Jehoshua (i.e. Joshua) · proper noun, a man's name
made
וַיִּכְרֹ֨תvai.yikh.Rot
H3772
to cut (off · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
covenant
בְּרִ֛יתbe.Rit
H1285
a compact (because made by passing between pieces of fl… · noun, common feminine singular absolute
people
לָעָ֖םla.'Am
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
day
בַּיּ֣וֹםbai.Yom
H3117
a day (as the warm hours) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
set
וַיָּ֥שֶׂםvai.Ya.sem
H7760
to put (used in a great variety of applications · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
statute
חֹ֥קchok
H2706
an enactment · noun, common masculine singular absolute
ordinance
וּמִשְׁפָּ֖טu.mish.Pat
H4941
properly · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Shechem
בִּשְׁכֶֽםbish.Khem
H7927
Shekem · preposition + proper noun, a place name
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Exodus 15:25 And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he mad…
2 Chronicles 23:16 And Jehoiada made a covenant between him, and between all the people, and between the king, that they should be the LORD’s people.
Nehemiah 9:38 And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests, seal unto it.
2 Kings 11:17 And Jehoiada made a covenant between the LORD and the king and the people, that they should be the LORD’s people; between the king also and…
Exodus 24:3 And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, A…
Exodus 24:7-8 And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be…
Deuteronomy 5:2-3 The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.
Deuteronomy 29:1 These are the words of the covenant, which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the cove…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Joshua 24:15-28
Never was any treaty carried on with better management, nor brought to a better issue, than this of Joshua with the people, to engage them to serve God. The manner of his dealing with them shows him to have been in earnest, and that his heart was much upon it, to leave them under all possible obligations to cleave to him, particularly the obligation of a choice and of a covenant.
I. Would it be any obligation upon them if they made the service of God their choice? - he here puts them to their choice, not as if it were antecedently indifferent whether they served God or nor, or as if they were at liberty to refuse his service, but because it would have a great influence upon their perseveranc…
Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth--After having enumerated so many grounds for national gratitude, Joshua calls on them to declare, in a public and solemn manner, whether they will be faithful and obedient to the God of Israel. He avowed this to be his own unalterable resolution, and urged them, if they were sincere in making a similar avowal, "to put away the strange gods that were among them"--a requirement which seems to imply that some were suspected of a strong hankering for, or concealed practice of, the idolatry, whether in the form of Zabaism, the fire-worship of their Chaldean ancestors, or the grosser superstitions of the Canaanites.
Adam Clarke on Joshua 24:25
Joshua made a covenant - Literally, Joshua cut the covenant, alluding to the sacrifice offered on the occasion.
And set then a statute and an ordinance - He made a solemn and public act of the whole, which was signed and witnessed by himself and the people, in the presence of Jehovah; and having done so, he wrote the words of the covenant in the book of the law of God, probably in some part of the skin constituting the great roll, on which the laws of God were written, and of which there were some blank columns to spare. Having done this, he took a great stone and set it up under an oak - that this might be עד ed or witness that, at such a time and place, this covenant was made, the terms of…
And Joshua arranged an alliance for the people that day and gave him the law and the judgment in Shiloh before the tabernacle of the Lord God of Israel. And he wrote these words in the book of the laws of God. And Joshua took a large stone and put it under the terebinth before the Lord. And Joshua said to the people, "Behold, this stone will be a witness for you, for you have heard all that the Lord has said, all that he has spoken to you today; it will be for you a witness in the last days, when you have lied to the Lord your God ». Those who hear these words, not superficially, but meditate with a little depth, should not think that such an important man was so foolish that he believed that an inanimate stone could hear the words that God told his people. This stone, if it had been reproduced in the image of man by an artist, would certainly be counted among those of whom it is said in the psalm: They have ears and do not hear. Indeed, not only do they not hear the idols of the Gentiles, which are of gold and silver (Ps. 113,14 6), but also those that are made of stone; rather, by means of this stone it was undoubtedly meant that which was a stumbling block for unbelieving Jews and a scandalous stone, which, being rejected by the builders, became the cornerstone (Cf Ps. 113,12 4; 134,15). He also prefigured that rock which, beaten with the rod, gave drink to the thirsty people, of which the Apostle says the following: For they drank of the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ (Cf Ps. 117,22; 1P 2,7.8). Therefore, this Egregian guide also circumcised the people with stone knives (1Co 10.4): these knives are also buried with him to show them a profound profitable mystery for the descendants. Well, this stone, although it is placed there visibly, must also be taken in a spiritual sense, as a future witness for the infidel Jews, that is, liars, of whom the psalm says: The enemies of the Lord lied to him (Cf Jos 5,2.3). And this does not happen without reason, since already the servant of God, Moses, or rather God through him, arranged for the people an alliance that was kept in the ark, which was called the ark of the covenant, and in the books of the law, written with a great quantity of mysteries and precepts, (Sal 80,16) for here it is also said: Joshua arranged an alliance for the people that day (Cf Ex 24,3). The repetition of the…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Burial — The first burial we have an account of is that of Sarah (Gen. 23). The first commercial transaction recorded is that of the purchase of a burial-place, for which Abraham weighed to Ephron “four…
Joshua — Jehovah is his help, or Jehovah the Saviour. The son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim, the successor of Moses as the leader of Israel. He is called Jehoshua in Num. 13:16 (A.V.), and Jesus in Acts…
Shechem — Shoulder. (1.) The son of Hamor the Hivite (Gen. 33:19; 34). (2.) A descendant of Manasseh (Num. 26:31; Josh. 17:2). (3.) A city in Samaria (Gen. 33:18), called also Sichem (12:6), Sychem (Acts…
Backsliders · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Decision · .ISRAELITES — .ISRAELITES
Pillar · By Joshua, at Shechem — By Joshua, at Shechem
Shechem · chiefs, and — chiefs, and
Stones · Memorial pillars of — Memorial pillars of
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Gill on Joshua 24:25
So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day,.... Proposing to them what was most eligible, and their duty to do, and they agreeing to it, this formally constituted a covenant, of which they selves were both parties and witnesses:
and set statute and an ordinance in Shechem; either made this covenant to have the nature of a statute and ordinance binding upon them, or repeated and renewed the laws of Moses, both moral and ceremonial, which had been delivered at Mount Sinai, and now, upon this repetition in Shechem, might be called a statute and ordinance there.
John Calvin on Joshua 24:25–end
Joshua 24:25-33
25. So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.
25. Percussit itaque Josue foedus cum populo in die illa: et prosposuit ei praeceptum et judicium in Sechem. [206]
26. And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the LORD.
26. Scripsit Josue verba ista in libro Legis Dei: tulit quoque lapidem magnum, statuitque eum ibi subter quercum, quae erat in sanctuario Jehovae.
27. And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it has heard all the words of the LORD which he spoke un…
On the repeated and decided declaration of the people, "the Lord our God will we serve, and to His voice will we hearken," Joshua completed the covenant with them that day. This conclusion of a covenant was really a solemn renewal of the covenant made at Sinai, like that which took place under Moses in the steppes of Moab (Deu 29:1). "And set them a statute and right at Shechem," sc., through the renewal of the covenant. These words recall Exo 15:25, where the guidance of Israel to bitter water, and the sweetening of that water by the means which the Lord pointed out to Moses, are described as setting a statute and right for Israel, and then explained by the promise, that if they would heark…
made a covenant: Literally cut a covenant (see study note on 9:15).
Rashi on Joshua 24:25
And he established it as a statute and an ordinance at Shechem. He set in order for them there the statutes of the Torah and they accepted them upon themselves.
