2 And Joshua H3091 called H7121 for all Israel, H3478 and for their elders, H2205 and for their heads, H7218 and for their judges, H8199 and for their officers, H7860 and said H559 unto them, I am old H2204 and stricken H935 in age: H3117
And G1161 from G575 Miletus G3399 he sent G3992 to G1519 Ephesus, G2181 and called G3333 the elders G4245 of the church. G1577 And G1161 when G5613 they were come G3854 to G4314 him, G846 he said G2036 unto them, G846 Ye G5210 know, G1987 from G575 the first G4413 day G2250 that G575 G3739 I came G1910 into G1519 Asia, G773 after what manner G4459 I have been G1096 with G3326 you G5216 at all G3956 seasons, G5550 Serving G1398 the Lord G2962 with G3326 all G3956 humility of mind, G5012 and G2532 with many G4183 tears, G1144 and G2532 temptations, G3986 which G3588 befell G4819 me G3427 by G1722 the lying in wait G1917 of the Jews: G2453 And how G5613 I kept back G5288 nothing G3762 that was profitable G4851 unto you, but G3361 have shewed G312 you, G5213 and G2532 have taught G1321 you G5209 publickly, G1219 and G2532 from G2596 house to house, G3624 Testifying G1263 both G5037 to the Jews, G2453 and also G2532 to the Greeks, G1672 repentance G3341 toward G1519 God, G2316 and G2532 faith G4102 toward G1519 our G2257 Lord G2962 Jesus G2424 Christ. G5547 And G2532 now, G3568 behold, G2400 I G1473 go G4198 bound G1210 in the spirit G4151 unto G1519 Jerusalem, G2419 not G3361 knowing G1492 the things that shall befall G4876 me G3427 there: G1722 G846 Save G4133 that G3754 the Holy G40 Ghost G4151 witnesseth G1263 in every G2596 city, G4172 saying G3004 that G3754 bonds G1199 and G2532 afflictions G2347 abide G3306 me. G3165 But G235 none G3762 of these things G3056 move me, G4160 neither G3761 count I G2192 my G3450 life G5590 dear G5093 unto myself, G1683 so G5613 that I might finish G5048 my G3450 course G1408 with G3326 joy, G5479 and G2532 the ministry, G1248 which G3739 I have received G2983 of G3844 the Lord G2962 Jesus, G2424 to testify G1263 the gospel G2098 of the grace G5485 of God. G2316 And G2532 now, G3568 behold, G2400 I G1473 know G1492 that G3754 ye G5210 all, G3956 among G1722 whom G3739 I have gone G1330 preaching G2784 the kingdom G932 of God, G2316 shall see G3700 my G3450 face G4383 no more. G3765 Wherefore G1352 I take G3143 you G5213 to record G3143 this G1722 G4594 day, G2250 that G3754 I G1473 am pure G2513 from G575 the blood G129 of all G3956 men. For G1063 I have G5288 not G3756 G3361 shunned G5288 to declare G312 unto you G5213 all G3956 the counsel G1012 of God. G2316 Take heed G4337 therefore G3767 unto yourselves, G1438 and G2532 to all G3956 the flock, G4168 over G1722 the which G3739 the Holy G40 Ghost G4151 hath made G5087 you G5209 overseers, G1985 to feed G4165 the church G1577 of God, G2316 which G3739 he hath purchased G4046 with G1223 his own G2398 blood. G129 For G1063 I G1473 know G1492 this, G5124 that G3754 after G3326 my G3450 departing G867 shall grievous G926 wolves G3074 enter in G1525 among G1519 you, G5209 not G3361 sparing G5339 the flock. G4168 Also G2532 of G1537 your G5216 own selves G846 shall G450 men G435 arise, G450 speaking G2980 perverse things, G1294 to draw away G645 disciples G3101 after G3694 them. G846 Therefore G1352 watch, G1127 and remember, G3421 that G3754 by the space of three years G5148 I ceased G3973 not G3756 to warn G3560 every G1538 one G1520 night G3571 and G2532 day G2250 with G3326 tears. G1144 And G2532 now, G3569 brethren, G80 I commend G3908 you G5209 to God, G2316 and G2532 to the word G3056 of his G846 grace, G5485 which G3588 is able G1410 to build you up, G2026 and G2532 to give G1325 you G5213 an inheritance G2817 among G1722 all G3956 them which are sanctified. G37 I have coveted G1937 no man's G3762 silver, G694 or G2228 gold, G5553 or G2228 apparel. G2441 Yea, G1161 ye yourselves G846 know, G1097 that G3754 these G3778 hands G5495 have ministered G5256 unto my G3450 necessities, G5532 and G2532 to them that were G5607 with G3326 me. G1700 I have shewed G5263 you G5213 all things, G3956 how that G3754 so G3779 labouring G2872 ye ought G1163 to support G482 the weak, G770 and G5037 to remember G3421 the words G3056 of the Lord G2962 Jesus, G2424 how G3754 he G846 said, G2036 It is G2076 more G3123 blessed G3107 to give G1325 than G2228 to receive. G2983
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Joshua 23
Commentary on Joshua 23 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Joshua's Farewell and Death - Joshua 23-24
After the division of the land among the tribes, Joshua had withdrawn to Timnath-serah , on the mountains of Ephraim (Joshua 19:50), to spend the last days of his life there in the quiet enjoyment of his own inheritance. But when the time of his departure from the earth was drawing near, remembering the call which he had received from the Lord (Joshua 1:6-8), he felt constrained to gather the people together once more in the persons of their representatives, to warn them most earnestly of the dangers of apostasy from the Lord, and point out the evils that would follow (Josh 23); and then after that, in a solemn assembly of the nation at Shechem, to review the abundant mercies which the Lord had conferred upon Israel from the calling of Abraham to that day, that he might call upon them to remain stedfast and faithful in the worship of their God, and then solemnly renew the covenant with the Lord.
(Note: “The pious solicitude of Joshua furnishes an example worthy of imitation by all who have the charge of others. For just as a father would not be regarded as sufficiently careful it he merely thought of the interests of his children up to the time of his own death, and did not extend his thoughtfulness on their behalf still further, and as far as was in his power endeavour to provide for their welfare when he himself should be dead; so good rulers ought to look forward that they may not only leave behind them a well-organized state, but may also strengthen and secure its existence for a long time to come.” - Calvin (with special reference to 2 Peter 1:13-15).)
Exhortation to the Tribes of Israel to Remain Faithful to their Calling. - Joshua 23:1, Joshua 23:2. The introduction to the discourse which follows is attached in its first part to Joshua 22:3-4, and thus also to Joshua 21:43-44, whilst in the second part it points back to Joshua 13:1. The Lord had given the people rest from all their enemies round about, after the land had been subdued and divided by lot (Joshua 21:43-44). Joshua was already an old man at the termination of the war (Joshua 13:1); but since then he had advanced still further in age, so that he may have noticed the signs of the near approach of death. He therefore called together the representatives of the people, either to Timnath-serah where he dwelt (Joshua 19:50), or to Shiloh to the tabernacle, the central sanctuary of the whole nation, as the most suitable place for his purpose. “ All Israel ” is still further defined by the apposition, “ its elders, and its heads, and its judges, and its officers .” This is not to be understood, however, as referring to four different classes of rulers; but the term elders is the general term used to denote all the representatives of the people, who were divided into heads, judges, and officers. And the heads , again, were those who stood at the head of the tribes, families, and fathers' houses, and out of whose number the most suitable persons were chosen as judges and officers (Deuteronomy 1:15; see my Bibl. Arch. ii.
Joshua commenced his address by reminding them of the greatest manifestations of grace which they had received from the Lord, namely, by referring to what the Lord had done to all these nations (the Canaanites) before them, when He fought for Israel, as Moses had promised them (Deuteronomy 1:30 and Deuteronomy 3:22).
Joshua 23:3
“ Before you ,” sc., smiting and driving them away.
Joshua 23:4
He (Joshua) had now divided by lot among the tribes of Israel as their inheritance these still remaining (Canaanitish) nations, as the Lord had commanded (Joshua 13:6-7), “ from Jordan and further all the nations, which I have exterminated (i.e., which Joshua had destroyed when Canaan was taken), and the great sea (for 'to the great sea') in the west .” The breadth of the land of Canaan is here given in a peculiar manner, the terminus a quo being mentioned in the first clause, and the terminus ad quem (though without the preposition עד ) in the second; and through the parallelism which exists between the clauses, each clause is left to be completed from the other. So that the whole sentence would read thus: “ All these nations which remain ... from Jordan to the great sea, also all the nations which I have cut off from Jordan, and to the great sea westward .”
Joshua 23:5
For the Lord would drive all these still remaining nations before the Israelites, and cut them off, and give the Israelites their land for a possession, as He had promised (Joshua 13:6; cf. Exodus 23:23.). הדף , as in Deuteronomy 6:19; Deuteronomy 9:4; and the form יהדּפם , with Chateph-kametz , on account of the weakness of the ה , as in Numbers 35:20. ירשׁתּם , as in Joshua 1:15.
Joshua 23:6-8
Only let them be strong, i.e., be brave, to keep the law of Moses without fail (cf. Joshua 1:7), to enter into no fellowship with these remaining nations ( בּוא , to enter into close intimacy with a person; see Joshua 23:12), and not to pay reverence to their gods in any way, but to adhere stedfastly to the Lord their God as they had hitherto done. To make mention of the names of the idols (Exodus 23:13), to swear by them, to serve them (by sacrifices), and to bow down to them (to invoke them in prayer), are the four outward forms of divine worship (see Deuteronomy 6:13; Deuteronomy 10:20). The concluding words, “ as ye have done unto this day ,” which express a reason for persevering in the attachment they had hitherto shown to Jehovah, “do not affirm that the Israelites had hitherto done all these things fully and perfectly; for who does not know how few mortals there are who devote themselves to God with all the piety and love which He justly demands? But because the nation as a whole had kept the laws delivered to them by Moses, during the time that the government had been in the hands of Joshua, the sins of individual men were left out of sight on this occasion” ( Masius ).
Joshua 23:9-13
For this reason the Lord had driven out great and strong nations before the Israelites, so that no one was able to stand before them. The first hemistich points to the fulfilment of Deuteronomy 4:38; Deuteronomy 7:1; Deuteronomy 9:1; Deuteronomy 11:23; the second to that of Deuteronomy 7:24; Deuteronomy 11:25. ואתּם is placed at the beginning absolutely. - In Joshua 23:10 , the blessing of fidelity to the law which Israel had hitherto experienced, is described, as in Deuteronomy 32:30, upon the basis of the promise in Leviticus 26:7-8, and Deuteronomy 28:7, and in Joshua 23:10 the thought of Joshua 23:3 is repeated. To this there is attached, in Joshua 23:11-13, the admonition to take heed for the sake of their souls (cf. Deuteronomy 4:15), to love the Lord their God (on the love of God as the sum of the fulfilment of the law, see Deuteronomy 6:5; Deuteronomy 10:12; Deuteronomy 11:13). For if they turned, i.e., gave up the faithfulness they had hitherto displayed towards Jehovah, and attached themselves to the remnant of these nations, made marriages with them, and entered into fellowship with them, which the Lord had expressly forbidden (Exodus 34:12-15; Deuteronomy 7:3), let them know that the Lord their God would not cut off these nations before them any more, but that they would be a snare and destruction to them. This threat is founded upon such passages of the law as Exodus 23:33; Deuteronomy 7:16, and more especially Numbers 33:55. The figure of a trap, which is employed here (see Exodus 10:7), is still further strengthened by פּח , a snare (cf. Isaiah 8:14-15). Shotet , a whip or scourge , an emphatic form of the word derived from the poel of שׁוּט , only occurs here. “ Scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes ” (see Numbers 33:55). Joshua crowds his figures together to depict the misery and oppression which would be sure to result from fellowship with the Canaanites, because, from his knowledge of the fickleness of the people, and the wickedness of the human heart in its natural state, he could foresee that the apostasy of the nation from the Lord, which Moses had foretold, would take place but too quickly; as it actually did, according to Judges 2:3., in the very next generation. The words “ until ye perish ,” etc., resume the threat held out by Moses in Deuteronomy 11:17 (cf. Josh Deuteronomy 28:21.).
In the second part of his address, Joshua sums up briefly and concisely the leading thoughts of the first part, giving greater prominence, however, to the curse which would follow apostasy from the Lord.
Joshua 23:14-16
Now that Joshua was going the way of all the earth (all the inhabitants of the earth), i.e., going to die (1 Kings 2:2), the Israelites knew with all the heart and all the soul, i.e., were fully convinced, that of all the good words (gracious promises) of God not one had failed, but all had come to pass (vid., Joshua 21:45). But it was just as certain that the Lord would bring upon them every evil word that He spake through Moses (Lev 26:14-33; Deut 28:15-68, and Deuteronomy 29:14-28), if they transgressed His covenant. “ The evil word ” is the curse of rejection (Deuteronomy 30:1, Deuteronomy 30:15). “ Until He have destroyed: ” see Deuteronomy 7:24, and Deuteronomy 28:48. The other words as in Joshua 23:13 . If they went after other gods and served them, the wrath of the Lord would burn against them, and they would be quickly destroyed from the good land which He had given them (vid., Deuteronomy 11:17).