Discovery BoxJoshua 23:1--24:33
Context23:1 A long time 1 passed after the Lord made Israel secure from all their enemies, 2 and Joshua was very old. 3 23:2 So Joshua summoned all Israel, including the elders, rulers, judges, and leaders, and told them: “I am very old. 23:3 You saw everything the Lord your God did to all these nations on your behalf, for the Lord your God fights for you. 4 23:4 See, I have parceled out to your tribes these remaining nations, 5 from the Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea 6 in the west, including all the nations I defeated. 7 23:5 The Lord your God will drive them out from before you and remove them, 8 so you can occupy 9 their land as the Lord your God promised 10 you. 23:6 Be very strong! Carefully obey 11 all that is written in the law scroll of Moses so you won’t swerve from it to the right or the left, 23:7 or associate with these nations that remain near 12 you. You must not invoke or make solemn declarations by the names of their gods! 13 You must not worship 14 or bow down to them! 23:8 But you must be loyal to 15 the Lord your God, as you have been 16 to this very day.
23:9 “The Lord drove out from before you great and mighty nations; no one has been able to resist you 17 to this very day. 23:10 One of you makes a thousand run away, 18 for the Lord your God fights for you 19 as he promised you he would. 20 23:11 Watch yourselves carefully! Love the Lord your God! 21 23:12 But if you ever turn away and make alliances with 22 these nations that remain near you, 23 and intermarry with them and establish friendly relations with them, 24 23:13 know for certain that the Lord our God will no longer drive out these nations from before you. They will trap and ensnare you; 25 they will be a whip that tears 26 your sides and thorns that blind 27 your eyes until you disappear 28 from this good land the Lord your God gave you.
23:14 “Look, today I am about to die. 29 You know with all your heart and being 30 that not even one of all the faithful promises the Lord your God made to you is left unfulfilled; every one was realized – not one promise is unfulfilled! 31 23:15 But in the same way every faithful promise the Lord your God made to you has been realized, 32 it is just as certain, if you disobey, that the Lord will bring on you every judgment 33 until he destroys you from this good land which the Lord your God gave you. 23:16 If you violate the covenantal laws of the Lord your God which he commanded you to keep, 34 and follow, worship, and bow down to other gods, 35 the Lord will be very angry with you and you will disappear 36 quickly from the good land which he gave to you.”
24:1 Joshua assembled all the Israelite tribes at Shechem. He summoned Israel’s elders, rulers, judges, and leaders, and they appeared before God. 24:2 Joshua told all the people, “Here is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘In the distant past your ancestors 37 lived beyond the Euphrates River, 38 including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor. They worshiped 39 other gods, 24:3 but I took your father Abraham from beyond the Euphrates 40 and brought him into 41 the entire land of Canaan. I made his descendants numerous; I gave him Isaac, 24:4 and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. To Esau I assigned Mount Seir, 42 while Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt. 24:5 I sent Moses and Aaron, and I struck Egypt down when I intervened in their land. 43 Then I brought you out. 24:6 When I brought your fathers out of Egypt, you arrived at the sea. The Egyptians chased your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea. 24:7 Your fathers 44 cried out for help to the Lord; he made the area between you and the Egyptians dark, 45 and then drowned them in the sea. 46 You witnessed with your very own eyes 47 what I did in Egypt. You lived in the wilderness for a long time. 48 24:8 Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived east of the Jordan. They fought with you, but I handed them over to you; you conquered 49 their land and I destroyed them from before you. 24:9 Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, launched an attack 50 against Israel. He summoned 51 Balaam son of Beor to call down judgment 52 on you. 24:10 I refused to respond to Balaam; he kept 53 prophesying good things about 54 you, and I rescued you from his power. 55 24:11 You crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. 56 The leaders 57 of Jericho, as well as the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites, fought with you, but I handed them over to you. 24:12 I sent terror 58 ahead of you to drive out before you the two 59 Amorite kings. I gave you the victory; it was not by your swords or bows. 60 24:13 I gave you a land in 61 which you had not worked hard; you took up residence in cities you did not build and you are eating the produce of 62 vineyards and olive groves you did not plant.’
24:14 Now 63 obey 64 the Lord and worship 65 him with integrity and loyalty. Put aside the gods your ancestors 66 worshiped 67 beyond the Euphrates 68 and in Egypt and worship 69 the Lord. 24:15 If you have no desire 70 to worship 71 the Lord, choose today whom you will worship, 72 whether it be the gods whom your ancestors 73 worshiped 74 beyond the Euphrates, 75 or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. But I and my family 76 will worship 77 the Lord!”
24:16 The people responded, “Far be it from us to abandon the Lord so we can 78 worship 79 other gods! 24:17 For the Lord our God took us and our fathers out of slavery 80 in the land of Egypt 81 and performed these awesome miracles 82 before our very eyes. He continually protected us as we traveled and when we passed through nations. 83 24:18 The Lord drove out from before us all the nations, including the Amorites who lived in the land. So we too will worship 84 the Lord, for he is our God!”
24:19 Joshua warned 85 the people, “You will not keep worshiping 86 the Lord, for 87 he is a holy God. 88 He is a jealous God who will not forgive 89 your rebellion or your sins. 24:20 If 90 you abandon the Lord and worship 91 foreign gods, he will turn against you; 92 he will bring disaster on you and destroy you, 93 though he once treated you well.” 94
24:21 The people said to Joshua, “No! We really will 95 worship 96 the Lord!” 24:22 Joshua said to the people, “Do you agree to be witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to worship the Lord?” 97 They replied, “We are witnesses!” 98 24:23 Joshua said, 99 “Now put aside the foreign gods that are among you and submit to 100 the Lord God of Israel.”
24:24 The people said to Joshua, “We will worship 101 the Lord our God and obey him.” 102
24:25 That day Joshua drew up an agreement 103 for the people, and he established rules and regulations 104 for them in Shechem. 24:26 Joshua wrote these words in the Law Scroll of God. He then took a large stone and set it up there under the oak tree near the Lord’s shrine. 24:27 Joshua said to all the people, “Look, this stone will be a witness against you, for it has heard everything the Lord said to us. 105 It will be a witness against you if 106 you deny your God.” 24:28 When Joshua dismissed the people, they went to their allotted portions of land. 107
24:29 After all this 108 Joshua son of Nun, the Lord’s servant, died at the age of one hundred ten. 24:30 They buried him in his allotted territory 109 in Timnath Serah in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. 24:31 Israel worshiped 110 the Lord throughout Joshua’s lifetime and as long as the elderly men who outlived him remained alive. 111 These men had experienced firsthand everything the Lord had done for Israel. 112
24:32 The bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried at Shechem in the part of the field that Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for one hundred pieces of money. 113 So it became the inheritance of the tribe of Joseph. 114
24:33 Eleazar son of Aaron died, and they buried him in Gibeah in the hill country of Ephraim, where his son Phinehas had been assigned land. 115
[23:1] 2 tn Heb “the
[23:1] 3 tn Heb “was old, coming into the days.” This expression, referring to advancing in years, also occurs in the following verse.
[23:3] 4 tn Heb “for the
[23:4] 5 tn Heb “I have assigned by lots to you these remaining nations as an inheritance for your tribes.”
[23:4] 6 tn Heb “the Great Sea,” the typical designation for the Mediterranean Sea.
[23:4] 7 tn Heb “from the Jordan and all the nations which I cut off and the Great Sea [at] the place where the sun sets.” The relationship of the second half of the verse, which mentions nations already conquered, to the first half, which speaks of “remaining nations,” is difficult to understand.
[23:5] 8 tn The Hebrew text reads, “from before you.” This has not been included in the translation because it is redundant in English.
[23:5] 9 tn Or “take possession of.”
[23:6] 11 tn Heb “Be strong so you can be careful to do.”
[23:7] 13 tn Heb “and in the name of their gods you must not invoke and you must not make solemn declarations.” The words “and you must not make solemn declarations” are omitted in the LXX and may represent a later scribal addition to elucidate the immediately preceding command. The Hiphil of שָׁבַע (shava’) without an object occurs only here and in Josh 6:26.
[23:9] 17 tn Heb “not a man has stood before you.”
[23:10] 18 tn Or “chases a thousand.”
[23:10] 19 tn Heb “for the
[23:10] 20 tn Heb “as he said to you.”
[23:11] 21 tn Heb “Watch carefully yourselves so as to love the
[23:12] 23 tn Heb “the remnant of the these nations, these nations that are with you.”
[23:12] 24 tn Heb “and go into them, and they into you.”
[23:13] 25 tn Heb “be a trap and a snare to you.”
[23:13] 27 tn Heb “thorns in your eyes.”
[23:14] 29 tn Heb “go the way of all the earth.”
[23:14] 31 tn Heb “one word from all these words which the
[23:15] 32 tn Heb “and it will be as every good word which the
[23:15] 33 tn Heb “so the
[23:16] 34 tn Heb “when you violate the covenant of the
[23:16] 35 tn Heb “and you walk and serve other gods and bow down to them.”
[24:2] 37 tn Heb “your fathers.”
[24:2] 38 tn Heb “the river,” referring to the Euphrates. This has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[24:3] 40 tn Heb “the river,” referring to the Euphrates. This has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[24:4] 42 tn Heb “I gave to Esau Mount Seir to possess it.”
[24:5] 43 tn Heb “by that which I did in its midst.”
[24:7] 44 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the fathers) has been specified in the translation for clarity (see the previous verse).
[24:7] 45 tn Or “put darkness between you and the Egyptians.”
[24:7] 46 tn Heb “and he brought over them the sea and covered them.”
[24:7] 47 tn Heb “your eyes saw.”
[24:8] 49 tn Or “took possession of.”
[24:9] 50 tn Heb “arose and fought.”
[24:9] 51 tn Heb “sent and called.”
[24:10] 53 tn The infinitive absolute follows the finite verb in the Hebrew text and indicates continuation or repetition of the action. Balaam pronounced several oracles of blessing over Israel (see Num 23-24).
[24:10] 54 tn Heb “blessing.” Balaam’s “blessings” were actually prophecies of how God would prosper Israel.
[24:11] 56 map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.
[24:11] 57 tn Or perhaps, “citizens.”
[24:12] 58 tn Traditionally, “the hornet” (so KJV, NKJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV) but the precise meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain (cf. NEB “panic”).
[24:12] 59 tn The LXX has “twelve,” apparently understanding this as a reference to Amorite kings west of the Jordan (see Josh 5:1, rather than the trans-Jordanian Amorite kings Sihon and Og (see Josh 2:10; 9:10).
[24:12] 60 tn Heb “and it drove them out from before you, the two kings of the Amorites, not by your sword and not by your bow.” The words “I gave you the victory” are supplied for clarification.
[24:13] 61 tn Or perhaps, “for.”
[24:13] 62 tn The words “the produce of” are supplied for clarification.
[24:14] 63 sn Joshua quotes the
[24:14] 66 tn Heb “your fathers.”
[24:14] 68 tn Heb “the river,” referring to the Euphrates. This has been specified in the translation for clarity; see v. 3.
[24:15] 70 tn Heb “if it is bad in your eyes.”
[24:15] 72 tn Or “will serve.”
[24:15] 73 tn Heb “your fathers.”
[24:15] 75 tn Heb “the river,” referring to the Euphrates. This has been specified in the translation for clarity; see v. 3.
[24:15] 77 tn Or “will serve.”
[24:17] 80 tn Heb “of the house of slavery.”
[24:17] 81 tn Heb “for the
[24:17] 82 tn Or “great signs.”
[24:17] 83 tn Heb “and he guarded us in all the way in which we walked and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed.”
[24:18] 84 tn Or “will serve.”
[24:19] 86 tn Heb “you are not able to serve.”
[24:19] 87 sn For an excellent discussion of Joshua’s logical argument here, see T. C. Butler, Joshua (WBC), 274-75.
[24:19] 88 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.
[24:19] 89 tn Heb “lift up” or “take away.”
[24:20] 92 tn The words “against you” are added for clarification.
[24:20] 93 tn Heb “bring you to an end.”
[24:20] 94 tn Heb “after he did good for you.”
[24:21] 95 tn The translation assumes that כִּי (ki) is emphatic. Another option is to take it as explanatory, “No, for we will….”
[24:21] 96 tn Or “will serve.”
[24:22] 97 tn Heb “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen for yourselves the
[24:22] 98 sn Like witnesses in a court of law, Israel’s solemn vow to worship the Lord will testify against them in the divine court if the nation ever violates its commitment.
[24:23] 99 tn The words “Joshua said” are supplied for clarification.
[24:23] 100 tn Heb “bend your heart toward.” The term לֵבָב (levav, “heart”) probably here refers to the people’s volition or will.
[24:24] 101 tn Or “will serve.”
[24:24] 102 tn Heb “and listen to his voice.”
[24:25] 103 tn Heb “cut a covenant.”
[24:25] 104 tn Heb “a statute and a judgment.”
[24:27] 105 tn Heb “all the words of the
[24:27] 106 tn Or “lest,” “so that you might not.”
[24:28] 107 tn Heb “And Joshua sent the people away, each to his inheritance.”
[24:29] 108 tn Heb “after these things.”
[24:30] 109 tn Heb “in the territory of his inheritance.”
[24:31] 111 tn Heb “all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who outlived him.”
[24:31] 112 tn Heb “who knew all the work of the
[24:32] 113 tn Heb “one hundred qesitahs.” The Hebrew word קְשִׂיטָה (qesitah) is generally understood to refer to a unit of money, but the value and/or weight is unknown. The word occurs only here and in Gen 33:19 and Job 42:11.
[24:32] 114 tn Heb “and they became for the sons of Joseph an inheritance.” One might think “bones” is the subject of the verb “they became,” but the verb is masculine, while “bones” is feminine. The translation follows the emendation suggested in the BHS note, which appeals to the Syriac and Vulgate for support. The emended reading understands “the part (of the field)” as the subject of the verb “became.” The emended verb is feminine singular; this agrees with “the part” (of the field), which is feminine in Hebrew.
[24:33] 115 tn Heb “in Gibeah of Phinehas, his son, which had been given to him in the hill country of Ephraim.”
