Yehoshua 24:2

2 And Yehoshua said unto Kol HaAm, Thus saith Hashem Elohei Yisroel, Avoteichem dwelt on the other side of the [Euphrates] River long ago, even Terach, Avi Avraham, and Avi Nachor: and they served elohim acherim.

Yehoshua 24:2 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 24:2

And Joshua said unto all the people
Then present, or to all Israel by their representatives:

thus saith the Lord God of Israel;
he spoke to them in the name of the Lord, as the prophet did, being himself a prophet, and at this time under a divine impulse, and spirit of prophecy. According to an Arabic writer ^F23: the Angel of God appeared in the form of a man, and with a loud voice delivered the following, though they are expressed by him in a different manner; perhaps he mean, the Captain of the Lord's host, ( Joshua 15:13 Joshua 15:14 ) ; and which is not unlikely:

your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time;
on the offer side the, river Euphrates; so the Targum,

``beyond Perat;''

i.e. Euphrates; in Mesopotamia and Chaldea; meaning not the remotest of their ancestors, Noah and Shem, but the more near, and who are expressly named:

[even] Terah the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor;
the Israelites sprung from Terah, in the line of Abraham, on the father's side, and from him in the line of Nachor on the mother's side, Rebekah, Leah, and Rachel, being of Nachor's family:

and they served other gods;
besides the true God, strange gods, which were no gods: "idols"; the idols of the people, as the Targum; so did Terah, Abraham, and Nachor; (See Gill on Genesis 11:26); (See Gill on Genesis 11:28); (See Gill on Genesis 12:1).

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FOOTNOTES:

F23 Abulpharag. Hist. Dynast. p. 35.

Yehoshua 24:2 In-Context

1 4 And Yehoshua gathered Kol Shivtei Yisroel to Shechem, and called for the Ziknei Yisroel, and for their Rashim, and for their shofetim, and for their shoterim; and they presented themselves before HaElohim.

2 And Yehoshua said unto Kol HaAm, Thus saith Hashem Elohei Yisroel, Avoteichem dwelt on the other side of the [Euphrates] River long ago, even Terach, Avi Avraham, and Avi Nachor: and they served elohim acherim.

3 But I took Avichem Avraham from the other side of the [Euphrates] River, and led him through Kol Eretz Kena’an, and multiplied his zera, and gave him Yitzchak.

4 And I gave unto Yitzchak Ya’akov and Esav; and I gave unto Esav Mt Seir, to possess it; but Ya’akov and his banim went down into Mitzrayim.

5 I sent Moshe also and Aharon, and I plagued Mitzrayim, according to that which I did among them; and afterward I brought you out.