Joshua 24:1-2

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Joshua 24:1-14

Joshua thought he had taken his last farewell of Israel in the solemn charge he gave them in the foregoing chapter, when he said, I go the way of all the earth; but God graciously continuing his life longer than expected, and renewing his strength, he was desirous to improve it for the good of Israel. He did not say, ?I have taken my leave of them once, and let that serve;? but, having yet a longer space given him, he summons them together again, that he might try what more he could do to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 24:1

And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem ,.... The nine tribes and a half; not all the individuals of them, but the chief among them, their representatives, as afterwards explained, whom he gathered together a second time, being willing, as long as he was among them, to improve his time for their spiritual as well as civil good; to impress their minds with a sense of religion, and to strengthen, enlarge, and enforce the exhortations he had given them to serve the Lord; and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible 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 Abulpharag. Hist. Dynast. p. 35. : 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... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 24:1

Joshua gathered all the tribes - This must have been a different assembly from that mentioned in the preceding chapter, though probably held not long after the former. To Shechem - As it is immediately added that they presented themselves before God, this must mean the tabernacle; but at this time the tabernacle was not at Shechem but at Shiloh. The Septuagint appear to have been struck with this difficulty, and therefore read Σηλω . Shiloh, both here and in Joshua 24:25 ,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 24:2

On the other side of the flood - The river Euphrates. They served other gods - Probably Abraham as well as Terah his father was an idolater, till he received the call of God to leave that land. See on Genesis 11:31 ; (note); Genesis 12:1 ; (note). read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 24:1

Verse 1 1.And Joshua gathered all the tribes, etc He now, in my opinion, explains more fully what he before related more briefly. For it would not have been suitable to bring out the people twice to a strange place for the same cause. Therefore by the repetition the course of the narrative is continued. And he now states what he had not formerly observed, that they were all standing before the Lord, an expression which designates the more sacred dignity and solemnity of the meeting. I have... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 24:2

Verse 2 2.Your fathers dwelt on the other side, etc He begins his address by referring to their gratuitous adoption by which God had anticipated any application on their part, so that they could not boast of any peculiar excellence or merit. For God had bound them to himself by a closer tie, having, while they were no better than others, gathered them together to be his peculiar people, from no respect to anything but his mere good pleasure. Moreover, to make it clearly appear that there was... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 24:1

EXPOSITION THE LAST RENEWAL OF THE COVENANT .— To Shechem. The LXX . and the Arabic version read Shiloh here, and as the words "they presented themselves (literally, took up their station ) before God" follow, this would seem the natural reading. But there is not the slightest MSS . authority for the reading, and it is contrary to all sound principles of criticism to resort to arbitrary emendations of the text. Besides, the LXX . itself reads συχέμ , in... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 24:1

Public worship. "And they presented themselves before God." Eminent servants of God were remarkable for their solicitude respecting the course of events likely to follow their decease. "When I am gone let heaven and earth come together" is a sentiment with which a good man can have no sympathy. Note the instructions given by Moses ( Deuteronomy 31:1-30 ), David ( 1 Kings 2:1-46 ), Paul ( 2 Timothy 4:1-8 ), and Peter ( 2 Peter 1:12-15 ). As Jesus Christ looked to the future (John... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 24:1-13

Review of Providence. I. IT IS WELL TO REVIEW THE PAST . (a) grateful for the goofiness of God, (b) humble in the consciousness of our own failings, (c) wise from the lessons of experience, and (d) diligent to redeem the time which yet remains. II. NO REVIEW OF THE PAST IS COMPLETE WHICH DOES NOT RECOGNISE THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE . The chief value of biblical history is in the fact that it clearly indicates the action of... read more

Group of Brands