung from Terah, in the line of Abraham, on the father's side, and from him in the line
of Nachor on the mother's side, Rebekah, Leah, and Rachel, being of Nachor's family:
and they served other gods; besides the true God, strange gods, which were no gods:
"idols"; the idols of the people, as the Targum; so did Terah, Abraham, and Nachor; See
Gill on Gen_11:26; See Gill on Gen_11:28; See Gill on Gen_12:1.

39. HE RY 2-3, "Joshua spoke to them in God's name, and as from him, in the language
of a prophet (Jos_24:2): “Thus saith the Lord, Jehovah, the great God, and the God of
Israel, your God in covenant, whom therefore you are bound to hear and give heed to.”
Note, The word of God is to be received by us as his, whoever is the messenger that
brings it, whose greatness cannot add to it, nor his meanness diminish from it. His
sermon consists of doctrine and application.
1. The doctrinal part is a history of the great things God had done for his people, and for
their fathers before them. God by Joshua recounts the marvels of old: “I did so and so.”
They must know and consider, not only that such and such things were done, but that
God did them. It is a series of wonders that is here recorded, and perhaps many more
were mentioned by Joshua, which for brevity's sake are here omitted. See what God had
wrought. (1.) He brought Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees, Jos_24:2, Jos_24:3. He
and his ancestors had served other gods there, for it was the country in which, though
celebrated for learning, idolatry, as some think, had its rise; there the world by wisdom
knew not God. Abraham, who afterwards was the friend of God and the great favourite
of heaven, was bred up in idolatry, and lived long in it, till God by his grace snatched him
as a brand out of that burning. Let them remember that rock out of which they were
hewn, and not relapse into that sin from which their fathers by a miracle of free grace
were delivered. “I took him,” says God, “else he had never come out of that sinful state.”
Hence Abraham's justification is made by the apostle an instance of God's justifying the
ungodly, Rom_4:5.
JAMISO , "Jos_24:2-13. Relates God’s benefits.
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 Gen_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 (Gen_31:19, Gen_31:34).
K&D, "Jos_24:2-15
Joshua's address contains an expansion of two thoughts. He first of all recalls to the
recollection of the whole nation, whom he is addressing in the persons of its
representatives, all the proofs of His mercy which the Lord had given, from the calling of
Abraham to that day (Jos_24:2-13); and then because of these divine acts he calls upon
the people to renounce all idolatry, and to serve God the Lord alone (Jos_24:14, Jos_
24:15). Jehovah is described as the “God of Israel” both at the commencement (Jos_
24:2) and also at the close of the whole transaction, in perfect accordance with the
substance and object of the address, which is occupied throughout with the goodness

40. conferred by God upon the race of Israel. The first practical proof of the grace of God
towards Israel, was the calling of Abraham from his idolatrous associations, and his
introduction to the land of Canaan, where the Lord so multiplied his seed, that Esau
received the mountains of Seir for his family, whilst Jacob went into Egypt with his sons.
(Note: “He commences with their gratuitous training, by which God had precluded
them from the possibility of boasting of any pre-eminence or merit. For God had
bound them to himself by a closer bond, because when they were on an equality with
others, He drew them to himself to be His own peculiar people, for no other reason
than His own good pleasure. Moreover, in order that it may be clearly seen that they
have nothing whereof to glory, he leads them back to their earliest origin, and relates
how their fathers had dwelt in Chaldaea, worshipping idols in common with the rest,
and with nothing to distinguish them from the crowd.” - Calvin.)
The ancestors of Israel dwelt “from eternity,” i.e., from time immemorial, on the other
side of the stream (the Euphrates), viz., in Ur of the Chaldees, and then at Haran in
Mesopotamia (Gen_11:28, Gen_11:31), namely Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor.
Of Terah's three sons (Gen_11:27), Nahor is mentioned as well as Abraham, because
Rebekah, and her nieces Leah and Rachel, the tribe-mothers of Israel, were descended
from him (Gen_22:23; Gen_29:10, Gen_29:16.). And they (your fathers, Terah and his
family) served other gods than Jehovah, who revealed himself to Abraham, and brought
him from his father's house to Canaan. Nothing definite can be gathered from the
expression “other gods,” with reference to the gods worshipped by Terah and his family;
nor is there anything further to be found respecting them throughout the whole of the
Old Testament. We simply learn from Gen_31:19, Gen_31:34, that Laban had teraphim,
i.e., penates, or household and oracular gods.
(Note: According to one tradition, Abraham was brought up in Sabaeism in his
father's house (see Hottinger, Histor. Orient. p. 246, and Philo, in several passages of
his works); and according to another, in the Targum Jonathan on Gen_11:23, and in
the later Rabbins, Abraham had to suffer persecution on account of his dislike to
idolatry, and was obliged to leave his native land in consequence. But these
traditions are both of them nothing more than conjectures by the later Rabbins.)
The question also, whether Abraham was an idolater before his call, which has been
answered in different ways, cannot be determined with certainty. We may conjecture,
however, that he was not deeply sunk in idolatry, though he had not remained entirely
free from it in his father's house; and therefore that his call is not to be regarded as a
reward for his righteousness before God, but as an act of free unmerited grace.
CALVI , "2.Your fathers dwelt on the other side, etc He begins his address by
referring to their gratuitous adoption by which God had anticipated any application
on their part, so that they could not boast of any peculiar excellence or merit. For
God had bound them to himself by a closer tie, having, while they were no better
than others, gathered them together to be his peculiar people, from no respect to
anything but his mere good pleasure. Moreover, to make it clearly appear that there
was nothing in which they could glory, he leads them back to their origin, and
reminds them how their fathers had dwelt in Chaldea, worshipping idols in common
with others, and differing in nothing from the great body of their countrymen.
Hence it is inferred that Abraham, when he was plunged in idolatry, was raised up,
as it were, from the lowest deep.
The Jews, indeed, to give a false dignity to their race, fabulously relate that

41. Abraham became an exile from his country because he refused to acknowledge the
Chaldean fire as God. (197) But if we attend to the words of the inspired writer, we
shall see that he is no more exempted from the guilt of the popular idolatry than
Terah and achor. For why is it said that the fathers of the people served strange
gods, and that Abraham was rescued from the country, but just to show how the
free mercy of God was displayed in their very origin? Had Abraham been unlike the
rest of his countrymen, his own piety would distinguish him. The opposite, however,
is expressly mentioned to show that he had no peculiar excellence of his own which
could diminish the grace bestowed upon him, and that therefore his posterity
behooved to acknowledge that when he was lost, he was raised up from death unto
life.
It seems almost an incredible and monstrous thing, that while oah was yet alive,
idolatry had not only spread everywhere over the world, but even penetrated into
the family of Shem, in which at least, a purer religion ought to have flourished. How
insane and indomitable human infatuation is in this respect, is proved by the fact
that the holy Patriarch, on whom the divine blessing had been specially bestowed,
was unable to curb his posterity, and prevent them from abandoning the true God,
and prostituting themselves to superstition.
BE SO , "Joshua 24:2. Joshua said unto all the people — To the elders, by whom
it was to be imparted to all the rest, and to as many of the people as came thither. He
spake to them in God’s name, and as from him, in the language of a prophet. Thus
saith the Lord — Jehovah, the great God, and the God of Israel, whom you are
peculiarly bound to hear. This is an argument that he uttered all that follows by the
divine inspiration and impulse. Indeed he was no less the prophet than the political
head of the nation. Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood — Or, the river,
namely, Euphrates, so called by way of eminence. They served other gods — That is,
both Abraham and ahor were no less idolaters than the rest of mankind. This is
said to prevent their vain boasting in their worthy ancestors, and to assure them
that whatsoever good was in, or had been done by their progenitors, was wholly
from God’s free grace, and not for their own merit or righteousness.
TRAPP, "Joshua 24:2 And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD
God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, [even]
Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of achor: and they served other
gods.
Ver. 2. And Joshua said unto all the people.] Besides what he had said to them in the
former chapter; so solicitous was he of the public welfare after his decease also.
Cicero saith that this was his chiefest care: we are sure it was good Joshua’s.
Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood,] i.e., Of the river Euphrates, that
ancient river. And this was the ancient manner of speaking to the people, by giving
them a historical narrative of what God had done for them and their forefathers,
that mercy might enforce to duty; since divine blessings are binders, and men’s

42. offences are increased by their obligations. See the like method made use of by those
admirable preachers, David, [Psalms 78:1-72] Stephen, [Acts 7:2-53] and Paul. [Acts
13:17-41]
And they served other gods.] Even Abraham as well as the rest, (a) till God gave him
a call out of his own country, till he had "called him to his foot," [Isaiah 41:2] that
is, to follow him and his direction, to obey him without solicitation.
COKE, "Ver. 2. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel— This exordium indicates a
prophetical discourse; so that Joshua was no less the prophet than the political head
of the nation. It is not, therefore, so much he that speaks, as God by his mouth; and
hence it is, that he expresses himself as the mere organ for the delivery of a
discourse addressed by the Lord himself to all Israel.
The flood— i.e. The river Euphrates.
WHEDO , "2. On the other side of the flood — Rather, the river; that is, the
Euphrates. It was Ur in Chaldea, beyond the Euphrates, whence Abraham was
called from an idolatrous family. Terah, with Abram his son, removed from Ur
westerly to Haran, where he died aged two hundred and five years. Genesis 11:29-
32. That he was a maker of images is a mere legend.
[They served other gods — “It is not said distinctly of Abraham that he served other
gods, on which account we agree with Knobel, who says: Whether, according to our
author, Abraham also was originally an idolater, is rather to be denied than
affirmed; comp. Genesis 31:53. But dangerous even for him were the idolatrous
surroundings; wherefore God took him and caused him to wander through
Canaan.” — Fay. But a love and reverence for the teraphim seemed rooted in the
descendants of Terah. See note on Joshua 24:14.]
CO STABLE, "Verses 2-13
2. Historical prologue24:2-13
Joshua introduced what follows as the words of Yahweh, Israel"s God ( Joshua
24:2). Then he reviewed God"s great acts on behalf of His people, going back to the
call of Abraham in Mesopotamia.
The "River" ( Joshua 24:2) is the Euphrates. Abraham"s family members were
idolaters in Mesopotamia, and we may safely assume that Abraham was too. God"s
call of Abraham was pure grace; there was nothing in Abraham that resulted in
God choosing him for special blessing. Joshua probably mentioned ahor because
Rebekah, Leah, and Rachel descended from him. Two of the nations that had come
from Abraham were Israel and Edom ( Joshua 24:4).
The Exodus was a second great proof of God"s grace to Israel ( Joshua 24:5-7). The
provision of Moses and Aaron, as well as the sending of the plagues, were special

43. gifts then. Israel"s deliverance from Egypt and her preservation in the wilderness
were also highlights of God"s faithfulness during this period of Israel"s history.
God"s third great act for Israel was the Israelites" victory over the Amorites east of
the Jordan ( Joshua 24:8-10). God also frustrated Moab"s hostility by turning
Balaam"s oracles into blessings.
The fourth divine provision was the crossing of the Jordan River and the
consequent victory over the Canaanites ( Joshua 24:11-13). God routed Israel"s
enemies for her by using various hornet-like terrors ( Joshua 24:12; cf. Exodus
23:28; Deuteronomy 7:20).
In this section of verses ( Joshua 24:2-13), God said17 times "I" did such and such
for you. The emphasis is clearly on God"s great acts for Israel.
PI K, "Joshua’s Review of Israel’s History
We are not much concerned with the actual mechanics of this meeting at Shechem.
Whether Joshua was able to make himself heard, or whether he relayed his message
to each tribe through an elder, is not important for our purpose. The acoustics of
the valley are reputedly good, and it is wonderful what the human voice
accomplishes under favorable circumstances. Benjamin Franklin asserts that on one
occasion, with ease and comfort, he listened to George Whitefield preach in the open
air to an estimated crowd of twenty thousand persons.
Our primary concern is with the speaker himself. His first words are very
important, for they indicate the actual source of the message. We allude frequently
to this chapter as being Joshua’s valedictory speech, but literally this was a direct
word from God. "Joshua said unto the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel."
This great national leader was only a mouthpiece for God.
One recalls the timidity of Joshua’s predecessor, Moses, and his acknowledgment of
inability to speak in public: "O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor
since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow
tongue. And the LORD said unto him. Who hath made man’s mouth? or who
maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD? ow
therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say" (Ex.
4:10-12).
Forty years before, Moses had learned how ineffective were his persuasive powers.
He no doubt recalled the challenge of his fellow Hebrew, "Who made thee a prince
and a judge over us?" (Ex. 2:14). Moses had learned the futility of human endeavor
exerted without divine sanction. How gracious the Lord was with His servant! He,
first of all, assured him that all the functions and capabilities of the human senses:

44. speech, sight, and hearing, were fully known to Him, their Creator. He was not,
therefore, assigning to Moses an unreasonable task. In second place, He allayed the
fears which beset Moses’ heart, stating, "I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee
what thou shalt say." Joshua in all probability did not have such an experience of
fear and timidity. From the opening words of his speech we learn he knew that God
was merely using him as a mouthpiece to accomplish His own purpose. Moses was
possessed by a feeling of inability; Jeremiah with a sense of immaturity. Said
Jeremiah, "Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child" (Jer. 1:6).
Although probably forty-five years of age, Jeremiah lamented his limitations and
inexperience.
In the case of Moses the ability apparently already existed, but required stirring.
Moses was encouraged to use what God had already given him. In the case of
Jeremiah the Lord put forth his hand, and touched his mouth, and said, "Behold, I
have put my words in thy mouth" (Jer. 1:9). Here a divine impartation seems to be
implied. Similar language is used in connection with Daniel, who had gone through
such an experience that his mouth was closed, his lips sealed. Daniel records,
"Behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips: then I opened
my mouth, and spake" (Dan. 10:16). Whether in the servant of the Lord it is as in
the case of Moses, the sanctification of some latent ability; or, as in the case of
Jeremiah, the endowment of special powers; or, as in the case of Daniel, the
recovery of lost capabilities; one and all must result from divine intervention and
imposition. It was only when so fitted that a prophet could write, "Thus saith the
LORD." Furthermore, it was only after such an experience from the Lord that the
Apostle Paul could write, "I command, yet not I, but the Lord" (1 Cor. 7:10).
If it were necessary that these holy men of old needed the divine touch upon their
lips and personalities, how much greater is the requirement today! "If any man
speak, let him speak as the oracles of God" (1 Pet. 4:11). The Old Testament
Scriptures are called the oracles of God (Acts 7:38; Romans 3:2), and without doubt
the ew Testament may thus be described; it is referred to as a sacred writing (2
Pet. 3:16). Men who profess to be servants of Christ today must speak in perfect
accord with what has already been written in that which is acknowledged as "the
oracles of God." There is an imperative need in the Church for men who like Joshua
can face the congregation of the Lord and solemnly assert, "Thus saith the Lord
GOD."
Joshua, like many of the great orators of Israel, began his speech with a review of
national history: Israel’s divine call, preservation, establishment, and hope. Moses
reviewed their history as he anticipated their entrance into the land of promise, and
he did so to impress upon them the grace of God that had elevated them from a very
lowly origin (Deut. 26). Here Joshua follows this usual method, but does so to
manifest God’s determined intention to firmly implant Israel as a nation in Canaan.
The Psalmist in like manner examines the details of national history for the proof of
divine immutability in the fulfilling of the covenants made by God to His people (Ps.
78). In the days of ehemiah a great and holy convocation met for the reading of the
law and for prayer. At that time the entire history of the nation was considered from

45. its beginning to demonstrate the mercy of God. Israel had declined and had
departed from the Lord and because of this spiritual and moral defection had
endured His discipline. As a nation His people were obliged to confess,
" evertheless for thy great mercies’ sake thou didst not utterly consume them, nor
forsake them; for thou art a gracious and merciful God" ( ehemiah 9:31). It would
be difficult to think of the history of Israel without recalling Stephen’s brilliant
address before the Sanhedrin, an address through which the accused became the
judge, and the judges became the accused.
Stephen surveyed the different stages of the national story from its earliest days to
indicate the rebellious spirit against the Lord that had always characterized Israel, a
rebellion that had reached its climax in the rejection and crucifixion of the Messiah
(Acts 7). What tremendous lessons may be learned from history: lessons of God’s
faithfulness, lessons of man’s complete failure!
The many activities of the Lord since the beginning of His dealings with Israel are
here set down in order. Such clauses as the following prove the power of God to
accomplish what He had intended: "I took," "I gave," "I sent," "I brought," "I
have brought," "I have done," and "I destroyed."
When Pharaoh and his taskmasters increased the burdens of the Israelites and
made them serve under greater rigor, God made promise to His people saying, "I
am the LORD, and I will bring you out," "I will rid you out," "I will redeem you,"
"I will take you to me," "I will be with you," "I will bring you in" (Ex. 6:6-8). God
is not using here the simple future of our grammar; these promises are
predetermined by the sovereign fiat of God. Through Joshua God is asserting that
what He purposed to do for the nation, He has done. Israel now possessed the land
of Canaan, not because of their own strength, nor because of wise leadership. The
Lord claims the credit of the mighty accomplishment for Himself. "I brought you
into the land of the Amorite, . . . I gave them into your hands. . . . I destroyed them
before you."
A contrast is seen between the words of Jethro to Moses and those of the Apostle
Paul. Said Jethro, "Thou art not able to perform it thyself alone" (Ex. 18:18). The
Apostle wrote of Abraham’s attitude toward the Lord, that he was fully persuaded
"what he [God] had promised, he was able also to perform" (Rom. 4:21). All this
illustrates what Paul had in mind when he wrote to the Philippians, "Being
confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you [ten years
previously] will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil. 1:6).
In this review of their history the Lord refers to their call in Abraham and his
descendants, their redemption at the Red Sea, their preservation in the wilderness,
and their inheritance of the land.
The purpose of God in directing their minds to their ancestor Abraham, whom He
had called from a land of idolatry, was to remind them of His abhorrence of this
wickedness, and that, in the separation of their forefathers from such an

46. environment and from such a practice, they were to consider themselves separate
from it as well. "Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood [beyond the river
Euphrates] . . . and they served other gods." They who thus sat in darkness saw a
great light. Stephen says, "The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham,
when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran" (Acts 7:2). The
conversion of Abraham from polytheism to monotheism was complete. The former
idolater became a worshipper of the only true and living God. He left Ur of the
Chaldees, a great political and religious center in which Sin, the moon-god, was
worshipped, to look for "a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is
God."
During his pilgrimage between these two cities, God led him through a land in
which he was a stranger, and gave him Isaac. And to Isaac, God gave Jacob, and
multiplied his seed. Thus the foundation of the nation was laid in God’s calling of
Abraham, and in His gift of Isaac and Jacob. There was nothing here that happened
by chance; all was according to the sovereign will of God.
Many events in Israel’s history are not referred to in this address; it is the high
points only that the Lord would employ in the farewell of Joshua.
God plagued Egypt through the hands of Moses and Aaron. Here again the Lord
reminds His people of His disdain for the gods of the heathen; these are the evidence
of departure from Himself. "Professing themselves to be wise, they [men] became
fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to
corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things" (Rom.
1:22-23). Part of Moses’ message in regard to the Passover was, "Against all the
gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD" (Ex. 12:12). The objects
venerated by Israel’s oppressors fell under the judgment of God; He destroyed them
one by one. Since idolatry was a snare into which Israel might fall, she would not be
seduced without warning; she would know God’s concept of this grave sin, and his
hateful judgment upon it. The last word of the speaker in this connection refers to
the overthrow of the idolaters, and possibly their deified king, Pharaoh. "When they
[Israel] cried unto the LORD, He put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and
brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes have seen what I have
done in Egypt" (Josh. 24:7).
Almost every object was considered the habitation of some spirit; consequently,
reptiles, insects, animals, birds, and humans became deities in the life of the
Egyptians. They considered many of their pharaohs as the incarnation of one of
their favorite gods. "Upon their gods also the LORD executed judgments" ( um.
33:4).
The many years spent in the wilderness are passed over in silence. The Lord is not
narrating the events of human failure, "the provocation in the wilderness." He,
rather, is stating His own glorious exploits. In Hebrews chapter 11 much of the sin
and failure in the lives of the heroes of faith is eliminated in order to magnify the
grace of God in responding to their confidence in Him; but here the deletions are to

47. demonstrate the mighty power of God in the important events of history.
The next reminiscence is that of the defeat of the Amorites and the experience with
Balak, king of Moab, and Balaam. What is recorded in the Book of umbers,
chapters 22 to 24, might not be considered as war by some. But God declares,
"Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel." There
are different methods of conducting a war. We are well acquainted with the
expression "the cold war," which in reality is a war on the nerves of the opponent
rather than against his military force. Balak’s strategy was the use of divination by
means of demon power. In the law, God insisted, "There shall not be found among
you any one . . . that useth divinations, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a
witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a
necromancer" (Deut. 18:10-11). These were the very means which Balak tried to
employ against Israel. The Lord through Joshua says, "I delivered you out of his
hand."
The closing part of Joshua’s review of their past treats the crossing into the land of
promise and the resistance they encountered at that time. The entire confederacy of
seven nations is mentioned, not only to remind them of the forces of opposition they
had faced, but to prove again that not with their own accoutrements had they gotten
the victory. How true the assertion of Joshua at his earlier meeting with the
representatives of the people, "Ye have seen all that the LORD your God hath done
unto all these nations because of you; for the LORD your God is he that hath fought
for you" (Josh. 23:3).
What an encouragement for the Christian! A great array of enemies would hinder
him in the enjoyment of his inheritance in Christ. There are principalities and
powers, the rulers of the darkness, and spiritual wickedness (Eph. 6:12) to hamper
his progress. Israel armed herself with obedience and faith and followed the
instructions of the Lord: with the result that God delivered these enemies in Canaan
into her hand: she relied upon the power of God’s might, not upon her army and
strategy.
In the struggle against opposing powers in heavenly places, those powers would rob
the Christian of his spiritual possessions. May he, yea all of us, be strong in the
power of God’s might, and put on the armor He has graciously provided, every whit
of which speaks of our blessed Lord Jesus, Christ-imputed and Christ-imparted. Let
us ever remember that we have an adversary the devil as a roaring lion walking
about seeking whom he may devour. We are enjoined to resist him steadfastly (1
Pet. 5:8-9), and if we do, God affirms, "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you"
(Jam. 4:7).
The hornets to which Joshua refers were one of the means the Lord employed in this
fierce combat against the Canaanites. There are different viewpoints in regard to
these. Some Bible students believe that the hornets may have been literal plagues of
stinging creatures, of which there seem to be different species in Palestine. It is
believed that these scourges infested certain areas and attacked the Canaanites. If

48. we are to accept them as literal, then we must also believe that the Lord wrought a
miracle in protecting the people of Israel from similar attacks.
There are other Bible students, equally careful in their exegesis, who believe that the
reference here and in Exodus 23:28 and Deuteronomy 7:20, is to figurative hornets;
that the Lord is referring metaphorically to the stinging terrors which gripped the
Canaanites as they watched the advance of the children of Israel into their
territories. The promise of the Lord in the Exodus passage would rather
substantiate this contention: "I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all
the people to whom thou shalt come, . . . I will send hornets before thee."
God fulfilled His prediction. He drove out the Canaanite. Whether by literal hornets
or merely figurative ones is not too important; His was the victory.
The final statement in this immediate context suggests to the reader the words of
Jeremiah: "Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither
let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let
him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the
LORD which exercise loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth"
(Jer. 9:23-24). Israel could not boast of her prowess; she could not correctly speak of
her conquest of the land; but she could glory in her God who gave her richly all
these things to enjoy: a beautiful country, established cities, and fruit-bearing vines
and olive trees which they had never cultivated.
PETT, "Verse 2
‘And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says YHWH, the God of Israel, ‘Your
fathers dwelt in olden days beyond the River, even Terah, the father of Abraham,
and the father of ahor, and they served other gods.’ ” ’
Joshua now began the preamble to the covenant, the declaring of the acts of YHWH
on behalf of His people. He began with Terah the father of Abraham and his
brother ahor, pointing out that Terah and his family were worshippers of false
gods. The River was the River Euphrates. Israel were ‘descended’ from Terah
through Abraham, and from ahor through Rebekah.
This worshipping of false gods by Abraham’s relatives is not mentioned elsewhere
in the Old Testament, but it is a clear assumption from Abraham’s call. He was
called out from his family because of his new found faith in YHWH, probably
garnered from reading the covenant records in the family archives which make up
Genesis 1-11. There are other indications of it. Their connection was with the cities
Ur and Haran, connected with Sin the moon god, (one of Terah’s sons was named
after Haran), the name Sarai (princess) may connect with Sharratu, the consort of
Sin, some have suggested that Milcah may connect with Malkatu, a title of Ishtar
(Inanna) (see Genesis 11:27-32). Rachel stole her father’s ‘gods’ (teraphim) -
Genesis 31:19. Jacob’s God was ‘the God of your father’ (Genesis 31:29), and the
God of Abraham is probably distinguished from the god of ahor (Genesis 31:53).

49. 3 But I took your father Abraham from the land
beyond the Euphrates and led him throughout
Canaan and gave him many descendants. I gave
him Isaac,
GILL, "And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood,....
The river Euphrates, as before: or "your father, to wit, Abraham", as Noldius (x); he took
him not only in a providential way, and brought him from the other side of the
Euphrates, out of an idolatrous country and family, but he apprehended him by his
grace, and called and converted him by it, and brought him to a spiritual knowledge of
himself, and of the Messiah that should spring from his seed, and of the Covenant of
grace, and of the blessings of it, and of his interest therein; which was a peculiar and
distinguishing favour:
and led him throughout all the land of Canaan; from the northern to the
southern part of it; he led him as far as Shechem, where Israel was now assembled, and
then to Bethel, and still onward to the south, Gen_12:6; that he might have a view of the
land his posterity was to inherit, and, by treading on it and walking through it, take as it
were a kind of possession of it:
and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac; he multiplied his seed by Hagar, by
whom he had Ishmael, who begat twelve princes; and by Keturah, from whose sons
several nations sprung; see Gen_17:20; and by Sarah, who bore him Isaac in old age, in
whom his seed was called; and from whom, in the line of Jacob, sprung the twelve tribes
of Israel, and which seed may be chiefly meant; and the sense is, that he multiplied his
posterity after he had given him Isaac, and by him a numerous seed; so Vatablus:
Ishmael is not mentioned, because, as Kimchi observes, he was born of an handmaid;
but Abarbinel thinks only such are mentioned, who were born in a miraculous manner,
when their parents were barren, as in this and also in the next instance.
JAMISO , "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.
K&D, "Jos_24:3-4
After his call, God conducted Abraham through all the land of Canaan (see Gen 12),

50. protecting and shielding him, and multiplied his seed, giving him Isaac, and giving to
Isaac Jacob and Esau, the ancestors of two nations. To the latter He gave the mountains
of Seir for a possession (Gen_36:6.), that Jacob might receive Canaan for his
descendants as a sole possession. But instead of mentioning this, Joshua took for
granted that his hearers were well acquainted with the history of the patriarchs, and
satisfied himself with mentioning the migration of Jacob and his sons to Egypt, that he
might pass at once to the second great practical proof of the mercy of God in the
guidance of Israel, the miraculous deliverance of Israel out of the bondage and
oppression of Egypt.
CALVI , "3.And I took your father Abraham, etc This expression gives additional
confirmation to what I lately showed, that Abraham did not emerge from profound
ignorance and the abyss of error by his own virtue, but was drawn out by the hand
of God. For it is not said that he sought God of his own accord, but that he was
taken by God and transported elsewhere. Joshua then enlarges on the divine
kindness in miraculously preserving Abraham safe during his long pilgrimage.
What follows, however, begets some doubt, namely, that God multiplied the seed of
Abraham, and yet gave him only Isaac, because no mention is made of any but him.
But this comparison illustrates the singular grace of God towards them in that,
while the offspring of Abraham was otherwise numerous, their ancestor alone held
the place of lawful heir. In the same sense it is immediately added, that while Esau
and Jacob were brothers and twins, one of the two was retained and the other
passed over. We see, therefore, why as well in the case of Ishmael and his brother as
in that of Esau, he loudly extols the divine mercy and goodness towards Jacob, just
as if he were saying, that his race did not excel others in any respect except in that of
being specially selected by God.
TRAPP, "Joshua 24:3 And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the
flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and
gave him Isaac.
Ver. 3. And gave him Isaac.] Effaetae fidei filium, the heir of the covenant, and
therein more happy than his brother Ishmael, with all those twelve princes which he
begot. [Genesis 17:20-21]
BE SO , "Joshua 24:3. I took — I snatched him out of that idolatrous place, and
took him into acquaintance and covenant with myself, which was the highest honour
and happiness he was capable of. And led — That is, I brought him after his
father’s death into Canaan, (Genesis 12:1,) and I conducted and preserved him in
all his travels through the several parts of Canaan. And multiplied — That is, gave
him a numerous posterity, not only by Hagar and Keturah, but even by Sarah and
Isaac. Gave him Isaac — By my special power and grace, to be heir of my covenant,
and all my promises, and the seed in or by which all the nations were to be blessed.
WHEDO , "3. And I took your father Abraham — There was nothing coercive in
this taking. Abraham’s experience was like that of modern Christians who follow

51. the Holy Spirit: “He drew me, and I followed on.” With this understanding we may
adopt Calvin’s comment: “It is not said that he sought God of his own accord, but
that he was taken by him and led to another place.”
PETT, "Verse 3-4
Joshua 24:3-4 a
“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, and I gave to
Isaac, Jacob and Esau, and I gave to Esau Mount Seir to possess it.”
The next statement was what God gave to Abraham and his sons. He brought
Abraham from beyond the Euphrates, from Mesopotamia, and into the promised
land, who walked throughout it and, by faith, took possession of it, and He gave him
Isaac the child of promise. Then He gave to Isaac, Jacob and Esau, and to Esau He
gave Mount Seir. This last sums up God’s blessing to Esau and Joshua then goes on
to deal with Jacob/Israel.
“Multiplied his seed probably refers to the fact that his household grew rapidly so
that he was able to put into the field three hundred and eighteen fighting men ‘born
in his house” (Genesis 14:14), although it may have in mind the birth of Ishmael and
his many children, and the future multiplication of his actual descendants.
“Mount Seir” is the mountain range of the Arabah from south of the Dead Sea to
the Gulf of Aqabah. See Genesis 32:3; Genesis 36:8; Deuteronomy 2:4-5.
Joshua 24:4-5
“And Jacob and his children went down into Egypt, and I sent Moses and Aaron,
and I plagued Egypt in accordance with the things which I did among them, and
afterwards I brought you out.”
The migration to Egypt to escape famine was then described (see Genesis 46:3-7),
followed by a description of YHWH’s deliverance from Egypt with great signs and
wonders, which resulted in YHWH bringing them out. It is noteworthy that, apart
from the deliverance, what happened in Egypt was not considered of importance. It
was not a part of the divine plan of deliverance.
“I sent Moses and Aaron”, the joint deliverers, with Moses to the fore (Exodus 3:10;
Exodus 4:27-31; see also 1 Samuel 12:6; 1 Samuel 12:8).
4 and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I assigned
the hill country of Seir to Esau, but Jacob and his

52. family went down to Egypt.
GILL, "And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau,.... When Rebekah was barren, so
that the children appeared the more to be the gift of God; though Esau perhaps is
mentioned, for the sake of what follows:
and I gave unto Esau Mount Seir to possess it; that Jacob and his posterity alone
might inherit Canaan, and Esau and his seed make no pretension to it:
but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt; where they continued many
years, and great part of the time in bondage and misery, which is here taken no notice of;
and this was in order to their being brought into the land of Canaan, and that the power
and goodness of God
JAMISO , "I gave unto Esau mount Seir — (See on Gen_36:8). In order that he
might be no obstacle to Jacob and his posterity being the exclusive heirs of Canaan.
CALVI , "4.But Jacob and his children went down, etc After mentioning the
rejection of Esau, he proceeds to state how Jacob went down into Egypt, and though
he confines himself to a single expression, it is one which indicates the large and
exuberant and clear manifestation of the paternal favor of God. It cannot be
doubted, that although the sacred historian does not speak in lofty terms of each
miracle performed, Joshua gave the people such a summary exposition of their
deliverance as might suffice. First, he points to the miracles performed in Egypt;
next, he celebrates the passage of the Red Sea, where God gave them the aid of his
inestimable power; and thirdly, he reminds them of the period during which they
wandered in the desert.
BE SO , "Joshua 24:4. I gave unto Esau mount Seir — That he might leave
Canaan entire to his brother Jacob and his posterity, Genesis 36:7-8. But Jacob
went down into Egypt — Compelled by a grievous famine, and because the time was
not come when God intended to plant him and his posterity in Canaan. In Egypt
they suffered a long and grievous bondage, from which God having delivered us, I
shall now pass it over.
TRAPP, "Joshua 24:4 And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave unto Esau
mount Seir, to possess it; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt.
Ver. 4. But Jacob and his children went down into Egypt.] Where they were held
under hard servitude, while Esau and his posterity flourished in mount Seir, having
the fat of the earth’s good store, that they might fry the better in hell.

53. COFFMA , "Verse 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. 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. 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. 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."
True to the ancient form, there appears in these lines a recapitulation of the many
gracious actions of the Great King on behalf of his Israelite vassals.
otice that there is a PRESUMPTIO on the part of Joshua here that his audience
were in possession of accurate and trustworthy records of all that he mentioned,
"rendering it unnecessary to enter into detail."[22] The probability that all of the
previous books of the O.T. were written and in existence at the time of this address
by Joshua is of a degree that approaches CERTAI TY.
5 “‘Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I afflicted
the Egyptians by what I did there, and I brought
you out.
GILL, "I sent Moses also and Aaron,.... To demand Israel's dismission of Pharaoh,
king of Egypt, and to be the deliverers of them:
and I plagued Egypt according to that which I did amongst them; inflicting ten
plagues upon them for refusing to let Israel go:
and afterwards I brought you out; that is, out of Egypt, with an high hand, and
outstretched arm.
HE RY 5-7, "He brought him to Canaan, and built up his family, led him through the
land to Shechem, where they now were, multiplied his seed by Ishmael, who begat

54. twelve princes, but at last gave him Isaac the promised son, and in him multiplied his
seed. When Isaac had two sons, Jacob and Esau, God provided an inheritance for Esau
elsewhere in Mount Seir, that the land of Canaan might be reserved entire for the seed of
Jacob, and the posterity of Esau might not pretend to a share in it. (3.) He delivered the
seed of Jacob out of Egypt with a high hand (Jos_24:5, Jos_24:6), and rescued them out
of the hands of Pharaoh and his host at the Red Sea, Jos_24:6, Jos_24:7. The same
waters were the Israelites' guard and the Egyptians' grave, and this in answer to prayer;
for, though we find in the story that they in that distress murmured against God (Exo_
14:11, Exo_14:12), notice is here taken of their crying to God; he graciously accepted
those that prayed to him, and overlooked the folly of those that quarrelled with him. (4.)
He protected them in the wilderness, where they are here said, not to wander, but to
dwell for a long season, Jos_24:7. So wisely were all their motions directed, and so
safely were they kept, that even there they had as certain a dwelling-place as if they had
been in a walled city.
K&D, "Jos_24:5-7
Of this also he merely mentions the leading points, viz., first of all, the sending of
Moses and Aaron (Exo_3:10., Jos_4:14.), and then the plagues inflicted upon Egypt. “I
smote Egypt,” i.e., both land and people. ‫ף‬ַ‫ג‬ָ‫נ‬ is used in Exo_8:2 and Exo_12:23, Exo_
12:27, in connection with the plague of frogs and the slaying of the first-born in Egypt.
The words which follow, “according to that which I did among them, and afterward I
brought you out,” point back to Exo_3:20, and show that the Lord had fulfilled the
promise given to Moses at his call. He then refers (Jos_24:6, Jos_24:7) to the
miraculous deliverance of the Israelites, as they came out of Egypt, from Pharaoh who
pursued them with his army, giving especial prominence to the crying of the Israelites to
the Lord in their distress (Exo_14:10), and the relief of that distress by the angel of the
Lord (Exo_14:19-20). And lastly, he notices their dwelling in the wilderness “many
days,” i.e., forty years (Num_14:33).
TRAPP, "Joshua 24:5 I sent Moses also and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according
to that which I did among them: and afterward I brought you out.
Ver. 5. And I brought you out.] As brands out of the fire; as many of you here
present as were then under twenty years of age: and a great mercy it was to be
pulled out of such a superstitious place. Gregory azianzen reporteth of Athens,
that it was the most plagueful place in the world for superstition, even another
Egypt. And he acknowledgeth it a great mercy that God did deliver him and Basil
from those infections.
6 When I brought your people out of Egypt, you
came to the sea, and the Egyptians pursued them
with chariots and horsemen[a] as far as the Red

55. Sea.[b]
GILL, "And I brought your fathers out of Egypt,.... Which more fully expresses
the sense of the last clause of Jos_24:5,
and you came unto the sea; which respects some senior persons then present; for,
besides Caleb and Joshua, there were many at this time alive who came to and passed
through the Red sea, at their coming out of Egypt; for those whose carcasses fell in the
wilderness were such as were mere than twenty years of age at their coming out from
Egypt, and who were the murmurers in the wilderness; and it may be reasonably
supposed, that many of those who were under twenty years of age at that time were now
living:
and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers, with chariots and horsemen,
into the Red sea; of the number of their chariots and horsemen, see Exo_14:7; with
these they pursued the Israelites, not only unto, but into the Red sea, following them
into it; the reason of which strange action is given in Jos_24:7.
TRAPP, "Joshua 24:6 And I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and ye came unto
the sea; and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and horsemen
unto the Red sea.
Ver. 6. Unto the Red Sea.] Yea, into the Red Sea God made them a fair way till they
were in the midst, and then overcovered them. [Joshua 24:7]
PETT, "Verse 6-7
“And I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the sea, and the
Egyptians pursued after your fathers, with chariots and horsemen, to the Sea of
Reeds, and when they cried to YHWH he put darkness between you and the
Egyptians, and brought the sea on them, and covered them. And your eyes saw what
I did in Egypt, and you dwelt in the wilderness many days.”
The scene was now passing to events that some of the elders among them had
themselves experienced as children. YHWH declared how he brought their fathers
out of Egypt and delivered them through the deliverance of the Sea of Reeds, and
He reminds them of the wonders they themselves had seen in Egypt, the darkness he
brought to hide them from the Egyptians (Exodus 14:20), and how He destroyed the
Egyptians in the sea (see Exodus 14-15). Then they dwelt in the wilderness many
days, preserved by YHWH Who gave them their provisions from heaven.
“I brought you out and I brought your fathers out.” This is very telling. The first
phrase emphasises that there are eyewitnesses still present among them while the

56. second remembers that they were but children at the time.
7 But they cried to the Lord for help, and he put
darkness between you and the Egyptians; he
brought the sea over them and covered them. You
saw with your own eyes what I did to the
Egyptians. Then you lived in the wilderness for a
long time.
GILL, "And when they cried unto the Lord,.... That is, the Israelites, being in the
utmost distress, the sea before them, Pharaoh's large host behind them, and the rocks on
each side of them; see Exo_14:10,
he put darkness between you and the Egyptians; the pillar of cloud, the dark side
of which was turned to the Egyptians, and which was the reason of their following the
Israelites into the sea; for not being able to see their way, knew not where they were; see
Exo_14:20,
and brought the sea upon them, and covered them; or "upon him, and covered
him" (y); on Pharaoh, as Kimchi; or on Egypt; that is, the Egyptians or on everyone of
them, as Jarchi, none escaped; see Exo_14:26,
and your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt; what signs and wonders
were wrought there, before they were brought out of it, and what he had done to and
upon the Egyptians at the Red sea; some then present had been eyewitnesses of them:
and ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season; forty years, where they had the law
given them, were preserved from many evils and enemies, were fed with manna, and
supplied with the necessaries of life, were led about and instructed, and at length
brought out of it.
BE SO , "Joshua 24:7. Your eyes hare seen what I have done in Egypt — He
speaks this to the elders, (Joshua 24:1,) who were such not only in power and
dignity, but many of them by age; and as there were not sixty years past since the

57. plagues were inflicted on Egypt, it is probable that a considerable number of those
present had been witnesses of them, and had seen with their own eyes the Egyptians
lie dead upon the sea-shore, Exodus 14:30. And, not being twenty years old at that
time, they were exempted from the dreadful sentence denounced and executed upon
all that were older.
TRAPP, "Joshua 24:7 And when they cried unto the LORD, he put darkness
between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them;
and your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt: and ye dwelt in the wilderness a
long season.
Ver. 7. And ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season.] Where ye had pluviam
escatilem et petram aquatilem, as Tertullian phraseth it: never was prince so served
in his greatest pomp as ye were all that while.
8 “I brought you to the land of the Amorites who
lived east of the Jordan. They fought against you,
but I gave them into your hands. I destroyed them
from before you, and you took possession of their
land.
GILL, "And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, which dwelt on the
other side Jordan,.... The kingdoms of Sihon and Og, and they fought with you; the
two kings of them, and their armies:
and I gave them into your hand, that ye might possess their land; and which
was now possessed by the two tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh:
and I destroyed them from before you; the kings, their forces, and the inhabitants
of their countries; the history of which see in Num_21:10.
HE RY 8-13, " He gave them the land of the Amorites, on the other side Jordan (Jos_
24:8), and there defeated the plot of Balak and Balaam against them, so that Balaam
could not curse them as he desired, and therefore Balak durst not fight them as he
designed, and as, because he designed it, he is here said to have done it. The turning of
Balaam's tongue to bless Israel, when he intended to curse them, is often mentioned as

58. an instance of the divine power put forth in Israel's favour as remarkable as any, because
in it God proved (and does still, more than we are aware of) his dominion over the
powers of darkness, and over the spirits of men. (6.) He brought them safely and
triumphantly into Canaan, delivered the Canaanites into their hand (Jos_24:11), sent
hornets before them, when they were actually engaged in battle with the enemy, which
with their stings tormented them and with their noise terrified them, so that they
became a very easy prey to Israel. These dreadful swarms first appeared in their war with
Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites, and afterwards in their other battles, Jos_
24:12. God had promised to do this for them, Exo_23:27, Exo_23:28. And here Joshua
takes notice of the fulfilling of that promise. See Exo_23:27, Exo_23:28; Deu_7:20.
These hornets, it should seem, annoyed the enemy more than the artillery of Israel, and
therefore he adds, not with thy sword nor bow. It was purely the Lord's doing. Lastly,
They were now in the peaceable possession of a good land, and lived comfortably upon
the fruit of other people's labours, Jos_24:13.
K&D, "Jos_24:8-10
The third great act of God for Israel was his giving up the Amorites into the hands of
the Israelites, so that they were able to conquer their land (Num_21:21-35), and the
frustration of the attack made by Balak king of the Moabites, through the
instrumentality of Balaam, when the Lord did not allow him to curse Israel, but
compelled him to bless (Num 22-24). Balak “warred against Israel,” not with the sword,
but with the weapons of the curse, or animo et voluntate (Vatabl.). “I would not
hearken unto Balaam,” i.e., would not comply with his wish, but compelled him to
submit to my will, and to bless you; “and delivered you out of his (Balak's) hand,” when
he sought to destroy Israel through the medium of Balaam (Num_22:6, Num_22:11).
CALVI , "8.And I brought you into the land, etc He at length begins to discourse of
the victories which opened a way for the occupation of their settlements. For
although the country beyond the Jordan had not been promised as part of the
inheritance, yet, as God, by his decree, joined it to the land of Canaan as a
cumulative expression of his bounty, Joshua, not without cause, connects it with the
other in commending the divine liberality towards the people, and declares, not
merely that trusting to divine aid, they had proved superior in arms and strength,
but had also been protected from the fatal snares which Balak had laid for them.
For although the impostor Balaam was not able to effect anything by his curses and
imprecations, it was, however, very profitable to observe the admirable power of
God displayed in defeating his malice. For it was just as if he had come to close
quarters, and warred with everything that could injure them.
The more firmly to persuade them that they had overcome not merely by the
guidance of God, but solely by his power, he repeats what we read in the books of
Moses, (Deuteronomy 7:20) that hornets were sent to rout the enemy without human
hand. This was a more striking miracle than if they had been routed, put to flight,
and scattered in any other way. For those who, contrary to expectation, gain a
victory without any difficulty, although they confess that the prosperous issue of the
war is the gift of God, immediately allow themselves to become blinded by pride,
and transfer the praise to their own wisdom, activity, and valor. But when the thing
is effected by hornets, the divine agency is indubitably asserted. Accordingly, the

59. conclusion is, that the people did not acquire the land by their own sword or bow, a
conclusion repeated in Psalms 44:3, and apparently borrowed from the passage
here. Lastly, after reminding them that they ate the fruits provided by other men’s
labors, he exhorts them to love God as his beneficence deserves.
COFFMA , "Verse 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. 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; but I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed you
still: so I delivered you out of his hand. 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 Gergashite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite;
and I delivered them into your hand. 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. And I gave you a land whereon thou hadst not labored, and cities
which ye built not, and ye dwell therein; of vineyards and olive yards which ye
planted not do ye eat."
Holmes stated that, "`Fought against Israel' (Joshua 24:9) should be omitted,
because Balak did not join battle with Israel."[23] Such an opinion overlooks the
near identity between Moab and Midian at that time in history. umbers 31:8
reveals that five kings of Midian were slain, as well as Balaam, the implication that
Balaam also "fought against Israel," despite there being no verse that states that he
declared war on Israel. Balak as an ally of Midian also "fought against Israel," as
revealed here; and he suffered the same fate as the other enemies of Israel. Besides
all that, Balak's hiring of Balaam to curse Israel was an act of war by any standard
whatever. Therefore, the statement here that "he warred against Israel" stands. It is
the truth! Even the declarations in Deuteronomy 2:9 and Judges 11:25 to the effect
that no battle took place cannot deny the state of war that existed between Balak
and Israel. Critics try to make some big deal out of this but without any success.
There are no contradictions here. As Plummer put it, "There is not the slightest
shadow of difference between the view of Balaam (and his sponsor Balak) presented
to us in this short paragraph and that in which he appears to us in the more
expanded narrative of Moses."[24]
"Joshua 24:11-13, above, are a summary of Joshua 1-12; it was God who gave you
the victory, not your sword, or your bow."[25]
"The hornet ..." (Joshua 24:12). "There is no unanimity among scholars as to what
this means ... Some think it does not refer to insects, but to irrational fear and
panic."[26] In our view, such views are not contradictory; there were doubtless
examples of both: (1) actual hornets who drove the soldiers half-mad, and (2)
inordinate and fearful panic which immobilized and destroyed them. As Woudstra
said, "Great fear experienced by the nations of Canaan is not absent from the book
(Joshua 2:9; 5:1)."[27] Whichever is meant, or even if both are meant, "The

60. intention is plainly to emphasize that Jehovah's agency was the effective factor in
Israel's victories, and not Israel's sword or bow."[28]
TRAPP, "Joshua 24:8 And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, which dwelt
on the other side Jordan; and they fought with you: and I gave them into your hand,
that ye might possess their land; and I destroyed them from before you.
Ver. 8. And I brought you into the land of the Amorites.] Whose iniquity was now
grown full, [Genesis 15:16] and come up to a just measure of merit of extraordinary
vengeance from above. The bottle of wickedness, when once filled with those bitter
waters, will surely sink to the bottom.
9 When Balak son of Zippor, the king of Moab,
prepared to fight against Israel, he sent for
Balaam son of Beor to put a curse on you.
CLARKE, "Then Balak - arose and warred against Israel - This circumstance
is not related in Numbers 22:1-41, nor does it appear in that history that the Moabites
attacked the Israelites; and probably the warring here mentioned means no more than
his attempts to destroy them by the curses of Balaam, and the wiles of the Midianitish
women.
GILL, "Then Balak the son of Zippor, the king of Moab, arose,.... Being
alarmed with what Israel had done to the two kings of the Amorites, and by their near
approach to the borders of his kingdom:
and warred against Israel; he fully designed it, and purpose is put for action, as
Kimchi observes; he prepared for it, proclaimed war, and commenced it, though he did
not come to a battle, he made use of stratagems and wiles, and magical arts, to hurt
them, and sent for Balaam to curse them, that they both together might smite the
Israelites, and drive them out of the land, Num_22:6; so his fighting is interpreted by
the next clause:
and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you; by which means he
hoped to prevail in battle, and get the victory over them; but not being able to bring this
abo

61. BE SO , "Verse 9-10
Joshua 24:9-10. Balak warred against Israel — ot indeed by open force, but by
crafty counsels, warlike stratagems, and wicked devices. I would not hearken unto
Balaam — It appears by this that Balaam had a great inclination to do what Balak
desired, and that he asked leave of God to curse Israel; and therefore it is not
strange that God, who permitted him simply to go, was highly angry with him for
going with so wicked an intent, umbers 22:22; umbers 22:32. So I delivered you
— From Balak’s malicious designs against you.
TRAPP, "Joshua 24:9 Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and
warred against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you:
Ver. 9. Then Balak … arose and warred against Israel.] He did not actually war
against them. [ 11:25] Sed fieri dicitur quod tentatur aut intenditur, saith Ribera
upon Amos 9:5. He did not, because he durst not. Howbeit, because he intended, if
he could have compassed it, to fight with Israel, and prepared for that purpose, it is
spoken of as a done thing. So Haman is said to have "laid his hands upon the Jews,"
because he attempted it; [Esther 8:7] and the Jews to have stoned Christ, because
they could have found in their hearts to have done it. [John 10:31-33]
“Qui, quid non potuit, non facit, ille facit.”
PETT, "Verse 9-10
“Then Balak the son of Zippor, the king of Moab, arose, and fought against Israel,
and he sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you. But I would not listen to
Balaam, therefore he blessed you still, so I delivered you out of his hand.”
Then the King of Moab came against Israel to ‘fight’ with them ( umbers 22:11),
but he used different weapons. He called in Balaam, the son of Beor, a famous seer.
Many would have considered him more of a threat than all the other armies put
together. But even Balaam was subject to YHWH, and when he began to attempt a
curse on Israel YHWH refused to listen to him (Deuteronomy 23:5) with the result
that Balaam blessed Israel. ( ote the implication that there was no god known to
Balaam who could do anything about it). Thus were they delivered from the hand of
Balaam and from the hand of Moab. Whether any actual fighting took place we
were not told in umbers, but there may well have been. However the gathering of
his army by the King of Moab and the ‘assault’ through the activities of Balaam
may well have been seen as ‘fighting’.
10 But I would not listen to Balaam, so he blessed
you again and again, and I delivered you out of

62. his hand.
GILL, "But I would not hearken unto Balaam,.... Who was very solicitous to get
leave of the Lord to curse Israel, which he knew he could not do without; he had a
goodwill to it but could not accomplish it:
therefore he blessed you still; went on blessing Israel to the last, when Balak hoped
every time he would have cursed them; and Balaam himself was very desirous of doing
it; but could not, being overruled by the Lord, and under his restraint; which shows his
power over evil spirits, and their agents:
so I delivered you out of his hands: both out of the hand of Balak, who was
intimidated from bringing his forces against them, and out of the hand of Balaam, who
was not suffered to curse them.
TRAPP, "Joshua 24:10 But I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed
you still: so I delivered you out of his hand.
Ver. 10. Therefore he blessed you still] Though full sore against his mind, as loath to
lose so fair a preferment; till at length he resolved to curse, whatever came of it, and
therefore went not, as at other times, to his altar, but "set his face toward the
wilderness." [ umbers 24:1-2] "Howbeit our God turned the curse into a blessing,"
said that good ehemiah. [ ehemiah 13:2]
WHEDO , "10. I delivered you out of his hand — Balak’s hand. He designed to
harm by Balaam’s curses; but God, in a manner wholly miraculous, and not in
harmony with his usual dealings with free agents, interposed, and changed his
imprecations to benedictions. This constrained act did not keep Balaam from
suffering a violent death while acting with the Midianites against Israel. umbers
31:8.
11 “‘Then you crossed the Jordan and came to
Jericho. The citizens of Jericho fought against
you, as did also the Amorites, Perizzites,
Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites and

63. Jebusites, but I gave them into your hands.
CLARKE, "The men of Jericho fought against you - See the notes on Joshua
3:1-16 (note) and Jos_6:1 (note), etc. The people of Jericho are said to have fought
against the Israelites, because they opposed them by shutting their gates, etc., though
they did not attempt to meet them in the field.
GILL, "And ye went over Jordan,.... In a miraculous manner, the waters parting to
make way for the host of Israel:
and came unto Jericho; the first city of any size and strength in the land, which was
about seven or eight miles from Jordan; See Gill on Num_22:1,
and the men of Jericho fought against you; by endeavouring to intercept their
spies, and cut them off; by shutting up the gates of their city against Israel; and it may be
throwing darts, arrows, and stones, from off the walls of it at them. Kimchi thinks that
some of the great men of Jericho went out from thence, to give notice and warning to the
kings of Canaan of the approach of the Israelites, and in the mean time the city was
taken; and that these afterwards joined with the kings in fighting against Joshua and the
people of Israel:
the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and
the Girgashites, the Hivites and the Jebusites; the seven nations of Canaan; this
they did at different times, and in different places:
and I delivered them into your hand; these nations and their kings.
K&D, "Jos_24:11-13
The last and greatest benefit which the Lord conferred upon the Israelites, was His
leading them by miracles of His omnipotence across the Jordan into Canaan, delivering
the Lords (or possessors) of Jericho,” not “the rulers, i.e., the king and his heroes,” as
Knobel maintains (see 2Sa_21:12; 1Sa_23:11-12; and the commentary on Jdg_9:6), “and
all the tribes of Canaan into their hand,” and sending hornets before them, so that they
were able to drive out the Canaanites, particularly the two kings of the Amorites, Sihon
and Og, though “not with their sword and their bow” (vid., Psa_44:4); i.e., it was not
with the weapons at their command that they were able to take the lands of these two
kings. On the sending of hornets, as a figure used to represent peculiarly effective
terrors, see at Exo_23:28; Deu_7:20. In this way the Lord gave the land to the Israelites,
with its towns and its rich productions (vineyards and olive trees), without any trouble
on their part of wearisome cultivation or planting, as Moses himself had promised them
(Deu_6:10-11).

64. BE SO , "Verse 11-12
Joshua 24:11-12. I delivered them into your hand — amely, successively; for in
these few words he seems to comprise all their wars, which, being fresh in their
memories, he thought it needless particularly to mention. I sent the hornet before
you — This may signify, either that before the Israelites came into those parts, God
sent hornets, which so infested the inhabitants, that many of them were compelled to
leave their country; or that, when they were actually engaged in battle with their
enemies, these dreadful swarms, which first appeared in their war with Sihon and
Og, tormented the Canaanites with their stings, and terrified them with their noise,
so that they became an easy prey to Israel. God had promised to do this for them,
Exodus 23:27-28; and here Joshua reminds them of the fulfilment of the promise.
TRAPP, "Verse 11
Joshua 24:11 And ye went over Jordan, and came unto Jericho: and the men of
Jericho fought against you, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites,
and the Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I delivered
them into your hand.
Ver. 11. And the men of Jericho fought against you.] on pugnarunt, sed clausis
portis propugnarunt et restiterunt, saith Vatablus. They shut up their gates and
fortified themselves against you; and when their town was taken, it is probable they
sold their lives at as dear a rate as they could.
PETT, "Verse 11
“And you went over Jordan, and came to 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.”
Here he reminded them of the miraculous, never to be forgotten, passage over
Jordan, and the enemies they then faced, first ‘the lords of Jericho’, then the seven
Canaanite nations regularly mentioned. But none had been able to resist Israel
because YHWH delivered them into their hand.
12 I sent the hornet ahead of you, which drove
them out before you—also the two Amorite kings.
You did not do it with your own sword and bow.
GILL, "And I sent the hornet before you,.... Of which See Gill on Exo_23:28,

65. which drave them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites;
who were Sihon and Og, and not only them, and the Amorites under them, but the other
nations, Hivites, Hittites, &c.
but not with thy sword, nor with thy bow; but by insects of the Lord's sending to
them, which, as Kimchi says, so blinded their eyes, that they could not see to fight, and
so Israel came upon them, and slew them; in which the hand of the Lord was manifestly
seen, and to whose power, and not, their own, the dest
JAMISO , "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 Exo_
23:28).
TRAPP, "Joshua 24:12 And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out
from before you, [even] the two kings of the Amorites; [but] not with thy sword, nor
with thy bow.
Ver. 12. And I sent the hornet before you.] Crabrones, sive muscam venenatam:
Metaphorice de terrore illis incusso, saith Piscator; It is to be metaphorically taken
for stinging terrors, struck into the hearts of these Canaanites. But why not literally
rather?
But not with thy sword.] But with my hornets.
WHEDO , "12. And I sent the hornet before you — The figurative interpretation
of the hornet makes it a vivid metaphor for enemies armed with fearful weapons, or
for pungent and stinging terrors. But we are inclined to the literal interpretation,
which was evidently held by the author of the Wisdom of Solomon, (Joshua 12:8,)
that a species of wasp, which swarms in warm climates, became an intolerable
plague, and drove many of the Canaanites from their land. The ancient historians
Pliny, Justin, and AElian recount instances in which whole tribes have been driven
away by frogs, mice, wasps, and other small animals.
ot with thy sword — ot with weapons only, but with divine help. The purpose of
this review of providential interpositions in behalf of the Hebrews is to awaken
emotions of gratitude, and to secure perfect holiness and obedience to the divine
law. This duty the dying chieftain now proceeds to enforce.
PETT, "Verse 12
‘And I sent the hornet before you, who drove them out from before you, even the
two kings of the Amorites, not with your sword, nor with your bow.’
The ‘two kings of the Amorites’ may be specific, or the word ‘two’ may be used as
meaning ‘a few’ as it often does. Compare the ‘two sticks’ of the widow of Zarepath
(1 Kings 17:12). These were probably not Sihon and Og but two (or ‘a few’) kings

66. whom they were called on to fight on the west side of the Jordan. We do not know
which ones. (‘Amorites’ rather than ‘Canaanites’ is found throughout the speech -
Joshua 24:15; Joshua 24:18). Perhaps there is in mind here some striking incident
that the people would remember. The point is made that it was achieved without
fighting. (LXX has twelve kings but that was probably to remove the seeming
difficulty caused by assuming that the two kings were Og and Sihon when such use
of numbers was forgotten. But there were a number of kings of the Amorites, and as
mentioned above the Canaanites were called Amorites throughout the speech -
Joshua 24:15; Joshua 24:18, with those Beyond Jordan eastward being specifically
distinguished - Joshua 24:8).
Whether this was a literal attack of hornets on the leaders of an Amorite army that
caused them to have to flee, possibly forcing them out of ambush when a hornets’
nest was disturbed, or an attack by insects on their chariot horses which panicked
them and had a similar effect, or some other factor that accomplished the same, we
will never know. But the reference to sword and bow is from Genesis 48:22.
However, the point here is that Israel were more favoured for they did not need
sword or bow.
The reference to hornets recalls Exodus 23:28; Deuteronomy 7:20. It does not mean
that the hornets literally went in front of the Israelite army, but that God had
prepared them to do this work beforehand. These two references probably have in
mind the hornet of fear and anxiety (Exodus 23:27-28) caused by hearing stories of
what YHWH had done for Israel, but Joshua here may well have associated them
with a particular striking incident of help gained from swarms of insects. Some have
connected sir‘ah (hornet) with Assyrian siru (serpent) and have associated it with
the sacred serpent on the crown of Pharaoh, with the idea that a preceding Egyptian
invasion had prepared the way for Israel’s successes, but this seems less likely.
However the meaning of sir‘ah is not certain for it appears only in these contexts.
Some do see it as referring to the Og and Sihon, who are elsewhere called ‘two kings
of the Amorites’ (Joshua 2:10; Joshua 9:10; Deuteronomy 3:8; Deuteronomy 4:47),
recognising that they might have come into his mind as a result of his mention of
Amorites, and that the emphasis here is on the hornet YHWH sent rather than on
the kings, with YHWH seeing them as simply part of the whole campaign.
13 So I gave you a land on which you did not toil
and cities you did not build; and you live in them
and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you

67. did not plant.’
GILL, "And I have given you a land for which you did not labour,.... Or, in
which (z), by manuring and cultivating it, by dunging, and ploughing, and sowing:
and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; neither built the houses in
them, nor the walls and fortifications about them; in which now they dwelt safely, and at
ease, and which had been promised them as well as what follows; see Deu_6:10,
of the vineyards and oliveyards, which ye planted not, do ye eat; thus far an
account is given of the many mercies they had been and were favoured with, and thus far
are the words of the Lord by Joshua; next follow the use and improvement Joshua made
of them.
TRAPP, "Joshua 24:13 And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour,
and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards
which ye planted not do ye eat.
Ver. 13. And cities which ye built not.] For Hazor only was burnt, [Joshua 11:13]
and the rest inhabited by them.
PETT, "Verse 13
“And I gave you a land for which you did not labour, and cities which you did not
build, and you dwell in them. From vineyards and oliveyards, which you did not
plant, you eat.”
This was a reminder of the specific promises that it would be so (Deuteronomy 6:10-
11). Land already prepared for sowing, cities already built, for living in, and
vineyards and oliveyards already planted, for eating from.
So ends the preamble that describes what the Great Deliverer has done for them,
and what He has given them. ow will follow his requirements as was normal in a
suzerainty treaty of that time. It is noteworthy that what we call the ten
commandments (Exodus 20:1-17); The Book of Deuteronomy; and this passage here
are all more or less based on the pattern of Hittite suzerainty treaties, which began
with the name and titles of the Suzerain, a preamble declaring what the Suzerain
had done for the people (they called their conquest a deliverance), followed with
details as to his requirements and the necessity for rejecting his enemies, the writing
down of the treaty to be read periodically, and often ending with blessings and
cursings.

68. 14 “ ow fear the Lord and serve him with all
faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors
worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in
Egypt, and serve the Lord.
CLARKE, "Fear the Lord - Reverence him as the sole object of your religious
worship.
Serve him - Perform his will by obeying his commands.
In sincerity - Having your whole heart engaged in his worship.
And in truth - According to the directions he has given you in his infallible word.
Put away the gods, etc. - From this exhortation of Joshua we learn of what sort the
gods were, to the worship of whom these Israelites were still attached.
1. Those which their fathers worshipped on the other side of the flood: i.e., the gods
of the Chaldeans, fire, light, the sun.
2. Those of the Egyptians, Apis, Anubis, the ape, serpents, vegetables, etc.
3. Those of the Canaanites, Moabites, etc., Baal-peor or Priapus, Astarte or Venus,
etc., etc.
All these he refers to in this and the following verse. See at the conclusion of Jos_
24:33 (note). How astonishing is this, that, after all God had done for them, and all the
miracles they had seen, there should still be found among them both idols and idolaters!
That it was so we have the fullest evidence, both here and in Jos_24:23; Amo_5:26; and
in Act_7:41. But what excuse can be made for such stupid, not to say brutish, blindness?
Probably they thought they could the better represent the Divine nature by using
symbols and images, and perhaps they professed to worship God through the medium of
these. At least this is what has been alleged in behalf of a gross class of Christians who
are notorious for image worship. But on such conduct God will never look with any
allowance, where he has given his word and testimony.
GILL, "Now therefore fear the Lord,.... Since he has done such great and good
things, fear the Lord and his goodness, fear him for his goodness sake; nothing so
influences fear, or a reverential affection for God, as a sense of his goodness; this
engages men sensible of it to fear the Lord, that is, to worship him both internally and

69. externally in the exercise of every grace, and in the performance of every duty:
and serve him in sincerity and in truth: in the uprightness of their souls, without
hypocrisy and deceit, and according to the truth of his word, and of his mind and will
revealed in it, without any mixture of superstition and will worship, or of the commands
and inventions of men:
and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the
flood, and in Egypt; that is, express an abhorrence of them, and keep at a distance
from them, and show that you are far from giving in to such idolatries your ancestors
were guilty of, when they lived on the other side Euphrates, in Chaldea, or when they
were sojourners in Egypt; for it cannot be thought that the Israelites were at this time
guilty of such gross idolatry, at least openly, since Joshua had bore such a testimony of
them, that they had cleaved to the Lord unto that day, Jos_23:8; and their zeal against
the two tribes and a half, on suspicion of idolatry, or of going into it, is a proof of it also:
and serve ye the Lord: and him only.
HE RY, " The application of this history of God's mercies to them is by way of
exhortation to fear and serve God, in gratitude for his favour, and that it might be
continued to them, Jos_24:14. Now therefore, in consideration of all this, (1.) “Fear the
Lord, the Lord and his goodness, Hos_3:5. Reverence a God of such infinite power, fear
to offend him and to forfeit his goodness, keep up an awe of his majesty, a deference to
his authority, a dread of his displeasure, and a continual regard to his all-seeing eye
upon you.” (2.) “Let your practice be consonant to this principle, and serve him both by
the outward acts of religious worship and every instance of obedience in your whole
conversation, and this in sincerity and truth, with a single eye and an upright heart, and
inward impressions answerable to outward expressions.” This is the truth in the inward
part, which God requires, Psa_51:6. For what good will it do us to dissemble with a God
that searches the heart?
JAMISO 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.
K&D, "Jos_24:14-15
These overwhelming manifestations of grace on the part of the Lord laid Israel under
obligations to serve the Lord with gratitude and sincerity. “Now therefore fear the Lord
(‫ראוּ‬ְ‫י‬ for ‫אוּ‬ ְ‫ר‬ִ‫,י‬ pointed like a verb ‫,הל‬ as in 1Sa_12:24; Psa_34:10), and serve Him in
sincerity and in truth,” i.e., without hypocrisy, or the show of piety, in simplicity and
truth of heart (vid., Jdg_9:16, Jdg_9:19). “Put away the gods (Elohim = the strange
gods in Jos_24:23) which your fathers served on the other side of the Euphrates and in
Egypt.” This appeal does not presuppose any gross idolatry on the part of the existing

70. generation, which would have been at variance with the rest of the book, in which Israel
is represented as only serving Jehovah during the lifetime of Joshua. If the people had
been in possession of idols, they would have given them up to Joshua to be destroyed, as
they promised to comply with his demand (Jos_24:16.). But even if the Israelites were
not addicted to gross idolatry in the worship of idols, they were not altogether free from
idolatry either in Egypt or in the desert. As their fathers were possessed of teraphim in
Mesopotamia (see at Jos_24:2), so the Israelites had not kept themselves entirely free
from heathen and idolatrous ways, more especially the demon-worship of Egypt (comp.
Lev_17:7 with Eze_20:7., Jos_23:3, Jos_23:8, and Amo_5:26); and even in the time of
Joshua their worship of Jehovah may have been corrupted by idolatrous elements. This
admixture of the pure and genuine worship of Jehovah with idolatrous or heathen
elements, which is condemned in Lev_17:7 as the worship of Seirim, and by Ezekiel (l.
c.) as the idolatrous worship of the people in Egypt, had its roots in the corruption of the
natural heart, through which it is at all times led to make to itself idols of mammon,
worldly lusts, and other impure thoughts and desires, to which it cleaves, without being
able to tear itself entirely away from them. This more refined idolatry might degenerate
in the case of many persons into the grosser worship of idols, so that Joshua had ample
ground for admonishing the people to put away the strange gods, and serve the Lord.
BE SO ,"Joshua 24:14. Put away the gods — By this it appears, that although Joshua
had doubtless prevented and purged out all public idolatry, yet there were some of them
who practised it in their private houses and retirements. Your fathers — Terah, and
Nahor, and Abraham, as Joshua 24:2, and others of your ancestors. In Egypt — See
Ezekiel 23:3; Ezekiel 23:8; Ezekiel 23:19; Ezekiel 23:21; Ezekiel 23:27. Under these
particulars, no doubt, he comprehends all other false gods which were served by the
nations among whom they were, but only mentions these, as the idols which they were in
more danger of worshipping than those in Canaan; partly because those of Canaan had
been now lately and palpably disgraced by their inability to preserve their worshippers
from total ruin; and partly because the other idols came recommended to them by the
venerable name of antiquity, and the custom of their forefathers.
COFFMAN, "Verse 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.
And if it seem evil unto you to serve Jehovah, choose ye this day whom ye will serve;
whether the gods which your fathers served 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."
These two verses place the decision squarely up to Israel. They must choose between
serving the pagan gods of their early ancestors which the patriarchs (some of them)
worshipped beyond the Euphrates River, or the gods of the Amorites whom Jehovah had
driven out of their land to provide an inheritance for Israel, or they must choose Jehovah.
"The gods of the Amorites in whose land ye dwell ..." (Joshua 24:15). What a "reductio
ad absurdum" this is! He seems to say, "If you had served those gods, you would not be
here, nor would the Amorites have been driven out before you."[29] We also offer in this
connection the inspiring words of Plummer:

71. "Joshua invites the people as Elijah did on an even more memorable occasion, to make
their choice between the false worship and the true, between the present and the future,
between the indulgence of their lusts and the approval of their conscience ... No desire to
stand well in the eyes Israel, no temptation of this lower world to pervert his sense of
truth deters him. The experience of a life of service to Jehovah have convinced him that
Jehovah is the true and only God, and from that conviction, the venerable warrior does
not intend to swerve"[30]
What is taught in these two verses is absolute loyalty to the sovereign Lord, involving, of
course, the putting away of all false gods. Morton pointed out that this corresponds
exactly to the ancient form of the old suzerainty treaties, in that, "The historical prologue
is followed by a statement of covenant obligations."[31]
TRAPP, "Joshua 24:14 Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in
truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and
in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.
Ver. 14. And put away the gods.] Deastros illos, which some of them secretly
worshipped, as they did likewise in the wilderness. [Amos 5:25-26 Acts 7:42-43] So in
Josiah’s days, Baal had privily his "Chemarims," or chimney chaplains, yea, those that
"worshipped the host of heaven upon the housetops," &c. [Zephaniah 1:4-5]
COKE, "Ver. 14. Now, therefore, fear the Lord, &c.— Here it is no longer Jehovah that
speaks; Joshua himself addresses the Israelites, and, after all that he had just represented
to them in the name of God, concludes with exhorting them to fear Jehovah; i.e. to open
their whole heart to his religion, and to render him, in sincerity and in truth, with right
and pure intentions, free from all hypocrisy, the worship due to him; and that without any
mixture of idolatry, and according to his law, which is truth itself. "Put away from among
you," says he, "those idols, the worship of which your ancestors, Terah, Nahor, Abraham,
and others, formerly joined with the worship of the true God, while they remained on the
other side of the Euphrates. Remove from you that unhappy propensity to idolatry which
you acquired in Egypt: in a word, resolve to serve God, and Him alone." To the idols of
the Chaldees and Egyptians, Joshua in the following verse adds the idols of the Amorites;
and from the manner of his speaking, both here and in ver. 23 it is easy to discern, that the
Israelites, notwithstanding all that the Lord had done for them, were by no means clear
from the capital crime of idolatry. St. Augustin could not agree in this opinion; for, struck
with the fine testimonies which Joshua himself bears to the faith of the Hebrews; and
seeing it nowhere mentioned, that on account of the last exhortations of that holy sage,
the people removed from them any idols; and being moreover unable to believe that God,
who took vengeance of the Israelites for many lesser crimes, would have left their idolatry
unpunished; this learned man has thought proper to interpret the words of Joshua
conditionally, as if he had said; "If any one of you hath still the least inclination to
idolatry, let him pluck it from his heart, and unreservedly devote himself to the worship
of the only true God." See Quaest. 29: in Josh. But it is certainly doing violence to
Joshua's discourse: to give it so soft a sense. Besides, what greater difficulty is there in
conceiving the Israelites to have given way to idolatry under the government of this
general, than under that of Moses their legislator? And how, after all, can we controvert a
fact so positively attested by the Holy Spirit in divers other passages of Scripture?

72. Ezekiel, Amos, and St. Stephen warrant the truth of the offence here imputed to the
Hebrews. See Ezekiel 3:8; Ezekiel 3:27; Ezekiel 20:6; Ezekiel 20:49. Amos 5:16. Acts
7:41. Without doubt, the whole nation was not tainted with it, nor was the scandal of it
yet public; but it appears evident, that among the multitude of the Israelites, there were
many superstitious persons who privately joined the idolatrous worship of the people of
Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the land of Canaan, with the worship of Jehovah.
REFLECTIONS.—Joshua seems, at his last meeting of the congregation, to have
expected his dissolution at hand; but, God having spared him a little longer, he is glad to
make use of the last moments of his life in one more solemn assembly of the heads of
Israel. Note; (1.) Whilst God continues our lives, it is a sign that he has something for us
yet to do. (2.) They whose hearts are faithful to God will be pleased with the returning
solemnities, when they come to appear before the Lord. (3.) God is still in the midst of his
people, whenever or wherever they assemble in his name.
The congregation being collected, Joshua opens his farewel sermon, commissioned from
God to speak, and therefore deserving the most profound attention: he begins with a
recapitulation of the signal mercies that, from the beginning until that time, God had
shewn to their ancestors, and to them. Their ancestors, who dwelt beyond the Euphrates,
were sunk, as other Gentiles, into gross idolatry; when God, in his infinite mercy,
separated Abraham from them, and brought him out from thence into the land of Canaan,
where they now were, multiplied his posterity in Ishmael, and gave him the promised
seed in Isaac. When Rebekah's barrenness seemed to restrain the fulfilment of the
promise, Jacob and Esau were born. Jacob, their great progenitor, with his increasing
household, were driven into Egypt by famine; but when his seed were there multiplied
and oppressed, with a mighty arm did God rescue them from thence, protecting them with
his pillar of a cloud, and overwhelming their pursuers in the sea. Through the dreary
wilderness he led them safely, defeated the plots of their enemies, and turned wicked
Balaam's intended curse into a blessing. After this also, he wrought his wonders in the
land of Gilead, at Jordan and Jericho, casting out their foes before them, not by their
sword or bow, but by his army of hornets, which he sent before them; and now at last he
brought them into possession of Canaan, where peace and plenty reigned. In return for
which mercies, it was not more their bounden duty, than the dictate of gratitude, 1. That
they should fear that God whose wonders they had seen, and with a reverential sense of
his majesty and mercy walk before him. 2. That they should serve him in sincerity and
truth; for he is a heart-searching God, who cannot be imposed upon, who hateth
hypocrisy, and expects the soul in simplicity to be devoted to his service. 3. That they
should put far from them strange gods. Note; (1.) God requires the heart in his worship;
without this, we can do him no acceptable service. (2.) Neglect of God is not only foul
disobedience, but base ingratitude. (3.) That is still our idol, to which our affections
cleave more than to the blessed God.
COKE, "Ver. 15. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, &c.— Satisfied that the
Israelites, as a nation, are very far from falling into atheism, or being averse from serving
God; Joshua cannot think them so blind and ungrateful as to desire to serve any other God
than Jehovah. This, and nothing more, is his meaning in this place. He speaks like an
orator; he invites them to choose, merely because he supposes the choice already made.

73. Just as if he had addressed the Israelites thus: "Put away from you every object of
idolatry, and determine only to serve the Lord. Ah! whom will ye serve, speak candidly,
whom will ye serve, if ye refuse Him your homage? Where could you hope to find a god
worthy to be compared to him? If the worship of those gods which your ancestors
worshipped beyond the Euphrates has the sanction of antiquity, ye know, on the other
hand, that Abraham openly abjured that worship; that from his heart he renounced those
idols; and that, drawing down the benediction of the Most High, he obtained from his
munificence, as his inheritance, the country of which you have now taken possession. As
to the gods of the Amorites, I know that you are convinced how despicable those
impotent idols are, whose worshippers you have subdued. Make your choice, however.
Nothing should be more free than the preference given to a religion. But know, O
Israelites! that the choice of Joshua no longer remains to be made; I and my house, I and
all my family, if I am master of it, will serve the Lord; and will remain faithful to him
even to death."
WHEDON, "[14. Put away the gods which your fathers served — Many expositors hold
that these words do not necessarily imply the actual possession of idols by the people, but
rather a tendency to idolatry, which was ever too painfully prominent in Israel until after
the Babylonish exile. The spirit of the exhortation is, according to this view, well
conveyed by Bush: “Keep away, renounce, repudiate, have nothing to do with, idolatry of
any sort; being equivalent to a charge to preserve themselves pure from a contagion to
which they were peculiarly liable.” Subsequent history shows how they failed. But it is
scarcely supposable, that if Joshua meant to warn them merely against tendencies to
idolatry he would have used the words here employed, and those still stronger ones, in
Joshua 24:23, Put away the strange gods which are among you — the very words used by
Jacob when his household gave up their strange gods, and he buried them at Shechem.
Genesis 35:2. Better, then, to understand that many of the Hebrews had still in their
houses teraphim — the gods which the ancient fathers worshipped beyond the Euphrates.
Laban had them in his family, (Genesis 30:19,) and Rachel carried them off, and they
were probably the strange gods buried at Shechem. Genesis 35:2-4. We again meet with
them in the days of the Judges, (Judges 17:5, Judges 17:18, Judges 17:20,) and in the time
of David, and even in his house, (1 Samuel 19:13;) and also in the time of Josiah, who
tried to put them away. 2 Kings 23:24. It is therefore by no means improbable that among
many families in Israel these teraphim were zealously kept, and Joshua, knowing the fact
and the danger of it, called this assembly and especially urged this matter, in order to
abolish, if possible, this evil.
Though the fathers beyond the Euphrates seem to have worshipped or served these
teraphim as gods, there is no sure evidence that they were ever worshipped as gods in
Israel. But they were images more or less associated with a false worship, and therefore
dangerous to the religion of the Hebrews.
In Egypt — The fathers had carried these teraphim in their families to Egypt, and during
all their captivity they had not lost sight of them. Comp. Ezekiel 20:7-8.]
CONSTABLE, "Verses 14-24
3. Covenant stipulations24:14-24

74. On the basis of God"s great acts for them ( Joshua 24:14), Joshua appealed to the
Israelites to commit themselves to Him anew (cf. Romans 12:1-2). Though Israel was not
as guilty of idolatry at this stage in her history as she was later, this sin existed in the
nation to some degree (cf. Leviticus 17:7).
Joshua"s offer to choose the God or gods they would serve ( Joshua 24:15) was not, of
course, an encouragement to consider the idols as an equally acceptable option. It was
simply an oratorical device (i.e, polarization) to help the Israelites distinguish their
choices and to make the right alternative more obvious. As a true leader, Joshua
announced his commitment, and in so doing encouraged the people to follow his
example.
"So we find throughout the entire book of Joshua an emphasis on choice-choice that
makes a tremendous difference in history, for individuals, for groups, for future
generations." [Note: Schaeffer, p213.]
The people responded by committing themselves to Yahweh ( Joshua 24:16-18). They
would join Joshua in serving the Lord. Joshua did not want the people to make a
superficial decision, however.
"The great need of most Christians is to learn that in themselves they simply cannot be
the people God wants them to be." [Note: Jacobsen, p114.]
Therefore Joshua reminded them of the difficulties involved in following the Lord (
Joshua 24:19-20). They would "not be able to serve the Lord" ( Joshua 24:19) in their
own strength simply by determining to do so (cf. Exodus 19:8). They had to remember
that their God was holy and jealous (i.e, allowing no rival god in His peoples" affections).
He would "not forgive your transgressions or your sins" ( Joshua 24:19).
"When does God not spare (forgive)? (1) When transgression and sin is wilfully [sic]
committed, and when (2) forgiveness would, as He foresees, lead to no amendment."
[Note: J. P. Lange, ed, Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, 2:187.]
The people confirmed their earlier decision ( Joshua 24:21), and Joshua reminded them
that they were witnesses against themselves in the renewal of this covenant ( Joshua
24:22). They would condemn themselves by their own testimony if they forsook the Lord.
Joshua then repeated his command to put away all idols, physical and mental, and to turn
their hearts to follow Yahweh exclusively ( Joshua 24:23). Again the Israelites committed
themselves to follow the Lord faithfully ( Joshua 24:24).
As Israel"s history proceeded, the Israelites proved unfaithful to their promise to serve
and obey the Lord wholeheartedly, as the following books of the Old Testament
document. The Israelites should have learned from their past failure to follow the Lord
faithfully. Their fathers had made the same promises when God gave them the Mosaic
Law ( Exodus 24:3; Exodus 24:7), but they had proved unfaithful at Mt. Sinai and in the

75. wilderness.
PETT, "Verse 14
“Now therefore, fear YHWH, and serve him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the
gods which your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and you serve YHWH.”
The requirements were simple and yet demanding. They were firstly that they should ‘fear
YHWH’, recognise His greatness, His sovereignty and His power, and serve Him without
pretence, but truly and honestly. This meant, of course, in accordance with the Law
already given to them.
And secondly that they should reject all rivals. It has already been mentioned that their
fathers had worshipped other gods beyond the River, and now is added the fact of gods
they had worshipped in Egypt. These were probably not the native gods of Egypt, for
there is never any hint that they worshipped them, but gods commonly worshipped in
Egypt by sojourners (also taken up by many Egyptians), on which for example had
possibly been based the golden calves and the teraphim so often mentioned. We must
remember that a good proportion of ‘the children of Israel’ were from a mixture of
nations and would have worshipped a number of gods (Exodus 12:38), and it is clear that
traces of that worship were still among them (compare Genesis 35:2).
So Joshua was now calling on them to renounce these ‘gods’ and serve YHWH only.
Syncretism was always a huge danger, but it is noteworthy that at this stage there is no
suggestion of their pandering to Canaanite gods, although Joshua was aware of the danger
(Joshua 24:15). They had not yet begun to mix with the Canaanites and learn their ways, a
remarkable indication of the authenticity of the speech (a later writer would not have been
able to resist incorporating such an idea here).
15 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to
you, then choose for yourselves this day whom
you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors
served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the
Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for
me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

76. BAR ES, "Choose - Service of God in sincerity and truth can only result from a free
and willing allegiance of the heart. This accordingly is what Joshua invites, as Moses had
done before him (Deu_30:15 ff).
CLARKE, "Choose you this day whom ye will serve - Joshua well knew that all
service that was not free and voluntary could be only deceit and hypocrisy, and that God
loveth a cheerful giver. He therefore calls upon the people to make their choice, for God
himself would not force them - they must serve him with all their heart if they served
him at all. As for himself and family, he shows them that their choice was already fixed,
for they had taken Jehovah for their portion.
GILL, "And if it seem evil to you to serve the Lord,.... Irksome and troublesome,
a burden, a weariness, and not a pleasure and delight:
choose you this day whom you will serve; say if you have found a better master,
and whose service will be more pleasant and profitable:
whether the gods your fathers served, that were on the other side of the
flood; the river Euphrates; these may bid rid rest for antiquity, but then they were such
their fathers had relinquished, and for which undoubtedly they had good reason; and to
take up with the worship of these again was to impeach their wisdom, judgment, and
good sense:
or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but then these were such as
could not preserve their worshippers in the land, or the Israelites had not dwelt in it, and
therefore no dependence could be had upon them for future security. The Amorites are
only mentioned, because they were a principal nation, some of which dwelt on one side
Jordan, and some on the other, and indeed there were of them in the several parts of the
land:
but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord; be your choice as it may be:
this was the resolution of Joshua, and so far as he knew the sense of his family, or had
influence over it, could and did speak for them; and which he observes as an example set
for the Israelites to follow after; he full well knowing that the examples of great
personages, such as governors, supreme and subordinate, have great influence over
those that are under them,
HE RY, "Never was any treaty carried on with better management, nor brought to a
better issue, than this of Joshua with the people, to engage them to serve God. The
manner of his dealing with them shows him to have been in earnest, and that his heart
was much upon it, to leave them under all possible obligations to cleave to him,
particularly the obligation of a choice and of a covenant.
I. Would it be any obligation upon them if they made the service of God their choice? -
he here puts them to their choice, not as if it were antecedently indifferent whether they
served God or nor, or as if they were at liberty to refuse his service, but because it would

77. have a great influence upon their perseverance in religion if they embraced it with the
reason of men and with the resolution of men. These two things he here brings them to.
1. He brings them to embrace their religion rationally and intelligently, for it is a
reasonable service. The will of man is apt to glory in its native liberty, and, in a jealousy
for the honour of this, adheres with most pleasure to that which is its own choice and is
not imposed upon it; therefore it is God's will that this service should be, not our chance,
or a force upon us, but our choice. Accordingly,
(1.) Joshua fairly puts the matter to their choice, Jos_24:15. Here, [1.] He proposes the
candidates that stand for the election. The Lord, Jehovah, on one side, and on the other
side either the gods of their ancestors, which would pretend to recommend themselves
to those that were fond of antiquity, and that which was received by tradition from their
fathers, or the gods of their neighbours, the Amorites, in whose land they dwelt, which
would insinuate themselves into the affections of those that were complaisant and fond
of good fellowship. [2.] He supposes there were those to whom, upon some account or
other, it would seem evil to serve the Lord. There are prejudices and objections which
some people raise against religion, which, with those that are inclined to the world and
the flesh, have great force. It seems evil to them, hard and unreasonable, to be obliged to
deny themselves, mortify the flesh, take up their cross, etc. But, being in a state of
probation, it is fit there should be some difficulties in the way, else there were no trial.
[3.] He refers it to themselves: “Choose you whom you will serve, choose this day, now
that the matter is laid thus plainly before you, speedily bring it to a head, and do not
stand hesitating.” Elijah, long after this, referred the decision of the controversy between
Jehovah and Baal to the consciences of those with whom he was treating, 1Ki_18:21.
Joshua's putting the matter here to this issue plainly intimates two things: - First, That it
is the will of God we should every one of us make religion our serious and deliberate
choice. Let us state the matter impartially to ourselves, weigh things in an even balance,
and then determine for that which we find to be really true and good. Let us resolve
upon a life of serious godliness, not merely because we know no other way, but because
really, upon search, we find no better. Secondly, That religion has so much self-evident
reason and righteousness on its side that it may safely be referred to every man that
allows himself a free thought either to choose or refuse it; for the merits of the cause are
so plain that no considerate man can do otherwise but choose it. The case is so clear that
it determines itself. Perhaps Joshua designed, by putting them to their choice, thus to try
if there were any among them who, upon so fair an occasion given, would show a
coolness and indifference towards the service of God, whether they would desire time to
consider and consult their friends before they gave in an answer, and if any such should
appear he might set a mark upon them, and warn the rest to avoid them. [4.] He directs
their choice in this matter by an open declaration of his own resolutions: “But as for me
and my house, whatever you do, we will serve the Lord, and I hope you will all be of the
same mind.” Here he resolves, First, For himself: As for me, I will serve the Lord. Note,
The service of God is nothing below the greatest of men; it is so far from being a
diminution and disparagement to princes and those of the first rank to be religious that
it is their greatest honour, and adds the brightest crown of glory to them. Observe how
positive he is: “I will serve God.” It is no abridgment of our liberty to bind ourselves with
a bond to God. Secondly, For his house, that is, his family, his children and servants,
such as were immediately under his eye and care, his inspection and influence. Joshua
was a ruler, a judge in Israel, yet he did not make his necessary application to public
affairs an excuse for the neglect of family religion. Those that have the charge of many
families, as magistrates and ministers, must take special care of their own (1Ti_3:4, 1Ti_
3:5): I and my house will serve God. 1. “Not my house, without me.” He would not

78. engage them to that work which he would not set his own hand to. As some who would
have their children and servants good, but will not be so themselves; that is, they would
have them go to heaven, but intend to go to hell themselves. 2. “Not I, without my
house.” He supposes he might be forsaken by his people, but in his house, where his
authority was greater and more immediate, there he would over-rule. Note, When we
cannot bring as many as we would to the service of God we must bring as many as we
can, and extend our endeavours to the utmost sphere of our activity; if we cannot reform
the land, let us put away iniquity far from our own tabernacle. 3. “First I, and then my
house.” Note, Those that lead and rule in other things should be first in the service of
God, and go before in the best things. Thirdly, He resolves to do this whatever others
did. Though all the families of Israel should revolt from God, and serve idols, yet Joshua
and his family will stedfastly adhere to the God of Israel. Note, Those that resolve to
serve God must not mind being singular in it, nor be drawn by the crowd to forsake his
service. Those that are bound for heaven must be willing to swim against the stream, and
must not do as the most do, but as the best do.
K&D, "Jos_24:15
But as the true worship of the living God must have its roots in the heart, and spring
from the heart, and therefore cannot be forced by prohibitions and commands, Joshua
concluded by calling upon the representatives of the nation, in case they were not
inclined (“if it seem evil unto you”) to serve Jehovah, to choose now this day the gods
whom they would serve, whether the gods of their fathers in Mesopotamia, or the gods
of the Amorites in whose land they were now dwelling, though he and his house would
serve the Lord. There is no necessity to adduce any special proofs that this appeal was
not intended to release them from the obligation to serve Jehovah, but rather contained
the strongest admonition to remain faithful to the Lord.
CALVI , "15.And if it seem evil unto you, etc It seems here as if Joshua were
paying little regard to what becomes an honest and right-hearted leader. If the
people had forsaken God and gone after idols, it was his duty to inflict punishment
on their impious and abominable revolt. But now, by giving them the option to serve
God or not, just as they choose, he loosens the reins, and gives them license to rush
audaciously into sin. What follows is still more absurd, when he tells them that they
cannot serve the Lord, as if he were actually desirous of set purpose to impel them to
shake off the yoke. But there is no doubt that his tongue was guided by the
inspiration of the Spirit, in stirring up and disclosing their feelings. For when the
Lord brings men under his authority, they are usually willing enough to profess zeal
for piety, though they instantly fall away from it. Thus they build without a
foundation. This happens because they neither distrust their own weakness so much
as they ought, nor consider how difficult it is to bind themselves wholly to the Lord.
There is need, therefore, of serious examination, lest we be carried aloft by some
giddy movement, and so fail of success in our very first attempts. (201) With this
design, Joshua, by way of probation, emancipates the Jews, making them, as it were,
their own masters, and free to choose what God they are willing to serve, not with
the view of withdrawing them from the true religion, as they were already too much
inclined to do, but to prevent them from making inconsiderate promises, which they
would shortly after violate. For the real object of Joshua was, as we shall see, to
renew and confirm the covenant which had already been made with God. ot

79. without cause, therefore, does he give them freedom of choice, that they may not
afterwards pretend to have been under compulsion, when they bound themselves by
their own consent. Meanwhile, to impress them with a feeling of shame, he declares
that he and his house will persevere in the worship of God.
BE SO , "Joshua 24:15. Seem evil — Unjust, unreasonable, or inconvenient.
Choose ye — ot that he leaves them to their liberty, whether they would serve God
or idols; for Joshua had no such power himself, nor could give it to any other; and
both he and they were obliged by the law of Moses to give their worship to God
only, and to forbear all idolatry in themselves, and severely to punish it in others;
but his words are a powerful insinuation, which implies that the worship of God is
so highly reasonable, necessary, and beneficial, and the service of idols so absurd,
vain, and pernicious, that if it were left free for all men to take their choice, every
man in his right senses must needs choose the service of God before that of idols.
And he provokes them to bind themselves faster to God by their own choice. We will
serve the Lord — But know this, if you should all be so base and brutish as to prefer
senseless and impotent idols before the true and living God, it is my firm purpose
that I will, and my children and servants (as far as I can influence them) shall be,
constant and faithful to the Lord. And that, whatever others do. They that resolve to
serve God must not start at being singular in it. They that are bound for heaven
must be willing to swim against the stream, and must do, not as most do, but as the
best do.
WHEDO , "15. Choose you this day — “Joshua releases them from obligation,
that, like free men, and of their own accord, they may honestly decide what god they
will serve. Liberty of choice is granted to them in order that they might not
afterwards plead that they were compelled.” — Keil. Joshua assumes an important
truth — man cannot be godless; if he repudiates the true God, he will fall under the
baleful influence of some false religion. He cannot divest himself of his religious
nature. Jehovah will not share with any idol the worship of his people; every god
must be dethroned before he will reign in their hearts.
PI K, "Joshua’s Exhortation
The Apostle Paul generally in the first part of his epistles teaches doctrine, and,
then, in the second part exhorts to corresponding duties. He first gives the reason
for Christian conduct, and then logically insists upon commendable behavior. There
is something similar here, not that Joshua was teaching doctrine, but he was
reviewing the grace and goodness of God throughout their past in order to appeal to
the hearts of the people for an attitude of holiness, fear, and love toward God.
othing moves the heart, and therefore the will, like recollections of the grace of
God in hours of need, like the guidance of the Lord in difficulties, the power of God
in victories, and the patience of God in periods of weakness and temptation. These
in themselves are sufficient to produce a response to the claims of God upon us.

80. The Spirit of God makes an entreaty to the saints at Rome, and, of course, likewise
to us. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present
your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
service" (Rom. 12:1). This appeal rests upon the tracings of the mercies of God in
the earlier chapters. In these it is demonstrated how patiently and mercifully God
deals with man who has come short of glorifying Him, and how He so changes this
unregenerate man and eventually glorifies him. Man, who fails, because of his
depravity, to glorify God, by God in His mercy is ultimately glorified. What tender
mercies! Well might the Spirit, on the ground of the grace that justifies and glorifies,
appeal for unreserved devotion and sacrificial living for the Lord. Through Joshua
the Lord in like manner entreats Israel on the ground of His wonderful
accomplishments and benevolence.
The appeal of Joshua was primarily against idolatry. Obviously he had reason to
fear further and deeper defection. Among them there were some who venerated the
gods which Abraham once served on the other side of the Euphrates, some who still
worshipped the gods of the Egyptians, and some who seemed very susceptible to the
worship of the gods of the Canaanites. The leaven of pagan idolatry was already at
work.
One cannot think of this appeal by Joshua without recalling the earnest pleadings of
Elijah some centuries later: "How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD
be God, follow him. . . . And the people answered him not a word" (1 Kings 18:21).
It was only after the dramatic proof that Baal was nonexistent, and that the Lord
was indeed the living and true God, that the people fell on their faces, and said,
"The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God" (1 Kings 18:21-39).
Until the seventy years’ captivity in Babylon, the inclination on the part of Israel,
and of Judah as well, was toward idolatry. Since then the house has been swept and
garnished, but in the future days of the antichrist, this evil will return with
sevenfold intensity, and the last state will be worse than the first (Matthew 12:43-
45). Thank God, the day will come when under the benign rule of the true Messiah,
Ephraim shall say, "What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and
observed him" (Hos. 14:8).
The aged Apostle John knew the tendencies of the human heart to depart from the
living God. He closes his first epistle with the exhortation, "Little children, keep
yourselves from idols." There is not the danger of a Christian indwelt by the Holy
Spirit of God falling into the wicked practices of heathen worship; but there is the
danger of his esteeming altogether too highly some much-liked object, and allowing
it a place in his affections which the Lord asks for Himself alone. As Israel was
admonished to put away all strange gods, and to fear and serve the Lord alone, so
the Christian is responsible to rid from his heart all carnal idolatrous love; to keep
himself from idols (1 John 5:21), and to keep himself in the love of God, looking for
the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life (Jude 21).
With the background of a national weakness and a propensity toward idolatry,

81. Joshua avers his own determination. "Choose you this day whom ye will serve;
whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood
[beyond the Euphrates], or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as
for me and my house, we will serve the LORD" (Josh. 24:15). These were words of
knowledge and wisdom. Joshua knew the futility and degeneracy of idolatry, and,
furthermore, he knew the reality and supremacy of God. Observation and
experience fully equipped him to so challenge the nation. Idolatry was obnoxious to
him, but God was very personal and true.
That the whole nation felt the impact of these words is obvious in their reply. They
were also to feel the force of other charges by Joshua before they were finally
dismissed. To this challenge based upon the reality of God, "The people answered
and said, God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods; . . .
therefore will we also serve the LORD; for he is our God" (vv. 16-18). How little
they knew of the wickedness of their own hearts! They would be influenced for good
throughout their own generation by the example and power of Joshua.
Consequently we read, "Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the
days of the elders that over-lived Joshua" (v. 31). otwithstanding, we read of a sad
change: "And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there
arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works
which he had done for Israel" (Judg. 2:10).
How miserably that first generation had failed! Had they served the Lord, had they
obeyed the command of Moses, such dreadful ignorance would not have prevailed.
Before Israel had crossed the frontier of Canaan Moses had said, "Only take heed to
thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have
seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy
sons, and thy sons’ sons; . . . The LORD said . . . Gather me the people together, and
I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that
they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children" (Deut. 4:9-
10).
Joshua received their reply, but such was his knowledge of this insidious evil that he
declared the infinite holiness of God and the sure and dire consequence of their sin.
God would not forgive "the great transgression," as David called idolatry. To
indulge further in this evil would only result in the severest possible divine
punishment. For presumptuous sin there would be no remedy.
This solemn assertion of divine holiness might well be thoughtfully considered. "The
LORD . . . he is an holy God; he is a jealous God" (v. 19). The Apostle Peter made
an impressive appeal to the strangers of the dispersion, and, of course, makes it also
to us: "As he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of
conversation [mode of living]; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. And if
ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every
man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear" (1 Pet. 1:15-17).
The second reply of the people reveals how vain they were in themselves and, at the

82. same time, how ignorant they were of the true character of God. The words of the
Decalogue had not deeply impressed them. "Thou shalt not bow down thyself to
them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the
iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation" (Ex.
20:5).
The words of Joshua on this occasion remind one of the words of Paul to the
Corinthians as he draws lessons from the behavior of Israel in the wilderness. He
describes how many of them fell under the disciplinary hand of God because of sin,
and asserts, " ow all these things happened unto them for ensamples," and then
gives the word of warning, "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed
lest he fall." That is, let him be careful lest he too fall under divine discipline. The
congregation gathered before Joshua thought that it stood well, but their leader
knew them thoroughly, and for them he feared lest eventually they too would fall
under punitive measures by the Lord.
There had been a time in the life of their forefather Jacob when he said unto his
household, "Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and
change your garments: And let us arise, and go up to Bethel: and I will make there
an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in
the way which I went. And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in
their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them
under the oak which was by Shechem" (Gen. 35:2-4).
On this occasion his descendants did not follow the example of Jacob. There was no
such practical response to the appeals, warnings, and admonitions of Joshua. He
therefore took them at their word, and made a covenant that day. Alas for their self-
confidence! It has been pointed out that Joshua actually made a covenant for the
people rather than with the people. What he wrote in the Book of the Law is not
certain, but one might assume that he recorded the proceedings of the day: the
instructions, entreaties, and warnings, as well as the bold answers of the people.
Moreover, he set up a stone as a witness of all the transactions of the convocation.
This means of preserving the evidence of an agreement was very common in
patriarchal times. Jacob used a heap of stones to mark the arrangement between
himself and his uncle Laban (Gen. 31:43-55). We have noticed in chapter 22 that the
tribes of Reuben and Gad erected an altar as a witness between themselves and the
other tribes. Here Joshua uses a great stone as the evidence of the promise of Israel
to God.
It is rather interesting to notice that the first time we see Joshua in service with
Moses was during the battle with Amalek. At the close of the conflict we read, "And
the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in
the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from
under heaven. And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi"
(Ex. 17:14-15). The public service of this remarkable soldier and administrator
closes, as it had opened, with the keeping of factual records and the sealing of these

83. by a permanent witness in stone.
Throughout the life and service of Joshua the influence of Moses may be traced.
Typically there are some contrasts. Moses represents the law which cannot give the
believer that liberty in Christ that is his through faith; Joshua typifies our Lord
Jesus in whom we are seated in heavenly places and through whom we enter into
our inheritance. otwithstanding, as historical characters, we see how the elder
influenced the younger. Joshua, like his worthy predecessor, was a very humble
man; he sought little for himself; he was a faithful man and executed the will of God
as he understood it; and he trusted the Lord implicitly. Furthermore, like Moses, he
kept records, and made covenants, and used means to permanently fix these in the
minds of the people. It would seem that God fits a younger man through association
with an older one. This is seen in the case of Timothy. The Apostle Paul wrote to
him saying, "Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in
faith and love which is in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim. 1:13). "Continue thou in the things
which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast
learned them" (2 Tim. 3:14).
The work for which Joshua was so well trained and equipped, the service which he
endeavored to do in faithfulness for God, had come to an end. "So Joshua let the
people depart, every man unto his own inheritance."
TRAPP, "Joshua 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you
this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that [were]
on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell:
but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
Ver. 15. Choose you this day whom ye will serve.] He leaveth them not to their own
free choice to do either, but to make proof of their voluntary and professed
subjection to the true religion, which would further engage them to constancy in
their covenant.
But as for me and my house.] Joshua was not of the mind of most householders in
these days, who make no other use of their servants than they do of their beasts;
while they may have their bodies to do their service, they care not if their souls serve
the devil: these forget that they must answer for those souls, and give an account of
their blood.
ELLICOTT, "(15) The Amorites.—Here used generically for the inhabitants of
Canaan.
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.—For Joshua himself the service of
Jehovah on earth was nearly over. He pledges his “house” to the same service. What
is known of his family? It is a singular fact that no descendant of the great
conqueror, no member of his household, is named in the Bible. In the genealogies of
Ephraim in 1 Chronicles 7, Joshua’s name is the last in his own line (Joshua 24:27 :

84. “ on his son, Jehoshuah his son”). I cannot but regard the silence of Scripture
under this head as profoundly significant. It is one more analogy between the
Joshua of the Old Testament and his great Antitype in the Gospel: “whose house are
we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end”
(Hebrews 3:6). The house of Joshua embraces all the faithful servants of the Lord.
EXPOSITOR'S DICTIO ARY, "The Eternal Choice
Joshua 24:15
Joshua here calls Israel to decide between Jehovah"s service and the service of other
gods, such as their fathers served in Mesopotamia, or such as the neighbouring
Amorites served. They were no longer to give a half-hearted service, but to choose
whom they would serve wholly. The call did not imply neutrality, or that they were
not bound to serve Jehovah; but it was meant to arouse the indifferent, and those
who thought they could combine Jehovah"s service with that of other gods. A
similar call comes to men in the Gospel.
I. God"s Call to Us.—God demands real and actual service; not the intention,
profession, or appearance, but the thing itself. He is entitled to service as our
Creator, Benefactor, Redeemer. In a sense we are all servants. There is no escape
from service. We serve that to which our whole heart is given. God"s call is to serve
Him.
II. The Choice.—It is for ourselves to choose whether our service shall be the holy
and blessed one of Jehovah or that of other gods. That we may choose is implied in
the call to choose; while it is true that man cannot choose God"s service without
being made willing by God"s grace. God expects us to choose; offers help to our
choosing; counts us responsible for our choice. In point of fact we must choose, and
do actually choose, one service or another. o neutrality is possible, and God will
not have a constrained service.
III. The Urgency of the Call.—The call is imperative for "today". The decision is to
be immediate; not certainly rash and reckless, without due calculation of the cost,
yet certainly prompt on a sufficient view of what the service involves. God"s
urgency is gracious; He knows the danger of delay and the evil of indecision, and
how men let slip, through carelessness and procrastination, their most precious
opportunities.
(a) We may choose now. There is no need to postpone the decision from ignorance of
the objects of choice, from their number, from their distance, or from the difficulty
of the act of choosing. The information for guiding the choice is ample and varied,
and yet capable of being condensed into simple and exhaustive terms. The objects of
choice are practically two, Jehovah or other gods; two services that cannot be
mistaken for each other, and that cannot be combined. There is no embarrassing
multiplicity or distracting similarity.

85. (b) We shall find the choice more difficult the longer it is delayed. Delay in doing a
thing that is felt to be disagreeable always increases the repugnance, enfeebles the
resolution, paralyses the will. Some things need to be done at once if they are to be
done at all. Sinful habits, making the choice of God"s service seem painful, grow in
power. Delayed repentance is difficult repentance.
(c) The time for choosing is limited. We cannot reckon on a longer or another time
than this day. Divine patience even has its limits. The day of grace is not running on
for ever, and indecision may provoke its abrupt termination.
Therefore choose this day. Indecision is contemptible and dangerous. You are as
unsafe in indecision as if you had decided boldly not to serve the Lord.
ISBET, "A DECISIO MADE
‘As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.’
Joshua 24:15
These were the brave and faithful words of a brave and faithful man—words that
were brave as regards men, words that were brave as regards God. Joshua, the
great leader of the army and the people of Israel, having won for them secure
possession of the Promise Land, just before his approaching end, gathers the people
together to tell them what is the only true condition on which they can continue to
hold this land. He tells them that national prosperity and national safety depend
upon national religion, and then, knowing the feeble nature of the people he is
addressing, he tells the assembled multitude that they may make their choice,
rejecting the worship of the Lord if it seemed to them evil to serve Him, but that as
for him and for his, the choice was made, and made unalterably.
I. These words not only express a great and high purpose, but they express a great
and an infinitely precious idea and fact: they express for us the idea of family
religion, as distinct on the one hand from personal religion and on the other from
national religion. They reveal to us the family, as what in truth it is, and what God
designed it should be—the home and citadel of religious faith in the heart of the
nation.
II. God has His great work for individuals to do. He places a Moses upon the mount
to bring down the Law. He sends a Paul out to preach the Gospel. He sends an
Augustine to defend it, a Luther to reform it, and a Wesley to revive it. But mightier
than all this, deeper than all this, though more hidden than this, is the task God
confides to every religious and believing household upon earth. It is the task of
taking the seed that these great sowers of the Word have sown and cherishing it
beneath the tender, and gracious, and mighty influence of home. Such is God’s will
and God’s purpose for the preservation of His faith. The family is its safe hiding-
place, its true nursery, that none can invade or desecrate.
—Archbishop Magee.
Illustrations

86. (1) ‘Joshua was an old man; his children were all grown up; so it is fair to suppose
that he was sure of their intelligent and loyal acceptance of his position. Happy old
man, who could associate his family with himself in his convictions and his purpose!
Probably it was because he could say, “As for me”; that he could add, “and my
house.” His children saw how consistently and fearlessly he served God; they saw,
too, how constantly he proved the wisdom and blessedness of this service; and they
naturally said to their father, “Thy God shall be my God.” o man can make his
children grow up in the loving service of God; love and devotion cannot be forced.
But where the parents love and serve God, and set an example of whole-hearted
service, they will generally lead their children into the way of life. A father’s
example counts for much.’
(2) ‘We read about Abraham in the Book of Genesis, that God says, “I have known
him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that
they may keep the way of the Lord,” and right down to the times of the ew
Testament it is always taken for granted that the father shall teach his children and
especially his sons. Many of the religious difficulties of the present day arise from
the neglect of this Divine rule. Englishmen do not as a rule teach their own children
the great secrets of God, and more especially do not teach their sons, so that there is
a kind of spiritual alienation between fathers and sons as they grow up. The popular
idea is that fathers have a right to demand that some one else should teach their
sons. It is a most fatal mistake; the father’s responsibility cannot be devolved upon
another; it is one for which he himself must give account to God.’
PETT, "Verse 15
“And if it seem evil to you to serve YHWH, choose you this day whom you will
serve, whether the gods your fathers served who were beyond the River, or the gods
of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve
YHWH.”
ow that it was the future that was being challenged the gods of Canaan were
introduced. Joshua challenged them as to whether they would serve their ancestors’
gods, or the gods of the Amorites (the Canaanites under another name), who had
done nothing for them, or YHWH, Who had done so much for them. We can
compare 1 Kings 18:21 for a similar challenge. It was an important challenge, and
was no light choice. It was choosing between the God Who made righteous demands
and expected a strict morality, and gods who made no moral demands and would
introduce them to sexual perversions and lascivious living.
“But as for me and my house, we will serve YHWH.” Joshua had no doubt as to
where he stood and became the first to make his declaration as an example to the
remainder.

87. 16 Then the people answered, “Far be it from us
to forsake the Lord to serve other gods!
CLARKE, "God forbid that we should forsake the Lord - That they were now
sincere cannot be reasonably doubted, for they served the Lord all the days of Joshua,
and the elders that outlived him, Jos_24:31; but afterwards they turned aside, and did
serve other gods. “It is ordinary,” says Mr. Trapp, “for the many-headed multitude to
turn with the stream - to be of the same religion with their superiors: thus at Rome, in
Diocletian’s time, they were pagans; in Constantine’s Christians; in Constantius’s,
Arians; in Julian’s apostates, and in Jovinian’s, Christians again! And all this within less
than the age of a man. It is, therefore, a good thing that the heart be established with
grace.”
GILL, "And the people answered and said,.... To Joshua, upon his proposal to
them, the option he gave them to serve the Lord or idols, and which was only done to try
them:
God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods; they speak
with the utmost abhorrence of idolatry, as a thing far from their hearts and thoughts, as
the most abominable and execrable that could be thought or spoken of; to forsake the
word, and worship, and ordinances of God, and serve the idols of the Gentiles, strange
gods, whether more ancient or more recent, such as their fathers worshipped in former
times, or the inhabitants of the land they now dwelt in, for which they were spewed out
of it.
HE RY 16-18, "The matter being thus put to their choice, they immediately
determine it by a free, rational, and intelligent declaration, for the God of Israel, against
all competitors whatsoever, Jos_24:16-18. Here, [1.] They concur with Joshua in his
resolution, being influenced by the example of so great a man, who had been so great a
blessing to them (Jos_24:18): We also will serve the Lord. See how much good great
men might do, if they were but zealous in religion, by their influence on their inferiors.
[2.] They startle at the thought of apostatizing from God (Jos_24:16): God forbid; the
word intimates the greatest dread and detestation imaginable. “Far be it, far be it from
us, that we or ours should ever forsake the Lord to serve other gods. We must be
perfectly lost to all sense of justice, gratitude, and honour, ere we can harbour the least
thought of such a thing.” Thus must our hearts rise against all temptations to desert the
service of God. Get thee behind me, Satan. [3.] They give very substantial reasons for
their choice, to show that they did not make it purely in compliance to Joshua, but from
a full conviction of the reasonableness and equity of it. They make this choice for, and in
consideration, First, Of the many great and very kind things God had done for them,
bringing them out of Egypt through the wilderness into Canaan, Jos_24:17, Jos_24:18.
Thus they repeat to themselves Joshua's sermon, and then express their sincere

88. compliance with the intentions of it. Secondly, Of the relation they stood in to God, and
his covenant with them: “We will serve the Lord (Jos_24:18), for he is our God, who has
graciously engaged himself by promise to us, and to whom we have by solemn vow
engaged ourselves.”
K&D, "Jos_24:16-18
The people responded to this appeal by declaring, with an expression of horror at
idolatry, their hearty resolution to serve the Lord, who was their God, and had shown
them such great mercies. The words, “that brought us up and our fathers out of the land
of Egypt, out of the house of bondage,” call to mind the words appended to the first
commandment (Exo_20:2; Deu_5:6), which they hereby promise to observe. With the
clause which follows, “who did those great signs in our sight,” etc., they declare their
assent to all that Joshua had called to their mind in Jos_24:3-13. “We also” (Jos_24:18),
as well as thou and thy house (Jos_24:15).
CALVI , "16.And the people answered and said, etc Here we see he had no reason
to repent of the option given, when the people, not swearing in the words of another,
nor obsequiously submitting to extraneous dictation, declare that it would be an
impious thing to revolt from God. And thus it tends, in no small degree, to confirm
the covenant, when the people voluntarily lay the law upon themselves. The
substance of the answer is, that since the Lord has, by a wonderful redemption,
purchased them for himself as a peculiar people, has constantly lent them his aid,
and shown that he is among them as their God, it would be detestable ingratitude to
reject him and revolt to other gods.
COFFMA , "Verse 16
"And the people answered and said, Far be it from us that we should forsake
Jehovah, to serve other gods; for Jehovah is our God, he it is that brought us and
our children up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and 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; and Jehovah drove out
from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites that dwelt in the land: therefore
we will serve Jehovah; for he is our God."
This response on the part of the people appears at first sight to be adequate, but
Joshua's words a moment later indicate that their oath of loyalty was "too glib,"[32]
and was made without proper respect for the solemnity of it and for the seriousness
of the obligations incurred. Sometimes, people become Christians without fully
realizing the binding and irrevocable nature of the obligations incurred in the
acceptance of the yoke of Christ and in the ensuing hostility of the world. There is
perhaps in these verses also a recognition of the ability of the Amorites in the words,
"even the Amorites," who were clearly the most magnificent of all the ancient
Canaanites.
TRAPP, "Verse 16
Joshua 24:16 And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake

89. the LORD, to serve other gods;
Ver. 16. God forbid that we should forsake the Lord.] And yet they did thus, not
long after Joshua’s death. It is ordinary with the many headed multitude to turn
with the stream, to tack about to every wind, to be of the same religion with others
their superiors, to keep on the sunny side, wheresoever it be. Thus at Rome in
Dioclesian’s time they were Pagans; in Constantine’s, Christians; in Constantius’s,
Arians; in Julian’s, Apostates; in Jovinian’s, Christians again; and all this within
less than the age of a man. It is therefore "a good thing that the heart be established
with grace," [Hebrews 13:9] that men may "cleave to God with full purpose," [Acts
11:23] being "steadfast and unmovable." [1 Corinthians 15:58]
ELLICOTT, "(16) God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other
gods.—The feelings of the people are naturally shocked by the bare mention of
apostasy. They will not forsake Jehovah on any account. But their answer only
betrayed their want of intelligence. They missed the point of Joshua’s argument, as
may be seen by his reply.
PETT, "Verse 16-17
‘And the people answered and said, “God forbid that we should forsake YHWH to
serve other gods. For YHWH our God, he it is who brought us and our fathers up
out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did those great signs
in our sight, and preserved us in all the way in which we went, and among all the
people through the midst of whom we passed.” ’
ote the implied reference to Exodus 20:2, ‘I am YHWH your God, who brought
you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage’ demonstrating that those
words were rooted in their minds. They protested immediately their horror at the
thought that they should forsake YHWH and serve anyone but Him. They had
absorbed the words of Joshua and recognised the truth of what he had said about
YHWH’s continued deliverance, and they acknowledged the wonders He had
wrought, and the way He had preserved them on their journeys, both through
ample provision and protection from their enemies. How then could they serve
anyone else?
17 It was the Lord our God himself who brought
us and our parents up out of Egypt, from that
land of slavery, and performed those great signs
before our eyes. He protected us on our entire

90. journey and among all the nations through which
we traveled.
GILL, "For the Lord our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers, out
of the land of Egypt,.... When Pharaoh, the king of it, refused to let them go, yet he
wrought such wonders in it and inflicted such plagues on it, as obliged Pharaoh and his
people to dismiss them:
from the house of bondage: where they were held in the greatest thraldom and
slavery, and their lives made bitter and miserable:
and which did those great signs in our sight; meaning the wonders and
marvellous things wrought before Pharaoh and his people, and in the sight of Israel,
Psa_78:11; though Abarbinel is of opinion it refers to what had been done in their sight
of late in the land of Canaan, as the dividing of the waters of Jordan, the fall of the walls
of Jericho, the standing still of the sun in Gibeon; but this seems not so well to agree
with what follows:
and preserved us in all the way wherein we went: in the wilderness from
serpents and scorpions, and beasts of prey, and from all dangers from every quarter:
and among all the people through whom we passed; through whose borders they
passed, as the Edomites, Moabites, and Amorites; though the above writer seems to
understand it of preservation from the dangers of their enemies in the land of Canaan.
TRAPP, "Verse 17
Joshua 24:17 For the LORD our God, he [it is] that brought us up and our fathers
out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs
in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the
people through whom we passed:
Ver. 17. He it is that brought us up.] Beneficium postulat officium; Mercy requireth
duty: deliverance commandeth obedience. But many miscreants, as if God had hired
them to be wicked, abuse all his benefits to his dishonour.
18 And the Lord drove out before us all the

91. nations, including the Amorites, who lived in the
land. We too will serve the Lord, because he is our
God.”
GILL, "And the Lord drave out from before us all the people,.... The seven
nations of the land of Canaan:
even the Amorites which dwelt in the land; the strongest and most populous of
the nations, Amo_2:9, or especially the Amorites, so Vatablus; or "with the Amorites", as
others; those that lived on the other side Jordan, over whom Sihon and Og reigned:
therefore will we also serve the Lord: as well as Joshua and his house, for the
reasons before given, because he had done such great and good things for them:
for he is our God: that has made and preserved us, and loaded us with his benefits,
and is our covenant God, and therefore will we fear and serve him.
TRAPP, "Joshua 24:18 And the LORD drave out from before us all the people, even
the Amorites which dwelt in the land: [therefore] will we also serve the LORD for
he [is] our God.
Ver. 18. We will also serve the Lord; for he is our God.] To make the Lord to be our
God, it is required, saith a reverend man, that with highest estimations, most
vigorous affections, and utmost endeavours we bestow ourselves upon him: so shall
we be in a condition to "serve him acceptably." [Hebrews 12:28]
TRAPP, "Joshua 24:19 And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the
LORD: for he [is] an holy God; he [is] a jealous God; he will not forgive your
transgressions nor your sins.
Ver. 19. Ye cannot serve the Lord.] You that are yet unregenerate, and that would
fain make a mixture of religions, cannot serve the Lord; for he must be served like
himself, that is, truly, that there be no halting; and totally, that there be no halving;
he will not take up with a seeming or slubbering service. "Offer it now to thy prince;
will he be pleased with thee or accept thy person? saith the Lord of hosts." [Malachi
1:8]
For he is a holy God.] And requireth to be sanctified in all those that draw near
unto him; it will be worse with them else. [Leviticus 10:3] either profaneness nor

92. formal profession will he endure; but least of all idolatry.
For he is a jealous God.] And will not be yoked with idols, neither will he give his
glory, which is as his wife, to another. If any cast but a leering look toward it, he
shall smart and smoke for so doing.
He will not forgive your transgressions,] sc., Unless you forego them: or if he do
forgive them, yet he may take vengeance, temporal vengeance, of their inventions;
[Psalms 99:8] and for that matter their repentance may come too late. [Deuteronomy
1:37 2 Samuel 12:16] All this Joshua speaketh, not to weaken but to waken their
diligence in God’s service.
PETT, "Verse 18
“And YHWH has driven out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who
dwelt in the land. Therefore we also will serve YHWH, for He is our God.”
They protested that they were too aware of the help that they had received in
establishing their present position in the land to turn away from YHWH. They had
witnessed how He had enabled them to drive the Canaanites (Amorites) out from
many places. Therefore YHWH was their God and they would serve no one else.
19 Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to
serve the Lord. He is a holy God; he is a jealous
God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your
sins.
CLARKE, "Ye cannot serve the Lord: for he is a holy God - If we are to take
this literally, we cannot blame the Israelites for their defection from the worship of the
true God; for if it was impossible for them to serve God, they could not but come short of
his kingdom: but surely this was not the case. Instead of ‫תוכלו‬ ‫לא‬ lo thuchelu, ye Cannot
serve, etc., some eminent critics read ‫תכלו‬ ‫לא‬ lo thechallu, ye shall not Cease to serve, etc.
This is a very ingenious emendation, but there is not one MS. in all the collections of
Kennicott and De Rossi to support it. However, it appears very possible that the first ‫ו‬
vau in ‫תוכלו‬ did not make a part of the word originally. If the common reading be

93. preferred, the meaning of the place must be, “Ye cannot serve the Lord, for he is holy
and jealous, unless ye put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the flood. For
he is a jealous God, and will not give to nor divide his glory with any other. He is a holy
God, and will not have his people defiled with the impure worship of the Gentiles.”
GILL, "And Joshua said unto the people,.... To their heads and representatives
now assembled together, and who had returned to him the preceding answer:
ye cannot serve the Lord; which he said not to discourage or deter them from
serving the Lord, since it was his principal view, through the whole of this conversation
with them, to engage them in it, but to observe to them their own inability and
insufficiency of themselves to perform service acceptable to God; and therefore it
became them to implore grace and strength from the Lord to assist them in it, and to
depend upon that and not to lean to and trust in their own strength; as also to observe to
them, that they could not serve him perfectly without any defect and failure in their
service, for there is no man that does good and sins not; and therefore when a man has
done all he can, he must not depend upon it for his justification before God; or consider
it as his justifying righteousness, which was what that people were always prone to;
some supply it,"you cannot serve the Lord with your images,''or along with them, so
Vatablus:
for he is an holy God: perfectly holy, so that the best of men, and the heat of their
services, are impure and unholy before him and will not bear to be compared with him,
and therefore by no means to be trusted in; and it requires much grace and spiritual
strength to perform any service that may be acceptable to him through Christ. In the
Hebrew text it is, "for the Holy Ones are he": which may serve to illustrate and confirm
the doctrine of the trinity of, persons in the unity of the divine Essence, or of the three
divine holy Persons, holy Father, holy Son, holy Spirit, as the one God, see Isa_6:3,
he is a jealous God; of his honour and glory, and of his worship, in which he will
admit of no rival, of no graven images, or any idols to be worshipped with him, or
besides him; nor will he suffer the idol of men's righteousness to be set up in the room
of, or in opposition to, the righteousness of God, even no services and works of men, be
they ever so good, since they cannot be perfect before him:
he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins; even the transgressions
and sins of such that forsake the worship and service of him, and fall into idolatry, or
who seek for justification by their own services, these are both abominable to him;
otherwise he is a God pardoning the iniquity, transgression, and sin, of all those who
seek unto him and serve him, confess their sins, and renounce their own righteousness;
see Exo_23:21.
HE RY 19-20, "He brings them to embrace their religion resolutely, and to express a
full purpose of heart to cleave to the Lord. Now that he has them in a good mind he
follows his blow, and drives the nail to the head, that it might, if possible, be a nail in a
sure place. Fast bind, fast find.
(1.) In order to this he sets before them the difficulties of religion, and that in it which
might be thought discouraging (Jos_24:19, Jos_24:20): You cannot serve the Lord, for
he is a holy God, or, as it is in the Hebrew, he is the holy Gods, intimating the mystery of

94. the Trinity, three in one; holy, holy, holy, holy Father, holy Son, holy Spirit. He will not
forgive. And, if you forsake him, he will do you hurt. Certainly Joshua does not intend
hereby to deter them from the service of God as impracticable and dangerous. But, [1.]
He perhaps intends to represent here the suggestions of seducers, who tempted Israel
from their God, and from the service of him; with such insinuations as these, that he was
a hard master, his work impossible to be done, and he not to be pleased, and, if
displeased, implacable and revengeful, - that he would confine their respects to himself
only, and would not suffer them to show the least kindness for any other, - and that
herein he was very unlike the gods of the nations, which were easy, and neither holy nor
jealous. It is probable that this was then commonly objected against the Jewish religion,
as it has all along been the artifice of Satan every since he tempted our first parents thus
to misrepresent God and his laws, as harsh and severe; and Joshua by his tone and
manner of speaking might make them perceive he intended it as an objection, and would
put it to them how they would keep their ground against the force of it. Or, [2.] He thus
expresses his godly jealousy over them, and his fear concerning them, that,
notwithstanding the profession they now made of zeal for God and his service, they
would afterwards draw back, and if they did they would find him just and jealous to
avenge it. Or, [3.] He resolves to let them know the worst of it, and what strict terms they
must expect to stand upon with God, that they might sit down and count the cost. “You
cannot serve the Lord, except you put away all other gods for he is holy and jealous, and
will by no means admit a rival, and therefore you must be very watchful and careful, for
it is at your peril if you desert his service; better you had never known it.” Thus, though
our Master has assured us that his yoke is easy, yet lest, upon the presumption of this,
we should grow remiss and careless, he has also told us that the gate is strait, and the
way narrow, that leads to life, that we may therefore strive to enter, and not seek only.
“You cannot serve God and Mammon; therefore, if you resolve to serve God, you must
renounce all competitors with him. You cannot serve God in your own strength, nor will
he forgive your transgressions for any righteousness of your own; but all the seed of
Israel must be justified and must glory in the Lord alone as their righteousness and
strength,” Isa_45:24, Isa_45:25. They must therefore come off from all confidence in
their own sufficiency, else their purposes would be to no purpose. Or, [4.] Joshua thus
urges on them the seeming discouragements which lay in their way, that he might
sharpen their resolutions, and draw from them a promise yet more express and solemn
that they would continue faithful to God and their religion. He draws it form them that
they might catch at it the more earnestly and hold it the faster.
K&D, "But in order to place most vividly before the minds of the people to what it
was that they bound themselves by this declaration, that they might not inconsiderately
vow what they would not afterwards observe, Joshua adds, “Ye cannot serve Jehovah,”
sc., in the state of mind in which ye are at present, or “by your own resolution only, and
without the assistance of divine grace, without solid and serious conversion from all
idols, and without true repentance and faith” (J. H. Michaelis). For Jehovah is “a holy
God,” etc. Elohim, used to denote the Supreme Being (see at Gen_2:4), is construed with
the predicate in the plural. On the holiness of God, see the exposition of Exo_19:6. On
the expression “a jealous God,” see Exo_20:5; and on ‫ע‬ ַ‫שׁ‬ ֶ‫פ‬ ְ‫ל‬ ‫א‬ ָ‫שׂ‬ָ‫,נ‬ Exo_23:21. The only
other place in which the form ‫ּוא‬ ַ‫ק‬ is used for ‫א‬ָ ַ‫ק‬ is Nah_1:2. “If ye forsake the Lord and
serve strange gods, He will turn (i.e., assume a different attitude towards you) and do
you hurt, after He has done you good,” i.e., He will not spare you, in spite of the
blessings which He has conferred upon you. ‫ע‬ ַ‫ר‬ ֵ‫ח‬ is used to denote the judgments

95. threatened in the law against transgressors.
CALVI , "19.And Joshua said unto the people, etc Here Joshua seems to act
altogether absurdly in crushing the prompt and alert zeal of the people, by
suggesting ground of alarm. For to what end does he insist that they cannot serve
the Lord, unless it be to make them, from a sense of their utter powerlessness, to
give themselves up to despair, and thus necessarily become estranged from the fear
of God. It was necessary, however, to employ this harsh mode of obtestation, in
order to rouse a sluggish people, rendered more lethargic by security. And we see
that the expedient did not fail to obtain, at least, a momentary success. For they
neither despond nor become more slothful, but, surmounting the obstacle, answer
intrepidly that they will be constant in the performance of duty.
In short, Joshua does not deter them from serving God, but only explains how
refractory and disobedient they are, in order that they may learn to change their
temper. So Moses, in his song, (Deuteronomy 32:0) when he seems to make a divorce
between God and the people, does nothing else than prick and whet them, that they
may hasten to change for the better. Joshua, indeed, argues absolutely from the
nature of God; but what he specially aims at is the perverse behavior and untamed
obstinacy of the people. He declares that Jehovah is a holy and a jealous God. This,
certainly, should not by any means prevent men from worshipping him; but it
follows from it that impure, wicked, and profane despisers, who have no religion,
provoke his anger, and can have no intercourse with him, for they will feel him to be
implacable. And when it is said that he will not spare their wickedness, no general
rule is laid down, but the discourse is directed, as often elsewhere, against their
disobedient temper. It does not refer to faults in general, or to special faults, but is
confined to gross denial of God, as the next verse demonstrates. The people,
accordingly, answer the more readily, (202) that they will serve the Lord.
BE SO , "Joshua 24:19. Ye cannot — He speaks not of an absolute impossibility,
(for then both his resolution to serve God himself, and his exhortation to them, had
been vain,) but of a moral impossibility, or a very great difficulty, which he alleges
not to discourage them from God’s service, but to make them more considerate in
obliging themselves, and more resolved in answering their obligations. The meaning
is, God’s service is not, as you seem to fancy, a slight and easy thing, but it is a work
of great difficulty, and requires great care, and courage, and resolution; and when I
consider the infinite purity of God, that he will not be mocked or abused, and withal
your proneness to superstition and idolatry, even during the life of Moses, and in
some of you while I live, and while the obligations which God has laid upon you in
this land are fresh in remembrance, I cannot but fear that, after my decease, you
will think the service of God burdensome, and therefore will cast it off and revolt
from him, if you do not carefully avoid all occasions of idolatry. A jealous God — In
the Hebrew, He is the holy Gods, holy Father, holy Son, holy Spirit. He will not
endure a partner in his worship; you cannot serve him and idols together. Will not
forgive — If you who own yourselves his people and servants shall wilfully
transgress his laws, he will not let this go unpunished in you, as he doth in other
nations; therefore consider what ye do, when you take the Lord for your God; weigh

96. your advantages and inconveniences together; for as, if you be sincere and faithful
in God’s service, you will have admirable benefits by it; so, if you be false to your
professions, and forsake him whom you have so solemnly avouched to be your God,
he will deal more severely with you than with any people in the world.
COFFMA , "Verse 19
"And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve Jehovah; for he is a holy God;
he will not forgive your transgression nor your sins. 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. And the people said unto Joshua, ay; but we will serve Jehovah.
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. ow therefore
put away, said he, the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart
unto Jehovah, the God of Israel. And the people said unto Joshua, Jehovah our God
will we serve, and unto his voice will we hearken. So Joshua made a covenant with
the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. 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. 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. So Joshua sent the people away, every
man unto his inheritance."
"He will not forgive your transgression nor your sins ..." Harsh as this may sound,
there was no forgiveness of sins in any absolute sense under the Mosaic Law.
Although, the particular sin that God here said He would not forgive was identified
as the "worship of other gods," yet, in its larger dimensions, it applied to any
breaking of the covenant. As Sizoo said, "`He will not forgive your transgressions'
refers specifically to the worship of foreign gods and more generally to any
wrongdoing, for to transgress any commandment of God is to violate the
covenant."[33] owhere else in the history of the whole world is there any such
thing as the forgiveness of sins except that which is available through the Lord Jesus
Christ. This passage categorically denies that there was to be any forgiveness of sins
under the Mosaic Law. As a matter of fact, Jeremiah made forgiveness of sins to be
the unique element of the ew Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34).
Joshua 24:20 is a reference to the curses and blessings that characterized the ancient
suzerainty-covenant treaties. Thus, we continue to find in almost every verse
evidence that this renewal ceremony strictly followed the ancient pattern.
"He (God) will turn and do you evil ..." (Joshua 24:20). This reference to God's
turning does not at all conflict with other statements in the Bible, such as, "I
Jehovah change not" (Malachi 3:6), or, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is
from above, coming down from the Father of Lights with whom there is no
variation nor shadow that is cast by turning" (James 1:17). What is meant of course,
is that the conduct of men, in becoming wicked, can change their relation to God,
and that change is here called God's turning. We follow the same kind of idiom in

97. referring to the sun's going down. It is not the sun's going down that is denoted but
the earth's changing its position with reference to the sun. So when we think of
God's turning to punish men, it is OT God who changed but the sinners who
deserve the punishment. Woudstra pointed out that these two ideas: (1) God's
changelessness and (2) His `turning' "sometimes occur in one and the same chapter
(1 Samuel 15:11,29)."[34]
Here again in Joshua 24:23 we find evidence that the children of Israel still indulged
a secret reverence and respect for heathen gods, actually having some of these idols
in their possession at the time of these glib assertions of their loyalty to Jehovah.
Keil and others have supposed that Joshua here spoke of the inward, mental
retention of such idols, but we cannot accept that. As Plummer said, "There can be
little doubt that, although Israel dared not openly worship strange gods, yet
[~teraphim] and other images were retained by them, and if not worshipped, were
nevertheless accorded a respect and veneration that could in the future lead them
into apostasy."[35] And, of course, that is exactly what did happen later.
"The book of the law of God ..." (Joshua 24:26). If this is not the O.T., particularly
the Five Books of Moses and the Book of Joshua, then what is it? The commentators
seem to have trouble with this "Book of the Law of God," but, just as the ancient
covenant-treaty of the Hittites required a document to record the terms of the
covenant to be prepared and deposited in a safe place, the same thing, exactly,
occurred here. The simple meaning here is that the Book of Moses (commonly called
the five books) was supplemented by this book we are studying, containing
especially this final solemn ratification of the covenant and renewal of the covenant
status of Israel.
"Under the oak that was by the sanctuary of Jehovah ..." (Joshua 24:26). The
efforts of some to translate "in" instead of "by" in this verse derive from their
desire to get an oak tree into the tabernacle, which is the "sanctuary of Jehovah"
mentioned here. If we had needed any proof that the tabernacle had indeed been
moved to Shechem for this ratification ceremony, here it is. Of course, Keil denied
that the word rendered "by" or "near" in this verse could ever mean "near." But
Plummer's comment on that should enlighten us:
"It is difficult to see how Keil could have denied this with so many passages against
him, as in Joshua 5:13; 1 Samuel 29:1; Ezekiel 10:15, etc. He wishes to avoid the
idea of the sanctuary being in Shechem!"[36]
What can the critics do with "the Book of the Law of God" mentioned in this
paragraph? Well, here is the way Holmes handled it:
"If there had been such a book of the law there would have been no necessity to
erect a stone for a witness; the book would have been a much better one."[37]
The new light now available regarding the type of covenant-treaty in view here
shows that the ancient Hittite kings (about 1400 B.C.) had no trouble at all getting
their covenants written down in a book, and the Code of Hammurabi (about 2000
B.C.) was written and even engraved on stone. So, what kind of blindness is it that

98. can deny what Joshua plainly declared here?
TRAPP, "Joshua 24:19 And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the
LORD: for he [is] an holy God; he [is] a jealous God; he will not forgive your
transgressions nor your sins.
Ver. 19. Ye cannot serve the Lord.] You that are yet unregenerate, and that would
fain make a mixture of religions, cannot serve the Lord; for he must be served like
himself, that is, truly, that there be no halting; and totally, that there be no halving;
he will not take up with a seeming or slubbering service. "Offer it now to thy prince;
will he be pleased with thee or accept thy person? saith the Lord of hosts." [Malachi
1:8]
For he is a holy God.] And requireth to be sanctified in all those that draw near
unto him; it will be worse with them else. [Leviticus 10:3] either profaneness nor
formal profession will he endure; but least of all idolatry.
For he is a jealous God.] And will not be yoked with idols, neither will he give his
glory, which is as his wife, to another. If any cast but a leering look toward it, he
shall smart and smoke for so doing.
He will not forgive your transgressions,] sc., Unless you forego them: or if he do
forgive them, yet he may take vengeance, temporal vengeance, of their inventions;
[Psalms 99:8] and for that matter their repentance may come too late. [Deuteronomy
1:37 2 Samuel 12:16] All this Joshua speaketh, not to weaken but to waken their
diligence in God’s service.
COKE, "Ver. 19. And Joshua said unto the people, ye cannot serve the Lord, &c.—
These words may he understood two ways. 1. They may signify, "you will not serve
the Lord; I foresee that ye will not keep your word:" in the same sense as it is said of
Jesus Christ, that he could work no miracle at azareth, to express that he would
not; or, as when he said to the Jews, ye cannot hear my word; i.e. your prejudices
and passions hinder you from desiring it. 2. They may signify "the thing is difficult,
it requires great courage, and will cost you more than you are aware, by reason of
the temptations you will have to conquer in the attaining it." These two senses seem
necessary to be united for the proper understanding of the passage. The intention of
Joshua is certainly, not to insinuate to the Israelites that it will be impossible for
them to serve God; for why then should he have exhorted them to serve him, as he
had just done in ver. 14.? His design is evident: it is, to pique the zeal of the
Israelites, to engage them seriously to reflect on what they promised, and to
stimulate their protestations of fidelity, by seeming to doubt the sincerity of them: as
if he had said, "You promise to serve God; but can you do so, whose inclinations to
idolatry are so strong? And will you be firm and courageous enough to persevere
sincerely in the desire so to do?"

99. For he is an holy God; he is a jealous God, &c.— As he has no equal, neither can he
suffer a rival. To pay to idols that worship which he only deserves, or even to
associate them with the homage which is paid to him, is to contest with him, to take
from him a part of that perfect holiness which constitutes his glory, and is what the
Scripture calls profaning his holy name. See Mede's Discourses, b. 1: disc. 2.
WHEDO , "19. Ye cannot serve the Lord — Joshua utters these discouraging
words, based on the waywardness of the people’s hearts, to draw out from them the
expression of strong purpose to serve Jehovah. Thereby he elicits their energetic We
will, in Joshua 24:21, and their self-pledging witness in Joshua 24:22.
He is a jealous God — He demands, like a husband, the undivided affection and
service of the people who have avowed their fidelity to him. The word jealous, as
applied to God, involves evident anthropomorphism.
He will not forgive — This seems to represent God as implacable, in direct
contradiction to that wonderful revelation of his attributes made to Moses in
Exodus 34:7, as “forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin.” But the same
revelation declares that he will by no means clear the guilty. The explanation is, that
while God is forgiving to the truly penitent through the blood of sprinkling, he
vigorously punishes all incorrigible sinners.
ELLICOTT, "(19) And Joshua said . . . Ye cannot serve the Lord: for he is . . .
jealous . . .—Jehovah will not consent to be served as one God among many: the
very thing which Israel was doing at the moment, which they meant to do, and did
do, with rare intervals, down to the Babylonish captivity, when the evil spirit of
(literal) idolatry was expelled for evermore. Israel always maintained the worship of
Jehovah (except in very evil times) as the national Deity, but did not abstain from
the recognition and partial worship of other national deities of whom they were
afraid, and whom they thought it necessary to propitiate. Therefore Joshua’s
argument is perfectly intelligible, and was entirely necessary for those times.
PETT, "Verse 19-20
‘And Joshua said to the people, “You cannot serve YHWH, for he is a holy God, he
is a jealous God, he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. If you forsake
YHWH and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you,
after having done you good.” ’
But Joshua wanted no superficial reply. So he challenged them by pointing out the
danger of making a covenant with YHWH. This was no God Who would stand by
and do nothing. He was holy, set apart by the very nature of His being, unable and
unwilling to put up with sin and disobedience. And He was a jealous God, unwilling
to share worship with false gods who were no gods. Thus He would not overlook
their sin and disobedience. If after swearing loyalty to Him they then pandered to
foreign (having nothing to do with Israel) gods, He would bring evil on them and
destroy them, even though He had previously done them good.

100. This was not, of course, a denial of the fact that He was a merciful God, but drew
attention to the fact that sin without genuine repentance would reap its deserved
reward. YHWH was not One Who could be mocked.
“You cannot serve YHWH.” This was a challenge to face up to their own weakness,
revealed time and again in their past. It may contain within it the thought that they
could not serve Him as He required because of the pagan influences they still
allowed among them (Joshua 24:23). He wanted them to face up to the truth about
themselves.
“He is a holy God.” The word for holy is in the plural, matching God (elohim). It is
thus a plural of intensity. He is the sum of all that is holy. Isaiah 5:16 brings out
something of its meaning. He is exalted as the great and righteous Judge and set
apart by His total purity and goodness (compare Isaiah 57:15).
“He is a jealous God.” ot jealous in that He envies and feels sore about what others
have and deserve, but aware of His own being and worthiness and unwilling to
tolerate anything which puts on a pretence of sharing His uniqueness while being
unable to do so. In other words he will not tolerate false gods. See Exodus 20:4;
Exodus 34:14; Deuteronomy 4:24; Deuteronomy 6:15; ahum 1:2. The use of El
(singular) stresses the plural of intensity in the previous phrase. He is El-Qanno’,
the God of jealousy, the God so unique that He can have no rivals.
MACLARE , "THE ATIO AL OATH AT SHECHEM
Joshua 24:19 - Joshua 24:28.
We reach in this passage the close of an epoch. It narrates the last public act of
Joshua and the last of the assembled people before they scatter ‘every man unto his
inheritance.’ It was fitting that the transition from the nomad stage to that of settled
abode in the land should be marked by the solemn renewal of the covenant, which is
thus declared to be the willingly accepted law for the future national life. We have
here the closing scene of that solemn assembly set before us.
The narrative carries us to Shechem, the lovely valley in the heart of the land,
already consecrated by many patriarchal associations, and by that picturesque
scene [Joshua 8:30 - Joshua 8:35], when the gathered nation, ranged on the slopes of
Ebal and Gerizim, listened to Joshua reading ‘all that Moses commanded.’ There,
too, the coffin of Joseph, which had been reverently carried all through the desert
and the war, was laid in the ground that Jacob had bought five hundred years ago,
and which now had fallen to Joseph’s descendants, the tribe of Ephraim. There was
another reason for the selection of Shechem for this renewal of the covenant. The
gathered representatives of Israel stood, at Shechem, on the very soil where, long
ago, Abram had made his first resting-place as a stranger in the land, and had
received the first divine pledge, ‘unto thy seed will I give this land,’ and had piled
beneath the oak of Moreh his first altar {of which the weathered stones might still
be there} to ‘the Lord, who appeared unto him.’ It was fitting that this cradle of the
nation should witness their vow, as it witnessed the fulfilment of God’s promise.

101. What Plymouth Rock is to one side of the Atlantic, or Hastings Field to the other,
Shechem was to Israel. Vows sworn there had sanctity added by the place. or did
these remembrances exhaust the appropriateness of the site. The oak, which had
waved green above Abram’s altar, had looked down on another significant incident
in the life of Jacob, when, in preparation for his journey to Bethel, he had made a
clean sweep of the idols of his household, and buried them ‘under the oak which was
by Shechem’ [Genesis 35:2 - Genesis 35:4]. His very words are quoted by Joshua in
his command, in Joshua 24:23, and it is impossible to overlook the intention to
parallel the two events. The spot which had seen the earlier act of purification from
idolatry was for that very reason chosen for the later. It is possible that the same
tree at whose roots the idols from beyond the river, which Leah and Rachel had
brought, had been buried, was that under which Joshua set up his memorial stone;
and it is possible that the very stone had been part of Abram’s altar. But, in any
case, the place was sacred by these past manifestations of God and devotions of the
fathers, so that we need not wonder that Joshua selected it rather than Shiloh,
where the ark was, for the scene of this national oath of obedience. Patriotism and
devotion would both burn brighter in such an atmosphere. These considerations
explain also the designation of the place as ‘the sanctuary of the Lord,’-a phrase
which has led some to think of the Tabernacle, and apparently occasioned the
Septuagint reading of ‘Shiloh’ instead of ‘Shechem’ in Joshua 24:1 and Joshua
24:25. The precise rendering of the preposition in Joshua 24:26 {which the Revised
Version has put in the margin} shows that the Tabernacle is not meant; for how
could the oak-tree be ‘in’ the Tabernacle? Clearly, the open space, hallowed by so
many remembrances, and by the appearance to Abram, was regarded as a
sanctuary.
The earlier part of this chapter shows that the people, by their representatives,
responded with alacrity-which to Joshua seemed too eager-to his charge, and
enumerated with too facile tongues God’s deliverances and benefits. His ear must
have caught some tones of levity, if not of insincerity, in the lightly-made vow. So he
meets it with a douche of cold water in Joshua 24:19 - Joshua 24:20, because he
wishes to condense vaporous resolutions into something more tangible and
permanent. Cold, judiciously applied, solidifies. Discouragements, rightly put,
encourage. The best way to deepen and confirm good resolutions which have been
too swiftly and inconsiderately formed, is to state very plainly all the difficulty of
keeping them. The hand that seems to repel, often most powerfully attracts. There is
no better way of turning a somewhat careless ‘we will’ into a persistent ‘nay, but we
will’ than to interpose a ‘ye cannot.’ Many a boy has been made a sailor by the
stories of hardships which his parents have meant as dissuasives. Joshua here is
doing exactly what Jesus Christ often did. He refused glib vows because He desired
whole hearts. His very longing that men should follow Him made Him send them
back to bethink themselves when they promised to do it. ‘Master, I will follow Thee
whithersoever Thou goest!’ was answered by no recognition of the speaker’s
enthusiasm, and by no word of pleasure or invitation, but by the apparently cold
repulse: ‘Foxes have holes, birds of the air roosting-places; but the Son of Man has
not where to lay His head. That is what you are offering to share. Do you stand to
your words?’ So, when once ‘great multitudes’ came to Him He turned on them,
with no invitation in His words, and told them the hard conditions of discipleship as

102. being entire self-renunciation. He will have no soldiers enlisted under false
pretences. They shall know the full difficulties and trials which they must meet; and
if, knowing these, they still are willing to take His yoke upon them, then how
exuberant and warm the welcome which He gives!
There is a real danger that this side of the evangelist’s work should be overlooked in
the earnestness with which the other side is done. We cannot be too emphatic in our
reiteration of Christ’s call to all the ‘weary and heavy-laden’ to come unto Him, nor
too confident in our assurance that whosoever comes will not be ‘cast out’; but we
may be, and, I fear, often are, defective in our repetition of Christ’s demand for
entire surrender, and of His warning to intending disciples of what they are taking
upon them. We shall repel no true seeker by duly emphasising the difficulties of the
Christian course. Perhaps, if there were more plain speaking about these at the
beginning, there would be fewer backsliders and dead professors with ‘a name to
live.’ Christ ran the risk of the rich ruler’s going away sorrowful, and so should His
messengers do. The sorrow tells of real desire, and the departure will sooner or later
be exchanged for return with a deeper and more thorough purpose, if the earlier
wish had any substance in it. If it had not, better that the consciousness of its
hollowness should be forced upon the man, than that he should outwardly become
what he is not really,-a Christian; for, in the one case, he may be led to reflection
which may issue in thorough surrender; and in the other he will be a self-deceived
deceiver, and probably an apostate.
ote the special form of Joshua’s warning. It turns mainly on two points,-the extent
of the obligations which they were so lightly incurring, and the heavy penalties of
their infraction. As to the former, the vow to ‘serve the Lord’ had been made, as he
fears, with small consideration of what it meant. In heathenism, the ‘service’ of a
god is a mere matter of outward acts of so-called worship. There is absolutely no
connection between religion and morality in idolatrous systems. The notion that the
service of a god implies any duties in common life beyond ceremonial ones is wholly
foreign to paganism in all its forms. The establishment of the opposite idea is wholly
the consequence of revelation. So we need not wonder if the pagan conception of
service was here in the minds of the vowing assembly. If we look at their vow, as
recorded in Joshua 24:16 - Joshua 24:18, we see nothing in it which necessarily
implies a loftier idea. Jehovah is their national God, who has fought and conquered
for them, therefore they will ‘serve Him.’ If we substitute Baal, or Chemosh, or
ebo, or Ra, for Jehovah, this is exactly what we read on Moabite stones and
Assyrian tablets and Egyptian tombs. The reasons for the service, and the service
itself, are both suspiciously external. We are not judging the people more harshly
than Joshua did; for he clearly was not satisfied with them, and the tone of his
answer sufficiently shows what he thought wrong in them. Observe that he does not
call Jehovah ‘your God.’ He does so afterwards; but in this grave reply to their
exuberant enthusiasm he speaks of Him only as ‘the Lord,’ as if he would put stress
on the monotheistic conception, which, at all events, does not appear in the people’s
words, and was probably dim in their thoughts. Then observe that he broadly
asserts the impossibility of their serving the Lord; that is, of course, so long as they
continued in their then tone of feeling about Him and His service.
Then observe the points in the character of God on which he dwells, as indicating
the points which were left out of view by the people, and as fitted to rectify their

103. notions of service. First, ‘He is an holy God.’ The scriptural idea of the holiness of
God has a wider sweep than we often recognise. It fundamentally means His
supreme and inaccessible elevation above the creature; which, of course, is
manifested in His perfect separation from all sin, but has not regard to this only.
Joshua here urges the infinite distance between man and God, and especially the
infinite moral distance, in order to enforce a profounder conception of what goes to
God’s service. A holy God cannot have unholy worshippers. His service can be no
mere ceremonial, but must be the bowing of the whole man before His majesty, the
aspiration of the whole man after His loftiness, the transformation of the whole man
into the reflection of His purity, the approach of the unholy to the Holy through a
sacrifice which puts away sin.
Further, He is ‘a jealous God.’ ‘Jealous’ is an ugly word, with repulsive associations,
and its application to God has sometimes been explained in ugly fashion, and has
actually repelled men. But, rightly looked at, what does it mean but that God desires
our whole hearts for His own, and loves us so much, and is so desirous to pour His
love into us, that He will have no rivals in our love? The metaphor of marriage,
which puts His love to men in the tenderest form, underlies this word, so harsh on
the surface, but so gracious at the core.
There is still abundant need for Joshua’s warning. We rejoice that it takes so little
to be a Christian that the feeblest and simplest act of faith knits the soul to the all-
forgiving Christ. But let us not forget that, on the other hand, it is hard to be a
Christian indeed; for it means ‘forsaking all that we have,’ and loving God with all
our powers. The measure of His love is the measure of His ‘jealousy,’ and He loves
us no less than He did Israel. Unless our conceptions of His service are based upon
our recognition of His holiness and demand for our all, we, too, ‘cannot serve the
Lord.’
The other half of Joshua’s warnings refers to the penalties of the broken vows.
These are put with extraordinary force. The declaration that the sins of the servants
of God would not be forgiven is not, of course, to be taken so as to contradict the
whole teaching of Scripture, but as meaning that the sins of His people cannot be
left unpunished. The closer relation between God and them made retribution
certain. The law of Israel’s existence, which its history ever since has exemplified,
was here laid down, that their prosperity depended on their allegiance, and that
their nearness to Him ensured His chastisement for their sin. ‘You only have I
known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your
iniquities.’
The remainder of the incident must be briefly disposed of. These warnings produced
the desired effect; for Joshua did not seek to prevent, but to make more intelligent
and firm, the people’s allegiance. The resolve, repeated after fuller knowledge, is the
best reward, as it is the earnest hope, of the faithful teacher, whose apparent
discouragements are meant to purify and deepen, not to repress, the faintest wish to
serve God. Having tested their sincerity, he calls them to witness that their
resolution is perfectly voluntary; and, on their endorsing it as their free choice, he
requires the putting away of their ‘strange gods,’ and the surrender of their inward
selves to Him who, by this their action as well as by His benefits, becomes in truth
‘the God of Israel.’ Attempts have been made to evade the implication that idolatry
had crept in among the people; but there can be no doubt of the plain, sad meaning

104. of the words. They are a quotation of Jacob’s, at the same spot, on a similar
occasion centuries before. If there were no idols buried now under the old oak, it
was not because there were none in Israel, but because they had not been brought
by the people from their homes. Joshua’s commands are the practical outcome of his
previous words. If God be ‘holy’ and ‘jealous,’ serving Him must demand the
forsaking of all other gods, and the surrender of heart and self to Him. That is as
true to-day as ever it was. The people accept the stringent requirement, and their
repeated shout of obedience has a deeper tone than their first hasty utterance had.
They have learned what service means,-that it includes more than ceremonies; and
they are willing to obey His voice. Blessed those for whom the plain disclosure of all
that they must give up to follow Him, only leads to the more assured and hearty
response of willing surrender!
The simple but impressive ceremony which ratified the covenant thus renewed
consisted of two parts,-the writing of the account of the transaction in ‘the book of
the law’; and the erection of a great stone, whose grey strength stood beneath the
green oak, a silent witness that Israel, by his own choice, after full knowledge of all
that the vow meant, had reiterated his vow to be the Lord’s. Thus on the spot made
sacred by so many ancient memories, the people ended their wandering and
homeless life, and passed into the possession of the inheritance, through the portal of
this fresh acceptance of the covenant, proclaiming thereby that they held the land on
condition of serving God, and writing their own sentence in case of unfaithfulness. It
was the last act of the assembled people, and the crown and close of Joshua’s career.
20 If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods,
he will turn and bring disaster on you and make
an end of you, after he has been good to you.”
GILL, "If you forsake the Lord, and serve strange gods,.... Joshua knew the
proneness of this people to idolatry, and therefore expresses his jealousy of them, that
they would not be able to continue in the service of God, and would be apt to be carried
away after idols; and therefore, to make them the more cautious and watchful, he
represents to them the danger they were in, and what would befall them should they
forsake the Lord they now promised to serve, and follow after other gods, which their
fathers worshipped before they were called out of their estate of Heathenism, or which
the Canaanites, or Egyptians worshipped, whose examples they were too ready to

105. imitate:
then he will turn and do you hurt; not that there is properly any change in God,
either of his counsel or covenant, or of love and affection to his people, but of his
providential dealings, or outward manner of acting towards men; or the sense is, he will
again do you hurt, bring evils and calamities upon you again and again, frequently as you
revolt from him, such as the sword, pestilence, famine, and captivity, which these people
after experienced when they fell into idolatry:
and consume you; by these his sore judgments:
after that he hath done you good; by bringing you into such a good land, and
bestowing so many good things upon you, natural, civil, and religious; and yet,
notwithstanding, being disobedient to him, and especially in the instances mentioned,
they are made to expect his resentment, and the effects of it.
BE SO , "Joshua 24:20. He will turn and do you hurt — That is, he will alter his
course, and the manner of his dealing with you, and will be as severe as ever he was
kind and gracious. He will repent of his former kindnesses, and his goodness abused
will be turned into fury.
TRAPP, "Joshua 24:20 If ye forsake the LORD, and serve strange gods, then he will
turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good.
Ver. 20. And consume you, after that he hath done you good.] Ingentia beneficia,
flagitia, supplicia. From apostates God will take away his own and be gone, [Hosea
2:9] he will curse their blessings, [Malachi 2:2] blast their hopes, make them know
the worth of his benefits by the want of them, making them cry out, as Jeremiah
4:13, "Woe to us! for we are spoiled."
21 But the people said to Joshua, “ o! We will
serve the Lord.”
CLARKE, "And the people said - Nay; but we will serve, etc. - So they
understood the words of Joshua to imply no moral impossibility on their side: and had
they earnestly sought the gracious assistance of God, they would have continued steady
in his covenant.

106. GILL, "And the people said unto Joshua, nay,.... We will not serve strange gods:
but we will serve the Lord; according to his revealed will, and him only.
HE RY 21-24, " Notwithstanding this statement of the difficulties of religion, they
declare a firm and fixed resolution to continue and persevere therein (Jos_24:21): “Nay,
but we will serve the Lord. We will think never the worse of him for his being a holy and
jealous God, nor for his confining his servants to worship himself only. Justly will he
consume those that forsake him, but we never will forsake him; not only we have a good
mind to serve him, and we hope we shall, but we are at a point, we cannot bear to hear
any entreaties to leave him or to turn from following after him (Rth_1:16); in the
strength of divine grace we are resolved that we will serve the Lord.” This resolution they
repeat with an explication (Jos_24:24): “The Lord our God will we serve, not only be
called his servants and wear his livery, but our religion shall rule us in every thing, and
his voice will we obey.” And in vain do we call him Master and Lord, if we do not the
things which he saith, Luk_6:46. This last promise they make in answer to the charge
Joshua gave them (Jos_24:23), that, in order to their perseverance, they should, [1.] Put
away the images and relics of the strange gods, and not keep any of the tokens of those
other lovers in their custody, if they resolved their Maker should be their husband; they
promise, in this, to obey his voice. [2.] That they should incline their hearts to the God of
Israel, use their authority over their own hearts to engage them for God, not only to set
their affections upon him, but to settle them so. These terms they agree to, and thus, as
Joshua explains the bargain, they strike it: The Lord our God will we serve.
K&D, "The people adhered to their resolution. ‫ּא‬‫ל‬, minime, as in Jos_5:14, i.e., we
will not serve other gods, but Jehovah.
BE SO , "Verse 21-22
Joshua 24:21-22. ay, but we will serve the Lord — amely, him only, and not
strange gods. Ye are witnesses against yourselves — This solemn profession will be a
swift witness against you, if hereafter ye apostatize from God. They said, We are
witnesses — Here they renew their choice of Jehovah for their God and king, which
their forefathers made when they came out of Egypt, Exodus 19:7; Exodus 24:7; and
acknowledge they should be self-condemned if they did not make it good.
TRAPP, "Joshua 24:21 And the people said unto Joshua, ay; but we will serve the
LORD.
Ver. 21. ay; but we will serve the Lord.] Only and wholly, for subject and object.
This was well resolved, if as well practised. These here were ready to enter into
covenant, and so to bind their deceitful hearts to a good abearance, which else
would be ready to slip collar.
COKE, "Verse 21-22

107. Ver. 21, 22. And the people said—nay, but we will serve the Lord, &c.— To these
fresh protestations of fidelity on the part of the whole assembly, Joshua replies, that
he receives them as a holy and solemn declaration, which, thus publicly and
deliberately made, will for ever witness against the Israelites, and condemn them if
they become unfaithful to the Lord. In answer to this, they again express their
consent, that if they ever forsake Jehovah their words may bear testimony against
them. Thus we have a sacred renewal, an authentic confirmation of the covenant
into which their forefathers had entered with God, as their king, Exodus 12:24 :; a
covenant, which, after this, they could not again infringe, without being in the
higher degree guilty of perjury.
ELLICOTT, "(21) ay; but we will serve the Lord.—Being brought to the point, no
other answer was possible. If they must give up Jehovah or the idols, the idols must
go first.
(22,23) Ye are witnesses . . . that ye have chosen you the Lord . . . ow therefore put
away . . . the strange gods.—This was the practical conclusion to which Joshua
desired that they should come. But we do not read that they did anything in
obedience to these words. We read of no images being buried or burned, as in the
days of Jacob by David (Genesis 35:4; 2 Samuel 5:21). There is only a verbal
promise: “The Lord our God will we serve, and His voice will we obey.”
SIMEO , "JOSHUA’S COVE A T WITH ISRAEL TO SERVE THE LORD
Joshua 24:21-27. And the people said unto Joshua, ay; but we will serve the Lord.
And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves, that ye have
chosen you the Lord, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses. ow therefore
put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart
unto the Lord God of Israel. And the people said unto Joshua, The Lord our God
will we serve, and his voice will we obey. So Joshua made a covenant with the people
that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. And Joshua wrote
these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there
under an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the Lord. And Joshua said unto all the
people. Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words
of the Lord which he spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye
deny your God.
THE pious servants of God may be disabled through age and infirmities from
continuing their personal exertions, but they never will relax their zeal in the service
of their Divine Master; and what they want in effective labours, they will endeavour
to supply by stimulating and confirming the zeal of others. Moses, at an advanced
age, renewed with Israel in the land of Moab the covenant which he had forty years
before made with them in Horeb [ ote: Deuteronomy 29:1.]: and Joshua in like
manner, now that he was “waxed old and stricken in age,” and was speedily “going
the way of all the earth,” convened all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, for the
purpose of engaging them once more to give themselves up to God in a perpetual
covenant; that so the good effects of his influence might remain, when he should

108. have ceased to move them by his authority and example.
We shall,
I. Consider the covenant which he made with them—
The covenant itself was, that they should serve the Lord—
[ ot contented with requiring this of them in general terms, he specified the manner
in which they must serve the Lord. They must serve him sincerely. It was not
sufficient for them to call themselves his people, and to observe his ordinances with
hypocritical exactness: their hearts must be fixed upon him; their delight must be to
do his will; they must have no secret reserves of unmortified corruption; but must
serve the Lord “in sincerity and truth [ ote: ver. 14.].”
They must also serve him resolutely. It might “seem evil to them to serve the Lord,”
yea, it might be accounted so by the whole nation; but they must be inflexible in
their purpose, and determinately say with him, “As for me and my house, we will
serve the Lord [ ote: ver. 15.].”
They must also serve him exclusively. The admonition in the 19th verse is variously
interpreted. Some think it was an objection in the mouth of an adversary, to deter
persons from the Lord’s service: others think it was a strong statement of the
difficulties attending the Lord’s service, suggested by Joshua for the purpose of
stirring up the Israelites to more fixedness of purpose, and greater energy in their
exertions. But we apprehend that the whole context determines the passage to a very
different meaning. There were still among them some idols, which, though they did
not worship, they valued and were averse to part with: and Joshua saw, that, if
these were retained, the people would in time relapse into idolatry: he warned them
therefore of the impossibility of their serving God acceptably whilst they retained
these; and assured them, that God would never forgive them, if they did not put
away the things which were sure to prove to them an occasion of falling. The
following warning in the 20th verse, and the exhortation in the 23d, shew most
satisfactorily, that this is the true meaning of the passage we refer to. God must be
served alone: his glory will he not give to another: he is a “holy” God, that will
tolerate no secret lust; and a “jealous God, that will endure no rival in our hearts, or
in our hands.”]
Having stated to them the terms of the covenant, he calls them to ratify and confirm
it—
[Covenants are usually signed by the parties themselves, and then attested by others,
as witnesses. Thus on this occasion he calls the Israelites to confirm and ratify this
covenant by their own express consent, which they give in terms no less plain than if
they had annexed to the covenant their own name and seal. The manner in which
they do this is peculiarly worthy of observation: they first express their utter
abhorrence of the very idea of departing from God [ ote: ver. 16.]: and then,

109. assigning their obligations to Jehovah as a reason for their determination, they
declare their fixed purpose to serve him, and him only [ ote: ver. 17, 18.]. Upon
Joshua’s expressing the jealousy which he entertained respecting them on account
of their backwardness to cast away their idols, they renewed their declarations with
increased energy [ ote: ver. 21.]. Then, when reminded that they will be witnesses
against themselves, if ever they should turn aside from God, they voluntarily engage
to be witnesses, and thereby affix, as it were, to the covenant their signature and seal
[ ote: ver. 22.]: and lastly, on being required to give evidence of the sincerity of
their professions, they renew their protestations with more strength and energy than
ever [ ote: ver. 23, 24.].
Joshua now calls other witnesses. He wrote their words upon the very copy of the
law which Moses had deposited in the ark, that that might remain an everlasting
witness against them: and then he “took a large stone, and set it up there under an
oak, that that also might be a witness against them,” if ever they should depart from
God: thus taking care, that, the covenant being fully attested, they might be
convicted, and condemned, and be for ever without excuse before God and man, if
they should ever forget and deny their God [ ote: ver. 26, 27.].]
The zeal which Joshua shewed on this occasion will be approved by all: we may
hope therefore to perform an acceptable service to you, whilst, with an eye to that
covenant, we,
II. Propose the same to you—
The duty of serving the Lord our God will be denied by none; and least of all by
those who know the obligations which they owe to him for redeeming them from
death by the blood of his only-begotten Son — — — But we beg leave to retrace,
with application to yourselves,
1. The engagements you have entered into—
[You are bound to serve the Lord your God, sincerely, resolutely, exclusively.
There must be no dissimulation in this matter: you must have “truth in your inward
parts:” to “call him ‘Lord, Lord,’ will be of no use, if you do not the things which he
says.” His word must be the rule, his will the reason, his glory the end of your
obedience — — —
You will find that many will account the service of God an “evil” thing; odious in
itself, injurious to society, and contemptible in all who addict themselves to it. You
will find also that the great mass of nominal Christians are alienated from the life of
God, as much as ever the Jews of old were. For the truth of this we appeal to the
lives of all around us. Yet you must “not follow a multitude to do evil,” or forbear to
walk in the narrow path of life, even though the whole world should urge you to
accompany them in the broad road that leadeth to destruction. ay; you must not
only be steadfast yourselves, but must exert all your influence to animate and

110. encourage others: you must adopt the noble resolution of Joshua, “As for me and
my house, we will serve the Lord.”
You must be on your guard too against harbouring any “idol in your heart [ ote:
Ezekiel 14:3-4.].” Sensuality, or covetousness, or any other unmortified lust, will
provoke God to jealousy, as much as gods of wood and stone: and if any one sin be
willingly retained, any one service wilfully neglected, or any sacrifice deliberately
withheld, we must say with Joshua, “The Lord will not forgive your transgression
and your sin:” “an eye, or a hand or foot, retained in opposition to his command,
will cause the whole body, and soul too, to be cast into hell:” he only that will “lose
his life for Christ’s sake, shall find it unto life eternal” — — —]
2. The witnesses that will attest your violation of them—
[You must be “witnesses against yourselves:” your own consciences will testify, if,
when you are convinced that it is your duty to serve the Lord, you continue to
neglect him. Well are we assured that we have even now within your own bosoms a
witness to the truth of all that we affirm — — —
But there will be other witnesses against you. The word that we speak, the same will
testify against you in the last day: for it is written “in the book of God’s
remembrance,” and reserved in the sanctuary to be brought forth as the evidence of
God’s righteousness and the ground of his procedure. I may add too, The very walls
wherein we are assembled will testify against you: to use the strong language of our
text, “they have heard all the words that have been spoken to you,” the faithful
declarations, the earnest entreaties, the rich encouragements: yes, “the stones out of
the wall will cry out against you [ ote: Habakkuk 2:11.],” if you continue to violate
your baptismal engagements, and indulge an indifference to all the subjects of your
prayers. Times without number have you prayed, that you might “live a righteous,
sober, and a godly life, to the glory of God’s holy name;” and yet, many of you at
least, have either never set yourselves in earnest so to live, or have carelessly
declined from the ways of God, and forgotten the vows that are upon you. Finally,
God himself also will be “a swift witness against you.” Yes, “he searcheth the heart,
and trieth the reins, and will give to every man according to his works.”]
Application—
[“Choose ye now whom ye will serve.” To unite God and Mammon is impossible: “if
Baal be God, serve him: but if the Lord be God, then serve him” — — —]
22 Then Joshua said, “You are witnesses against

111. yourselves that you have chosen to serve the
Lord.”
“Yes, we are witnesses,” they replied.
CLARKE, "Ye are witnesses against yourselves - Ye have been sufficiently
apprised of the difficulties in your way - of God’s holiness - your own weakness and
inconstancy - the need you have of Divine help, and the awful consequences of apostasy;
and now ye deliberately make your choice. Remember then, that ye are witnesses against
yourselves, and your own conscience will be witness, judge, and executioner; or, as one
terms it, index, judex, vindex.
GILL, "And Joshua said unto the people,.... In reply to their answer and
resolution:
ye are witnesses against yourselves, that ye have chosen you the Lord God to
serve him; that is, should they, after this choice of him, which they had so publicly
declared, desert his service, and go into idolatry, their testimony would rise up against
them, and they would, be self-condemned:
and they said, we are witnesses; should we ever apostatize from the Lord and his
worship, we are content to have this our witness produced against us.
K&D, "Upon this repeated declaration Joshua says to them, “ye are witnesses
against yourselves,” i.e., ye will condemn yourselves by this your own testimony if ye
should now forsake the Lord, “for ye yourselves have chosen you Jehovah to serve Him;”
whereupon they answer ‫ים‬ ִ‫ד‬ ֵ‫,ע‬ “witnesses are we against ourselves,” signifying thereby,
“we profess and ratify once more all that we have said” (Rosenmüller). Joshua then
repeated his demand that they should put away the strange gods from within them, and
incline their hearts (entirely) to Jehovah the God of Israel. ‫ם‬ ֶ‫כ‬ ְ ִ‫ק‬ ְ ‫ר‬ ֶ‫שׁ‬ ֲ‫א‬ ‫ר‬ ָ‫כ‬ֵ ַ‫ה‬ ‫י‬ ֵ‫ּה‬‫ל‬ ֱ‫א‬ might
mean the foreign gods which are in the midst of you, i.e., among you, and imply the
existence of idols, and the grosser forms of idolatrous worship in the nation; but ‫ב‬ ֶ‫ר‬ ֶ‫ק‬ ְ
also signifies “within,” or “in the heart,” in which case the words refer to idols of the
heart. That the latter is the sense in which the words are to be understood is evident
from the fact, that although the people expressed their willingness to renounce all
idolatry, they did not bring any idols to Joshua to be destroyed, as was done in other
similar cases, viz., Gen_35:4, and 1Sa_7:4. Even if the people had carried idols about
with them in the desert, as the prophet Amos stated to his contemporaries (Amo_5:26;
cf. Act_7:43), the grosser forms of idolatry had disappeared from Israel with the dying

112. out of the generation that was condemned at Kadesh. The new generation, which had
been received afresh into covenant with the Lord by the circumcision at Gilgal, and had
set up this covenant at Ebal, and was now assembled around Joshua, the dying servant
of God, to renew the covenant once more, had no idols of wood, stone, or metal, but only
the “figments of false gods,” as Calvin calls them, the idols of the heart, which it was to
put away, that it might give its heart entirely to the Lord, who is not content with divided
affections, but requires the whole heart (Deu_6:5-6).
CALVI , "22.And Joshua said unto the people, etc We now understand what the
object was at which Joshua had hitherto aimed. It was not to terrify the people and
make them fall away from their religion, but to make the obligation more sacred by
their having of their own accord chosen his government, and betaken themselves to
his guidance, that they might live under his protection. They acknowledge,
therefore, that their own conscience will accuse them, and hold them guilty of
perfidy, if they prove unfaithful. (203) But although they were not insincere in
declaring that they would be witnesses to their own condemnation, still how easily
the remembrance of this promise faded away, is obvious from the Book of Judges.
For when the more aged among them had died, they quickly turned aside to various
superstitions. By this example we are taught how multifarious are the fallacies
which occupy the senses of men, and how tortuous the recesses in which they hide
their hypocrisy and folly, while they deceive themselves by vain confidence. (204)
TRAPP, "Joshua 24:22 And Joshua said unto the people, Ye [are] witnesses against
yourselves that ye have chosen you the LORD, to serve him. And they said, [We are]
witnesses.
Ver. 22. Ye are witnesses against yourselves.] In case ye falsify ye shall be self-
condemned, and cut of your own mouths God shall judge you: meanwhile
conscience shall do its office upon you, as an index, iudex, vindex, accuser, judge,
and executioner.
COKE, "Ver. 23. ow, therefore, put away—the strange gods— See ver. 14. All this
evidently shews, that Joshua was a prophet, that he could penetrate the secret
intentions of the Israelites, and was certain of their propensity to idolatry. Publicly
they worshipped only the true God, but in secret they had their penates (as the
Romans termed them), their household gods; idols which they worshipped
clandestinely, teraphim, little statues, magical rings, and other such instruments of
superstition. See Spencer de Leg. Heb. lib. 3: dissert, 1 cap. 3. Of these we have
more than once had occasion to speak.
PETT, "Verse 22
Joshua 24:22 a
‘And Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have
chosen for yourselves Yahweh serve him.”
This was now a solemnising of the solemn covenant. It was like asking response to

113. the marriage vows, the important words that seal the covenant. Once repeated it
would be impossible to withdraw. They had stated that they would serve YHWH
and Him alone. ow he called on them to act as witnesses to their own declaration.
Joshua 24:22 b
‘And they said, “We are witnesses.”
Their response was a solemn avowal of what they had committed themselves to.
23 “ ow then,” said Joshua, “throw away the
foreign gods that are among you and yield your
hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.”
CLARKE, "Now therefore put away - As you have promised to reform, begin
instantly the work of reformation. A man’s promise to serve God soon loses its moral
hold of his conscience if he do not instantaneously begin to put it in practice. The grace
that enables him to promise is that by the strength of which he is to begin the
performance.
GILL, "Now therefore put away, said he,.... Which last words are rightly supplied,
for they are the words of Joshua:
the strange gods which are among you; not their private notions and secret
sentiments that some of them had imbibed in favour of idols, and the worship of them,
as Ben Gersom thinks; but, as the Targum expresses it,"the idols of the Gentiles;''either
such as they had brought out of Egypt, or had found among the plunder of the
Canaanites, and had secretly retained; or, as others think, their "penates", or household
gods, they had privately kept and worshipped, such as those that were in Jacob's family,
which he caused to be delivered to him, and which he hid under an oak in this place
where Israel were now assembled, Gen_35:2; and which Joshua by a prophetic
discerning spirit perceived were now among them:
and incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel; to love, fear, and serve him;
that is, pray that your hearts may be inclined thereunto, and make use of all means that
may tend to direct your hearts to him, and his service; so the Targum,"to the worship of

114. the Lord God of Israel.''
CALVI , "23. ow, therefore, put away the strange gods, etc How can it be that
those who were lately such stern avengers of superstition, have themselves given
admission to idols? Yet the words expressly enjoin that they are to put away strange
gods from the midst of them. If we interpret that their own houses were still polluted
by idols, we may see, as in a bright mirror, how complacently the greater part of
mankind can indulge in vices which they prosecute with inexorable severity in
others. But, as I do not think it probable that they dared, after the execution of
Achan, to pollute themselves with manifest sacrilege, I am inclined to think that
reference is made not to their practice but to their inclinations, and that they are
told to put all ideas of false gods far away from them. For he had previously
exhorted them in this same chapter to take away the gods whom their fathers had
served beyond the river and in Egypt. But nobody will suppose that the idols of
Chaldea were treasured up in their repositories, or that they had brought impure
deities with them from Egypt, to be a cause of hostility between God and themselves.
The meaning, therefore, simply is, that they are to renounce all idols, and clear
themselves of all profanity, in order that they may purely worship God alone. (205)
This seems to be the purport of the clause, incline your heart unto the Lord, which
may be taken as equivalent to, rest in him, and so give up your heart to the love of
him, as to delight and be contented only with him.
BE SO , "Joshua 24:23. Put away the strange gods which are among you —
Meaning those idols which they had either brought out of Egypt, or had taken in
Canaan, and which some of them kept, contrary to God’s command, whether for the
preciousness of the matter, or rather from some secret inclination to superstition
and idolatry.
TRAPP, "Joshua 24:23 ow therefore put away, [said he], the strange gods which
[are] among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel.
Ver. 23. ow therefore.] Set forthwith upon the work of reformation which you
have covenanted.
Put away the strange.] Out of doors with those Balaam’s blocks, those mawmets and
monuments of idolatry, those images of jealousy which provoke to jealousy: [Ezekiel
8:3] throw also all your sinful lusts out of service, and serve the Lord. See Joshua
24:14.
PETT, "Verse 23
“ ow therefore put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your
hearts to YHWH, the God of Israel.”
The reply in Joshua 24:22 b had been an interjection. ow Joshua continued with
his exhortation. In the course of their lives, and in the course of receiving spoils
from captured Canaanite cities, many Israelites had accumulated mascots and

115. amulets and suchlike, including possibly images of Baal and Ashtoreth, in which
they possibly placed much faith for protection and ‘luck’ without realising that it
was derogatory to YHWH. ow he called on them to put them away (compare
Genesis 35:2). The phrase ‘foreign gods’ was very significant. Such things were
foreign to those who were His people, to those who worshipped YHWH. They had
no place in Israel where YHWH was supreme and unique and sole divinity.
“And incline your hearts to YHWH, the God of Israel.” All that they had looked to
receive from their charms and amulets they must now look to Him to provide. Their
response to Him and worship of Him must be total. Again there is the emphasis that
Israel has no God but YHWH.
24 And the people said to Joshua, “We will serve
the Lord our God and obey him.”
GILL, "And the people said unto Joshua,.... A third time, that as by the mouth of
two or three witnesses everything is confirmed, so by three testimonies of the same
persons:
the Lord our God will we serve; as they had before declared, and to which they add:
and his voice will we obey; or his word, as the Targum, not only his word of
command, but his essential Word, the Son of God.
K&D 24-25, "On the repeated and decided declaration of the people, “the Lord our
God will we serve, and to His voice will we hearken,” Joshua completed the covenant
with them that day. This conclusion of a covenant was really a solemn renewal of the
covenant made at Sinai, like that which took place under Moses in the steppes of Moab
(Deu_29:1). “And set them a statute and right at Shechem,” sc., through the renewal of
the covenant. These words recall Exo_15:25, where the guidance of Israel to bitter water,
and the sweetening of that water by the means which the Lord pointed out to Moses, are
described as setting a statute and right for Israel, and then explained by the promise,
that if they would hearken to the voice of Jehovah, He would keep them from all the
diseases of Egypt. And in accordance with this, by the renewal of the covenant at
Shechem, there were set for Israel, a ‫ּק‬‫ח‬, i.e., a statute, which bound the people to a
renewed and conscientious maintenance of the covenant, and a ‫ט‬ ָ ְ‫שׁ‬ ִ‫,מ‬ or right, by virtue
of which they might expect on this condition the fulfilment of all the covenant mercies of

116. the Lord.
TRAPP, "Joshua 24:24 And the people said unto Joshua, The LORD our God will
we serve, and his voice will we obey.
Ver. 24. The Lord our God will we serve.] They bind themselves again to keep touch
with God by an unalterable resolution. Vows rightly made and renewed are of
singular use to keep the heart within the bounds of obedience, and to make men
constant, firm, and peremptory in well doing.
PETT, "Verse 24
‘And the people said to Joshua, “YHWH our God we will serve and his voice we will
obey.” ’
This was their third response, making the response complete. All would recognise
that three specifically signifies completeness. (This threeness was not accidental, it
was deliberate). They thereby acknowledged YHWH as God alone, and their
responsibility to obey Him fully.
25 On that day Joshua made a covenant for the
people, and there at Shechem he reaffirmed for
them decrees and laws.
BAR ES, "Made a covenant with the people - i. e. he solemnly ratified and
renewed the covenant of Sinai, as Moses had done before him Deu_29:1. As no new or
different covenant was made, no sacrifices were necessary.
CLARKE, "Joshua made a covenant - Literally, Joshua cut the covenant,
alluding to the sacrifice offered on the occasion.
And set then a statute and an ordinance - He made a solemn and public act of
the whole, which was signed and witnessed by himself and the people, in the presence of
Jehovah; and having done so, he wrote the words of the covenant in the book of the law
of God, probably in some part of the skin constituting the great roll, on which the laws of
God were written, and of which there were some blank columns to spare. Having done
this, he took a great stone and set it up under an oak - that this might be ‫עד‬ ed or witness
that, at such a time and place, this covenant was made, the terms of which might be

117. found written in the book of the law, which was laid up beside the ark. See Deu_31:26.
GILL, "So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day,.... Proposing to
them what was most eligible, and their duty to do, and they agreeing to it, this formally
constituted a covenant, of which they selves were both parties and witnesses:
and set statute and an ordinance in Shechem; either made this covenant to have
the nature of a statute and ordinance binding upon them, or repeated and renewed the
laws of Moses, both moral and ceremonial, which had been delivered at Mount Sinai,
and now, upon this repetition in Shechem, might be called a statute and ordinance there.
HE RY 25-27, "The service of God being thus made their deliberate choice, Joshua
binds them to it by a solemn covenant, Jos_24:25. Moses had twice publicly ratified this
covenant between God and Israel, at Mount Sinai (Ex. 24) and in the plains of Moab,
Deu_29:1. Joshua had likewise done it once (Jos_8:31, etc.) and now the second time. It
is here called a statute and an ordinance, because of the strength and perpetuity of its
obligation, and because even this covenant bound them to no more than what they were
antecedently bound to by the divine command. Now, to give it the formalities of a
covenant, 1. He calls witnesses, no other than themselves (Jos_24:22): You are
witnesses that you have chosen the Lord. He promises himself that they would never
forget the solemnities of this day; but, if hereafter they should break this covenant, he
assures them that the professions and promises they had now made would certainly rise
up in judgment against them and condemn them; and they agreed to it: “We are
witnesses; let us be judged out of our own mouths if ever we be false to our God.” 2. He
put it in writing, and inserted it, as we find it here, in the sacred canon: He wrote it in
the book of the law (Jos_24:26), in that original which was laid up in the side of the ark,
and thence, probably, it was transcribed into the several copies which the princes had for
the use of each tribe. There it was written, that their obligation to religion by the divine
precept, and that by their own promise, might remain on record together. 3. He erected
a memorandum of it, for the benefit of those who perhaps were not conversant with
writings, Jos_24:26, Jos_24:27. He set up a great stone under an oak, as a monument
of this covenant, and perhaps wrote an inscription upon it (by which stones are made to
speak) signifying the intention of it. When he says, It hath heard what was past, he
tacitly upbraids the people with the hardness of their hearts, as if this stone had heard to
as good purpose as some of them; and, if they should forget what was no done, this stone
would so far preserve the remembrance of it as to reproach them for their stupidity and
carelessness, and be a witness against them.
CALVI , "25.So Joshua made a covenant, etc This passage demonstrates the end
for which the meeting had been called, namely, to bind the people more completely
and more solemnly to God, by the renewal of the covenant. Therefore, in this
agreement, Joshua acted as if he had been appointed on the part of God to receive in
his name the homage and obedience promised by the people. It is accordingly added,
exegetically, in the second clause, that he set before them precept and judgment. For
the meaning is corrupted and wrested by some expositors, who explain it is referring
to some new speech of Joshua, whereas it ought properly to be understood of the
Law of Moses, as if it had been said that Joshua made no other paction than that
they should remain steadfast in observing the Law, and that no other heads of the

118. covenant were brought forward; they were only confirmed in that doctrine which
they had formerly embraced and professed. In the same way, Malachi, to keep them
under the yoke of God, demands nothing more than that they should remember the
Law of Moses. (Malachi 4:4)
BE SO , "Joshua 24:25. So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day —
Engaged them to make good this solemn profession, by renewing the covenant they
had formerly entered into, both in the days of Moses and in his time, wherein they
promised to worship God alone, and be obedient to him. Some think this covenant
was now established by sacrifice, as it was when they came out of Egypt, (Exodus
24:4-5,) and when they came into Canaan, Joshua 8:31. But as there is no mention of
an altar or any offering, so it is not likely that Joshua would offer any sacrifice but
in the place which God had chosen, which was Shiloh.
TRAPP, "Joshua 24:25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set
them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.
Ver. 25. And set there a statute and an ordinance.] Capita faederis ex Deuteronomio
praelegit, saith one; he read them the Articles of the Covenant out of Deuteronomy.
COKE, "Ver. 25. So Joshua made a covenant with the people, &c.— The Israelites
having a third time repeated that they were resolved only to serve the Lord, and
being thereby bound more strictly than ever to obey him, Joshua, in order to bind,
in the most indissoluble manner, those ties whereon their happiness depended,
proposes to them a solemn renewal of the covenant which they had made first by the
ministry of Moses, and afterwards by his own; in consequence of which, the
Israelites rigorously swore to worship only the Lord, and to obey only his laws;
while on his part, by the mouth of Joshua, God promises to continue the constant
protector and benefactor of their nation. Most interpreters are of opinion, from the
latter clause, that Joshua read to the Israelites the conditions and laws of the
covenant, to which they assented. But it may also signify, that he gave to whatever
had been concluded upon, all the force of a perpetual law, and an irrevocable
ordinance, which was afterwards called the covenant of Shechem; inasmuch as there
the Israelites had renewed their profession of an inviolable attachment to the Lord.
CO STABLE, "Verses 25-28
4. Provisions for the preservation of the covenant24:25-28
The covenant that Joshua made with the people on this day was not a new one but a
renewal of the Mosaic Covenant made for the first time at Mt. Sinai ( Joshua 24:25).
The Israelites renewed this covenant from time to time after God first gave it (cf.
Joshua 8:30-35). The "statute" Joshua made was the written commitment of the
people to obey the Law ( Joshua 24:26). The "ordinance" (right) was the record of
the blessings Israel would enjoy as the fruits of her obedience.
The "book of the law of God" ( Joshua 24:26) appears to have been the document in
which Joshua wrote the record of this renewal of the covenant. He evidently placed

119. it with the written covenant itself. The "large stone" ( Joshua 24:26) he erected
became a permanent memorial of the renewal of the covenant undertaken this day
(cf. Genesis 28:18; Deuteronomy 27:2). Joshua set the stone up under the oak that
was the same tree as, or one that represented, the oak under which Abraham had
built his altar and worshipped Yahweh. Jacob had buried his idols under an oak
tree in Shechem, perhaps the same one ( Genesis 12:6-7; Genesis 35:2-4). "The
sanctuary" ( Joshua 24:26) was this holy place, not the tabernacle that was then at
Shiloh.
The stone had not literally heard all that had taken place that day ( Joshua 24:27),
but it would remain in the same place from then on as a silent witness to the
proceedings. Joshua here rhetorically ascribed human characteristics to the stone
(i.e, personification) to reinforce the seriousness of the commitment the Israelites
had made to Yahweh. He then dismissed the nation ( Joshua 24:28).
This ceremony was very important to the Israelites because in it the whole nation
reaffirmed its commitment to Yahweh as her God and to His covenant as her law.
Israel prepared to begin another phase of her national existence without a God-
appointed leader such as Moses and Joshua had been. It was important that she
remember the faithfulness of her God and rededicate herself to exclusive allegiance
to Him. Each tribe was to proceed now to exterminate the Canaanites in its area
trusting in Yahweh and obeying His covenant. God would raise up local leaders
(judges) as He saw the need for these to provide special leadership in difficult
situations. Committed as the Israelites were to their God at this time there was no
reason they should fail to possess and experience all God had promised them in the
years ahead.
ELLICOTT, "(25) So Joshua made a covenant—i.e., a covenant that idolatry should
not be tolerated in Israel, or suffered to exist. We read of similar covenants in the
reign of Asa (2 Chronicles 15:12-13), in the reign of Joash, by Jehoiada (2
Chronicles 23:16), and of Josiah (2 Chronicles 34:31-32).
PETT, "Verse 25
‘So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an
ordinance in Shechem.’
It must be recognised as almost certain that burnt offerings and peace offerings
were slain on the altar built in the place where YHWH had recorded His name
(Joshua 8:31 compare Exodus 20:24-25), in order to seal the covenant. The blood of
the burnt offerings would be sprinkled on the altar, the peace offerings would
provide the sacrificial meal (Exodus 24:5-6; Exodus 24:11).
The solemn covenant ceremony was now over and Joshua was satisfied that he had
at least started the people on the right way for when he was gone. His duty as the
appointed Servant to YHWH would soon end in death, and now he could die
satisfied that the future seemed secure. As Moses had done before him he had
established the sacred way in which they must walk. It was no simple covenant
renewal. It was a statute and an ordinance, binding for ever (compare Exodus

120. 15:25-26 and 1 Samuel 30:25, although the latter was not with YHWH).
26 And Joshua recorded these things in the Book
of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and
set it up there under the oak near the holy place of
the Lord.
BAR ES, "Consult the marginal references.
That was by the sanctuary of the Lord - i. e. the spot where Abraham and Jacob
had sacrificed and worshipped, and which might well be regarded by their posterity as a
holy place or sanctuary. Perhaps the very altar of Abraham and Jacob was still
remaining.
GILL, "And Joshua wrote these words,.... Which had passed between him and the
people:
in the book of the law of God; written by Moses, and which he ordered to be put in
the side of the ark, and that being now present, the book could be easily taken out, and
these words inserted in it, Deu_31:26,
and took a great stone: on which also might be inscribed the same words:
and set it up there under an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the Lord; or "in
it" (a); that is, in the field or place where the ark was, which made it sacred, and upon
which account the place was called a sanctuary, or an holy place; for there is no need to
say that the tabernacle or sanctuary itself was brought hither, only the ark; and much
less can it be thought that an oak should be in it; though it was not improbable, that had
it been thither brought, it might have been placed under, or by an oak, as we render it;
and it is a tradition of the Jews, which both Jarchi and Kimchi make mention of, that
this was the same oak under which Jacob hid the strange gods of his family in Shechem,
Gen_35:4; Mr. Mede (b) is of opinion that neither ark nor tabernacle were here, but that
by "sanctuary" is meant a "proseucha", or place for prayer; such an one as in later times
was near Shechem, as Epiphanius (c) relates, built by the Samaritans in imitation of the
Jews; but it is a question whether there were any such places so early as the times of
Joshua, nor is it clear that such are ever called sanctuaries.

121. JAMISO , "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.
K&D 26-27, "All these things (‫ה‬ ֶ ֵ‫א‬ ָ‫ה‬ ‫ים‬ ִ‫ר‬ ָ‫ב‬ ְ ַ‫ה‬ are not merely the words spoken on both
sides, but the whole ceremony of renewing the covenant) Joshua wrote in the law-book
of God, i.e., he wrote them in a document which he placed in the law-book of Moses, and
then set up a large stone, as a permanent memorial of what had taken place, on the spot
where the meeting had been held, “under the oak that was in the sanctuary of
Jehovah.” As ‫שׁ‬ ָ ְ‫ק‬ ִ‫מ‬ ְ neither means “at the sanctuary,” nor near the sanctuary, nor “in the
place where the sanctuary was set up;' the “sanctuary of Jehovah” cannot signify “the ark
of the covenant, which had been brought from the tabernacle to Shechem, for the
ceremony of renewing the covenant.” Still less can we understand it as signifying the
tabernacle itself, since this was not removed from place to place for particular sacred
ceremonies; nor can it mean an altar, in which an oak could not possibly be said to
stand; nor some other illegal sanctuary of Jehovah, since there were none in Israel at
that time. The sanctuary of Jehovah under the oak at Shechem was nothing else than the
holy place under the oak, where Abraham had formerly built an altar and worshipped
the Lord, and where Jacob had purified his house from the strange gods, which he
buried under this oak, or rather terebinth tree (Gen_12:6-7; Gen_35:2, Gen_35:4). This
is the explanation adopted by Masius, J. D. Michaelis, and Hengstenberg (Diss. ii. p.
12). In Jos_24:27 Joshua explains to the people the meaning of the stone which he had
set up. The stone would be a witness against the people if they should deny their God. As
a memorial of what had taken place, the stone had heard all the words which the Lord
had addressed to Israel, and could bear witness against the people, that they might not
deny their God. “Deny your God,” viz., in feeling, word, or deed.
CALVI , "26.And Joshua wrote these words, etc Understand that authentic volume
which was kept near the ark of the covenant, as if it contained public records
deposited for perpetual remembrance. And there is no doubt that when the Law was
read, the promulgation of this covenant was also added. But as it often happens,
that that which is written remains concealed in unopened books, (208) another aid is
given to the memory, one which should always be exposed to the eye, namely, the
stone under the ark, near the sanctuary. ot that the perpetual station of the ark
was there, but because it had been placed there, in order that they might appear in
the presence of God. Therefore, as often as they came into his presence, the
testimony or memorial of the covenant which had been struck was in their view,
that they might be the better kept in the faith.
Joshua’s expression, that the stone heard the words, is indeed hyperbolical, but is
not inapt to express the efficacy and power of the divine word, as if it had been said

122. that it pierces inanimate rocks and stones; so that if men are deaf, their
condemnation is echoed in all the elements. To lie is here used, as it frequently is
elsewhere, for acting cunningly and deceitfully, for frustrating and violating a
promise that has been given. Who would not suppose that a covenant so well
established would be firm and sacred to posterity for many ages? But all that
Joshua gained by his very great anxiety was to secure its rigorous observance for a
few years.
BE SO , "Joshua 24:26. Joshua wrote these words — amely, this covenant, or
agreement of the people with the Lord. In the book of the law of God — That is, in
the volume which was kept in the ark, (Deuteronomy 31:9; Deuteronomy 31:26,)
whence it was taken and put into this book of Joshua; this he did for the perpetual
remembrance of this great and solemn action, to lay the greater obligation upon the
people to be true to their engagement; and as a witness for God against the people, if
afterward he punished them for their defection from him, to whom they had so
solemnly and freely obliged themselves. Set it up — As a witness and monument of
this great transaction, according to the custom of those ancient times. Possibly this
agreement was written upon this stone, as was then usual; under an oak that was by
the sanctuary — That is, near the place where the ark and tabernacle then were; for
though they were forbidden to plant a grove of trees near unto the altar, as the
Gentiles did, yet they might for a time set up an altar, or place the ark, near a great
tree which had been planted there before.
TRAPP, "Joshua 24:26 And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of
God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak, that [was] by the
sanctuary of the LORD.
Ver. 26. And Joshua wrote these words.] This whole book, or the most part of it,
{see Joshua 1:1} and particularly the Acts of this present Parliament.
Under an oak.] Which was therehence called The Oak or Plain of the Pillar. [ 9:6]
COKE, "Ver. 26. And Joshua wrote these words in the book, &c.— To perpetuate
the memory of this renewal of the covenant; to convince the Israelites of the
reverence due to that obligation which they had assembled to enforce; and to leave
such an immortal testimony as might witness against them for the Lord, in case they
forsook his holy religion; Joshua caused a particular account of all that had passed
to be written down, and added to the book of the law which Moses had ordered to
be kept in the side of the ark. Deuteronomy 31:26. Possibly, he caused a copy of it to
he transcribed at the same time into the book of the law which was to remain in the
hands of the princes of Israel for the use of the tribes, ch. Joshua 17:18. To this
monument Joshua added a second, to eternize the remembrance of the covenant
renewed. He set up a great stone under an oak; and in all probability ordered an
inscription to be engraven thereon, referring to the august solemnity, the memory of
which he was desirous to perpetuate. People, from the earliest ages of the world,
used to rear stones for the like purpose in the case of important events. We find an

123. instance of it in the history of Jacob, Genesis 28:18 and another in the history of
Joshua himself, ch. Joshua 6:3; Joshua 6:20-21. But what sanctuary of the Lord was
this, placed by, or under an oak? The learned Mede answers, it certainly could not
be the tabernacle, by reason of the laws specified so particularly Deuteronomy
16:21-22 and which are too positive for Joshua to have thought of controverting
them by placing the tabernacle near an oak, and by setting up by it a pillar or
monument of stone. The question then is, to know whether these laws (calculated to
divert the Israelites from the delusions of the Gentiles, who thought that the Deity
dwelt in forests, and who consequently reverenced the places where the ark had a
settled residence) concerned also those places in which the ark was but occasionally
deposited, and for a very little while? Be this as it may, our able critic concludes
from these laws, that the sanctuary here mentioned was nothing more than an
oratory or house of prayer, erected in this place by the Ephraimites; and he
apprehends, that they had chosen this spot in preference to any other, as the place of
their devotions, because there the Lord had appeared to Abraham, and promised to
give the land of Canaan to his posterity. Our author goes on to say, that there were
from all antiquity, besides the tabernacle, and, in later time, the temple, two sorts of
buildings consecrated to religious worship; namely, synagogues in cities, and
oratories in the fields; that the former were regular buildings, covered like houses at
the top; but that the others were mere inclosures, commonly formed by trees, or
under their shade. But for more on this subject we refer to Mede, b. 1: dis. 18
observing, that, in the original, this is one of those transpositions familiar to the
Hebrew language, and probably should be translated thus: And Joshua wrote these
words in the book of the law of God, which was in the sanctuary of the Lord: and he
took a great stone and set it up there under an oak; for an instance of such
transposition, see Genesis 13:10 where, instead of translating, and Lot lifted up his
eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered, &c.—as thou
comest unto Zoar; it should evidently be translated, and Lot lifted up his eyes, and
beheld all the plain of Jordan, as thou comest unto Zoar, that it was well watered,
&c. See Kennicott's Dissert. vol. 2:
WHEDO , "Verses 26-27
26. Joshua wrote these words — A description of all that occurred at Shechem in
this solemn renewal of the covenant. This was done in order that a written
document might be preserved as a witness against the people should they ever
transgress the divine law. This chapter contains, probably, the substance of that
ancient document.
A great stone — Which long stood a monumental witness of this solemn transaction.
See Judges 9:6, note.
Sanctuary of the Lord — The holy place first consecrated by Abraham in Canaan.
Genesis 12:7. Here he builded an altar and worshipped, by the tree, which was
perhaps still standing in the time of Joshua. [Some understand the sanctuary of the
Lord to mean, here, the tabernacle and ark, which had been brought from Shiloh
for this occasion. Others think it refers to the spot where the ark had formerly
stood. But the word rendered sanctuary may mean any holy place, and is not always

124. used of the place where the ark was kept. In Amos 7:13, it is applied to the place of
corrupt worship at Bethel.]
27. For it hath heard all the words — By a striking figure the stone is spoken of as
hearing. In the same sense, as a witness it would testify against their transgressions
whenever their eyes should rest upon it or their thoughts revert to it. How
interesting the thought that upon this very spot, centuries afterwards, stood THE
STO E, THE COR ER STO E, THE TRUE A D FAITHFUL WIT ESS. Says
Augustine on this passage, “By this stone he certainly signified HIM who was the
rock of offence to the unbelieving Jews, and was made the Head of the corner.”
ELLICOTT, "(26) And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God.—
Primarily “these words” appear to refer to the transaction just recorded. But it
must be observed that this is also the second signature among the sacred writers of
the Old Testament. The first is that of Moses, in Deuteronomy 31:9 : “Moses wrote
this law, and delivered it unto the priests,” &c. The next signature after Joshua’s is
that of Samuel (1 Samuel 10:25): “Samuel told the people the manner of the
kingdom, and wrote it in the [not a] book, and laid it up before the Lord.” We have
here a clue to the authorship of the Old Testament, and to the view of the writers
who succeeded Moses in what they did. They did not look upon themselves as
writers of distinct books, but as authorised to add their part to the book already
written, to write what was assigned to them “in the book of the law of God.” The
unity of Holy Scripture is thus seen to have been an essential feature of the Bible
from the very first.
PETT, "Verse 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 an oak, that was by the sanctuary of YHWH.’
The book of the Law of God is probably the same as the book of the Law and the
book of the law of Moses (Joshua 8:31; Joshua 8:34 compare Exodus 24:4;
Deuteronomy 31:9; Deuteronomy 31:24). It would thus include at least Exodus 20-
24 and the basic Deuteronomy. It was kept beside the Ark of the Covenant in the
Tabernacle (Deuteronomy 31:26). It is significant that Joshua recorded this solemn
covenant in that book. He saw his covenant as part of the law of God. It
demonstrates that it was the custom to record such covenants in writing, and we can
compare how the main part of Genesis is made up of covenants set in their historical
background, suggesting that they too had been so recorded.
“And he took a great stone.” Stones or pillars were regularly set up as memorials of
covenants (compare Exodus 24:4; Genesis 28:18) and as a witness to the covenant. It
is possible that he wrote the words of the covenant on the stone (compare Joshua
8:32; Deuteronomy 27:2-3).
“Set it up there under an oak that was in (or ‘by”) the sanctuary of YHWH.’ Oaks
were seen as having special significance. They were favourite trees under which to
sit, presumably for shelter from the sun (1 Kings 13:14) or to bury the dead (Genesis
35:8; 1 Chronicles 10:12), possibly because they were landmarks (1 Samuel 10:3).

125. Abram received a revelation under the oak of Moreh at Shechem (Genesis 12:6-7).
Jacob buried the foreign gods of his household under an oak connected with
Shechem (Genesis 35:4). But this oak was by (or even possibly ‘in’) the sanctuary of
God. It is doubtful if it was Abram’s oak or Jacob’s oak or even the oak of
Meonenim (‘the diviner’s oak’ - Judges 9:37), for the sanctuary of God was
probably that established on Mount Ebal (Joshua 8:30). It was simply a mark of
where the stone was placed (it was not called on as a witness or referred to in any
special way. It was only a marker).
27 “See!” he said to all the people. “This stone will
be a witness against us. It has heard all the words
the Lord has said to us. It will be a witness against
you if you are untrue to your God.”
CLARKE, "This stone - hath heard all the words - That is, the stone itself, from
its permanency, shall be in all succeeding ages as competent and as substantial a witness
as one who had been present at the transaction, and heard all the words which on both
sides were spoken on the occasion.
GILL, "And Joshua said unto all the people,.... The chief of them now gathered
together, and who represented the whole body:
behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; of the covenant now made, and the
agreement entered into, as the heap of stones were between Jacob and Laban, Gen_
31:45,
for it hath heard all the words of the Lord which he spake unto us; this is said
by a figure called "prosopopaeia", frequent in Scripture, by which inanimate creatures
are represented as hearing, seeing, and speaking, and may signify, that should the
Israelites break this covenant, and disobey the commands of the Lord they had promised
to keep, they would be as stupid and senseless as this stone, or more so, which would
rise in judgment against them. Nachmanides (d) a Jewish commentator, interprets this
stone of the Messiah, the same as in Gen_49:24,

126. it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God; for a memorial
and testimony to prevent them from going into atheism, a denying of the true God, or
into apostasy from him, and into idolatry and false worship. The Targum of which
is,"behold, this stone shall be to us as the two tables of stone of the covenant, for we
made it for a testimony; for the words which are written upon it are the sum of all the
words of the Lord which he spake unto us, and it shall be unto you for a memorial, and
for a testimony, lest ye lie before the Lord.''
BE SO , "Joshua 24:27. It hath heard — It shall be as sure a witness against you
as if it had heard. This is a common figure, whereby the sense of hearing is often
ascribed to the heavens and the earth, and other senseless creatures.
TRAPP, "Joshua 24:27 And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall
be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the LORD which he spake
unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God.
Ver. 27. Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us.] It shall represent your
covenant to your consciences, and convince you of singular perfidy, in case you
falsify. We read in Livy that a certain governor of the people called Aequi, bade the
Roman ambassadors tell their tale to the oak that stood next them, saying that he
had somewhat else to do than to give them audience. To whom they replied, Et haec
sacrata quercus audiat faedus a vobis violatum, Then let this holy oak hear and bear
witness that ye have broken your covenant.
COKE, "Verse 27
Ver. 27. For it hath heard all the words, &c.— "If ever you so far forget yourselves,
as to act as if you had not this day chosen the Lord for your God, this stone shall
convince you of falsehood, and shall witness as strongly against you, as if it had
heard all that I have been saying to you, and all that you have replied in answer;
and had assumed a voice to contradict you to your face." How strongly figurative
soever this discourse may appear, it is not too much so for the taste of the orientals,
with whom it is common to give sentiments to the most insensible creatures, and, as
it were, to animate all nature by their expressions. See for instance, Deuteronomy
4:26; Deuteronomy 32:1. Psalms 19:1. Isaiah 1:2. Jeremiah 22:29. Luke 19:40.
ote; (1.) If the service of God be not our deliberate choice, from conviction of its
blessedness, and experience of its comfort, a constrained profession will last but a
short time. (2.) Those who count the denial of their corrupt affections hard, and the
restraints of religion burthensome, have already rejected the Lord from being their
God. (3.) A good and great example is very influential. (4.) They who resolve to serve
God themselves, cannot but labour that all who are under their care may do so too.
(5.) They, who are faithful to God, fear not to be singular, though all others are
ashamed of his religion, or live a dishonour to it; their houses shall be the temples
for daily prayer and praise, and their ways unconformed to the wicked world
around them. (6.) We can never hesitate whose service to prefer, God or the world,
Christ or Belial, if our minds are freed from the delusions of Satan, and the bias of

127. corrupt affections.
PETT, "Verse 27
‘And Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us,
for it has heard all the words of YHWH which he spoke to us. It shall therefore be a
witness to you, lest you deny your God.” ’
A stone for Jacob (Genesis 31:45) and a heap of stones for his brothers-in-law
(Genesis 31:46) stood as a witness between Jacob and Laban, each stone seemingly
representing a tribal leader. This stone therefore probably represented Israel. It had
‘heard’ all that was said and stood there as a witness to it and to Israel’s
responsibility to keep the covenant. The idea that somehow stones had something to
testify about (even though they never did) lies behind the words of Jesus in Luke
19:40.
EXPOSITOR'S DICTIO ARY, "Listening Stones
Joshua 24:27
And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great
stone—if not great in size, yet in its purpose and symbolism—"and set it up there
under an oak"—well matched—"that was by the sanctuary of the Lord"; the
sanctuary is an oak, and the oak is a sanctuary. "And Joshua said unto all the
people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us"—or a witness against us, it
may be both—"for it hath heard all the words of the Lord which He spake unto us."
Curious, exciting, incredible, certain. "It shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest
ye deny your God," lest you shake off the memory of your own prayers, lest you
break your own covenants, ye men of bad faith, for your history is against you. We
want to apply this, not only on the Divine side, but on the human side. Sometimes
poetry is the only reality. How often have we quoted the word, that fiction is the
greater fact. The kingdom of heaven is represented in parables, and the parables
mean that we do not half-understand yet what the kingdom of God is.
I. Christ had a good deal to say about stones. Said He once to people who were
boasting of themselves and boasting of their ancestry, "God is able of these stones to
raise up children unto Abraham". Jesus once said to the devil, to the black face of
the universe when that face tempted the Christ to make bread out of stones, "Man
shall not live by bread alone"—there is no bread of your kind in eternity. God made
man come up from eternity, and you could live, if God so willed it, on a word, a
syllable, a tone. On another occasion the people said, "Hearest Thou not this crying
and tumult? can this be permitted?" He said, If these little children and young folks
were to hold their peace, the very stones would cry out, they are listening, and they
will not permit too much neglect of Christ. The prayerless house may one day rush
down, because the stones will stand no longer in protection of atheism so blank and
horrible.
II. Our very footprints may preach. Some poor forlorn and shipwrecked brother
coming and seeing them on the wet sand, they may preach to him a gospel of hope

128. and renewed courage and spiritual blessing. We cannot tell what we are doing, no
man can follow the range of his own influence. When did any farmer ever foresee a
harvest that would be worth the sickle? "There will be no corn this year: such and
such was the condition of affairs in March, such and such were the conditions
climatic in April, that there will be no harvest this year: there is no prospect of our
having any need to wield the scythe or the sickle; there is a poor lookout this year."
The stones heard it, and the soil registered it, and lo, August was aflame with the
gifts of God. The stars were listening to what we said, good or bad. They are a long
way off, they are quite near at hand. Why, the sun is within whisper-reach, if we
knew things really as they are: and all the stars coming out, trooping forth, to bear
witness for us or against us to God. And when we begin to say, "If we had heard the
Gospel we would have believed it," the stones will say, You did hear it, you know
you heard it The stones are full of the words that God spake in your hearing. The
stone caught it, the sermon you forgot it treasures in its stony heart.
III. There were other listeners. Your little child heard when you thought it was not
listening. When is a child not listening? The little child there, four to five years of
age, heard that oath you spoke under your breath, and that oath may follow the
dear little pilgrim all the days of its life; it may not be able to explain why, but the
oath that fell from your livid lips struck that little creature, and ever after it will
hear something, and memory may help the little one to remember what was spoken
that day when you thought nobody heard you curse your wife, or husband, or
fortune, or life.
IV. God hears, God listens, Christ hears, Christ hears everything, nothing can
escape the attention of the Divine Hearer; the whole Trinity is a listening Trinity!
And the stones listen, and the things we call inferior animals have wonderful uses.
Let us take care! The stone heard the words of the Lord, and the stone also heard
our replies. Be no longer fools and wasters of time, but heed the living God, and let
no opportunity pass.
—Joseph Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. v. p262.
28 Then Joshua dismissed the people, each to
their own inheritance.
GILL, "So Joshua let the people depart, every man unto his inheritance.
Dismissed them, and took his final leave and farewell of them, dying soon after; upon
which they returned to the possessions and inheritances assigned by lot to the several

129. tribes, of which they were the heads and princes.
HE RY, "The matter being thus settled, Joshua dismissed this assembly of the
grandees of Israel (Jos_24:28), and took his last leave of them, well satisfied in having
done his part, by which he had delivered his soul; if they perished, their blood would be
upon their own heads.
K&D, "Joshua then dismissed the people, each one to his inheritance. He had done
all that was in his power to establish the people in fidelity to the Lord.
TRAPP, "Joshua 24:28 So Joshua let the people depart, every man unto his
inheritance.
Ver. 28. So Joshua let the people depart.] With their hearts full of joy at the
covenant. "For they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole
desire," as 2 Chronicles 15:15.
Buried in the Promised Land
29 After these things, Joshua son of un, the
servant of the Lord, died at the age of a hundred
and ten.
CLARKE, "Joshua the son of Nun - died - This event probably took place shortly
after this public assembly; for he was old and stricken in years when he held the
assembly mentioned Jos_23:2; and as his work was now all done, and his soul ripened
for a state of blessedness, God took him to himself, being one hundred and ten years of
age; exactly the same age as that of the patriarch Joseph. See Gen_50:26.
GILL, "And it came to pass, after these things,.... Some little time after, very
probably the same year:
that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being an hundred
and ten years old; he wanted ten years of Moses his predecessor, Deu_34:7, and just

130. the age of Joseph, Gen_50:22, from whom he sprung, being of the tribe of Ephraim,
Num_13:8.
HE RY 29-33, "This book, which began with triumphs, here ends with funerals, by
which all the glory of man is stained. We have here 1. The burial of Joseph, Jos_24:32.
He died about 200 years before in Egypt, but gave commandment concerning his bones,
that they should not rest in their grave until Israel had rest in the land of promise; now
therefore the children of Israel, who had brought this coffin full of bones with them out
of Egypt, carried it along with them in all their marches through the wilderness (the two
tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, it is probable, taking particular care of it), and kept it
in their camp till Canaan was perfectly reduced, now at last they deposited it in that
piece of ground which his father gave him near Shechem, Gen_48:22. Probably it was
upon this occasion that Joshua called for all Israel to meet him at Shechem (v. 1), to
attend Joseph's coffin to the grave there, so that the sermon in this chapter served both
for Joseph's funeral sermon and his own farewell sermon; and if it was, as is supposed,
in the last year of his life, the occasion might very well remind him of his own death
being at hand, for he was not just at the same age that his illustrious ancestor Joseph
had arrived at when he died, 110 years old; compare Jos_24:29 with Gen_50:26. 2. The
death and burial of Joshua, Jos_24:29, Jos_24:30. We are not told how long he lived
after the coming of Israel into Canaan. Dr. Lightfoot thinks it was about seventeen years;
but the Jewish chronologers generally say it was about twenty-seven or twenty-eight
years. He is here called the servant of the Lord, the same title that was given to Moses
(Jos_1:1) when mention was made of his death; for, though Joshua was in many
respects inferior to Moses, yet in this he was equal to him, that, according as his work
was, he approved himself a diligent and faithful servant of God. And he that traded with
his two talents had the same approbation that he had who traded with his five. Well
done, good and faithful servant. Joshua's burying-place is here said to be on the north
side of the hill Gaash, or the quaking hill; the Jews say it was so called because it
trembled at the burial of Joshua, to upbraid the people of Israel with their stupidity in
that they did not lament the death of that great and good man as they ought to have
done. Thus at the death of Christ, our Joshua, the earth quaked. The learned bishop
Patrick observes that there is no mention of any days of mourning being observed for
Joshua, as there were for Moses and Aaron, in which, he says, St. Hierom and others of
the fathers think there is a mystery, namely, that under the law, when life and
immortality were not brought to so clear a light as they are now, they had reason to
mourn and weep for the death of their friends; but now that Jesus, our Joshua, has
opened the kingdom of heaven, we may rather rejoice. 3. The death and burial of Eleazar
the chief priest, who, it is probable, died about the same time that Joshua did, as Aaron
in the same year with Moses, Jos_24:33. The Jews say that Eleazar, a little before he
died, called the elders together, and gave them a charge as Joshua had done. He was
buried in a hill that pertained to Phinehas his son, which came to him, not by descent,
for then it would have pertained to his father first, nor had the priests any cities in
Mount Ephraim, but either it fell to him by marriage, as the Jews conjecture, or it was
freely bestowed upon him, to build a country seat on, by some pious Israelite that was
well-affected to the priesthood, for it is here said to have been given him; and there he
buried his dear father. 4. A general idea given us of the state of Israel at this time, Jos_
24:31. While Joshua lived, religion was kept up among them under his care and
influence; but soon after he and his contemporaries died it went to decay, so much
oftentimes does one head hold up: how well is it for the gospel church that Christ, our
Joshua, is still with it, by his Spirit, and will be always, even unto the end of the world!

131. JAMISO , "Jos_24:29, Jos_24:30. His age and death.
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.”
K&D, "Death and Burial of Joshua and Eleazar. - With the renewal of the covenant
Joshua had ended his vocation. He did not formally lay down his office, because there
was no immediate successor who had been appointed by God. The ordinary rulers of the
congregation were enough, when once they were settled in Canaan, viz., the elders as
heads and judges of the nation, together with the high priest, who represented the
nation in its relation to God, and could obtain for it the revelation of the will of God
through the right of the Urim and Thummim. In order therefore to bring the history of
Joshua and his times to a close, nothing further remained than to give an account of his
death, with a short reference to the fruit of his labours, and to add certain other notices
for which no suitable place had hitherto presented itself.
Jos_24:29-30
Soon after these events (vv. 1-28) Joshua died, at the age of 110, like his ancestor
Joseph (Gen_50:26), and was buried in his hereditary possessions at Timnath-serah,
upon the mountains of Ephraim, to the north of Mount Gaash. Timnath-serah is still in
existence see at Jos_19:50). Mount Gaash, however, has not been discovered.
CALVI , "29.And it came to pass after these things, etc The honor of sepulture was
a mark of reverence, which of itself bore testimony to the affectionate regard of the
people. But neither this reverence nor affection was deeply rooted. The title by
which Joshua is distinguished after his death, when he is called the servant of the
Lord, took away all excuse from those miserable and abandoned men who shortly
after spurned the Lord, who had worked wonders among them. Accordingly,
attention is indirectly drawn to their inconstancy, when it is said that they served
the Lord while Joshua survived, and till the more aged had died out. For there is a
tacit antithesis, implying lapse and alienation, when they were suddenly seized with
a forgetfulness of the Divine favors. It is not strange, therefore, if, in the present day
also, when God furnishes any of his servants with distinguished and excellent gifts,
their authority protects and preserves the order and state of the Church; but when
they are dead, sad havoc instantly commences, and hidden impiety breaks forth
with unbridled license. (209)
PI K, "There have been various conjectures as to what Joshua wrote in the Book of
the Law of God. Some assume that he added the book that bears his name to those

132. already prepared by Moses, and that the Book of Joshua forms a necessary link
between the Pentateuch and the historical books of the Old Testament. In one sense
at least, it is the complement to the Pentateuch, for it demonstrates the power of God
to bring the children of Israel into the land as He had promised when He brought
them out of Egypt. This Book of Joshua received divine endorsement through the
writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews. There is in that epistle a direct reference to
Joshua himself (Josh. 4:8), and another to the history recorded in his writings (Josh.
11:30-31).
It seems logical that Joshua be considered the author of this work. Many military
leaders and many governors have sketched for future generations the events and
details of battles in which they had directed the main movements. evertheless,
there is some reasonable doubt as to his writing the entire book on the occasion
referred to in this the last chapter. The amassing of all the details, the organizing of
the material, and the compilation would require much more time. It could have been
commenced at Shechem and completed after Joshua reached his home. This work of
history could have been the last service he performed for the Lord and his beloved
people.
Because of his character and service, Moses, the servant of the Lord, earned for
himself the distinctive title, "Moses the man of God" (Ps. 90). Joshua in like manner
seems to have earned the appellation, "the servant of the LORD" (Josh. 24:29;
Judges 2:8). Both of these remarkable men had lived a God-centered life. In fact, the
Lord was the circumference as well as the center; He controlled the entire area of
daily experiences. In language similar to that of the Apostle Paul, both of them could
have said, "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am a follower of the Lord."
Obviously, the closing two paragraphs of the book were not written by the hero.
Who appended the account of Joshua’s death and burial we do not know, but they
seem a necessary close to the work.
In his death he was ten years younger than his predecessor, Moses; but of Moses at
the time of his death it is written, "His eye was not dim, nor his natural force
abated" (Deut. 34:7). But of Joshua it is recorded, "Joshua waxed old and stricken
in age" (Josh. 23:1). Whether the Lord preserves a man in a miraculous way, as in
the case of Moses, until his service is completed; or whether He allows nature to take
its course, as in the case of Joshua, is entirely within His own wisdom and power.
May we learn to say, as suggested by James, "Ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we
shall live, and do this, or that" (Jam. 4:15).
It was a sad day when the nation gathered to honor and bury their great warrior
governor. They gathered in the city which he had asked and which they had given
him according to the word of the Lord (Josh. 19:50). We have noticed the influence
that Joshua had wielded during his lifetime; it is gratifying to notice also that the
beneficial influence remained upon that generation. "Blessed are the dead which die
in the Lord from henceforth; yea, saith the Spirit . . . that they may rest from their
labors." "Surely . . . the righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance." That

133. Joshua should have been honored by the nation, and that the people he had taught,
and before whom he had been such an example, should have walked in the ways of
the Lord, all will agree. But do all practice this proper attitude? There are leaders
among the congregations of the saints today. Do we revere their name, and do we
emulate their exemplary lives? The writer to the Hebrews admonishes to remember
the leaders of the past as well as those of the present: "Remember them which have
the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow,
considering the end of their conversation." "Obey them that have the rule over you,
and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account,
that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you"
(Heb. 13:7 and 17).
Two other burials are mentioned here: that of Joseph and that of Eleazar. Joseph
died in Egypt, but under oath the children of Israel arranged to carry his bones with
them when they left Egypt. Joseph did not want to remain in a permanent grave
until his people had a permanent rest in the land of promise. His final resting place
was in the area where his father Jacob had bought a property from Shechem’s
father for an hundred pieces of money (Gen. 33:19-20), and where Jacob built an
altar after his return to the land from Haran.
It is assumed by many that the bones of Joseph were buried much earlier than the
time covered by this chapter, probably at the time of the renewing of the covenant
mentioned in Genesis 8:30-35. They were laid to rest near to the place where his
grandfather Abraham first entered the land, and where he built his first altar, and
where God appeared to him—the place of Shechem and Moreh.
The other burial mentioned is that of the high priest Eleazar. He had succeeded to
the office on the death of his father Aaron, and had been very closely associated
with Joshua during the conquest of the land and the administration of the tribes. In
fact, he had conducted the inaugural ceremony for Joshua. Furthermore, he had
assisted Joshua in the division of the land among the tribes. Scripture is silent as to
the time of his death. Josephus, the Jewish historian, says that he died about the
same time as did Joshua.
The account of the burial of these three wonderful leaders forms a very befitting
close to this Book of Joshua. One by one they had served their generation and had
fallen asleep, but their very names direct the attention to the One who remains
forever. The name Joshua means "Jehovah is salvation"; Joseph, "Jehovah may
add"; Eleazar, "God is help." History is ever in the making; times change as do
conditions and people. Amidst all that is mutable, how stabilizing and strengthening
to know that there is One who never changes, and to hear His own word, "I Jehovah
change not" (Mal. 3:6), and the ew Testament revelation, "Jesus Christ the same
yesterday, and today, and for ever" (Heb. 13:8).
COFFMA , "Verse 29
"And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of un, the servant of
Jehovah, died, being a hundred and ten years old. And they buried him in the

134. border of his inheritance in Timnath-Serah, which is in the hill-country of Ephraim,
on the north of the mountain of Gaash. 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."
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. 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.
"Joshua ...the servant of Jehovah ..." (Joshua 24:29). The title, "Servant of
Jehovah" is used of Moses frequently in the Book of Joshua, as in Joshua 1:1,2,13;
8:31,33; 9:24; 11:12,15; 12:6; 13:8; 14:7; 18:7; 22:2,4,5. But this is the very first time
the title is given to Joshua. Boling believed this was due to the tremendous
importance of the covenant-relationship in which Joshua here stood in the place
once occupied by Moses. "In other words, it was not as warfare-genius but as
covenant-negotiator that Joshua bore, like Moses, the title of Servant of
Jehovah."[38]
Of course, this new title which appears for Joshua here has been made the basis of
all kinds of wild and irresponsible assertions to the effect that this whole paragraph
is an interpolation inserted long afterward when Joshua, along with others, had
been raised to the level of ational Saints! Again from Plummer:
"This is a fair specimen of the inventive criticism which has found favor among
modern critics in which a large amount of imagination is made to supply the want of
even the tiniest fact. There never was such a period when Israel would have given
any more honor to Joshua and Moses than they would have given at the hour of
their death."[39]
ote that Joshua was buried "in his own inheritance," giving us a contrast with the
burial of the patriarchs who had to be buried in places bought from strangers.
Joshua was not buried in a strange land, but on his own property! Woudstra has
identified Timnath-Serah as the modern Khirbet Tibneh, about 12 miles northeast
of Lydda.[40]
Joshua 24:31 shows that during Joshua's lifetime and in the lifetimes of those who
were his contemporaries, Israel remained true to the Lord. However, the occupation
of Canaan was never a complete success, and soon after Joshua's death, the
inevitable tendency of Israel to apostasy asserted itself more vigorously than ever.
Yet it is gloriously refreshing to find in this one great hero, Joshua, that he did
indeed serve the Lord with all of his heart, mind, soul, and strength.
othing could show more clearly the respect and honor in which Israel held the
name of Joseph than the scrupulous manner in which they respected his dying wish
and their obedience of his commandments respecting the disposal of his bones.

135. "This is another link in the chain of evidence which serves to establish the early date
and authenticity of this book."[41]
The additions to this chapter that are found in the Septuagint (LXX) should be
rejected. As Plummer said, their mention of Astarte and Ashteroth as separate
deities is alone enough to discredit it."[42]
The death and burial of Eleazar saw the transfer of the High Priesthood to his son
Phinehas. Thus, just as the death of Aaron and Moses closed Deuteronomy, so the
death of Eleazar and Joshua closed this book
TRAPP, "Joshua 24:29 And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of
un, the servant of the LORD, died, [being] an hundred and ten years old.
Ver. 29. Joshua … the servant of the Lord, died.] This was the crown of all his
commendation, and a greater title to be engraven on his tomb, than his was, who
arrogantly and foolishly styled himself Kοσµοκρατωρ, Monarch of the World. This
was Sesostris, king of Egypt, who reigned there in the days of Samson.
COKE, "Ver. 29. And—after these things—Joshua—died— Most probably within a
short time after the holding of the assembly at Shechem. It is difficult to say
positively how many years this great man governed the people of God in the land of
Canaan. Some Jewish doctors say, that he lived twenty-eight years after the passage
over Jordan; others confine his administration to seven or eight; some preserve a
medium, and grant him seventeen. This, among others, is the opinion of Bonfrere, to
whom we refer the reader.
WHEDO , "JOSHUA’S DEATH A D BURIAL, Joshua 24:29-30.
[29. Joshua… died — Probably soon after the events just related above. It is
noticeable that no mention is made of Israel’s weeping for Joshua, as they did for
Moses. Comp. Deuteronomy 34:8. In Joshua 1:1, Moses is called the servant of the
Lord; here that title is given to Joshua. He who was then only Moses’ minister,
attained at length the office of his master, and became, like him, the servant of the
Lord.
A hundred and ten years old — Just the age of Joseph when he died. Genesis 50:26.]
30. Timnath-serah — See note on Joshua 19:50. The LXX here add the following
legend of the stone knives: “They deposited with him there, in the tomb in which
they buried him, the stone knives with which he circumcised the children of Israel in
Gilgal, when he had led them out of Egypt according as the Lord commanded. And
there they are unto the present day.” See also on Joshua 21:42.
CO STABLE, "Verses 29-33
D. The death and burial of Joshua and Eleazar24:29-33

136. These final verses record the end of Joshua"s life and ministry that terminated an
important and successful era in Israel"s history. Israel"s success continued as long
as the elders who had served Israel contemporaneously with Joshua lived ( Joshua
24:31).
Joshua died shortly after the renewal of the covenant just described ( Joshua 24:1-
28). He was110 years old ( Joshua 24:29), the same age as Joseph when he died (
Genesis 50:26). Joshua evidently died about1366 B.C. [ ote: Merrill, Kingdom of . .
., p147.] God greatly used Joshua as He had used Joseph in delivering His people.
God recorded no moral blemish on the lives of either of these two remarkable men
in Scripture.
"Perhaps the outstanding characteristic of the man Joshua was his unqualified
courage.... The real success of Joshua , however, probably lies in the fact that he was
a Spirit-filled man ( umbers 27:18; cf. Deuteronomy 34:9)." [ ote: Davis and
Whitcomb, p25.]
"Joshua"s epitaph was not written on a marble gravestone. It was written in the
lives of the leaders he influenced and the people he led. They served Yahweh. Here
is the theological climax to the theme introduced in Joshua 22:5 and repeated like a
chorus in Joshua 23:7; Joshua 23:16; Joshua 24:14-16; Joshua 24:18-22; Joshua
24:24. Ironically, the minister of Moses brought the people to obey Yahweh, while
Moses saw only the perpetual murmuring and rebellion of the people (cf.
Deuteronomy 31:27). Even Moses had to die outside the Land of Promise." [ ote:
Butler, p283.]
Evidently the writer included the record of the burial of Joseph"s bones here (
Joshua 24:32) because the Book of Joshua is a remarkable testimony to the
faithfulness of God. Joseph had counted on God"s faithfulness in bringing the
Israelites into the land and had asked that when that took place his descendants
would lay his bones to rest there. The event may have taken place earlier when
Joseph"s descendants received Shechem as their inheritance. This burial fulfilled
the promise Joseph"s heirs had made to him before he died, that they would bury
him in Canaan ( Genesis 50:25). God now rewarded his faith.
Eleazar"s death and burial were also significant because, as Israel"s high priest and
co-leader with Joshua during this period of history, Eleazar was a very important
person. As Israel"s high priest he was more important than the brief references to
his ministry might suggest.
"Three burials-it seems a strange way to end the Book of Joshua! But these three
peaceful graves testify to the faithfulness of God, for Joshua , Joseph, and Eleazar
once lived in a foreign nation where they were the recipients of God"s promise to
take His people back to Canaan. ow all three were at rest within the borders of the
Promised Land. God kept His word to Joshua , Joseph, Eleazar-and to all Israel.
And by this we are encouraged to count on the unfailing faithfulness of God."
[ ote: Campbell, o Time ..., p142.]

137. Thus the times of Joshua came to a close. This period of Israel"s history was its
greatest so far. The people had followed the Lord more faithfully than their fathers,
though not completely faithfully. Consequently they experienced God"s blessing
more greatly than the previous generation and many generations that followed
theirs did.
"After Joshua , the history of Israel goes downhill [until David]. Joshua 24thus
marks the high point of Israel"s history, the full realization of her identity as people
of God." [ ote: Butler, p269.]
PETT, "Verse 29
‘And so it happened that after these things Joshua, the son of un, the Servant of
YHWH, died, being a hundred and ten years old.’
Having accomplished his purpose, given by YHWH, of taking over from Moses and
leading the people into the promised land, and then making it possible for each man
to receive an inheritance in the land, Joshua died. He was given the title only
specifically used by men of two people, Moses and Joshua. He was called ‘the
Servant of YHWH’.
“After these things.” After what had been described in the book.
The age is approximate. Most ancient patriarchs who died were aged in round
numbers. But one hundred and ten was the age of Joseph when he died (Genesis
50:22), and that in Egypt was considered to be the perfect length of life. In other
words Joshua lived a full and complete life.
Moses died at one hundred and twenty. His life was split into approximately three
periods of forty years. See Exodus 2:11; Exodus 7:7; Deuteronomy 29:5. As forty
years represented a generation that really said that he had lived three full
generations.
30 And they buried him in the land of his
inheritance, at Timnath Serah[c] in the hill
country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

138. CLARKE, "And they buried him - in Timnath-serah - This was his own
inheritance, as we have seen Jos_19:50. The Septuagint add here, “And they put with
him there, in the tomb in which they buried him, the knives of stone with which he
circumcised the children of Israel in Gilgal, according as the Lord commanded when he
brought them out of Egypt; and there they are till this day.” St. Augustine quotes the
same passage in his thirtieth question on the book of Joshua, which, in all probability,
he took from some copy of the Septuagint. It is very strange that there is no account of
any public mourning for the death of this eminent general; probably, as he was buried in
his own inheritance, he had forbidden all funeral pomp, and it is likely was privately
interred.
GILL, "And they buried him in the border of his inheritance,.... In a field
belonging to his estate; for they buried not in towns and cities in those times. The Greek
version adds,"and they put into the tomb, in which he was buried, the stone knives with
which he circumcised the children of Israel at Gilgal, when he brought them out of
Egypt;''and an Arabic writer (e) affirms the same, but without any foundation:
in Timnathserah, which is in Mount Ephraim; which was his city, and where he
dwelt; and of which See Gill on Jos_19:50; and his grave was near the city; here, they say
(f), his father Nun, and Caleb also, were buried:
on the north side of the hill of Gaash; of the brooks or valleys of Gnash mention is
made in 2Sa_23:30; which very probably were at the bottom of this hill.
TRAPP, "Joshua 24:30 And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in
Timnathserah, which [is] in mount Ephraim, on the north side of the hill of Gaash.
Ver. 30. In Timnathserah.] {See Trapp on "Joshua 19:50"}
COKE, "Ver. 30. And they buried him—in Timnath-serah— This city, which he
had built himself, and which had been assigned him by the nation, is elsewhere
called Timnath-heres, or, the rest of the sun, Judges 2:9. This name, if we are to
believe the Jews, was given it on account of an image of the sun engraved on
Joshua's tomb, in memory of that famous day in which he stopped the sun in his
course, in order to finish the defeat of the Canaanitish kings. See Hottinger, in
Cippi. Heb. p. 32. and in Smegma Orientale, c. viii. p. 523. Thus, in after-times,
according to Cicero, the sepulchre of Archimedes was adorned with a sphere and a
cylinder. Eusebius says, that the tomb of Joshua was to be seen in his time near
Thamna; and Brochard informs us, that there was, in the mountain of Leopards,
(Song of Solomon 4:8.) a cavern twenty-six feet long, into which the Saracens were
used to go, in memory of this holy man. Gaash is thought to have been a part of
mount Ephraim, and to have faced Timnath-serah on the south.
PETT, "Verse 30

139. ‘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.’
Joshua was buried in a burial place outside the city which was his inheritance,
Timnath-serah (Joshua 19:50). It is possibly Khirbet Tibneh, twenty seven
kilometres (seventeen miles) south west of Shechem, which lies on the south side of a
deep ravine, which must then be the mountain of Gaash. It was in the hill country of
Ephraim. The Wadis of Gaash are mentioned in 2 Samuel 23:30 which would
possibly be connected in some way with the mountain.
31 Israel served the Lord throughout the lifetime
of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and
who had experienced everything the Lord had
done for Israel.
CLARKE, "And Israel served the Lord, etc. - Though there was private idolatry
among them, for they had strange gods, yet there was no public idolatry all the days of
Joshua and of the elders that overlived Joshua; most of whom must have been advanced
in years at the death of this great man. Hence Calmet supposes that the whole of this
time might amount to about fifteen years. It has already been noted that this verse is
placed by the Septuagint after Jos_24:28.
GILL, "And the children of Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua,....
Without going into idolatrous practices:
and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua; that lived a few years longer
than he; some of them that came young out of Egypt, and were now elderly men; and
some of them doubtless were of the court of the seventy elders; these could not overlive
Joshua a great many years, for, in the times of Chushanrishathaim, Israel fell into
idolatry, Jdg_2:6,
and which had known all the works of the Lord, that he had done for Israel;
in Egypt, at the Red sea, in the wilderness, as well as since their coming into the land of
Canaan.

140. JAMISO , "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.”
K&D, "Jos_24:31-33
Joshua's labours had not remained without effect. During his own lifetime, and that of
the elders who outlived him, and who had seen all that the Lord did for Israel, all Israel
served the Lord. “The elders” are the rulers and leaders of the nation. The account of the
burial of Joseph's bones, which the Israelites had brought with them from Egypt to
Canaan (Exo_13:19), is placed after the account of Joshua's death, because it could not
have been introduced before without interrupting the connected account of the labours
of Joshua; and it would not do to pass it over without notice altogether, not only because
the fact of their bringing the bones with them had been mentioned in the book of
Exodus, but also because the Israelites thereby fulfilled the promise given by their
fathers to Joseph when he died. The burial of Joseph in the piece of field which Jacob
had purchased at Shechem (vid., Gen_33:19) had no doubt taken place immediately
after the division of the land, when Joseph's descendants received Shechem and the field
there for an inheritance. This piece of field, however, they chose for a burial-place for
Joseph's bones, not only because Jacob had purchased it, but in all probability chiefly
because Jacob had sanctified it for his descendants by building an altar there (Gen_
33:20). The death and burial of Eleazar, who stood by Joshua's side in the guidance of
the nation, are mentioned last of all (Jos_24:33). When Eleazar died, whether shortly
before or shortly after Joshua, cannot be determined. He was buried at Gibeah of
Phinehas, the place which was given to him upon the mountains of Ephraim, i.e., as his
inheritance. Gibeath Phinehas, i.e., hill of Phinehas, is apparently a proper name, like
Gibeah of Saul (1Sa_15:34, etc.). The situation, however, is uncertain. According to
Eusebius (Onom. s. v. Γαβαάς), it was upon the mountains of Ephraim, in the tribe of
Benjamin, and was at that time a place named Gabatha, the name also given to it by
Josephus (Ant. v. 1, 29), about twelve Roman miles from Eleutheropolis. This statement
is certainly founded upon an error, at least so far as the number twelve is concerned. It is
a much more probable supposition, that it is the Levitical town Geba of Benjamin, on the
north-east of Ramah (Jos_18:24), and the name Gibeah of Phinehas might be explained
on the ground that this place had become the hereditary property of Phinehas, which
would be perfectly reconcilable with its selection as one of the priests' cities. As the
priests, for example, were not the sole possessors of the towns ceded to them in the
possessions of the different tribes, the Israelites might have presented Phinehas with
that portion of the city which was not occupied by the priests, and also with the field, as
a reward for the services he had rendered to the congregation (Num_25:7.), just as Caleb
and Joshua had been specially considered; in which case Phinehas might dwell in his
own hereditary possessions in a priests' city. The situation, “upon the mountains of
Ephraim,” is not at variance with this view, as these mountains extended, according to
Jdg_4:5, etc., far into the territory of Benjamin (see at Jos_11:21). The majority of
commentators, down to Knobel, have thought the place intended to be a Gibeah in the
tribe of Ephraim, namely the present Jeeb or Jibia, by the Wady Jib, on the north of
Guphna, towards Neapolis (Sichem: see Rob. Pal. iii. p. 80), though there is nothing
whatever to favour this except the name.

141. With the death of Eleazar the high priest, the contemporary of Joshua, the times of
Joshua came to a close, so that the account of Eleazar's death formed a very fitting
termination to the book. In some MSS and editions of the Septuagint, there is an
additional clause relating to the high priest Phinehas and the apostasy of the Israelites
after Joshua's death; but this is merely taken from Jdg_2:6, Jdg_2:11. and Jos_3:7, Jos_
3:12., and arbitrarily appended to the book of Joshua.
TRAPP, "Joshua 24:31 And Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all
the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of
the LORD, that he had done for Israel.
Ver. 31. {See Trapp on "Joshua 23:8"}
COKE, "Ver. 31. And Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua— So long as this
pious general was at the head of the people of Israel, idolatry durst not show itself,
and the Israelites in public adored only the true God. Moses did not enjoy the like
happiness. Every one knows what a disturbance that depraved taste which the
Hebrews had imbibed for idolatry in Egypt, produced in the affair of the golden
calf: God, however, remedied it, by condemning the offenders to wander forty years
in that wilderness, where, according to St. Chrysostom, all those perished who had
been witnesses of that horrible apostacy; that thus there might remain no one
among them capable of teaching them again so atrocious a kind of impiety. See
Vitae Monastic. Vitup. lib. 1.
WHEDO , "CO CLUDI G STATEME TS, Joshua 24:31-33.
[31. All the days of the elders that overlived Joshua — So the holy life and example
of a great and good man exerts an influence after he is gone. Though dead he yet
speaks, and the surviving generation feels his power.]
32. The bones of Joseph… buried they — Since the Hebrew has no pluperfect for
the accurate expression of time, this may justly be rendered they had buried, in
Shechem previous to the death of Joshua, either at the first solemn convocation at
that place, (Joshua 8:30-35,) or at the second, the occasion of Joshua’s valedictory to
the nation. The fact is mentioned here because of its association with the spot of
Joshua’s last address to Israel. This burial was in obedience to the charge given by
Joseph in Genesis 50:25, whose faith grasped the land of promise for his last resting
place. Hebrews 11:22. [The traditional site of Joseph’s tomb is marked by a little
chapel at the southeastern base of Mount Ebal, and a few rods from Jacob’s well.
“There is nothing remarkable in the appearance of this little whited sepulchre,” says
Tristram, “yet there seems little reason to question the identity of the spot. It has
been preserved from molestation from age to age by the common reverence in which
the patriarch is held by Jew, Samaritan, Christian, and Moslem alike, while the fact
of his name being the common property of all has prevented any one of them from
appropriating and disfiguring by a temple the primitive simplicity of his resting
place.

142. 33. Eleazar… died — Probably about the same time, (as Josephus says,) and his
death and burial are mentioned here because of their association both in time and
place with those of Joshua. In a hill — Rather, in Gibeah of Phinehas. Josephus
says, “His monument and sepulchre are in the city of Gabatha.” Dr. Robinson
inclined to locate it at the modern Jibea, about half way between Jerusalem and
Shechem. This would be not far from the place of Joshua’s death and burial. The
presentation of the place to Phinehas was a token of Israel’s high regard for him
and his father.
Beautifully says Wordsworth here: “Eleazar and Joshua together make a type of the
union of the priesthood and government in Christ. The types die, because they are
types; but the DIVI E A TITYPE liveth forever; to whom be all praise, and glory,
and dominion, world without end.”
ELLICOTT, "(31) Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and . . . of the
elders that overlived Joshua.—It cannot surprise us that the personal influence of
the man and of the events of his day was so difficult to efface. There was a primitive
Church in Canaan as well as in the Roman Empire. The short duration of the one
seems to have an analogy in the case of the other.
(32) The bones of Joseph, and also of his brethren, as appears by Acts 7:16. The
precedent set by Joseph is exceedingly likely to have been followed.
And it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph.—It may be that this fact
helped to fix the position of Ephraim and Manasseh in the centre of the country.
PETT, "Verse 31
‘And the children of Israel served YHWH all the days of Joshua, and all the days of
the elders who outlived Joshua and had known all the work of YHWH, that he had
wrought for Israel.’
This summary verse confirms that during the life of Joshua and his near
contemporaries who had seen the great works of YHWH in Egypt and in the
wilderness, the people remained faithful. The elders, who remembered the past,
were the father figures in the tribes and sub-tribes, and they ruled well. They kept
apart from the Canaanites and worshipped YHWH only, maintaining the covenant
faithfully, attending at the feasts at the central sanctuary, and living by His Law
under the guidance of the priests and Levites, although there were always going to
be exceptions. Thus the book finishes with a declaration that Joshua left things in
good order, and that things seemed well.
32 And Joseph’s bones, which the Israelites had

143. brought up from Egypt, were buried at Shechem
in the tract of land that Jacob bought for a
hundred pieces of silver[d] from the sons of
Hamor, the father of Shechem. This became the
inheritance of Joseph’s descendants.
CLARKE, "And the bones of Joseph - See the note on Gen_50:25, and on Exo_
13:19. This burying of the bones of Joseph probably took place when the conquest of the
land was completed, and each tribe had received its inheritance; for it is not likely that
this was deferred till after the death of Joshua.
GILL, "And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out
of Egypt,.... At the request, and by the order of Joseph, Gen_50:25; which were
punctually observed by the children of Israel under the direction and command of
Moses, and therefore is ascribed to him, as here to them, Exo_13:19,
buried they in Shechem; not in the city, but in a field near it, as the next clause
shows. The Jews in their Cippi Hebraici say (g), that Joseph was buried at a village called
Belata, a sabbath day's journey from Shechem; but Jerom says (h) he was buried in
Shechem, and his monument was to be seen there in his time. Not that they buried him
at the same time Joshua was buried, but very probably as soon as the tribe of Ephraim
was in the quiet possession of this place; though the historian inserts the account of it
here, taking an occasion for it from the interment of Joshua:
in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor, the father of
Shechem, for an hundred pieces of silver; of which purchase See Gill on Gen_
33:19,
and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph; and particularly of the
tribe of Ephraim by lot, agreeably to the gift and disposal of it by Jacob to Joseph; see
Gill on Gen_48:22.
JAMISO , "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

144. 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.
CALVI , "32.And the bones of Joseph, etc The time when the bones of Joseph were
buried is not mentioned; but it is easy to infer that the Israelites had performed this
duty after they obtained a peaceful habitation in the city of Shechem. For although
he had not designated a particular place for a sepulchre, they thought it a mark of
respect to deposit his bones in the field which Jacob had purchased. It may be,
however, that this is expressed as a censure on the sluggishness of the people, to
which it was owing, that Joseph could not be buried with Abraham, that locality
being still in the power of the enemy. Stephen (Acts 7:0) mentions the bones of the
twelve patriarchs, and it is not impossible that the other tribes, from feelings of
emulation, gathered together the ashes of their progenitors. It is there said that the
field was purchased by Abraham; but obviously an error in the name has crept in.
With regard to sepulture, we must hold in general, that the very frequent mention of
it in Scripture is owing to its being a symbol of the future Resurrection.
BE SO , "Joshua 24:32. The bones of Joseph — Joseph died two hundred years
before in Egypt, but gave commandment concerning his bones, that they should not
rest in a grave till Israel rested in the land of promise. ow, therefore, they were
deposited in that piece of ground which his father gave him near Shechem. One
reason why Joshua called all Israel to Shechem, might be to attend Joseph’s bones
to the grave. So that he now delivered, as it were, both Joseph’s funeral sermon, and
his own farewell sermon. And if it was in the last year of his life, the occasion might
well remind him of his own death now at hand. For he was just of the same age with
his illustrious ancestor, who died, being one hundred and ten years old, Genesis
50:26.
TRAPP, "Joshua 24:32 And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel
brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob
bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for an hundred pieces of silver:
and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph.
Ver. 32. Buried they in Shechem.] Where his monument was to be seen in Jerome’s
time, as he testifieth in his questions upon Genesis.
COKE, "Ver. 32. And the bones of Joseph—buried they in Shechem— See Genesis
50:25. Some are of opinion, that Joshua performed this duty soon after the passage
over Jordan, immediately after he had built the altar on mount Ebal, near Shechem.
Others think that it was not done till the peace which followed the conquest of the
land of Canaan. They all conclude, that Joshua would not have longer deferred
paying to the patriarch Joseph an honour so frequently enjoined. The reason, say

145. they, that no mention of the ceremony occurs before, is, that it was thought proper
to collect together, in this concluding passage, what respected the funerals of three
great men. But there seems no difficulty in supposing Joshua to have discharged
himself of this tribute to the remains of Joseph in the great assembly of the nation at
Shechem. We might even suppose, that it was the design of interring the bones of
that patriarch with greater solemnity, which determined Joshua to convene that
assembly there, rather than at Shiloh.
In a parcel of ground which Jacob bought, &c.— See Genesis 23:16; Genesis 33:18-
19; Genesis 48:22; Genesis 50:25. Joseph was not interred in Shechem, but,
according to the ancient custom, in a field adjoining. Probably, the other children of
Jacob received the like honour, each tribe taking care to bury its ancestor, either at
Machpelah, or elsewhere, in the land of Canaan. Josephus asserts that it was so,
upon the credit of an ancient tradition, , Hist. Jud. l. ii. c. 4.; and St. Stephen
confirms the relation, Acts 7:16.
PETT, "Verse 32
‘And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, they
buried in Shechem in the parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of
Hamor, the father of Shechem, for a hundred pieces of silver, and they became the
inheritance of the children of Joseph.’
The parcel of ground that Jacob had bought (Genesis 33:19) was still recognised as
belonging to him, and was identifiable. This demonstrated that there were those
alive, who were descended from members of the household of Jacob, who were still
living there. This burial would have taken place many years earlier, but is
mentioned here as a finalising of the deliverance record, demonstrating that the
journey from Egypt was finally over. All was at rest.
“The inheritance of the children of Joseph.” Shechem was within the inheritance of
Manasseh, the son of Joseph. But this suggests that in a special way the grave and
the bones became the inheritance of the two tribes as the sons of Joseph. Joseph
himself had requested that his bones be brought there (Genesis 50:25; Exodus
13:19), and now it was accomplished.
33 And Eleazar son of Aaron died and was buried
at Gibeah, which had been allotted to his son
Phinehas in the hill country of Ephraim.

146. BAR ES, "(Eleazar’s burial-place is placed by Conder not at Tibneh but in the village
of ‘Awertah.)
CLARKE, "And Eleazar - died - Probably about the same time as Joshua, or soon
after; though some think he outlived him six years. Thus, nearly all the persons who had
witnessed the miracles of God in the wilderness were gathered to their fathers; and their
descendants left in possession of the great inheritance, with the Law of God in their
hands, and the bright example of their illustrious ancestors before their eyes. It must be
added that they possessed every advantage necessary to make them a great, a wise, and a
holy people. How they used, or rather how they abused, these advantages, their
subsequent history, given in the sacred books, amply testifies.
A hill that pertained to Phinehas his son - This grant was probably made to
Phinehas as a token of the respect of the whole nation, for his zeal, courage, and
usefulness: for the priests had properly no inheritance. At the end of this verse the
Septuagint add: - “In that day the children of Israel, taking up the ark of the covenant of
God, carried it about with them, and Phinehas succeeded to the high priest’s office in the
place of his father until his death; and he was buried in Gabaath, which belonged to
himself. “Then the children of Israel went every man to his own place, and to his own
city. “And the children of Israel worshipped Astarte and Ashtaroth, and the gods of the
surrounding nations, and the Lord delivered them into the hands of Eglon king of Moab,
and he tyrannized over them for eighteen years.”
The last six verses in this chapter were, doubtless, not written by Joshua; for no man
can give an account of his own death and burial. Eleazar, Phinehas, or Samuel, might
have added them, to bring down the narration so as to connect it with their own times;
and thus preserve the thread of the history unbroken. This is a common case; many men
write histories of their own lives, which, in the last circumstances, are finished by others,
and who has ever thought of impeaching the authenticity of the preceding part, because
the subsequent was the work of a different hand? Hirtius’s supplement has never
invalidated the authenticity of the Commentaries of Caesar, nor the work of Quintus
Smyrnaeus, that of the Iliad and Odyssey of Homer; nor the 13th book of Aeneid, by
Mapheus Viggius, the authenticity of the preceding twelve, as the genuine work of Virgil.
We should be thankful that an adequate and faithful hand has supplied those
circumstances which the original author could not write, and without which the work
would have been incomplete. Mr. Saurin has an excellent dissertation on this grand
federal act formed by Joshua and the people of Israel on this very solemn occasion, of
the substance of which the reader will not be displeased to find the following very short
outline, which may be easily filled up by any whose business it is to instruct the public;
for such a circumstance may with great propriety be brought before a Christian
congregation at any time: -
“Seven things are to be considered in this renewal of the covenant.
I. The dignity of the mediator.
II. The freedom of those who contracted.
III. The necessity of the choice.

147. IV. The extent of the conditions.
V. The peril of the engagement.
VI. The solemnity of the acceptance.
VII. The nearness of the consequence.
“I. The dignity of the mediator. - Take a view of his names, Hosea and Jehoshua. God
will save: he will save. The first is like a promise; the second, the fulfillment of that
promise. God will save some time or other: - this is the very person by whom he
will accomplish his promise. Take a view of Joshua’s life: his faith, courage,
constancy, heroism, and success. A remarkable type of Christ. See Heb_4:8.
“II. The freedom of those who contracted. - Take away the gods which your fathers
served beyond the flood; and in Egypt, etc., Jos_24:14, etc. Joshua exhibits to the
Israelites all the religions which were then known:
1. That of the Chaldeans, which consisted in the adoration of fire.
2. That of the Egyptians, which consisted in the worship of the ox Apis, cats, dogs,
and serpents; which had been preceded by the worship even of vegetables, such
as the onion, etc.
3. That of the people of Canaan, the principal objects of which were Astarte,
(Venus), and Baal Peor, (Priapus). Make remarks on the liberty of choice which
every man has, and which God, in matters of religion, applies to, and calls into
action.
“III. The necessity of the choice. - To be without religion, is to be without happiness
here, and without any title to the kingdom of God. To have a false religion, is the
broad road to perdition; and to have the true religion, and live agreeably to it, is
the high road to heaven. Life is precarious - death is at the door - the Judge calls -
much is to be done, and perhaps little time to do it in! Eternity depends on the
present moment. Choose - choose speedily - determinately, etc.
“IV. The extent of the conditions. - Fear the Lord, and serve him in truth and
righteousness. Fear the Lord. Consider his being, his power, holiness, justice, etc.
This is the gate to religion. Religion itself consists of two parts.
I. Truth.
1. In opposition to the detestable idolatry of the forementioned nations.
2. In reference to that revelation which God gave of himself.
3. In reference to that solid peace and comfort which false religions may
promise, but cannot give; and which the true religion communicates to all
who properly embrace it.
II. Uprightness or integrity, in opposition to those abominable vices by which
themselves and the neighboring nations had been defiled.
1. The major part of men have one religion for youth, another for old age. But he
who serves God in integrity, serves him with all his heart in every part of life.
2. Most men have a religion of times, places, and circumstances. This is a
defective religion. Integrity takes in every time, every place, and every
circumstance; God’s law being ever kept before the eyes, and his love in the
heart, dictating purity and perfection to every thought, word, and work.
3. Many content themselves with abstaining from vice, and think themselves
sure of the kingdom of God because they do not sin as others. But he who
serves God in integrity, not only abstains from the act and the appearance of

148. evil, but steadily performs every moral good.
4. Many think that if they practice some kind of virtues, to which they feel less of
a natural repugnance, they bid fair for the kingdom; but this is opposite to
uprightness. The religion of God equally forbids every species of vice, and
recommends every kind of virtue.
“V. The peril of the engagement. - This covenant had in it the nature of an oath; for so
much the phrase before the Lord implies: therefore those who entered into this
covenant bound themselves by oath unto the Lord, to be steady and faithful in it.
But it may be asked, ‘As human nature is very corrupt, and exceedingly fickle, is
there not the greatest danger of breaking such a covenant; and is it not better not
to make it, than to run the risk of breaking it, and exposing one’s self to
superadded punishment on that account?’ Answer: He who makes such a covenant
in God’s strength, will have that strength to enable him to prove faithful to it.
Besides, if the soul do not feel itself under the most solemn obligation to live to
God, it will live to the world and the flesh. Nor is such a covenant as this more
solemn and strict than that which we have often made; first in our baptism, and
often afterwards in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, etc. Joshua allows there is
a great danger in making this covenant. Ye cannot serve the Lord, for he is a holy,
strong, and jealous God, etc. But this only supposes that nothing could be done
right but by his Spirit, and in his strength. The energy of the Holy Spirit is equal to
every requisition of God’s holy law, as far as it regards the moral conduct of a
believer in Christ.
“VI. The solemnity of the acceptance. - Notwithstanding Joshua faithfully laid down
the dreadful evils which those might expect who should abandon the Lord; yet
they entered solemnly into the covenant. God forbid that we should forsake the
Lord, but we will serve the Lord. They seemed to think that not to covenant in this
case was to reject.
“VII. The nearness of the consequence. - There were false gods among them, and these
must be immediately put away. As ye have taken the Lord for your God, then put
away the strange gods which are among you, Jos_24:23. The moment the
covenant is made, that same moment the conditions of it come into force. He who
makes this covenant with God should immediately break off from every evil
design, companion, word, and work. Finally, Joshua erected two monuments of
this solemn transaction:
1. He caused the word to be written in the book of the law, Jos_24:26.
2. He erected a stone under an oak, Jos_24:27; that these two things might be
witnesses against them if they broke the covenant which they then made, etc.”
There is the same indispensable necessity for every one who professes Christianity, to
enter into a covenant with God through Christ. He who is not determined to be on God’s
side, will be found on the side of the world, the devil, and the flesh. And he who does not
turn from all his iniquities, cannot make such a covenant. And he who does not make it
now, may probably never have another opportunity. Reader, death is at the door, and
eternity is at hand. These are truths which are everywhere proclaimed - everywhere
professedly believed - everywhere acknowledged to be important and perhaps nowhere
laid to heart as they should be. And yet all grant that they are born to die!
On the character and conduct of Joshua, much has already been said in the notes; and
particularly in the preface to this book. A few particulars may be added.
It does not appear that Joshua was ever married, or that he had any children. That he

149. was high in the estimation of God, we learn from his being chosen to succeed Moses in
the government of the people. He was the person alone, of all the host of Israel, who was
deemed every way qualified to go out before the congregation, and go in: to lead them
out, and bring them in; and be the shepherd of the people, because the Spirit of God was
in him. See Num_27:17, etc. He is called the servant of God, as was Moses; and was, of
all men of that generation, next in eminence to that great legislator.
Like his great master, he neither provided for himself nor his relatives; though he had
it constantly in his power so to do. He was the head and leader of the people; the chief
and foremost in all fatigues and dangers; without whose piety, prudence, wisdom, and
military skill, the whole tribes of Israel, humanly speaking, must have been ruined. And
yet this conqueror of the nations did not reserve to him self a goodly inheritance, a noble
city, nor any part of the spoils of those he had vanquished. His countrymen, it is true,
gave him an inheritance among them, Jos_19:50. This, we might suppose, was in
consideration of his eminent services, and this, we might naturally expect, was the best
inheritance in the land! No! they gave him Timnath-serah, in the barren mountains of
Ephraim, and even this he asked Jos_19:50. But was not this the best city in the land?
No - it was even No city; evidently no more than the ruins of one that had stood in that
place; and hence it is said, he builded the city and dwelt therein - he, with some persons
of his own tribe, revived the stones out of the rubbish, and made it habitable.
Joshua believed there was a God; he loved him, acted under his influence, and
endeavored to the utmost of his power to promote the glory of his Maker, and the
welfare of man: and he expected his recompense in another world.
Like Him of whom he was an illustrious type, he led a painful and laborious life,
devoting himself entirely to the service of God and the public good. How unlike was
Joshua to those men who, for certain services, get elevated to the highest honors: but,
not content with the recompense thus awarded them by their country, use their new
influence for the farther aggrandizement of themselves and dependents, at the expense,
and often to the ruin of their country!
Joshua retires only from labor when there is no more work to be done, and no more
dangers to be encountered. He was the first in the field, and the last out of it; and never
attempted to take rest till all the tribes of Israel had got their possessions, and were
settled in their inheritances! Of him it might be truly said as of Caesar, he continued to
work, nil actum reputans, si quid superesset agendum: for “he considered nothing done,
while any thing remained undone.”
Behold this man retiring from office and from life without any kind of emolument! the
greatest man of all the tribes of Israel; the most patriotic, and the most serviceable; and
yet the worst provided for! Statesmen! naval and military commanders! look Joshua in
the face; read his history; and learn from It what true Patriotism means. That man alone
who truly fears and loves God, credits his revelation, and is made a partaker of his Spirit,
is capable of performing disinterested services to his country and to mankind!
Masoretic Notes on Joshua
The number of verses in the Book of Joshua is 656, (should be 658, see on Jos_21:36
(note), etc.), of which the symbol is found in the word ‫ותרן‬ vetharon, (and shall sing),
Isa_35:6.
Its middle verse is Jos_13:26.
Its Masoretic sections are 14; the symbol of which is found in the word ‫יד‬ yad, (the
hand), Eze_37:1. See the note at the end of Genesis.

150. GILL, "And Eleazar the son of Aaron died,.... Very probably in a short time after
Joshua; and, according to the Samaritan Chronicle (i), he died as Joshua did, gathered
the chief men of the children of Israel a little before his death, and enjoined them strict
obedience to the commands of God, and took his leave of them, and then stripped
himself of his holy garments, and clothed Phinehas his son with them; what his age was
is not said:
and they buried him in a hill that pertaineth to Phinehas his son; or in the hill
of Phinehas; which was so called from him, and might have the name given it by his
father, who might possess it before him, and what adjoined to it. The Jews in the above
treatise say (k), that at Avarta was a school of Phinehas in a temple of the Gentiles; that
Eleazar was buried upon the hill, and Joshua below the village among the olives, and on
this hill is said (l) to be a school or village of Phinehas:
which was given him in Mount Ephraim; either to Eleazar, that he might be near
to Shiloh, where the tabernacle then was, as the cities given to the priests and Levites
were chiefly in those tribes that lay nearest to Jerusalem; though the Jews say, as Jarchi
and Kimchi relate, that Phinehas might come into the possession of that place through
his wife, or it might fall to him as being a devoted field; but it is most likely it was given
to his father by the children of Ephraim, for the reason before observed. The Talmudists
say, that Joshua wrote his own book, which is very probable; yet the last five verses,
Jos_24:29, must be written by another hand, even as the last eight verses in
Deuteronomy, Deu_34:5, were written by him, as they also say; and therefore this is no
more an objection to his being the writer of this book, than the addition of eight verses
by him to Deuteronomy is to Moses being the writer of that; and the same Talmudists
(m) also observe, that Jos_24:29, "Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died",
&c. were written by Eleazar, and Jos_24:33, "and Eleazar, the son of Aaron, died", &c. by
Phinehas, which is not improbable.
JAMISO , "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 travelers, contains the graves also of Ithamar, the brother of Phinehas, the son
of Eleazar [Van De Velde].
BE SO , "Joshua 24:33. They buried him in a hill which was given him — By
special favour, and for his better conveniency in attending upon the ark, which then
was, and for a long time was to be, in Shiloh, near this place: whereas the cities
which were given to the priests were in Judah, Benjamin, and Simeon, which were
remote from Shiloh, though near the place where the ark was to have its settled
abode; namely, at Jerusalem. It is probable Eleazar died about the same time with
Joshua, as Aaron did in the same year with Moses. While Joshua lived, religion was
kept up, under his care and influence; but after he and his cotemporaries were gone,
it swiftly went to decay. How well is it for the gospel church that Christ, our Joshua,
is still with it by his Spirit, and will be always, even to the end of the world!
TRAPP, "Joshua 24:33 And Eleazar the son of Aaron died; and they buried him in

151. a hill [that pertained to] Phinehas his son, which was given him in mount Ephraim.
Ver. 33. In a hill that pertained to Phinehas.] Or, In Gibeathpineas, the name of a
city, bearing his name.
Which was given him.] By the synagogue, saith Vatablus, in an extraordinary way;
that, being the high priest, he might be near to Joshua, and not far from the
tabernacles where his business lay.
ELLICOTT, "(33) And Eleazar the son of Aaron died.—“Eleazar the priest, and
Joshua the son of un,” were the Moses and Aaron of this period. It is fitting that
the Book of Joshua should close with the death of Eleazar, who was Joshua’s
appointed counsellor; for when Joshua was given as a shepherd to Israel, in answer
to the prayer of Moses, Eleazar was also given to Joshua for a counsellor ( umbers
27:21). At Eleazar’s word he was to go out and come in, “both he and all the
children of Israel with him, even all the congregation.” It is rather singular that
nothing but this has been recorded of Eleazar’s personal history. Everything stated
about him in his lifetime is official. ot a word that he uttered has been preserved.
A hill. . . . given him in mount Ephraim.—The inheritance of Phinehas as a priest
would lie within the tribe of Judah (Joshua 21:13, &c.) or Benjamin. This gift to
Phinehas in Mount Ephraim, near the seat of government, seems to have been a
special grant to him over and above his inheritance. But inasmuch as the tabernacle
itself was at Shiloh, in Mount Ephraim, it was altogether suitable and natural that
some place of abode should be assigned to the priests in that neighbourhood, where
they were compelled to reside.
Although Phinehas himself was “zealous for his God,” he lived to see the tribe of
Benjamin nearly exterminated from Israel for repeating the sin of the Canaanites.
(See Judges 20:28.) We can hardly say that the people served Jehovah all the days of
Phinehas. With Eleazar and Joshua the spirit of strict obedience to the law seems to
have, in a great measure, passed away.
PETT, "Verse 33
‘And Eleazar, the son of Aaron, died, and they buried him in the hill of (or Gibeah
of) Phinehas his son which was given to him in the hill country of Ephraim.’
Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, also died. Thus the old generation was dying
out. This man too had been looked to as one of the greats. The future lay in new
hands, but they would not prove capable of sustaining it.
He was buried in the inheritance of his son Phinehas, given to him in the hill
country of Ephraim. This was probably in Benjamin, for that was the part of the
hill country of Ephraim in which rights to dwell in cities were allotted to the priests
(Joshua 21:17-18).
So the book ends with the burial of three men who had lived in Egypt but were

152. buried in Canaan as God had promised Israel. One of them had declared long
before his certainty that one day Israel would return to the land promised by God
(Genesis 50:24-25). The lives of the other two had witnessed all the events described
in Exodus, umbers, Deuteronomy and Joshua, and they had lived to see
downtrodden Israel at rest in the land of promise. It was a fitting end to this
triumphant book.
COKE, "Ver. 33. And Eleazar—died— This event, probably, happened soon after
the death of Joshua. The Samaritan Chronicle says, that Eleazar called together the
elders and heads of the people before his death; and that after having exhorted them
to piety, he stripped himself of his vestments, and put them upon Phinehas, his son
and successor. We have no proof of this circumstance, but it is very probable.
And they buried him in a hill that pertained to Phinehas his son— A little hillock,
or, according to some, a town: it may be rendered, agreeable to the Vulgate, LXX,
and Jonathan, they buried him in Gibeath of Phinehas; this town, or hillock, went
by the name of Phinehas, according to the custom in those times of giving the name
of the eldest in a family to the possessions which belonged to it.
Which was given him in mount Ephraim.— The Hebrew is doubtful. It does not
immediately appear to whom this hill was given, whether to Eleazar or Phinehas:
most probably it was to Eleazar; that, as being the high-priest, he might reside
nearer to Shiloh, where the tabernacle was erected, and as all the cities assigned to
the priests were in the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Simeon, except one only,
which lay in the tribe of Ephraim. See ch. Joshua 21:9; Joshua 21:17; Joshua 21:19.
But against this there is one great objection; namely, that the priests and Levites
certainly received no portion on the division of the land: and therefore the Jews, to
obviate this difficulty, are of opinion, that Eleazar, or Phinehas, held this estate in
right of his wife as her dowry. See Selden de Success. Heb. c. 18. Grotius is of this
opinion likewise; and he produces a similar example from 1 Chronicles 2:21-23. But
to this Masius replies, that heiresses could not marry out of their tribe, ( umbers
36:8.) whence he concludes, that the present inheritance had been an extraordinary
gift to Eleazar out of respect to him, and to accommodate him more conveniently
within reach of Joshua and the tabernacle. The chief-priest, it seems, might receive
this distinction, without any infringement of the general law respecting the other
ministers at the altar. See Calmet and Le Clerc. To the end of this chapter the LXX
add: And the children of Israel took the ark, and carried it about among them; and
Phinehas was high-priest till he died; and they buried him in his own hill: and the
children of Israel went to their homes. And they fell to worshipping Astarte and
Ashtaroth: and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Eglon, king of Moab; and
he had the mastery over them eighteen years.
REFLECTIO S.—We have the account of the death of Joshua and Eleazar, and
the burying of the bones of Joseph. This is the end of all the glory of man; and the
best and greatest of God's saints are not exempt from the common lot of mortality.

153. 1. Joshua's death and burial: soon after he had finished his work, he went to receive
his everlasting reward, in a better inheritance than he left at Timnath-serah. He was
a hundred and ten years old, and through life had approved himself a faithful
servant, of which God bears him honourable testimony: his sepulchre was in Gaash,
in a field of his own; for then the public places of assembly, or the house of God,
were thought unfit receptacles of the corpses even of the blessed. Pity it is, that
worse customs have since obtained.
2. Eleazar quickly followed Joshua; one loss seldom comes alone.
3. As long as these worthies and their cotemporaries lived, who had seen God's
wonders, religion flourished among the people; but their sad decays will shortly
appear: so much are good ministers missed, and so common is it to see the most
flourishing congregations moulder away when their pastors are departed. But the
residue of the Spirit is with our divine Joshua; and though one people, or
congregation, turn from him, he will revive his work in another, and never want a
spiritual seed and a visible church upon earth.
.B. The last five verses of this chapter are certainly written by a hand subsequent
to Joshua. Perhaps Samuel, desirous of bringing down the thread of the history
uninterrupted from Joshua to his own time, might think proper to make the
addition, after having, in like manner, completed the Pentateuch by the order and
under the direction of God. See on Deuteronomy 34:1. This, however, is no
argument that Joshua did not write the present book, any more than that Moses did
not write the Pentateuch, because the like account given of his death and burial, in
the conclusion of it, is given by another hand.
Reflections on the Life and Character of Joshua.
The names of Joshua and Jesus are scarcely more like, than their achievements.
This captain, so famous in the sacred history, was nominated to be the successor of
Moses, and ordained to this high post by God's command, in the presence of all the
congregation of Israel. He received the name of Joshua before, when sent to spy out
the land, his former name being Oshea; and he is the first of the typical persons who
was called by the very name, by which, in future ages, a greater Saviour than he was
commonly known. Perhaps it was not without its meaning, that he was the servant
before he was the successor of Moses; for it might signify, that our Jesus was first to
become the servant of the law, before he should abolish it. But passing this, let us
take a more particular retrospect of the most memorable passages of his marvellous
campaign.
The first thing that presents itself to our view is, his passing the Jordan, which was
miraculously driven back, to afford a safe passage to the chosen people. In this river
God was pleased, for the first time, to magnify his servant Joshua in the sight of all
the tribes of Israel; and in this river it pleased God to give the first and most public
testimony to Jesus Christ, when the heavens seemed to open at his baptism, and the
Holy Ghost descended in the likeness of a dove, and a voice from the excellent glory

154. proclaimed his high character. But the chief thing to be observed here is, the
resemblance between the passage of Israel over Jordan into the promised land,
under the conduct of Joshua, and the passage of all the redeemed, through death,
into the heavenly inheritance. Long had they traversed the vast and howling
wilderness, the haunt of ravenous beasts and poisonous serpents, where their hearts,
many a time, were like to faint for thirst and hunger; but now the land flowing with
milk and honey receives them, and their wanderings in the pathless desart are for
ever ended. Though Jordan overflows his banks, their march is not obstructed. O
powerful presence of JEHOVAH! "The sea saw it, and fled, and Jordan was driven
back." Psalms 114:3. And now that they have taken their farewel of the dreary
wilderness, we hear no more of the miraculous cloud which conducted them, nor of
the manna which fed them forty years. Such is the safety of all true Israelites, when
marching to their promised rest, under the conduct of the Captain of their salvation.
Death is the Jordan through which they pass from the wilderness of this world into
the blissful regions of immortality. But when they pass through these waters, they
shall not overflow them; for he who dries up the waters of the sea by his rebuke, will
be graciously present with them, till they gain the safe shore of Immanuel's land.
Then shall the ordinances be discontinued, and the Bible superseded, which are so
necessary in their wandering state to support their lives, and guide their paths; as
the cloud vanished, and the manna ceased to fall, when the fine wheat of Canaan
supplied the Israelites with food, according to the promise. It is not Moses, but
Joshua, who leads through Jordan. Jesus; thou art the only conqueror of death.
What will they do when they come to the swellings of Jordan, who are not under thy
auspicious conduct? Thanks be to God, who giveth us this victory over death, not
through Moses, or the law, but through Jesus Christ our Lord!
From the banks of Jordan, let us now come to the walls of Jericho, the accursed city.
ever was town or garrison besieged in such a manner before or since. o mounts
are raised; no battering rams are applied to the walls; no attempts are made to sap
the foundations; but, by the direction of the Lord of hosts, the army marches in
silent parade round the walls. Their martial music is not the sound of their silver
trumpets, but of rams-horns blown by their priests. Ridiculous, weak, and foolish,
as this new method of assault might seem to the unbelieving sinners of Jericho, they
soon found that the weakness of God is stronger than men, and that the most
contemptible means, when God ordains them, shall gain their end, in spite of all
opposition. "What ailed thee, O sea, that thou fleddest? Jordan, that thou wast
driven back?" Psalms 114:5 and ye walls of Jericho, that ye fell flat to the ground,
when compassed seven days? It was not owing to the sword of Israel, nor even to the
sound of the trumpets; but to the power of Israel's God accompanying this feeble
means, prescribed for the trial of their faith and proof of their obedience. For, O the
power of faith! had their walls threatened the clouds, and been harder than
adamant, firmer than brass, down must they tumble on the evening of the seventh
day. Thus are the strong holds of sin, and every high thing that exalts itself against
the ew Testament Joshua, cast down by the mighty weapons of the Christian
warfare, which are not carnal. The feeble voice of the gospel, when faithfully
preached, though not with a silver sound, or with excellency of speech, shall be
mighty, through God, to triumph over all opposition: so it was in the days of the

155. apostles; so it has been in every distant age; and so it shall be till the victory is
complete. Thus, Babylon, shall thy proud towers be levelled with the ground, though
seemingly fearless of assault. "For the day of the Lord shall be on every high wall,
and on every one that is proud and lifted up." Isaiah 2:12. Though the kings of the
earth should give their strength to the beast, our Joshua shall prevail by the
foolishness of preaching, and the sound of the gospel trumpet; and at the appointed
time the strong-lunged angel shall cry, "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen."
Revelation 14:18.
The saving of Rahab and her household is the next remarkable occurrence. Who
would have expected to find, in this city of destruction, even a strong believer, whose
faith should be celebrated by one apostle, and her works by another, and who
should also have the honour to make one of the illustrious line from whence the
Messiah should arise? But so it was. Though once a notorious sinner, and called
Rahab the harlot to this day, yet she was a believer of the promise that God made to
Israel, and proved by her works that her faith was genuine; for, protecting the
messengers of Joshua at the hazard of her life, she preferred the interests of the
Church of God to those of her country, which she very well knew could not be
saved. Though we can by no means justify the dissimulation by which she saved the
spies from the pursuivants of the king of Jericho, yet, as God has forgiven her for
being once a harlot and a liar, so must we also forgive those blame-able parts of her
conduct, of which she has long since truly repented. Well does Joshua answer his
name, in saving not the race of Israel only, but Rahab, though a cursed Canaanite,
with all her household, though sinners of the Gentiles. Was it not a dark prelude of
Jesus Christ, our better Joshua, of his saving the Gentile world from the wrath to
come, as well as the preserved of Jacob? Might it not portend, that publicans and
harlots, and such notorious sinners, should be received among the first into his
heavenly kingdom? and that the harlot Gentiles, who formerly were serving divers
lusts, and living in the most abominable idolatries, should be incorporated into the
holy society of the church, and espoused as a chaste bride to Jesus Christ, as Rahab
became a proselyte to the Jewish religion, and the wife of aasson an illustrious
prince in the chief of their tribes? Perhaps the scarlet thread, which, at the direction
of the spies, she hung forth out of her window, as a discriminating signal, by which
all under her roof were exempted from the dismal desolation; perhaps, I say, this
might be an intimation, though a very obscure one, that the shedding of Christ's red
blood should prove the means of salvation to the Gentile world, and of making peace
between the Jews and them, who were formerly at variance, and harboured mutual
hatred. Red was the colour of salvation to Israel in Egypt, when the sprinkling their
doors with blood protected them from the destroying angel's word; and red is the
colour of salvation to Rahab in Canaan, when the hanging a scarlet thread over her
windows was her security from the destroying sword of Israel. Happy they who
have the blood of Christ upon them, not for destruction, (as the Jews who murdered
him, and imprecated this dreadful vengeance on themselves, and their posterity,)
but for salvation, as all have who believe. Rahab's safety was confirmed by the oath
of men; but their's by the oath of God, for whom it is impossible to lie. Destruction
approaches not those doors, death enters not those windows where the blood of
Christ is found.

156. In vain did the kings of Canaan conspire to oppose the victorious Joshua after the
destruction of Jericho; for at last he bids his captains set their feet upon the necks of
the hostile princes, in token of full conquest. or was it strange that he should be
able to do this, when the very heavens befriended them, by casting down prodigious
hailstones to kill his flying enemies; and their most glorious luminaries, the sun and
moon were obedient to his voice, and stood still in their habitation, till the vengeance
written was executed upon the devoted nations. Such is that complete victory over
all the enemies of God and his people, which he shall gain who goes forth
conquering, and to conquer! It is the distinguished honour of all the faithful soldiers
of Christ, to tread upon the devil, the world, and the lusts of the flesh. These are the
dragons and the lions which they trample under their feet; these are the kings that
they bind with chains; these are the nations that they shall dash in pieces, as a
potter's vessel with a rod of iron. And a time is coming, when the upright shall have
dominion over the wicked; for so is his will, whom not only the sun and moon, but
all the numerous hosts of heaven and earth obey.
At last, the favoured nation of the Jews are brought into their promised rest, under
the conduct of their valiant general. He puts them in quiet possession of that happy
country which he had before spied out for them. This Moses could not do. So Jesus
Christ has introduced us, not into a temporal rest, like thine, O Joshua, but into a
spiritual and eternal rest, an incorruptible and undefiled inheritance, which the law
could not do, having become weak through the flesh.