Joshua 24:2

2 Then Joshua addressed all the people:

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 Joshua called together all the tribes of Israel at Shechem. He called in the elders, chiefs, judges, and officers. They presented themselves before God.

2 Then Joshua addressed all the people:

3 I took your ancestor Abraham from the far side of The River. I led him all over the land of Canaan and multiplied his descendants. I gave him Isaac.

4 Then I gave Isaac Jacob and Esau. I let Esau have the mountains of Seir as home, but Jacob and his sons ended up in Egypt.

5 I sent Moses and Aaron. I hit Egypt hard with plagues and then led you out of there.