joshua-24:14-21

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

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 24:16

God forbid that we should forsake the Lord - That they were now sincere cannot be reasonably doubted, for they served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and the elders that outlived him, Joshua 24:31 ; but afterwards they turned aside, and did serve other gods. "It is ordinary," says Mr. Trapp, "for the many-headed multitude to turn with the stream - to be of the same religion with their superiors: thus at Rome, in Diocletian's time, they were pagans; in Constantine's... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 24:19

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. Instead of תוכלו לא lo thuchelu , ye Cannot serve, etc., some eminent critics read תכלו לא lo thechallu , ye shall not Cease to serve, etc. This is a very ingenious... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 24:21

And the people said - Nay ; but we will serve , etc. - So they understood the words of Joshua to imply no moral impossibility on their side: and had they earnestly sought the gracious assistance of God, they would have continued steady in his covenant. 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

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 24:16

Verse 16 16.And the people answered and said, etc Here we see he had no reason to repent of the option given, when the people, not swearing in the words of another, nor obsequiously submitting to extraneous dictation, declare that it would be an impious thing to revolt from God. And thus it tends, in no small degree, to confirm the covenant, when the people voluntarily lay the law upon themselves. The substance of the answer is, that since the Lord has, by a wonderful redemption, purchased them... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 24:19

Verse 19 19.And Joshua said unto the people, etc Here Joshua seems to act altogether absurdly in crushing the prompt and alert zeal of the people, by suggesting ground of alarm. For to what end does he insist that they cannot serve the Lord, unless it be to make them, from a sense of their utter powerlessness, to give themselves up to despair, and thus necessarily become estranged from the fear of God. It was necessary, however, to employ this harsh mode of obtestation, in order to rouse a... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 24:1-22

The Renewal of the Covenant Joshua gathers all the tribes together to Shechem, and calls for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers, and they presented themselves before God. "And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen you the Lord to serve Him. And they said, We are witnesses. So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day." There are few more beautiful incidents in the Old Testament than... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 24:1-22

The Renewal of the Covenant Joshua gathers all the tribes together to Shechem, and calls for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers, and they presented themselves before God. "And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen you the Lord to serve Him. And they said, We are witnesses. So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day." There are few more beautiful incidents in the Old Testament than... read more

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

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 24:16

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 24:19

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 24:21

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

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 24:16

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 24:19

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 24:1-22

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 24:1-22

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