Joshua 24:21-33

Context

24:21 The people said to Joshua, “No! We really will¹ worship² 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?”³ They replied, “We are witnesses!”⁴ 24:23 Joshua said,⁵ “Now put aside the foreign gods that are among you and submit to⁶ the Lord God of Israel.”

24:24 The people said to Joshua, “We will worship⁷ the Lord our God and obey him.”⁸

24:25 That day Joshua drew up an agreement⁹ for the people, and he established rules and regulations¹⁰ 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.¹¹ It will be a witness against you if¹² you deny your God.” 24:28 When Joshua dismissed the people, they went to their allotted portions of land.¹³

An Era Ends

24:29 After all this¹⁴ Joshua son of Nun, the Lord’s servant, died at the age of one hundred ten. 24:30 They buried him in his allotted territory¹⁵ in Timnath Serah in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. 24:31 Israel worshiped¹⁶ the Lord throughout Joshua’s lifetime and as long as the elderly men who outlived him remained alive.¹⁷ These men had experienced firsthand everything the Lord had done for Israel.¹⁸

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.¹⁹ So it became the inheritance of the tribe of Joseph.²⁰

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.²¹

[24:21] ¹tn The translation assumes that כִּי (ki) is emphatic. Another option is to take it as explanatory, “No, for we will….”

[24:21] ²tn Or “will serve.”

[24:22] ³tn Heb “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen for yourselves the Lord to serve him.”

[24:22] ⁴sn 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] ⁵tn The words “Joshua said” are supplied for clarification.

[24:23] ⁶tn Heb “bend your heart toward.” The term לֵבָב (levav, “heart”) probably here refers to the people’s volition or will.

[24:24] ⁷tn Or “will serve.”

[24:24] ⁸tn Heb “and listen to his voice.”

[24:25] ⁹tn Heb “cut a covenant.”

[24:25] ¹⁰tn Heb “a statute and a judgment.”

[24:27] ¹¹tn Heb “all the words of the Lord which he spoke with us.”

[24:27] ¹²tn Or “lest,” “so that you might not.”

[24:28] ¹³tn Heb “And Joshua sent the people away, each to his inheritance.”

[24:29] ¹⁴tn Heb “after these things.”

[24:30] ¹⁵tn Heb “in the territory of his inheritance.”

[24:31] ¹⁶tn Or “served.”

[24:31] ¹⁷tn Heb “all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who outlived him.”

[24:31] ¹⁸tn Heb “who knew all the work of the Lord which he had done for Israel.”

[24:32] ¹⁹tn 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] ²⁰tn 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] ²¹tn Heb “in Gibeah of Phinehas, his son, which had been given to him in the hill country of Ephraim.”