ESV Global Study Bible :: Footnotes for Joshua 24

Josh. 24:1–33 Joshua again called for an assembly at Shechem for a ceremony of covenant renewal (compare 8:30–35; Deut. 11:26–30; 27:1–28:68).

Josh. 24:1 Shechem. See 8:30–33 and Judges 9.

Josh. 24:2 Thus says the Lord. Joshua relays the Lord’s word, just as Moses did (Deut. 5:27; 18:15–19).

Josh. 24:12 It seems best to take the hornet as a symbol for the sting of fear that the Lord inflicts on his enemies. See Ex. 23:27–28, where “hornet” parallels “my terror.” Compare also Deut. 7:20. The focus in all three contexts where “hornet” appears is on the Lord’s driving out Israel’s enemies.

Josh. 24:14 Having seen the Lord’s faithfulness, Israel is called to fear the Lord—implying reverence and true devotion—and serve him.

Josh. 24:15 choose this day whom you will serve. Joshua has urged the people to serve the Lord alone, and to put away the false gods (v. 14). Now he makes his admonition even sharper: if it is evil in their eyes to serve the Lord, then they must choose between two different categories of false gods: (1) their ancestral gods from Mesopotamia (beyond the River), or (2) the gods worshiped by the peoples they have dispossessed in Canaan.

Josh. 24:19–21 You are not able to serve the Lord. Joshua is not saying that it is impossible to truly serve the Lord. Rather, he is saying it cannot be done casually or without divine assistance. It is troubling that the people simply reassert their claim—No, but we will serve the Lord—rather than ask for further instruction or prayer. Joshua’s warning that he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins is not to suggest that God is unforgiving but that he cannot allow unfaithfulness to go uncorrected.

Josh. 24:23 The mention of foreign gods . . . among you makes the reader wonder how these idols could have been tolerated up to this point. Perhaps, as in vv. 14–15, Joshua is referring to the inner attitudes of the people’s hearts.

Josh. 24:26–27 The title Book of the Law of God occurs elsewhere only in Neh. 8:18, where it is explicitly identified with the “Book of the Law of Moses” (Neh. 8:1) and “Book of the Law” (Neh. 8:3). Those same titles are also found in Joshua (see “Book of the Law” [Josh. 1:8] and note on 1:5–9, and “Book of the Law of Moses” [8:31] and note on 8:32). It is likely that “Book of the Law of God” in Joshua refers to the particular covenant enacted by Joshua with the people in 24:25. This writing has not survived, except as mentioned here. a large stone . . . a witness. This seventh monument in the land (see note on 4:20) reminds Israel to serve the Lord, who fulfilled every promise in bringing them into the land.

Josh. 24:29 Now at the end of his life, and for the first time, Joshua is called the servant of the Lord like Moses (see note on 1:1).

Josh. 24:31 Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and . . . elders. But what will happen in the next generation? See Judg. 2:6–15.

Josh. 24:32 Burying the bones of Joseph . . . at Shechem brings the book of Joshua (and the patriarchal history) to a fitting close. Joseph’s final wish is granted (Gen. 50:25; Ex. 13:19). All three aspects of God’s promise to the patriarchs are, at least in part, fulfilled. Israel has become a great nation; it stands in a blessed relationship to the Lord; and it has a land of its own.

Josh. 24:33 Eleazar the son of Aaron died. Given Eleazar’s importance (see note on 14:1) both in the Pentateuch and in Joshua, his death is one more sign of an era ending.