Josué 24:27

27 Et Josué dit à tout le peuple: Voici, cette pierre sera en témoignage contre nous; car elle a entendu toutes les paroles que l'Éternel nous a dites; et elle sera en témoignage contre vous, afin que vous ne reniiez pas votre Dieu.

Josué 24:27 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 24:27

And Joshua said unto all the people
The chief of them now gathered together, and who represented the whole body:

behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us;
of the covenant now made, and the agreement entered into, as the heap of stones were between Jacob and Laban, ( Genesis 31:45-47 ) ;

for it hath heard all the words of the Lord which he spake unto us;
this is said by a figure called "prosopopaeia", frequent in Scripture, by which inanimate creatures are represented as hearing, seeing, and speaking, and may signify, that should the Israelites break this covenant, and disobey the commands of the Lord they had promised to keep, they would be as stupid and senseless as this stone, or more so, which would rise in judgment against them. Nachmanides ^F4 a Jewish commentator, interprets this stone of the Messiah, the same as in ( Genesis 49:24 ) ( Psalms 118:22 ) ( Zechariah 3:8 Zechariah 3:9 ) ;

it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God;
for a memorial and testimony to prevent them from going into atheism, a denying of the true God, or into apostasy from him, and into idolatry and false worship. The Targum of which is,

``behold, this stone shall be to us as the two tables of stone of the covenant, for we made it for a testimony; for the words which are written upon it are the sum of all the words of the Lord which he spake unto us, and it shall be unto you for a memorial, and for a testimony, lest ye lie before the Lord.''

---

FOOTNOTES:

F4 Apud Masium in loc.

Josué 24:27 In-Context

25 Josué traita donc alliance avec le peuple en ce jour-là, et il lui établit des lois et des ordonnances à Sichem.

26 Puis Josué écrivit ces paroles dans le livre de la loi de Dieu. Il prit ensuite une grande pierre, et la dressa là, sous le chêne qui était dans le sanctuaire de l'Éternel.

27 Et Josué dit à tout le peuple: Voici, cette pierre sera en témoignage contre nous; car elle a entendu toutes les paroles que l'Éternel nous a dites; et elle sera en témoignage contre vous, afin que vous ne reniiez pas votre Dieu.

28 Et Josué renvoya le peuple, chacun dans son héritage.

29 Or, après ces choses, il arriva que Josué, fils de Nun, serviteur de l'Éternel, mourut, âgé de cent dix ans;