Joshua 24:11

24:1-14 We must never think our work for God done, till our life is done. If he lengthen out our days beyond what we expected, like those of Joshua, it is because he has some further service for us to do. He who aims at the same mind which was in Christ Jesus, will glory in bearing the last testimony to his Saviour's goodness, and in telling to all around, the obligations with which the unmerited goodness of God has bound him. The assembly came together in a solemn religious manner. Joshua spake to them in God's name, and as from him. His sermon consists of doctrine and application. The doctrinal part is a history of the great things God had done for his people, and for their fathers before them. The application of this history of God's mercies to them, is an exhortation to fear and serve God, in gratitude for his favour, and that it might be continued.

And ye went over Jordan,.... In a miraculous manner, the waters parting to make way for the host of Israel: and came unto Jericho; the first city of any size and strength in the land, which was about seven or eight miles from Jordan; See Gill on Numbers 22:1, and the men of Jericho fought against you; by endeavouring to intercept their spies, and cut them off; by shutting up the gates of their city against Israel; and it may be throwing darts, arrows, and stones, from off the walls of it at them. Kimchi thinks that some of the great men of Jericho went out from thence, to give notice and warning to the kings of Canaan of the approach of the Israelites, and in the mean time the city was taken; and that these afterwards joined with the kings in fighting against Joshua and the people of Israel: the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Hivites and the Jebusites; the seven nations of Canaan; this they did at different times, and in different places: and I delivered them into your hand; these nations and their kings.

Joshua 24:11-12 . I delivered them into your hand — Namely, successively; for in these few words he seems to comprise all their wars, which, being fresh in their memories, he thought it needless particularly to mention. I sent the hornet before you — This may signify, either that before the Israelites came into those parts, God sent hornets, which so infested the inhabitants, that many of them were compelled to leave their country; or that, when they were actually engaged in battle with their enemies, these dreadful swarms, which first appeared in their war with Sihon and Og, tormented the Canaanites 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, Exodus 23:27-28 ; and here Joshua reminds them of the fulfilment of the promise.

11 . And ye went over Jordan ] The fourth proof of the Divine favour: ( a ) the Passage of the Jordan , and ( b ) capture of Jericho ; and the fifth ( c ) the victory over the Canaanites . the men of Jericho ] i. e. the citizens of Jericho. Comp. Jdg 9:2-3 , “the men of Shechem;” Jdg 20:5 , “the men of Gibeah;” 2 Samuel 21:12 , “the men of Jabesh-gilead.” the Amorites ] On this enumeration of the nations, see above, ch. Joshua 3:10 .

Fought against you; made opposition against you, by shutting their gates, by endeavouring to cut off your spies, &c.; they warred against you, if not by an offensive, yet by a defensive war. In the names of these nations he seems to comprise all their wars, which being so fresh in their memory, he thought it needless particularly to mention.

And ye went over Jordan, and came unto Jericho: and the {e} 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. (e) Because it was the chief city, under it he contains all the country: else they of the city fought not.

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 Joshua 24:14, Joshua 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.

Verse 11. - And ye went over Jordan. This epitome of Joshua's deals with his own narrative just as it does with that of Moses. The miraculous portions of the history are passed over, or lightly touched, but there is not the slightest discrepancy between the speech and the history, and the miraculous element is presupposed throughout the former. The men of Jericho. Literally, the lords or possessors of Jericho. The seven Canaanitish tribes that follow are not identical with, but supplementary to, the lords of Jericho. Fought against you. The word is the same as that translated "warred" in ver. 9. The people of Jericho did not fight actively. They confined themselves to defensive operations. But these, of course, constitute war. Joshua 24:11

The last and greatest benefit which the Lord conferred upon the Israelites, was His leading them by miracles of His omnipotence across the Jordan into Canaan, delivering the Lords (or possessors) of Jericho," not "the rulers, i.e., the king and his heroes," as Knobel maintains (see 2 Samuel 21:12 ; 1 Samuel 23:11-12 ; and the commentary on Judges 9:6 ), "and all the tribes of Canaan into their hand," and sending hornets before them, so that they were able to drive out the Canaanites, particularly the two kings of the Amorites, Sihon and Og, though "not with their sword and their bow" (vid., Psalm 44:4 ); i.e., it was not with the weapons at their command that they were able to take the lands of these two kings. On the sending of hornets, as a figure used to represent peculiarly effective terrors, see at Exodus 23:28 ; Deuteronomy 7:20 . In this way the Lord gave the land to the Israelites, with its towns and its rich productions (vineyards and olive trees), without any trouble on their part of wearisome cultivation or planting, as Moses himself had promised them ( Deuteronomy 6:10-11 ).

31 . The effects of the great deliverance thus wrought for Israel: an increased fear of God, and belief in God, and also in Moses’ Divine commission. work ] Heb. hand , fig. for act or work ; cf. Deuteronomy 34:12 , Psalm 78:42 . believed in ] ‘The idiom rendered “he believed in” ( האמין ב ) is a very striking one: the belief intended is, not merely a crediting of a testimony concerning a person or a thing (this would be האמין ל ), but a laying firm hold morally on a person or a thing, without the help of any intermediate agency’ (Cheyne, s.v. Faith in EB. ). Cf. Genesis 15:6 . The root idea of האמין is to shew firmness or steadiness towards ( ל ) or on ( ב ) a person or a word: cf. Job 39:24 RVm., and the cognate subst. in ch. Exodus 17:12 ( Lex. ‘Moses’ hands were firmness ’). his servant ] A title applied to Moses elsewhere in the Pent. only Numbers 12:7-8 , Deuteronomy 34:5 (both JE). It is very common in the book of Joshua (mostly in parts which are the work of the Deuteronomic editor): Joshua 1:1-2 ; Joshua 1:7 ; Joshua 1:13 ; Joshua 1:15 , Joshua 8:31; Jos 8:33 , Joshua 9:24 , Joshua 11:12; Jos 11:15 , Joshua 12:6 , Joshua 13:8 , Joshua 14:7 , Joshua 18:7 , Joshua 22:2 ; Joshua 22:4-5 .

[Reformed Biblical] of all flesh, or of all men; the way which all men go; I am about to die, as all men must, #Hebrews 9:27 . The same phrase is #1 Kings 2:2 . ## Ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, i.e. you know assuredly; your own experience puts it out of all question. ## Not one thing hath failed. ## Quest. How is this true, when so great a part of the promised land and people yet remain unconquered? ## Answ. God promised them to destroy all their enemies, and to give them the whole land, not at once , but by degrees, by little and little , as is expressed #Deuteronomy 7:22 , and as was most convenient for them. Ver. 15. The accomplishment of God’s promises is a pledge or assurance that he will also fulfil his threatenings; both of them depending upon the same ground, the faithfulness of God. Ver. 16. No text from Poole on this verse. ## JOSHUA CHAPTER 24 Joshua assemble all the tribes at Shechem, #Joshua 24:1 . A brief history of God’s benefits from Terah: he exhorts them faithfully to serve the true God, #Joshua 24:2-13 . Reneweth a covenant between them and God; promising for himself and his house; the people four several times promising for themselves, #Joshua 24:11-25 . He writes this in the book of the law, and sets up a stone for a witness, #Joshua 24:26-28 . His age, death, and burial, #Joshua 24:29-31 . The burying of Joseph’s bones, #Joshua 24:32 . The death and burial of Eleazar, #Joshua 24:33 . Ver. 1. Gathered all the tribes of Israel, to wit, by their representatives, as #Joshua 23:2.