Comments on Joshua 24 v1-13 Joshua gathers the leaders of Israel together and delivers a rather lengthy message from the Lord in v. 2-13. The quotation recounts all the Lord has done for Israel throughout its history, much of which they have witnessed with their own eyes. The quotation ends with a paraphrase of Deut. 6:10-15 in v. 13. This coincides with what Joshua said in 23:14-16, so the Lord is stating that He has kept His word in blessings them, so His keeping His word in cursing them is likewise implicit. v14-28 Joshua and Israel go back and forth repeatedly in an interesting, and somewhat adversarial, parlay wherein he gets them to acknowledge the Lord as their God, and to swear loyalty to Him (v. 14-24). In so doing he makes them witnesses against themselves. He then documents the covenant which they made, erects a monument as a visible token of the same, shows it to them, explains its meaning, and dismisses them (v. 25-28). All through Joshua's ministry we see him erecting physical monuments which Israel will see, and explaining their meaning to Israel. This shows Joshua is well acquainted with Israel's rebellious nature and he needs to be didactic when it comes to his role as educator. It also demonstrates the role physical objects play as symbols of spiritual things, and their prevalence among Israel. v29-33 Joshua's death and burial is recounted. The burial of Joseph's bones is recounted, they having taken them out of Egypt. And the death of Eleazar is also noted (Eleazar was the High Priest with the Urim & Thummim assigned to assist Joshua similar to the way Aaron was High Priest to Moses, cf. Num. 27:21). Copyright © 2002 by S. Kurt Neumiller . All rights reserved. No part of this text may be reproduced in any form or by any means for commercial gain without the express written consent of the author. Digital or printed copies may be freely made and distributed for personal and public non-commercial use.