Joshua 24:19-25

24:19 Joshua warned ¹  the people, “You will not keep worshiping ²  the Lord, for ³  he is a holy God. ⁴  He is a jealous God who will not forgive ⁵  your rebellion or your sins. 24:20 If ⁶  you abandon the Lord and worship ⁷  foreign gods, he will turn against you; ⁸  he will bring disaster on you and destroy you, ⁹  though he once treated you well.” ¹⁰ 

24:21 The people said to Joshua, “No! We really will ¹¹  worship ¹²  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?” ¹³  They replied, “We are witnesses!” ¹⁴  24:23 Joshua said, ¹⁵  “Now put aside the foreign gods that are among you and submit to ¹⁶  the Lord God of Israel.”

24:24 The people said to Joshua, “We will worship ¹⁷  the Lord our God and obey him.” ¹⁸ 

24:25 That day Joshua drew up an agreement ¹⁹  for the people, and he established rules and regulations ²⁰  for them in Shechem.

[24:19]  ¹ tn Heb “said to.”

[24:19]  ² tn Heb “you are not able to serve.”

[24:19]  ³ sn For an excellent discussion of Joshua’s logical argument here, see T. C. Butler, Joshua (WBC), 274-75.

[24:19]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “lift up” or “take away.”

[24:20]  ⁶ tn Or “when.”

[24:20]  ⁷ tn Or “and serve.”

[24:20]  ⁸ tn The words “against you” are added for clarification.

[24:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “bring you to an end.”

[24:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “after he did good for you.”

[24:21]  ¹¹ tn The translation assumes that כִּי (ki) is emphatic. Another option is to take it as explanatory, “No, for we will….”

[24:21]  ¹² tn Or “will serve.”

[24:22]  ¹³ tn Heb “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen for yourselves the Lord to serve him.”

[24:22]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn The words “Joshua said” are supplied for clarification.

[24:23]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “bend your heart toward.” The term לֵבָב (levav, “heart”) probably here refers to the people’s volition or will.

[24:24]  ¹⁷ tn Or “will serve.”

[24:24]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and listen to his voice.”

[24:25]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “cut a covenant.”

[24:25]  ²⁰ tn Heb “a statute and a judgment.”