Joshua 24:29

The Septuagint says, "In Shiloh, before the tabernacle of the God of Israel;" and some expositors, induced by this and other considerations, labor, though with little plausibility, to show that the whole transaction here recorded took place at Shiloh, and that the name of Shechem is not here given to the town of that name, but to a district so large, that even Shiloh was included in it. — Ed. The Septuagint here transposes Joshua 24:29 and 31, and to the end of Joshua 24:29, thus made its Joshua 24:31, appends the singular statement that they deposited, within the tomb which they erected for him there, the stone knives with which he circumcised the children of Israel at Gilgal, when he brought them out of Egypt, as the Lord commanded them; and there they are at this day. — Ed. The French adds, "Et on le laisse la dormir;" "And it is left to sleep there." — Ed. When these words were penned, the venerable writer, though it could scarcely be said of him that he was, like Joshua, "old and stricken in age," was, however, like him, visibly "going the way of all the earth." In such circumstances, can we doubt, that these words contain a presentiment of the fearful decline which, after his own death, was to take place in the Church of Geneva? — Ed. 1 And it came to pass after the death of Moses, that Jehovah addressed Joshua, saying, --

24:29-33 Joseph died in Egypt, but gave commandment concerning his bones, that they should not rest in their grave till Israel had rest in the land of promise. Notice also the death and burial of Joshua, and of Eleazar the chief priest. The most useful men, having served their generation, according to the will of God, one after another, fall asleep and see corruption. But Jesus, having spent and ended his life on earth more effectually than either Joshua or Joseph, rose from the dead, and saw no corruption. And the redeemed of the Lord shall inherit the kingdom he prepared for them from the foundation of the world. They will say in admiration of the grace of Jesus, Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

And it came to pass, after these things,.... Some little time after, very probably the same year: that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being an hundred and ten years old; he wanted ten years of Moses his predecessor, Deuteronomy 34:7, and just the age of Joseph, Genesis 50:22, from whom he sprung, being of the tribe of Ephraim, Numbers 13:8.

(29) An hundred and ten years old. —The mention in Joshua 24:31 of “elders that prolonged their days after Joshua” seems to suggest that Joshua’s death was comparatively an early death. [15] Had he thought and laboured more for himself and less for Israel, he also might have prolonged his days. But, like his Antitype, he pleased not himself, and, like a good and faithful servant, he entered all the sooner into the joy of his Lord. [15] Yet Brugsch states that the Egyptians “addressed to the host of the holy gods the prayer to preserve and lengthen life, if possible, to the most perfect old age of 110 years.” This may be a reminiscence of the life of Joseph, which reached this length (Genesis 50:26).

29–33. Death of Joshua and Eleazar 29 . And it came to pass ] With the close of Joshua’s parting address comes the close also of his own life. The historian proceeds to bring the book to a conclusion, and tells us of (i) the death of Joshua; (ii) the conduct of the people after his death; (iii) the burial of the remains of Joseph, which had been brought out of Egypt; (iv) the death of Eleazar the high-priest. Joshua … the servant of the Lord, died ] His work was now over. His work of war, and his work of peace. His age when he died was precisely that which Joseph reached ( Genesis 50:26 ), a hundred and ten years.

Jos 24:29, 30. His Age and Death. 29, 30. Joshua … died—Lightfoot computes that he lived seventeen, others twenty-seven years, after the entrance into Canaan. He was buried, according to the Jewish practice, within the limits of his own inheritance. The eminent public services he had long rendered to Israel and the great amount of domestic comfort and national prosperity he had been instrumental in diffusing among the several tribes, were deeply felt, were universally acknowledged; and a testimonial in the form of a statue or obelisk would have been immediately raised to his honor, in all parts of the land, had such been the fashion of the times. The brief but noble epitaph by the historian is, Joshua, "the servant of the Lord."

Consult the marginal references. That was by the sanctuary of the Lord - i. e. 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.

Verse 29. - The servant of the Lord. The theory of some commentators, that this expression is evidence of a later interpolation because "the title only dates, from the period when Moses, Joshua, and others were raised to the rank of national saints," need only be noticed to be rejected. It is a fair specimen of the inventive criticism which has found favour among modern critics, in which a large amount of imagination is made to supply the want of the smallest modicum of fact. What is wanting here is the slightest evidence of such a "period" having ever existed, except at the time when these saints of the old covenant closed their labours by death. All the facts before us go to prove that Moses, as well as Joshua, was held in as high, if not higher, veneration at the moment of his death as at any other period of Jewish history. Died . His was an end which any man might envy. Honoured and beloved, and full of days, he closed his life amid the regrets of a whole people, and with the full consciousness that he had discharged the duties God had imposed upon trim. The best proof of the estimation in which he was held is contained in ver. 32. Joshua 24:29

Death and Burial of Joshua and Eleazar. - With the renewal of the covenant Joshua had ended his vocation. He did not formally lay down his office, because there was no immediate successor who had been appointed by God. The ordinary rulers of the congregation were enough, when once they were settled in Canaan, viz., the elders as heads and judges of the nation, together with the high priest, who represented the nation in its relation to God, and could obtain for it the revelation of the will of God through the right of the Urim and Thummim. In order therefore to bring the history of Joshua and his times to a close, nothing further remained than to give an account of his death, with a short reference to the fruit of his labours, and to add certain other notices for which no suitable place had hitherto presented itself. Joshua 24:29-30 Soon after these events (vv. 1-28) Joshua died, at the age of 110, like his ancestor Joseph (Genesis 50:26), and was buried in his hereditary possessions at Timnath-serah, upon the mountains of Ephraim, to the north of Mount Gaash. Timnath-serah is still in existence see at Joshua 19:50). Mount Gaash, however, has not been discovered.

[Reformed Biblical] ## Joshua ## THE BOOK OF JOSHUA ## THE ARGUMENT IT is not material to know who was the penman of this book, whether Joshua, as seems most probable from #Joshua 24:26 , or some other holy prophet. It is sufficient that this book was a part of the Holy Scriptures, or oracles of God, committed to and carefully kept by the Jews, and by them faithfully delivered to us, as appears by the concurring testimony of Christ and his apostles, who owned and approved of the same Holy Scriptures which the church of the Jews did. But this is certain, that divers passages in this book were put into it after Joshua’s death, as #Joshua 10:13 , compared with #2 Samuel 1:18 Joshua 19:47 , compared with #Jude 18:1 ; and #Joshua 24:29,30 . And such like insertions have been observed in the five books of Moses. ## JOSHUA CHAPTER 1 God commands Joshua to lead the people unto the land of Canaan, #Joshua 1:1-3 . Its borders, #Joshua 1:4 . God promises to assist him, #Joshua 1:5,6 ; commanding him to observe the law, #Joshua 1:7-9 . He prepares the people to pass over Jordan, #Joshua 1:10,11 . Reminds the Reubenites, Gadites, and half tribe of Manasseh of their promise to Moses, #Joshua 1:12-15 ; which they are ready to do, and all promise to obey, #Joshua 1:16-18 . ## Ver. 1. After the death of Moses; either immediately after it, or when the days of mourning for Moses were expired.