Joshua 24:13-15

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

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Joshua 24:15-28

Never was any treaty carried on with better management, nor brought to a better issue, than this of Joshua with the people, to engage them to serve God. The manner of his dealing with them shows him to have been in earnest, and that his heart was much upon it, to leave them under all possible obligations to cleave to him, particularly the obligation of a choice and of a covenant. I. Would it be any obligation upon them if they made the service of God their choice?--he here puts them to their... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 24:13

And I have given you a land for which you did not labour ,.... Or, in which F26 בה "in qua", V. L. Pagninus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. , by manuring and cultivating it, by dunging, and ploughing, and sowing: and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them ; neither built the houses in them, nor the walls and fortifications about them; in which now they dwelt safely, and at ease, and which had been promised them as well as what follows; see Deuteronomy 6:10 , of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 24:14

Now therefore fear the Lord ,.... Since he has done such great and good things, fear the Lord and his goodness, fear him for his goodness sake; nothing so influences fear, or a reverential affection for God, as a sense of his goodness; this engages men sensible of it to fear the Lord, that is, to worship him both internally and externally in the exercise of every grace, and in the performance of every duty: and serve him in sincerity and in truth : in the uprightness of their souls,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 24:15

And if it seem evil to you to serve the Lord ,.... Irksome and troublesome, a burden, a weariness, and not a pleasure and delight: choose you this day whom you will serve ; say if you have found a better master, and whose service will be more pleasant and profitable: whether the gods your fathers served, that were on the other side of the flood ; the river Euphrates; these may bid rid rest for antiquity, but then they were such their fathers had relinquished, and for which... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 24:14

Fear the Lord - Reverence him as the sole object of your religious worship. Serve him - Perform his will by obeying his commands. In sincerity - Having your whole heart engaged in his worship. And in truth - According to the directions he has given you in his infallible word. Put away the gods , etc. - From this exhortation of Joshua we learn of what sort the gods were, to the worship of whom these Israelites were still attached. Those which their... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 24:15

Choose you this day whom ye will serve - Joshua well knew that all service that was not free and voluntary could be only deceit and hypocrisy, and that God loveth a cheerful giver. He therefore calls upon the people to make their choice, for God himself would not force them - they must serve him with all their heart if they served him at all. As for himself and family, he shows them that their choice was already fixed, for they had taken Jehovah for their portion. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 24:15

Verse 15 15.And if it seem evil unto you, etc It seems here as if Joshua were paying little regard to what becomes an honest and right-hearted leader. If the people had forsaken God and gone after idols, it was his duty to inflict punishment on their impious and abominable revolt. But now, by giving them the option to serve God or not, just as they choose, he loosens the reins, and gives them license to rush audaciously into sin. What follows is still more absurd, when he tells them that they... 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

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

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