Joshua 24:2

24:2 Joshua told all the people, “Here is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘In the distant past your ancestors ¹  lived beyond the Euphrates River, ²  including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor. They worshiped ³  other gods,

Joshua 24:19

24:19 Joshua warned ⁴  the people, “You will not keep worshiping ⁵  the Lord, for ⁶  he is a holy God. ⁷  He is a jealous God who will not forgive ⁸  your rebellion or your sins.

Joshua 24:21

24:21 The people said to Joshua, “No! We really will ⁹  worship ¹⁰  the Lord!”

¹ tn Heb “your fathers.”

² tn Heb “the river,” referring to the Euphrates. This has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ tn Or “served.”

⁴ tn Heb “said to.”

⁵ tn Heb “you are not able to serve.”

⁶ sn For an excellent discussion of Joshua’s logical argument here, see T. C. Butler, Joshua (WBC), 274-75.

⁷ tn In the Hebrew text both the divine name (אֱלֹהִים, ’elohim) and the adjective (קְדֹשִׁים, qÿdoshim, “holy”) are plural. Normally the divine name, when referring to the one true God, takes singular modifiers, but this is a rare exception where the adjective agrees grammatically with the honorific plural noun. See GKC §124.i and IBHS 122.

⁸ tn Heb “lift up” or “take away.”

⁷ tn The translation assumes that כִּי (ki) is emphatic. Another option is to take it as explanatory, “No, for we will….”

⁸ tn Or “will serve.”