Josué 23:2

2 Llamó á todo Israel, á sus ancianos, á sus príncipes, á sus jueces y á sus oficiales, y díjoles: Yo soy ya viejo y entrado en días:

Josué 23:2 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 23:2

And Joshua called for all Israel
Summoned them together, whether at Timnathserah, his own city, he being old and infirm, and not able to go elsewhere; or whether at Shechem, where it is plain they were afterwards convened, ( Joshua 24:1 ) , or whether rather at Shiloh, where the tabernacle was, is not certain; and by "all Israel" cannot be meant the whole body of the people, unless it can be thought to be at one of the feasts, when all the males in Israel appeared before the Lord; though this seems to be not a stated convocation, but occasionally made, and to be understood of the representatives of the people called together, as explained in the following clause:

[and] for their elders, and for their heads, and for their judges, and
for their officers;
the first and is supplied, and another word or words may be supplied, as "even", or "that is", or the like, and so explanative of all Israel, namely, "their elders", both in age and office, especially the latter, the seventy elders, or who composed what in later times was called the great sanhedrim; and the "heads" of their tribes, the chief princes of every tribe; and their "judges" in their several cities, who heard and tried causes, and administered justice and judgment to the people; and their "officers", who attended on them to execute the judgment they pronounced:

and said unto them, I am old [and] stricken in age;
which he observes as a reason of his calling them together to give them some advice and instructions before his death, and in order to command greater reverence of him, and respect to him, and to excite attention to what he had to say to them.

Josué 23:2 In-Context

1 Y ACONTECIO, pasados muchos días después que Jehová dió reposo á Israel de todos sus enemigos al contorno, que Josué, siendo viejo, y entrado en días,
2 Llamó á todo Israel, á sus ancianos, á sus príncipes, á sus jueces y á sus oficiales, y díjoles: Yo soy ya viejo y entrado en días:
3 Y vosotros habéis visto todo lo que Jehová vuestro Dios ha hecho con todas estas gentes en vuestra presencia; porque Jehová vuestro Dios ha peleado por vosotros.
4 He aquí os he repartido por suerte, en herencia para vuestras tribus, estas gentes, así las destruídas como las que quedan, desde el Jordán hasta la gran mar hacia donde el sol se pone
5 Y Jehová vuestro Dios las echará de delante de vosotros, y las lanzará de vuestra presencia: y vosotros poseeréis sus tierras, como Jehová vuestro Dios os ha dicho.
The Reina-Valera Antigua (1602) is in the public domain.