Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joshua 24:2
And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, [even] Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods.
2. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel ] The title is significant. It recurs in Jos 24:23. Joshua recalls to the minds of the people the mercies of God as displayed in five great events:
(i) The Call of Abraham;
(ii) The Deliverance from Egypt;
(iii) The Defeat of the Amorites on the east of the Jordan, and the frustration of the machinations of Balaam;
(iv) The Passage of the Jordan and Capture of Jericho;
(v) The Victories over all the nations of Canaan.
on the other side of the flood ] Or better, on the other side of the river, i.e. the Euphra tes, in Ur of the Chaldees, and then in Haran (Gen 11:28; Gen 11:31). “Biond the flood,” Wyclif.
Terah ] The ancestor, through Abram, Nahor, and Haran, of the great families of the Ishmaelites, Israelites, Midianites, Moabites, and Ammonites (Gen 11:24-32). With his son Abram, his daughter-in-law Sarai, and his grandson Lot, he went in a north-westerly direction from Ur “into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there” (Gen 11:31), and at Haran he died at the age of 205 years (Gen 11:32).
and they served other gods ] The objects of nature, especially the heavenly bodies, were in those far-back times invested with a “glory” and a “freshness” which has long since “passed away” from the earth. They seemed to be instinct with a divinity which exercised an almost irresistible fascination over their first beholders. The sight of the “sun when it shined, and of the moon walking in brightness,” was a temptation as potent to them as to us it is inconceivable. “Their heart was secretly enticed, and their mouth kissed their hand” (Job 31:26-27). There was also another form of idolatry, though less universal in its influence. “There were giants on the earth in those days;” giants, if not actually, yet by their colossal strength and awful majesty; the Pharaohs and Nimrods, whose form we still trace on the ornaments of Egypt and Assyria in their gigantic proportions, the mighty hunters, the royal priests, the deified men. From the control of these powers, before which all meaner men bowed down, from the long ancestral prepossessions of ‘country and kindred and father’s house,’ the first worshippers of One who was above all alike, had painfully to disentangle themselves.” Stanley’s Jewish Church, Jos 1:15-16. Of the worship of “images,” or “Teraphim,” we have traces in Gen 31:19; Gen 31:30; Gen 31:34. Tradition asserts that Terah was a maker of idols, and that Abraham was persecuted in Ur of the Chaldees for refusing to take part in idolatries.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The other side of the flood – Better On the other side of the river, i. e. the Euphrates. See the marginal reference.
They served other gods – Possibly the images, or teraphim, which we find their ancestor Laban calling his gods (see the marginal reference); and of which it would seem that there were, as Joshua spoke, some secret devotees among the people Jos 24:14, Jos 24:25. It is not stated that Abraham himself was an idolater, though his fathers were. Jewish tradition asserts that Abraham while in Ur of the Chaldees was persecuted for his abhorrence of idolatry, and hence, was called away by God from his native land. The reference in the text to the original state of those who were the forefathers of the nation, is made to show that they were no better than others: God chose them not for their excellences but of His own mere motion.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 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 Ge 11:31; Ge 12:1. And for the rest of the history referred to here, see the notes on the parallel passages in the margin.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Unto all the people, i.e. that people which were present, to wit, to the elders, &c., by whom it was to be imparted to all the rest, and to as many of the people as came thither.
The flood, or, the river, to wit, Euphrates, as all agree; so called by way of eminency.
They served other gods, i.e. both Abraham and Nahor were no less idolaters than the rest of mankind. This is said to prevent their vain boasting in their worthy ancestors, and to assure them that whatsoever good was in or had been done by their progenitors, was wholly born Gods free grace, and not for their own merit or righteousness, as the Jews were very apt to conceit.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
2. Joshua said unto all thepeopleHis address briefly recapitulated the principal proofsof the divine goodness to Israel from the call of Abraham to theirhappy establishment in the land of promise; it showed them that theywere indebted for their national existence as well as their peculiarprivileges, not to any merits of their own, but to the free grace ofGod.
Your fathers dwelt on theother side of the floodThe Euphrates, namely, at Ur.
Terah, the father of Abraham,and the father of Nachor(see Ge11:27). Though Terah had three sons, Nahor only is mentioned withAbraham, as the Israelites were descended from him on the mother’sside through Rebekah and her nieces, Leah and Rachel.
served other godsconjoining,like Laban, the traditional knowledge of the true God with thedomestic use of material images (Gen 31:19;Gen 31:34).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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 w: 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 a different manner; perhaps he mean, the Captain of the Lord’s host,
Jos 15:13; and which is not unlikely:
your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time; on the offer side the, river Euphrates; so the Targum,
“beyond Perat;”
i.e. Euphrates; in Mesopotamia and Chaldea; meaning not the remotest of their ancestors, Noah and Shem, but the more near, and who are expressly named:
[even] Terah the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor; the Israelites sprung from Terah, in the line of Abraham, on the father’s side, and from him in the line of Nachor on the mother’s side, Rebekah, Leah, and Rachel, being of Nachor’s family:
and they served other gods; besides the true God, strange gods, which were no gods: “idols”; the idols of the people, as the Targum; so did Terah, Abraham, and Nachor; [See comments on Ge 11:26];
[See comments on Ge 11:28];
[See comments on Ge 12:1].
w Abulpharag. Hist. Dynast. p. 35.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
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 nothing in which they could glory, he leads them back to their origin, and reminds them how their fathers had dwelt in Chaldea, worshipping idols in common with others, and differing in nothing from the great body of their countrymen. Hence it is inferred that Abraham, when he was plunged in idolatry, was raised up, as it were, from the lowest deep.
The Jews, indeed, to give a false dignity to their race, fabulously relate that Abraham became an exile from his country because he refused to acknowledge the Chaldean fire as God. (197) But if we attend to the words of the inspired writer, we shall see that he is no more exempted from the guilt of the popular idolatry than Terah and Nachor. For why is it said that the fathers of the people served strange gods, and that Abraham was rescued from the country, but just to show how the free mercy of God was displayed in their very origin? Had Abraham been unlike the rest of his countrymen, his own piety would distinguish him. The opposite, however, is expressly mentioned to show that he had no peculiar excellence of his own which could diminish the grace bestowed upon him, and that therefore his posterity behooved to acknowledge that when he was lost, he was raised up from death unto life.
It seems almost an incredible and monstrous thing, that while Noah was yet alive, idolatry had not only spread everywhere over the world, but even penetrated into the family of Shem, in which at least, a purer religion ought to have flourished. How insane and indomitable human infatuation is in this respect, is proved by the fact that the holy Patriarch, on whom the divine blessing had been specially bestowed, was unable to curb his posterity, and prevent them from abandoning the true God, and prostituting themselves to superstition.
(197) One of the fables here alluded to is, that Terah was not only a worshipper but a maker of idols, and that Abraham, convinced of the absurdity of idolatrous worship, destroyed all his father’s idols. After doing so he labored to convince his father of the propriety of his conduct by a series of arguments which are gravely recorded, but not having succeeded in his pious endeavors, was forced to flee, and thus became a wanderer. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
2. On the other side of the flood Rather, the river; that is, the Euphrates. It was Ur in Chaldea, beyond the Euphrates, whence Abraham was called from an idolatrous family. Terah, with Abram his son, removed from Ur westerly to Haran, where he died aged two hundred and five years. Gen 11:29-32. That he was a maker of images is a mere legend.
[ They served other gods “It is not said distinctly of Abraham that he served other gods, on which account we agree with Knobel, who says: Whether, according to our author, Abraham also was originally an idolater, is rather to be denied than affirmed; comp. Gen 31:53. But dangerous even for him were the idolatrous surroundings; wherefore God took him and caused him to wander through Canaan.” Fay. But a love and reverence for the teraphim seemed rooted in the descendants of Terah. See note on Jos 24:14.]
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘ And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says YHWH, the God of Israel, ‘Your fathers dwelt in olden days beyond the River, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods.’ ” ’
Joshua now began the preamble to the covenant, the declaring of the acts of YHWH on behalf of His people. He began with Terah the father of Abraham and his brother Nahor, pointing out that Terah and his family were worshippers of false gods. The River was the River Euphrates. Israel were ‘descended’ from Terah through Abraham, and from Nahor through Rebekah.
This worshipping of false gods by Abraham’s relatives is not mentioned elsewhere in the Old Testament, but it is a clear assumption from Abraham’s call. He was called out from his family because of his new found faith in YHWH, probably garnered from reading the covenant records in the family archives which make up Genesis 1-11. There are other indications of it. Their connection was with the cities Ur and Haran, connected with Sin the moon god, (one of Terah’s sons was named after Haran), the name Sarai (princess) may connect with Sharratu, the consort of Sin, some have suggested that Milcah may connect with Malkatu, a title of Ishtar (Inanna) (see Gen 11:27-32). Rachel stole her father’s ‘gods’ (teraphim) – Gen 31:19. Jacob’s God was ‘the God of your father’ (Gen 31:29), and the God of Abraham is probably distinguished from the god of Nahor (Gen 31:53).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Ver. 2. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel This exordium indicates a prophetical discourse; so that Joshua was no less the prophet than the political head of the nation. It is not, therefore, so much he that speaks, as God by his mouth; and hence it is, that he expresses himself as the mere organ for the delivery of a discourse addressed by the Lord himself to all Israel.
The flood i.e. The river Euphrates.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Probably, the place of Joshua’s preaching suggested to him the story of Abraham ‘ s conversion. But, if not, nothing could be more proper than that in the recapitulation of God’s covenant love to his people, he should begin with that which magnified the distinguishing mercy of God. Reader! the sweetest views are those which enable us to look back and discover the love of God to us, when we had no love to him, nor to ourselves. To look unto the rock from whence we were hewn, and to the hole of the pit, from whence we were digged, are profitable reviews to the soul. Isa 51:1-2 . I cannot pass over the subject, of the call of Abraham, without desiring the Reader to remark with me, the freeness, and fullness, and sovereignty of God’s grace in such an instance. What soul can be apparently further from God than he was, when the Lord called him? Reader! do not overlook the sweet encouragement it holds forth to yourself, if haply you are yet in nature’s darkness, and to your careless and unawakened friends, or relations. Paul evidently referred to this, when he said that God can be just, and yet the justifier of the ungodly. Rom 4:3-5 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jos 24:2 And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, [even] Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods.
Ver. 2. And Joshua said unto all the people. ] Besides what he had said to them in the former chapter; so solicitous was he of the public welfare after his decease also. Cicero saith that this was his chiefest care: we are sure it was good Joshua’s.
Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood,
And they served other gods.
a Some of the Rabbis say that Terah got his living by making and selling of images.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Thus smith the LORD. A supplementary revelation by the Spirit of God, who knows all (Hebrew. Jehovah.
saith = hath said.
the LORD God. Hebrew. Jehovah Elohim. App-4.
flood = the river Euphrates.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Your fathers: Gen 11:26, Gen 11:31, Gen 12:1, Gen 31:53, Deu 26:5, Isa 51:2, Eze 16:3
served other gods: In the case of Abraham this was probably the case, till he was called to the knowledge of God, when above 70 years old. Jos 24:15, Gen 31:19, Gen 31:30, Gen 31:32, Gen 31:53, Gen 35:4
Reciprocal: Gen 11:22 – Nahor Gen 31:21 – passed Gen 31:29 – the God Gen 35:2 – strange Jos 24:14 – put 1Ch 1:27 – Abram Neh 9:7 – choose Isa 29:22 – who redeemed Isa 41:9 – whom Eze 16:4 – for Mat 1:2 – Abraham Mat 20:5 – and did Luk 3:34 – Thara Act 7:2 – when Rom 4:2 – but Rom 4:5 – ungodly Gal 4:8 – ye did
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jos 24:2. Joshua said unto all the people To the elders, by whom it was to be imparted to all the rest, and to as many of the people as came thither. He spake to them in Gods name, and as from him, in the language of a prophet. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, the great God, and the God of Israel, whom you are peculiarly bound to hear. This is an argument that he uttered all that follows by the divine inspiration and impulse. Indeed he was no less the prophet than the political head of the nation. Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood Or, the river, namely, Euphrates, so called by way of eminence. They served other gods That is, both Abraham and Nahor were no less idolaters than the rest of mankind. This is said to prevent their vain boasting in their worthy ancestors, and to assure them that whatsoever good was in, or had been done by their progenitors, was wholly from Gods free grace, and not for their own merit or righteousness.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
24:2 And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the {c} flood in old time, [even] Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods.
(c) Euphrates in Mesopotamia, Gen 11:26.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
2. Historical prologue 24:2-13
Joshua introduced what follows as the words of Yahweh, Israel’s God (Jos 24:2). Then he reviewed God’s great acts on behalf of His people, going back to the call of Abraham in Mesopotamia.
The "River" (Jos 24:2) is the Euphrates. Abraham’s family members were idolaters in Mesopotamia, and we may safely assume that Abraham was too. God’s call of Abraham was pure grace; there was nothing in Abraham that resulted in God choosing him for special blessing. Joshua probably mentioned Nahor because Rebekah, Leah, and Rachel descended from him. Two of the nations that had come from Abraham were Israel and Edom (Jos 24:4).
The Exodus was a second great proof of God’s grace to Israel (Jos 24:5-7). The provision of Moses and Aaron, as well as the sending of the plagues, were special gifts then. Israel’s deliverance from Egypt and her preservation in the wilderness were also highlights of God’s faithfulness during this period of Israel’s history.
God’s third great act for Israel was the Israelites’ victory over the Amorites east of the Jordan (Jos 24:8-10). God also frustrated Moab’s hostility by turning Balaam’s oracles into blessings.
The fourth divine provision was the crossing of the Jordan River and the consequent victory over the Canaanites (Jos 24:11-13). God routed Israel’s enemies for her by using various hornet-like terrors (Jos 24:12; cf. Exo 23:28; Deu 7:20).
In this section of verses (Jos 24:2-13), God said 17 times "I" did such and such for you. The emphasis is clearly on God’s great acts for Israel.