Joshua 24:2

2 Then Joshua said to all the people, "Here's what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to you: 'A long time ago your ancestors lived on the other side of the Euphrates River. Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, worshiped 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 Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel together at Shechem. He called the older leaders, heads of families, judges, and officers of Israel to stand before God.

2 Then Joshua said to all the people, "Here's what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to you: 'A long time ago your ancestors lived on the other side of the Euphrates River. Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, worshiped other gods.

3 But I, the Lord, took your ancestor Abraham from the other side of the river and led him through the land of Canaan. And I gave him many children, including his son Isaac.

4 I gave Isaac two sons named Jacob and Esau. I gave the land around the mountains of Edom to Esau, but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.

5 Then I sent Moses and Aaron to Egypt, where I brought many disasters on the Egyptians. Afterwards I brought you out.