Joshua 24:5

2 Moses my servant is dead: now therefore rise, pass over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, to the land which I give to them, namely, to the children of Israel. 3 Every place which the sole of your foot shall have trod upon, I have given to you; as I said to Moses, 4 From the desert and that Lebanon, even to the great sea, the river Euphrates, the whole land of the Hittites, even to the great sea toward the setting of the sun, will be your boundary. 5 No one shall stand before thee all the days of thy life; because as I was with Moses, so will I be with thee: I will not desert nor forsake thee. 6 Be firm therefore and strong; for thou shall divide to this people as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers that I would give them. 7 Only be firm and strong exceedingly; that thou may keep and do according to the whole law which Moses my servant commanded thee: thou shall not draw back to the right hand or to the left, that thou may act prudently (or prosperously) in all things. 8 Let not the book of this law depart from thy mouth; but meditate in it day and night, that thou may keep and do according to all which has been written in it. For then shall thou render thy ways prosperous, and then shall thou act prudently. 9 Have not I commanded thee to make thyself firm and strong? Fear not, nor be dispirited; since I, Jehovah thy God, am with thee in all the places to which thou goes. 10 Then Joshua commanded the prefects of the people, saying, --

. And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau,.... When Rebekah was barren, so that the children appeared the more to be the gift of God; though Esau perhaps is mentioned, for the sake of what follows: and I gave unto Esau Mount Seir to possess it; that Jacob and his posterity alone might inherit Canaan, and Esau and his seed make no pretension to it: but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt; where they continued many years, and great part of the time in bondage and misery, which is here taken no notice of; and this was in order to their being brought into the land of Canaan, and that the power and goodness of God might be the more conspicuous in it. Joshua 24:5 Ver. 5. I sent Moses also and Aaron,.... To demand Israel's dismission of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and to be the deliverers of them: and I plagued Egypt according to that which I did amongst them; inflicting ten plagues upon them for refusing to let Israel go: and afterwards I brought you out; that is, out of Egypt, with an high hand, and outstretched arm. Joshua 24:6 Ver. 6. And I brought your fathers out of Egypt,....

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.

I sent Moses also and Aaron,.... To demand Israel's dismission of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and to be the deliverers of them: and I plagued Egypt according to that which I did amongst them; inflicting ten plagues upon them for refusing to let Israel go: and afterwards I brought you out; that is, out of Egypt, with an high hand, and outstretched arm.

5 . I sent Moses also and Aaron ] Comp. Exodus 3:10 . This is the second proof of the Divine favour, the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt . The chief incidents of this great event are succinctly alluded to; (1) the mission of Moses and Aaron; (2) the infliction of the plagues upon Egypt; (3) the destruction of the Egyptians in the Red Sea. I plagued Egypt ] See Exodus 7-12. “Y smoot Egipt with many signes and wondris,” Wyclif. (1) The turning the water into blood; (2) frogs; (3) lice, or gnats; (4) flies; (5) murrain; (6) boils and blains; (7) thunder, lightning, and hail; (8) locusts; (9) darkness; (10) slaying of the firstborn.

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 5. - And I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them. This verse implies that the Israelites possessed some authentic record which rendered it unnecessary to enter into detail. Add to this the fact that this speech is ascribed to Joshua, and that the historian, as we have seen, had access to authentic sources of information, and we cannot avoid the conclusion that the hypothesis of the existence of the written law of Moses at the time of the death of Joshua has a very high degree of probability. The word rendered "plagued" is literally smote , but usually with the idea of a visitation from God. And afterward I brought you out. The absence of any mention of the plagues here is noteworthy. It cannot be accounted for on the supposition that our author was ignorant of them, for we have ample proof that the Book of Joshua was compiled subsequently to the Pentateuch. This is demonstrated by the quotations, too numerous to specify here, which have been noticed in their place. We can only, therefore, regard the omission made simply for the sake of brevity, and because they were so well known to all, as a sign of that tendency, noticed under ver. 1, to abstain from that amplification of marvels common to all mythical histories. Had Joshua desired to indulge a poetic imagination, an admirable opportunity was here afforded him. Joshua 24:5

Of this also he merely mentions the leading points, viz., first of all, the sending of Moses and Aaron ( Exodus 3:10 ., Joshua 4:14 .), and then the plagues inflicted upon Egypt. "I smote Egypt," i.e., both land and people. נגף is used in Exodus 8:2 and Exodus 12:23 , Exodus 12:27 , in connection with the plague of frogs and the slaying of the first-born in Egypt. The words which follow, "according to that which I did among them, and afterward I brought you out," point back to Exodus 3:20 , and show that the Lord had fulfilled the promise given to Moses at his call. He then refers ( Joshua 24:6 , Joshua 24:7 ) to the miraculous deliverance of the Israelites, as they came out of Egypt, from Pharaoh who pursued them with his army, giving especial prominence to the crying of the Israelites to the Lord in their distress ( Exodus 14:10 ), and the relief of that distress by the angel of the Lord ( Exodus 14:19-20 ). And lastly, he notices their dwelling in the wilderness "many days," i.e., forty years ( Numbers 14:33 ).

according to all the signs and wonders that Jehovah had sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land; and according to all that mighty hand; and according to all the great terribleness that Moses had wrought in the sight of all Israel. Joshua Chapter 1 And it came to pass after the death of Moses the servant of Jehovah, that Jehovah spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses` attendant, saying, Moses my servant is dead; and now, rise up, go over this Jordan, thou and all this people, into the land which I give unto them, to the children of Israel. Every place whereon the sole of your foot shall tread have I given to you, as I said unto Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon to the great river, the river Euphrates, the whole land of the Hittites, to the great sea, toward the going down of the sun, shall be your border. None shall be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so will I be with thee; I will not leave thee, neither will I forsake thee. Be strong and courageous, for thou shalt cause this people to inherit the land which I have sworn unto their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, that thou mayest take heed to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded thee. Turn not from it to the right or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.