Joshua 24:2

2 And Joshua spake thus to the people, The Lord God of Israel saith these things, Your fathers dwelled at the beginning beyond the flood Euphrates, (that is,) Terah, the father of Abraham and Nachor, and they served alien gods. (And Joshua spoke to the people thus, The Lord God of Israel saith these things, Long ago your forefathers lived on the other side of the Euphrates River, that is, Terah, and his sons Abraham and Nachor, and they served foreign, or other, gods.)

Joshua 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.

Joshua 24:2 In-Context

1 And Joshua gathered all the lineages of Israel into Shechem; and he called the greater men in birth, and the princes, and judges, and masters; and they stood in the sight of the Lord. (And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel into Shechem; and he called the men of great age, that is, the elders, and the leaders, and the judges, and the officers; and they stood before the Lord.)

2 And Joshua spake thus to the people, The Lord God of Israel saith these things, Your fathers dwelled at the beginning beyond the flood Euphrates, (that is,) Terah, the father of Abraham and Nachor, and they served alien gods. (And Joshua spoke to the people thus, The Lord God of Israel saith these things, Long ago your forefathers lived on the other side of the Euphrates River, that is, Terah, and his sons Abraham and Nachor, and they served foreign, or other, gods.)

3 Therefore I took your father Abraham from the coasts of Mesopotamia, and I brought him into the land of Canaan; and I multiplied his seed, and I gave Isaac to him;

4 and again, I gave to Isaac, Jacob, and Esau; of which I gave to Esau the hill of Seir, to have in possession; and Jacob and his sons went down into Egypt. (and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau; and I gave Esau the hill country of Seir, to have for a possession; and Jacob and his sons went down into Egypt.)

5 And I sent Moses and Aaron, and I smote Egypt with many signs and wonders, and I led you