joshua-24:19-nlt

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 24:19-21

A strict master. Great as was Joshua's anxiety that the Israelites should renew their covenant with the Almighty, he would not secure this end by concealing the rigorous nature of the service it involved. Instead of accepting immediately the people's ready response (verse 18) to his appeal, he proceeded to speak of Jehovah in stern, almost chilling, language. True religion is honest, does not gloss over the requirements which will be insisted on, nor seek to entrap men by fair, smooth... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Joshua 24:19

Joshua 24:19. Ye cannot 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 alleges 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... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Joshua 24:1-33

23:1-24:33 JOSHUA’S FAREWELLNothing is recorded of events that occurred between Joshua’s division of the land and his farewell addresses to the nation many years later. His life was now drawing to a close (see v. 14), and he called Israel’s leaders together to pass on some encouragement and warning (23:1-2). He assured them that God would continue to fight for his people till all the remaining Canaanites were destroyed, provided his people remained true to the covenant. They were to love God,... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Joshua 24:19

Ye cannot serve. The Ellipsis must be supplied by adding from Joshua 24:14 . "Unless ye put away your idols". See App-6 . holy. See note on Exodus 6:5 . GOD. Hebrew. El. App-4 . sins. App-44 . read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Joshua 24:19

"And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve Jehovah; for he is a holy God; he will not forgive your transgression nor your sins. If ye forsake Jehovah and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you evil, and consume you, after that he hath done you good. And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve Jehovah. And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you Jehovah to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses. Now therefore put... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Joshua 24:19

Ver. 19. And Joshua said unto the people, ye cannot serve the Lord, &c.— These words may he understood two ways. 1. They may signify, "you will not serve the Lord; I foresee that ye will not keep your word:" in the same sense as it is said of Jesus Christ, that he could work no miracle at Nazareth, to express that he would not; or, as when he said to the Jews, ye cannot hear my word; i.e. your prejudices and passions hinder you from desiring it. 2. They may signify "the thing is difficult,... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Joshua 24:1-28

C. Israel’s second renewal of the covenant 24:1-28"Joshua did not merely settle for a series of public admonitions in order to guide Israel after his death. The twenty-fourth chapter describes a formal covenant renewal enacted at the site of Shechem for the purpose of getting a binding commitment on the part of the people of Israel to the written Word of God." [Note: Davis and Whitcomb, pp. 87-88.] The structure of this covenant renewal speech is similar to the typical Hittite suzerainty... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Joshua 24:14-24

3. Covenant stipulations 24:14-24On the basis of God’s great acts for them (Joshua 24:14), Joshua appealed to the Israelites to commit themselves to Him anew (cf. Romans 12:1-2). Though Israel was not as guilty of idolatry at this stage in her history as she was later, this sin existed in the nation to some degree (cf. Leviticus 17:7).Joshua’s offer to choose the God or gods they would serve (Joshua 24:15) was not, of course, an encouragement to consider the idols as an equally acceptable... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 24:1-33

Joshua’s Second and Final FarewellThis discourse (Joshua 24:1-15), with Israel’s response (Joshua 24:16-24), and consequent renewal of the Covenant (Joshua 24:25-28), occupies the bulk of the chapter. The book is then brought to a conclusion in three short paragraphs, recording (a) the death and burial of Joshua (Joshua 24:29-31), (b) the burial of Joseph’s bones (Joshua 24:32), and (c) the death of Eleazar (Joshua 24:33).1-15. This last address of Joshua, which is admitted by critics to be of... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Joshua 24:19

(19) And Joshua said . . . Ye cannot serve the Lord: for he is . . . jealous . . .—Jehovah will not consent to be served as one God among many: the very thing which Israel was doing at the moment, which they meant to do, and did do, with rare intervals, down to the Babylonish captivity, when the evil spirit of (literal) idolatry was expelled for evermore. Israel always maintained the worship of Jehovah (except in very evil times) as the national Deity, but did not abstain from the recognition... read more