21 And the people ſaid unto Joſhua, Nay, but we will ſerve the LORD ».
nm To wit, him on'y, and not ſtrange gods, as was ſuppoſed by Jojbua, v. 206
in them: of ce vineyaids and oiveyards which ye planted not. do ye ear. 3 See on Jo: 10: 12, 13. 14 4 Now therefore fear the LORD, and ſerve him in fincerity and in truth z, and put away the gods a which your farcheis b ferved ou the other tide of the . * - | I . di Q7 i | He hy floud, and in EEgVPL c; and ferve ye the LORD. | And they ſaid, We are witnelles, z Either thcſe txo capitiitins note the faine rhing ; or ſmcerifty | Thi . _ ae oe 3-5, - 2 2 » This 1s oppoſed to the mixtuic of ialls gods wita the trucy as 1t here |
to {erve him,
; God þ : he * will not forgive your tiranſereflions i. nor® Exol: 5 give y 8 , heme 2J» .
* then he will turn &, and do you hurt, and conſume * Chap:
22 And Joſhua ſaid unto the people, Ye are witneſſes - againit your ſelves z, that ye havz choſen the LORD, .
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» This ſfoſemn Profeflion will be 2 ſwife Witneſs againſt you, if hereafter you ApoBtatize from GOD. F
22 Now therefore put away, ſaid he,the urange gods which are among you s,and encline your heart untothe LORD God of {{rae]). . |
o Thoſe Idols v hich you either brought ont of Ezypty or have ta- ken in Canaay, which I have roo much reaton tO believe that ſome of y-u contrary to God's command do keep,whether for the preci- outneſs of the matter, or rather for ſome _— inclination to Super- ſtition and Idolatry, as the following words 1MP!y. SCE V. 14,
24 And the people {aid unto Joihna, The LORD our God will we ſerve, and his voice will we obey.
25 So Joſhua made a covenant with the people that day,andiet them a ſtatute,andan ordinance pinShechem.
p Either, 1. He ſet, or propounded, or declared unto them the S:atut. and Ordinancey i. e. the ſum of the Statutes and Ordinances of GOD which thsir Covenant obliged them ro. Or, 2. He ſet or eftob'iſhed jr, to wit, that Covenant with them, 1 C the People for 2 Statute or an Ordinance, to bind themſelves and their Poſterity unto GOD for ever as « Statute and Ordinance of GOD dothe
26 And Joſhua wrote theſe words q in the book of the
law of God r.and * took a greatſtone,and tet it upthere /.
*See Judg.under * an oak that was by the ſanuary of the LORD :
it of the people with the Lord.
q i« e. This Covenant or Agreement 01 h in the Ark, Deut: 31: 9, 26.
7 i.e In thac Volume which was kept
. - Fd 4 a 6} Wh Ky ; - whence it was taken and put 1nto this Book of Joſhua $5 This ic dil
partly for the perpetual remembrance of this grear and folemn AQ - on, partly to lay the greater obligation upon tae pcople to be true to their engagement ; and partly as a WIMNC!5TOF Godgand againſt rhe people. if afterwards he ſeverely puniſhed them for their defettion from God, to whom they had ſo folemniy and freely obliged them- ſelves. ſ As 2 witneſs and monument of tins great tranſaction, ac- cording to the cuſtom of thote anCient times, as Gen: 28: 18. and 31. 45. 3nd 35: 14. Exod 24% q. Dext? 278 2+ Joſs 43 3» and $: 32 Pcfiibly this agreement was written upon this Srone, as was thenuſual.7 i. e, Nezr to the place where the Ark and Tabernacle then were ; for tho” they were ſorbidiecn to plant & Grove Cf Trees near unto the A'tar, Deur: 2% 21+ as the Gentiles did, yet they might for a time fer up an Altar, oz the Ark, near a great Tree which had been plantec
tliere before.
27 And Joſhua ſaid unto all the pzople, Behold, this
7 SSH 5+ 0&1 : | Chap, 1,
ſtone ſhal be a witneſs unto us ; for it hath heard « all the words of the LORD which he ſpake unto us ; it ſhal be there for a witneſs unto you, leſt ye deny your God, z2 It Thal be as ſure a Witneſs againſt you, as if it had heard. This is a common Figure, called Proſopopzia, whereby the ſenſe of hearing is oft aſcribed ro the Heavens and the Earth,and other ſenſe. leſs creatures, as Deut: 323 IQ Iſat 1: 26 Fer 2: 120 28 50 * Joihua let the people depart, every man un- , Jud to his inheritance. 6. 3 29 & And it came to paſs after theſe things, that Joſhua the ſon of Nun, the ſervant of the LORD died, being an hundred and ten years old, 3o And they buried him in the border of his inheri- tance in * Timnath-ſerah, which z im mount Ephraim, * Chap:
on the north- ſide of the hill of Gaatb. it = BE 31 And * Ifraei ſerved the LORD all the days of Tjud.es
Joſhua, and all the days of the elders that + over-lived f Ae:pro. Joſhua, and which had known all the works of the longed LORD, that he had done for Iſrael, pranks And* 8 ; after Je»
32 T And* the bones of Joſeph, which the children 9... of {ſrael brought up out of Egypr, buried they in She- * Gen:se, chem x, in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of * 25: the ſons of Hamor the father of Shechem, * for an hun- _ [37 dred || pieces of lilver, and it became the inheritance of -Ge. ” che children of Iſrael. 19.
x Nct in the city of Shechem, but in a Field near; and belonging || Or, 'O 1f, as appears from the following words, and from Gen: 33* 18. Lambs. and from the ancient cuſtom of the J/-aclites to have their Burying places withour Cities, in Fieli's or Gardens.
33 And Eleazar the fon of Aaron died, and they buried him in a hill zhar pertained to Phinehas his ſon, which was given him y in mount Ephraim.
y By ſpecial favour, and for his better conveniency in attending pen the Ark, which then was, and for a long time was to be in Swiioh, which was near to this place ; whereas the Cities which were given to the Prieſts, were in Judah,Benjamin and Simeon, which were remore from Shiloh, tho' near to the place where the Ark was
to have its ſettled abode, to wit, to Jeruſalem.
RD) G&G E S |
"T
The ARGUMENT. HE Author of this Book 38 not certainly known ; whether it was Samuel, or Ezra, or ſome other Prophet: wor is it mas
terial toe know.
1. It matters not who as the Kings Secretary, or with what Pen it was written, if it be once