Joshua 24:17

17 The Lord our God, he is God; he brought up us and our fathers from Egypt, and kept us in all the way wherein we walked, and among all the nations through whom we passed.

Joshua 24:17 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 24:17

For the Lord our God, he [it is] that brought us up and our
fathers, out of the land of Egypt
When Pharaoh, the king of it, refused to let them go, yet he wrought such wonders in it and inflicted such plagues on it, as obliged Pharaoh and his people to dismiss them:

from the house of bondage:
where they were held in the greatest thraldom and slavery, and their lives made bitter and miserable:

and which did those great signs in our sight;
meaning the wonders and marvellous things wrought before Pharaoh and his people, and in the sight of Israel, ( Psalms 78:11 Psalms 78:43 ) ; though Abarbinel is of opinion it refers to what had been done in their sight of late in the land of Canaan, as the dividing of the waters of Jordan, the fall of the walls of Jericho, the standing still of the sun in Gibeon; but this seems not so well to agree with what follows:

and preserved us in all the way wherein we went:
in the wilderness from serpents and scorpions, and beasts of prey, and from all dangers from every quarter:

and among all the people through whom we passed;
through whose borders they passed, as the Edomites, Moabites, and Amorites; though the above writer seems to understand it of preservation from the dangers of their enemies in the land of Canaan.

Joshua 24:17 In-Context

15 But if it seem not good to you to serve the Lord, choose to yourselves this day whom ye will serve, whether the gods of your fathers that were on the other side of the river, or the gods of the Amorites, among whom ye dwell upon their land: but I and my house will serve the Lord, for he is holy.
16 And the people answered and said, Far be it from us to forsake the Lord, so as to serve other gods.
17 The Lord our God, he is God; he brought up us and our fathers from Egypt, and kept us in all the way wherein we walked, and among all the nations through whom we passed.
18 And the Lord cast out the Amorite, and all the nations that inhabited the land from before us: yea, we will serve the Lord, for he is our God.
19 And Joshua said to the people, Indeed ye will not be able to serve the Lord, for God is holy; and he being jealous will not forgive your sins and your transgressions.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. See Mark 1. 7. Luke 3. 16. 1 Pet 2. 24.

The Brenton translation of the Septuagint is in the public domain.