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Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents
24:1-33 Covenant Renewal at Shechem. In the ancient Near East, treaties or covenants between a suzerain and his vassal(s) (i.e., a superior and his subjects) often displayed a standard format. For an outline showing how the ceremony at Shechem compared to such treaties, see chart.
24:1 Shechem. See 8:30-33 and Judges 9. The archaeological record demonstrates that the city of Shechem was an important center of pagan worship in the Middle Bronze Age (). Extensive excavations at the mound known as Tell Balatah have revealed a large town surrounded by an elaborate fortification system. Several large and imposing "courtyard temples" have been discovered there. It is likely that the covenant renewal under Joshua took place in the excavated Fortress Temple at Shechem. It was originally constructed in the , and it is perhaps the worship center called El-berith in Judg. 9:46.
24:2 Thus says the Lord. Joshua's utterance of these words further confirms his status as the true successor to Moses (Deut. 5:27; 18:15-19).
24:12 the hornet. Some interpreters understand this as a literal reference to divine intervention using insects. However, the text says "the hornet" (singular) rather than "hornets" (plural). Others take this as a reference to Egypt (the "hornet" being a symbol of Lower Egypt), but no mention of Egypt is found here or in the other related narratives. Therefore it seems best to take this as a figurative expression, with "hornet" as a metaphor for the sting of fear that the Lord inflicts on his enemies; see Ex. 23:28, where "hornet" (singular in Hb.) is paralleled in the preceding verse by "my terror" (cf. also Deut. 7:20). The focus in all three contexts where "hornet" appears is on the Lord's driving out Israel's enemies.
24:14 Against the backdrop of the Lord's faithfulness in fulfilling all his good promises, Israel is called to fear the Lord--a technical expression connoting not simply fear but reverence and true devotion--and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Israel's duty to "serve" (or "worship") the Lord is the dominant theme in the final major section of the book of Joshua (chs. 22-24). The word "serve" in Hebrew (‘abad) occurs no fewer than
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 (i.e., if they prefer not to be loyal to the one true God, the Lord alone), then they must choose between two different categories of false gods:
24:19-21 You are not able to serve the Lord. Joshua's point is surely not that the people are asked to do something impossible but, rather, that serving a holy and jealous God cannot be done casually or without divine assistance. It is disconcerting that the people simply reassert their claim--No, but we will serve the Lord (v. 21)--rather than ask for further instruction or prayer (cf. 1 Sam. 7:8). Joshua's warning in Josh. 24:19 that he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins is not to suggest that God is unforgiving (quite the contrary) but that he cannot condone apostasy, the point at issue in context.
24:23 The mention of foreign gods makes the reader wonder how they could have been tolerated up to this point. Perhaps, as in vv. 14-15, Joshua is referring to the inner motives of their hearts.
24:24-25 The people make their promise. What sincerity and obedience will the following years reveal?
24:26-27 wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God. The title "Book of the Law of God" occurs elsewhere only at 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" [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 "the Book of the Law of God" in Joshua refers, not to additions Joshua makes to the Mosaic legislation (although Joshua is a likely source for Deuteronomy 34, the account of Moses' death), but to the particular covenant enacted by Joshua with the people in Josh. 24:25, in which the people reaffirm their intention to be true to the Mosaic covenant. In that case the writing has not survived, except here in the book of Joshua. a large stone . . . a witness. This seventh monument in the land (see note on 4:20) serves as a reminder of Israel's duty to serve the Lord, who fulfilled every promise in bringing them into the land.
24:29 Now at the end of his life, and for the first time, Joshua is called the servant of the Lord, an appellation Moses received at the end of his life (Deut. 34:5) and by which he is often referred to in the book of Joshua (see note on Josh. 1:1). Like Joseph before him (Gen. 50:26), Joshua is credited with a life span of
24:31 The statement that Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua and of the elders of his generation seems encouraging at first glance. But upon reflection, it is vaguely unsettling, as it allows that Israel's faithful service may be limited. What will happen in the next generation? Cf. Judg. 2:6-15.
24:32 The burial of the bones of Joseph . . . at Shechem brings the book of Joshua (and indeed, the patriarchal history) to a fitting close. Joseph's final wish is granted (Gen. 50:25; Ex. 13:19), and 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 blessed relationship to the Lord; and it has a land of its own.
