Joshua 24:27

And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the LORD which he spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Joshua	יְהוֹשֻׁ֜עַ ye.ho.Shu.a'	H3091	Jehoshua (i.e. Joshua) · proper noun, a man's name
said	וַיֹּ֨אמֶר vai.Yo.mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
people	הָעָ֗ם ha.'Am	H5971	a people (as a congregated unit) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
stone	הָאֶ֤בֶן ha.'E.ven	H68	a stone · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
witness	לְעֵדָ֔ה le.'e.Dah	H5713	testimony · preposition + noun, common feminine singular absolute
heard	שָׁמְעָ֗ה sha.me.'Ah	H8085	to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person feminine singular
words	אִמְרֵ֣י 'im.Rei	H561	something said · noun, common masculine plural construct
LORD	יְהוָ֔ה Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
spake	דִּבֶּ֖ר di.Ber	H1696	perhaps properly · verb, piel perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
witness	לְעֵדָ֔ה le.'e.Dah	H5713	testimony · preposition + noun, common feminine singular absolute
deny	תְּכַחֲשׁ֖וּן te.kha.cha.Shun	H3584	to be untrue · verb, piel imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural + paragogic nun
God	בֵּאלֹהֵיכֶֽם be.lo.hei.Khem	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural

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

Luke 19:40 And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.
Joshua 22:34 And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad called the altar Ed: for it shall be a witness between us that the LORD is God.
Deuteronomy 31:26 Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness agains…
Joshua 22:27-28 But that it may be a witness between us, and you, and our generations after us, that we might do the service of the LORD before him with our…
Matthew 10:33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
Deuteronomy 31:21 And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are befallen them, that this song shall testify against them as a witness; for it sh…
Deuteronomy 32:1 Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
1 Samuel 7:12 Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Eben-ezer, saying, Hitherto hath the LORD helped us.

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…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Joshua 24:26

Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God--registered the engagements of that solemn covenant in the book of sacred history. took a great stone--according to the usage of ancient times to erect stone pillars as monuments of public transactions. set it up there under an oak--or terebinth, in all likelihood, the same as that at the root of which Jacob buried the idols and charms found in his family. that was by the sanctuary of the Lord--either the spot where the ark had stood, or else the place around, so called from that religious meeting, as Jacob named Beth-el the house of God.

Adam Clarke on Joshua 24:27

This stone - hath heard all the words - That is, the stone itself, from its permanency, shall be in all succeeding ages as competent and as substantial a witness as one who had been present at the transaction, and heard all the words which on both sides were spoken on the occasion.

John Gill on Joshua 24:27

And Joshua said unto all the people,.... The chief of them now gathered together, and who represented the whole body: behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; of the covenant now made, and the agreement entered into, as the heap of stones were between Jacob and Laban, Genesis 31:45, for it hath heard all the words of the Lord which he spake unto us; this is said by a figure called "prosopopaeia", frequent in Scripture, by which inanimate creatures are represented as hearing, seeing, and speaking, and may signify, that should the Israelites break this covenant, and disobey the commands of the Lord they had promised to keep, they would be as stupid and senseless as this stone, or more…

The Church Fathers

That Christ is called a stone.… Also in Joshua: "And he took a great stone, and placed it there before the Lord; and Joshua said unto the people, Behold, this stone shall be a testimony to you, because it has heard all the things which were spoken by the Lord, which he has spoken to you today; and it shall be for a testimony to you in the last of the days, when you shall have departed from your God."
— Cyprian, Treatise XII. Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 2.16

Moreover, Joshua, the son of Nun, even set up a stone as witness of his words (already a heap somewhere had been called a witness by Jacob), for he says, "Behold this stone shall be a witness unto you this day to the end of days, when ye lie to the Lord our God," perhaps believing that by God's power even the stones would speak to the conviction of the transgressors; or, if not, that at least each man's conscience would be wounded by the force of the reminder. In this manner they who have been entrusted with the stewardship of souls provide witnesses, whatever they may be, so as to produce them at some future day. But the Spirit is ranked together with God, not on account of the emergency of the moment, but on account of the natural fellowship; is not dragged in by us, but invited by the Lord.
— Basil of Caesarea, ON THE SPIRIT 13.30

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…
Stone — Stones were commonly used for buildings, also as memorials of important events (Gen. 28:18; Josh. 24:26, 27; 1 Sam. 7:12, etc.). They were gathered out of cultivated fields (Isa. 5:2; comp. 2 Kings…
Witness — More than one witness was required in criminal cases (Deut. 17:6; 19:15). They were the first to execute the sentence on the condemned (Deut. 13:9; 17:7; 1 Kings 21:13; Matt. 27:1; Acts 7:57, 58).…
Backsliders · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Pillar · By Joshua, at Shechem — By Joshua, at Shechem
Shechem · chiefs, and — chiefs, and

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).

Joshua 24:27

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Joshua 24:15-28

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Joshua 24:26

Adam Clarke on Joshua 24:27

John Gill on Joshua 24:27

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Joshua 24:27

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Joshua 24:15-28

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Joshua 24:26

Adam Clarke on Joshua 24:27

John Gill on Joshua 24:27

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Joshua 24:25–end

Keil & Delitzsch on Joshua 24:26-27

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Joshua 24:27

Rashi on Joshua 24:27