Joshua 24:23

23 He said, "Remove the foreign gods that [are] in your midst, and incline your hearts to Yahweh the God of Israel."

Joshua 24:23 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 24:23

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, ( Genesis 35:2 Genesis 35:4 ) ; 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 the Lord God of Israel.''

Joshua 24:23 In-Context

21 And the people said to Joshua, "No, we will serve Yahweh."

22 And Joshua said to the people, "You [are] witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen for yourselves to serve Yahweh." And they said, "[We are] witnesses."

23 He said, "Remove the foreign gods that [are] in your midst, and incline your hearts to Yahweh the God of Israel."

24 And the people said to Joshua, "We will serve Yahweh our God, and we will listen to his voice."

25 So Joshua {made a covenant} with the people on that day, and he established for them a statute and a judgment at Shechem.