Joshua 24

Jos 24:1 And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God.

Shechem - situated between those mountains, Ebal and Gerizim, which had already been the scene of a solemn rehearsal of the covenant soon after the first entry of the people into the promised land Jos_8:30-35, Then Joshua built an altar to Jehovah, the God of Israel in Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of Jehovah commanded the sons of Israel, as it is written in the book of the Law of Moses, an altar of whole stones over which no man has lifted any iron. And they offered on it burnt offerings to Jehovah, and sacrificed peace offerings. And he wrote there on the stones a copy of the Law of Moses, which he wrote in the presence of the sons of Israel. And all Israel, and their elders and officers, and their judges, stood on this side of the ark, and on that side, before the priests the Levites who bore the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, the stranger as well as the homeborn among them, half of them over against Mount Gerizim, and half of them over against Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of Jehovah had commanded before that they should bless all the people of Israel. And afterward he read all the words of the Law, the blessings and cursings, according to all that is written in the book of the Law. There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua did not read before all the congregation of Israel, with the women and the little ones, and the strangers that walked among them. This was a fitting scene for the solemn renewal on the part of the people of that covenant with God which had been on His part so signally and so fully kept. The spot itself suggested the allusions to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, etc., in Joshua’s address; and its associations could not but give special force and moving effect to his appeals. This address was not made to the rulers only but to the whole nation, not of course to the tribes assembled in mass, but to their representatives.

Shechem - a place famous in the patriarchal history. Here Abraham settled on his first coming into the land of Canaan, Gen_12:6-7 And Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, unto the Oak of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. And Jehovah appeared to Abram and said, I will give this land to your seed. And he built an altar there to Jehovah who appeared to him; and here the patriarchs were buried, Act_7:16 and were carried over into Shechem. And they were laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a price of silver from the sons of Emmor the father of Shechem. For the solemn burial of the bones of Joseph, and the rest of the patriarchs, for which this place was designed.

they presented themselves before God--It is generally assumed that the ark of the covenant had been transferred on this occasion to Shechem; as on extraordinary emergencies it was for a time removed (Jdg. 20:1-18; 1Sa_4:3; 2Sa_15:24). But the statement, not necessarily implying this, may be viewed as expressing only the religious character of the ceremony

And they placed themselves before God - From the expression “before God,” it by no means follows that the ark had been brought to Shechem. For, in the first place, “before God” (Elohim) is not to be identified with “before Jehovah,” which is used in Jos_18:6 and Jos_19:51 to denote the presence of the Lord above the ark of the covenant; and secondly, even “before Jehovah” does not always presuppose the presence of the ark of the covenant. “Before God” simply denotes in a general sense the religious character of an act, or shows that the act was undertaken with a distinct reference to the omnipresent God; and in the case before us it may be attributed to the fact that Joshua delivered his exhortation to the people in the name of Jehovah, and commenced his address with the words, “Thus saith Jehovah.”

And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem - Joshua brought his public ministry to a close, as Moses had done before him, with a solemn renewal of the covenant with the Lord. For this solemn act he did not choose Shiloh, the site of the national sanctuary, but Shechem, a place which was sanctified as no other was for such a purpose as this by the most sacred reminiscences from the times of the patriarchs.

And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem - As Jacob selected Shechem for the sanctification of his house, because this place was already consecrated by Abraham as a sanctuary of God, so Joshua chose the same place for the renewal of the covenant, because this act involved a practical renunciation on the part of Israel of all idolatry. Joshua expressly states this in Jos_24:23, and reference is also made to it in the account in Jos_24:26.

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.

Joshua's address contains an expansion of two thoughts. He first of all recalls to the recollection of the whole nation, whom he is addressing in the persons of its representatives, all the proofs of His mercy which the Lord had given, from the calling of Abraham to that day (Jos_24:2-13); and then because of these divine acts he calls upon the people to renounce all idolatry, and to serve God the Lord alone (Jos_24:14, Jos_24:15).

God of Israel - Jehovah is described as the “God of Israel” both at the commencement (Jos_24:2) and also at the close of the whole transaction, in perfect accordance with the substance and object of the address, which is occupied throughout with the goodness conferred by God upon the race of Israel. The first practical proof of the grace of God towards Israel, was the calling of Abraham from his idolatrous associations, and his introduction to the land of Canaan, where the Lord so multiplied his seed, that Esau received the mountains of Seir for his family, whilst Jacob went into Egypt with his sons.

other side of the stream - The ancestors of Israel dwelt “from eternity” from time immemorial, on the other side of the stream (the Euphrates) in Ur of the Chaldees, and then at Haran in Mesopotamia (Gen_11:28, Gen_11:31), namely Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor.

Terah the father of Abraham - Of Terah's three sons (Gen_11:27), Nahor is mentioned as well as Abraham, because Rebekah, and her nieces Leah and Rachel, the tribe-mothers of Israel, were descended from him (Gen_22:23; Gen_29:10, Gen_29:16.).

they served other gods - Nothing definite can be gathered from the expression “other gods,” with reference to the gods worshipped by Terah and his family; nor is there anything further to be found respecting them throughout the whole of the Old Testament. We simply learn from Gen_31:19, Gen_31:34, that Laban had teraphim, i.e., penates, or household and oracular gods. The question also, whether Abraham was an idolater before his call, which has been answered in different ways, cannot be determined with certainty. We may conjecture, however, that he was not deeply sunk in idolatry, though he had not remained entirely free from it in his father's house; and therefore that his call is not to be regarded as a reward for his righteousness before God, but as an act of free unmerited grace. 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. 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 God's free grace, and not for their own merit or righteousness.

They served other gods - Possibly the “images,” or teraphim, which we find their ancestor Laban calling “his gods”; and of which it would seem that there were, as Joshua spoke, some secret devotees among the people Jos_24:14,

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.

served other gods--conjoining, like Laban, the traditional knowledge of the true God with the domestic use of material images (Gen_31:19, Gen_31:34).

Jos 24:3 And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac.

After his call, God conducted Abraham through all the land of Canaan (see Gen 12), protecting and shielding him, and multiplied his seed, giving him Isaac, and giving to Isaac Jacob and Esau, the ancestors of two nations. To the latter He gave the mountains of Seir for a possession (Gen_36:6.), that Jacob might receive Canaan for his descendants as a sole possession. But instead of mentioning this, Joshua took for granted that his hearers were well acquainted with the history of the patriarchs, and satisfied himself with mentioning the migration of Jacob and his sons to Egypt, that he might pass at once to the second great practical proof of the mercy of God in the guidance of Israel, the miraculous deliverance of Israel out of the bondage and oppression of Egypt.

from the other side of the flood - The river Euphrates, as before:

and led him throughout all the land of Canaan - from the northern to the southern part of it; he led him as far as Shechem, where Israel was now assembled, and then to Bethel, and still onward to the south, Gen_12:6; that he might have a view of the land his posterity was to inherit, and, by treading on it and walking through it, take as it were a kind of possession of it:

and multiplied his seed - he multiplied his seed by Hagar, by whom he had Ishmael, who begat twelve princes; and by Keturah, from whose sons several nations sprung; see Gen_17:20; and by Sarah, who bore him Isaac in old age, in whom his seed was called; and from whom, in the line of Jacob, sprung the twelve tribes of Israel, and which seed may be chiefly meant; and the sense is, that he multiplied his posterity after he had given him Isaac, and by him a numerous seed.

I took your father - I snatched him out of that idolatrous place, and took him into acquaintance and covenant with myself, which was the highest honor and happiness he was capable of.

Jos 24:4 And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave unto Esau mount Seir, to possess it; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt.

I gave unto Esau Mount Seir - that Jacob and his posterity alone might inherit Canaan, and Esau and his seed make no pretension to it:

Jacob and his children went down into Egypt - where they continued many years, and great part of the time in bondage and misery, which is here taken no notice of; and this was in order to their being brought into the land of Canaan, and that the power and goodness of God might be the more conspicuous in it.

Jos 24:5 I sent Moses also and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them: and afterward I brought you out.

I sent Moses also and Aaron - To demand Israel's dismissal of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and to be the deliverers of them:

I plagued Egypt - inflicting ten plagues upon them for refusing to let Israel go:

Jos 24:6 And I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and ye came unto the sea; and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and horsemen unto the Red sea.

And I brought your fathers out of Egypt - Which more fully expresses the sense of the last clause of Jos_24:5.

and you came unto the sea - which respects some senior persons then present; for, besides Caleb and Joshua, there were many at this time alive who came to and passed through the Red sea, at their coming out of Egypt; for those whose carcasses fell in the wilderness were such as were more than twenty years of age at their coming out from Egypt, and who were the murmurers in the wilderness; and it may be reasonably supposed, that many of those who were under twenty years of age at that time were now living:

and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers - with chariots and horsemen; of the number of their chariots and horsemen, Exo_14:7 And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them; with these they pursued the Israelites, not only unto, but into the Red sea, following them into it; the reason of which is given in Jos_24:7.

Jos 24:7 And when they cried unto the LORD, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt: and ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season.

And when they cried unto the Lord - That is, the Israelites, being in the utmost distress, the sea before them, Pharaoh's large host behind them, and the rocks on each side of them; Exo_14:10 And Pharaoh drew near, the sons of Israel lifted up their eyes. And, behold, the Egyptians marched after them. And they were very afraid. And the sons of Israel cried out to the LORD.

he put darkness between you and the Egyptians - the pillar of cloud, the dark side of which was turned to the Egyptians, and which was the reason of their following the Israelites into the sea; for not being able to see their way, knew not where they were; Exo_14:20 And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. And it was a cloudy and dark night, but it gave light to the night, so that the one did not come near the other all night.

your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt - what signs and wonders were wrought there, before they were brought out of it, and what he had done to and upon the Egyptians at the Red sea; some then present had been eyewitnesses of them:

your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt - He spoke to the elders, Jos_24:1, who were so, not only by power and dignity, but many of them by age; and there being now not sixty years past since those Egyptian plagues, it is very probable that a considerable number of those present, had seen those things in Egypt, and being not twenty years old, were exempted from that dreadful sentence passed upon all who were older, Num_14:29 Your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against Me.

and ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season - forty years, where they had the law given them, were preserved from many evils and enemies, were fed with manna, and supplied with the necessaries of life, were led about and instructed, and at length brought out of it.

Jos 24:8 And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, which dwelt on the other side Jordan; and they fought with you: and I gave them into your hand, that ye might possess their land; and I destroyed them from before you.

I brought you into the land of the Amorites - The kingdoms of Sihon and Og, and they fought with you; the two kings of them, and their armies:

I gave them into your hand, that ye might possess their land - and which was now possessed by the two tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh:

I destroyed them from before you - the kings, their forces, and the inhabitants of their countries; the history of which see in Num_21:10.

Jos 24:9 Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you:

arose and warred against Israel - This circumstance is not related in Numbers 22:1-41, nor does it appear in that history that the Moabites attacked the Israelites; and probably the warring here mentioned means no more than his attempts to destroy them by the curses of Balaam, and the wiles of the Midianite women.

and warred against Israel - though he did not come to a battle, he made use of stratagems and wiles, and magical arts, to hurt them, and sent for Balaam to curse them, that they both together might smite the Israelites, and drive them out of the land, Num_22:6;

Jos 24:10 But I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed you still: so I delivered you out of his hand.

I would not hearken unto Balaam - Who was very solicitous to get leave of the Lord to curse Israel, which he knew he could not do without.

therefore he blessed you still - went on blessing Israel to the last, when Balak hoped every time he would have cursed them; and Balaam himself was very desirous of doing it; but could not, being overruled by the Lord.

Jos 24:11 And ye went over Jordan, and came unto Jericho: and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I delivered them into your hand.

The men of Jericho fought against you - The people of Jericho are said to have fought against the Israelites, because they opposed them by shutting their gates, etc., though they did not attempt to meet them in the field.

And ye went over Jordan - In a miraculous manner, the waters parting to make way for the host of Israel:

the Amorites, and the Perizzites - the seven nations of Canaan are mentioned here; this they did at different times, and in different places: in these few words he seems to comprise all their wars, which being so fresh in their memory, he thought it needless particularly to mention.

Jos 24:12 And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; but not with thy sword, nor with thy bow.

And I sent the hornet before you - Exo_23:28 And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite before you.

not with thy sword, nor with thy bow - but by insects of the Lord's sending to them, which so blinded their eyes, that they could not see to fight, and so Israel came upon them, and slew them; in which the hand of the Lord was manifestly seen. These dreadful swarms which first appeared in their war with Sihon and Og, tormented them with their stings and terrified them with their noise, so that they became an easy prey to Israel. God had promised to do this for them, Exo_23:27-28.

Jos 24:13 And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat.

Jos 24:14 Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.

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;

and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt - that is, express an abhorrence of them, and keep at a distance from them, and show that you are far from giving in to such idolatries your ancestors were guilty of, when they lived on the other side Euphrates, in Chaldea, or when they were sojourners in Egypt;

The gods - Whereby it appears, that although Joshua had doubtless prevented and purged out all public idolatry, yet there were some of them who practised it in their private houses and retirements.

Jos 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

choose this day whom you will serve - Service of God in sincerity and truth can only result from a free and willing allegiance of the heart. As the true worship of the living God must have its roots in the heart, and spring from the heart, and therefore cannot be forced by prohibitions and commands, Joshua concluded by calling upon the representatives of the nation, in case they were not inclined (“if it seem evil unto you”) to serve Jehovah, to choose now this day the gods whom they would serve, whether the gods of their fathers in Mesopotamia, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land they were now dwelling, though he and his house would serve the Lord.

It is essential that the service of God's people be performed with a willing mind. For LOVE is the only genuine principle whence all acceptable service of God can spring. The Father seeks only such to worship him, as worship him in spirit and in truth. The carnal mind of man is enmity against God, therefore, is not capable of such spiritual worship. Hence the necessity of being born again.

Jos 24:16 And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods;

Jos 24:17 For the LORD our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed:

that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage – This calls to mind the words appended to the first commandment Exo_20:2 I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Deu_5:6 I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, which they hereby promise to observe. With the clause which follows, “who did those great signs in our sight,” etc., they declare their assent to all that Joshua had called to their mind in Jos_24:3-13.

Jos 24:18 And the LORD drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the LORD; for he is our God.

And the Lord drave out from before us all the people - The seven nations of the land of Canaan:

even the Amorites which dwelt in the land - the strongest and most populous of the nations, Amo_2:9 Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above and his roots from below.

Jos 24:19 And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.

Ye cannot serve the Lord: for he is a holy God - If we are to take this literally, we cannot blame the Israelites for their defection from the worship of the true God; for if it was impossible for them to serve God, they could not but come short of his kingdom: but surely this was not the case. If the common reading be preferred, the meaning of the place must be, “Ye cannot serve the Lord, for he is holy and jealous, unless ye put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the flood. For he is a jealous God, and will not give to nor divide his glory with any other. He is a holy God, and will not have his people defiled with the impure worship of the Gentiles.”

Ye cannot serve the Lord: for he is a holy God - He speaks not of an absolute impossibility, (for then both his resolution to serve God himself, and his exhortation to them had been vain) but of a moral impossibility, or a very great difficulty, which he alledges not to discourage them from God's service, but to make them more considerate in obliging themselves; and more resolved in answering their obligations. The meaning is, God's service is not, as you seem to fancy, a slight and easy thing, but it is a work of great difficulty, and requires great care, and courage and resolution;

for he is an holy God - In the Hebrew text it is, "for the Holy Ones are he": which may serve to illustrate and confirm the doctrine of the trinity of, persons in the unity of the divine Essence, or of the three divine holy Persons, holy Father, holy Son, holy Spirit, as the one God, Isa_6:3 And one cried to another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth full of His glory.

Jos 24:20 If ye forsake the LORD, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good.

If you forsake the Lord, and serve strange gods - Joshua knew the proneness of this people to idolatry, and therefore expresses his jealousy of them, that they would not be able to continue in the service of God, and would be apt to be carried away after idols; and therefore, to make them the more cautious and watchful, he represents to them the danger they were in, and what would befall them should they forsake the Lord they now promised to serve, and follow after other gods.

Jos 24:21 And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the LORD.

Jos 24:22 And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the LORD, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses.

Ye are witnesses against yourselves - Ye have been sufficiently apprised of the difficulties in your way - of God’s holiness - your own weakness and inconstancy - the need you have of Divine help, and the awful consequences of apostasy; and now ye deliberately make your choice. That is, should they, after this choice of him, which they had so publicly declared, desert his service, and go into idolatry, their testimony would rise up against them, and they would, be self-condemned.

Jos 24:23 Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel.

the strange gods which are among you - the idols of the Gentiles; either such as they had brought out of Egypt, or had found among the plunder of the Canaanites, and had secretly retained; or, as others think, their "penates", or household gods, they had privately kept and worshipped, such as those that were in Jacob's family, which he caused to be delivered to him, and which he hid under an oak in this place where Israel were now assembled, Gen_35:2 Then Jacob said to his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods among you, and be clean, and change your garments; and which Joshua by a prophetic discerning spirit perceived were now among them:

Jos 24:24 And the people said unto Joshua, The LORD our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey.

And the people said unto Joshua - A third time, that as by the mouth of two or three witnesses everything is confirmed, so by three testimonies of the same persons: Joshua completed the covenant with them that day. This conclusion of a covenant was really a solemn renewal of the covenant made at Sinai, like that which took place under Moses in the steppes of Moab (Deu_29:1).

Jos 24:25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.

Made a covenant with the people - He solemnly ratified and renewed the covenant of Sinai, as Moses had done before him Deu_29:1These are the words of the covenant which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the sons of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which He made with them in Horeb.

Joshua made a covenant - Literally, Joshua cut the covenant, alluding to the sacrifice offered on the occasion.

Jos 24:26 And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the LORD.

That was by the sanctuary of the Lord - the spot where Abraham and Jacob had sacrificed and worshipped, and which might well be regarded by their posterity as a holy place or sanctuary. Perhaps the very altar of Abraham and Jacob was still remaining. Or it could refer to the field or place where the ark was, which made it sacred, and upon which account the place was called a sanctuary, or an holy place. Jewish tradition states that this was the same oak under which Jacob hid the strange gods of his family in Shechem, Gen_35:4 And they gave all the strange gods which were in their hands to Jacob, and the earrings in their ears. And Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.

in the book of the law of God - written by Moses, and which he ordered to be put in the side of the ark, and that being now present, the book could be easily taken out, and these words inserted in it, Deu_31:26 Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, so that it may be there for a witness against you.

Took a great stone and set it up - As a witness and monument of this great transaction, according to the custom of those ancient times to erect stone pillars as monuments of public transactions. Possibly this agreement was written upon this stone, as was then usual.

Jos 24:27 And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the LORD which he spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God.

this stone shall be a witness to us - That is, the stone itself, from its permanency, shall be in all succeeding ages as competent and as substantial a witness as one who had been present at the transaction, and heard all the words which on both sides were spoken on the occasion.

this stone shall be a witness to us - for it hath heard all the words of the Lord which he spake unto us; this is said by a figure called "prosopopaeia", frequent in Scripture, by which inanimate creatures are represented as hearing, seeing, and speaking, and may signify, that should the Israelites break this covenant, and disobey the commands of the Lord they had promised to keep, they would be as stupid and senseless as this stone, or more so, which would rise in judgment against them. Nachmanides a Jewish commentator, interprets this stone of the Messiah, the same as in Gen_49:24 But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob (from the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel).

It hath heard - It shall be as sure a witness against you, as if it had heard. This is a common figure, whereby the sense of hearing is often ascribed to the heavens and the earth, and other senseless creatures.

Jos 24:28 So Joshua let the people depart, every man unto his inheritance.

Jos 24:29 And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old.

Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of Jehovah, died - This event probably took place shortly after this public assembly, very probably the same year; for he was old and stricken in years when he held the assembly mentioned Jos_23:2; and as his work was now all done, and his soul ripened for a state of blessedness, God took him to himself, being one hundred and ten years of age; exactly the same age as that of the patriarch Joseph. He was buried, according to the Jewish practice, in his hereditary possessions.

Jos 24:30 And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathserah, which is in mount Ephraim, on the north side of the hill of Gaash.

And they buried him - This was his own inheritance, as we have seen Jos_19:50. The Septuagint adds Joshua 24:30 And they buried him by the borders of his inheritance in Thamnasarach in the mount of Ephraim, northward of the mount of Galaad: there they put with him into the tomb in which they buried him, the knives of stone with which he circumcised the children of Israel in Galgala, when he brought them out of Egypt, as the Lord appointed them; and there they are to this day. (Septuagint)

Jos 24:31 And Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the LORD, that he had done for Israel.

And Israel served the Lord - Though there was private idolatry among them, for they had strange gods, yet there was no public idolatry all the days of Joshua and of the elders that overlived Joshua. These could not overlive Joshua a great many years, for, in the times of Chushanrishathaim, Israel fell into idolatry.

Jos 24:32 And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for an hundred pieces of silver: and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph.

And the bones of Joseph - This burying of the bones of Joseph probably took place when the conquest of the land was completed, and each tribe had received its inheritance; for it is not likely that this was deferred till after the death of Joshua. Very probably as soon as the tribe of Ephraim was in the quiet possession of this place; though the historian inserts the account of it here, taking an occasion for it from the interment of Joshua: At the request, and by the order of Joseph, Gen_50:25 And Joseph took an oath of the sons of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here; which were punctually observed by the children of Israel under the direction and command of Moses, and therefore is ascribed to him, Exo_13:19 And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him. For he had strictly sworn the sons of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and you shall carry my bones away from here with you.

And the bones of Joseph - One reason why Joshua called all Israel to Shechem, might be to attend Joseph's bones to the grave. So that he now delivered as it were both Joseph's funeral sermon, and his own farewell sermon. And if it was in the last year of his life, the occasion might well remind him, of his own death now at hand. For he was just of the same age with his illustrious ancestor, who died being one hundred and ten years old, Gen_50:26.

for an hundred pieces of silver--Kestitah translated, "piece of silver," is supposed to mean "a lamb," the weights being in the form of lambs or kids, which were, in all probability, the earliest standard of value among pastoral people.

Jos 24:33 And Eleazar the son of Aaron died; and they buried him in a hill that pertained to Phinehas his son, which was given him in mount Ephraim.

Eleazar the son of Aaron died - Very probably in a short time after Joshua;

which was given him in Mount Ephraim - either to Eleazar, that he might be near to Shiloh, where the tabernacle then was, as the cities given to the priests and Levites were chiefly in those tribes that lay nearest to Jerusalem; though the Jews say that Phinehas might come into the possession of that place through his wife, or it might fall to him as being a devoted field; but it is most likely it was given to his father by the children of Ephraim, for the reason before observed.

The Talmudists say, that Joshua wrote his own book, which is very probable; yet the last five verses, Jos_24:29, must be written by another hand, even as the last eight verses in Deuteronomy, Deu_34:5, were written by him, as they also say; and therefore this is no more an objection to his being the writer of this book, than the addition of eight verses by him to Deuteronomy is to Moses being the writer of that book.

At the end of this verse the Septuagint adds more information. Joshua 24:33 And it came to pass afterwards that Eleazar the high-priest the son of Aaron died, and was buried in Gabaa of Phinees his son, which he gave him in mount Ephraim. In that day the children of Israel took the ark of God, and carried it about among them; and Phinees exercised the priest's office in the room of Eleazar his father till he died, and he was buried in his own place Gabaa: but the children of Israel departed every one to their place, and to their own city: and the children of Israel worshipped Astarte, and Astaroth, and the gods of the nations round about them; and the Lord delivered them into the hands of Eglom king of Moab and he ruled over them eighteen years. (Septuagint)