TEXT [Commentary]

B.   Joshua’s Farewell to the Leaders (23:1-16)

1.   Joshua’s call to faithfulness (23:1-10)

1 The years passed, and the LORD had given the people of Israel rest from all their enemies. Joshua, who was now very old, 2 called together all the elders, leaders, judges, and officers of Israel. He said to them, “I am now a very old man. 3 You have seen everything the LORD your God has done for you during my lifetime. The LORD your God has fought for you against your enemies. 4 I have allotted to you as your homeland all the land of the nations yet unconquered, as well as the land of those we have already conquered—from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea[*] in the west. 5 This land will be yours, for the LORD your God will himself drive out all the people living there now. You will take possession of their land, just as the LORD your God promised you.

6 “So be very careful to follow everything Moses wrote in the Book of Instruction. Do not deviate from it, turning either to the right or to the left. 7 Make sure you do not associate with the other people still remaining in the land. Do not even mention the names of their gods, much less swear by them or serve them or worship them. 8 Rather, cling tightly to the LORD your God as you have done until now.

9 “For the LORD has driven out great and powerful nations for you, and no one has yet been able to defeat you. 10 Each one of you will put to flight a thousand of the enemy, for the LORD your God fights for you, just as he has promised.

NOTES

23:3 The LORD your God has fought for you against your enemies. See 6:20; 10:11; 11:8.

23:5 This land will be yours. This phrase is not in Hebrew text, though the emphasis certainly is there.

23:6 So be very careful to follow. Lit., “So be very strong to keep and to do.”

everything Moses wrote in the Book of Instruction. Lit., “the scroll of the torah of Moses.” The NLT is correct; “instruction” is a more accurate translation of torah [TH8451, ZH9368] than is “law.”

23:7 Do not even mention. Lit., “Do not cause [anyone/yourselves] to remember,” i.e., do not bring them to remembrance even by mentioning their names.

23:9 great and powerful nations. E.g., the Anakites (11:21-22) and the city of Hazor (11:10).

23:10 put to flight a thousand of the enemy. See Lev 26:8; Deut 28:7.

COMMENTARY [Text]

This chapter is the second of Joshua’s final three exhortations. It sounds as though Joshua was already on his deathbed because of the close repetition of these two statements: “was now very old” (23:1), and “I am now a very old man” (23:2). However, chapter 24 records that all Israel met with Joshua at Shechem in a ceremony of covenant renewal. Thus, we are justified in thinking of this as a preliminary meeting with Israel’s leadership, preparing them for the covenant ceremony soon to follow, and for the responsibilities they would assume at Joshua’s death, whenever it would come.

The direction of any nation’s leadership largely determines the direction of the nation. These Israelite leaders (23:2) had experienced, along with Joshua, what God had done for them in defeating their enemies. Throughout the lifetimes of the leaders who outlived Joshua, Israel continued to be faithful to God, because they kept before Israel their witness to God’s faithfulness to them (Judg 2:7). Again, Joshua reminded these leaders (23:4-5) that Israel did not yet occupy all the land he had assigned the various tribes. As the book of Judges relates, rather than driving out the remaining Canaanites, Israel absorbed most of them. Worshiping the gods of their new neighbors, Israel became unfaithful to Yahweh, delaying their secure possession of the land by generations (cf. Judg 2:20–3:4). That Joshua knew this was a real danger is clear from the rest of this chapter.

Since before crossing the Jordan, Joshua’s guiding principle had been to follow “the Book of Instruction” (1:7-8). Now he passed it on as his commission to those who would succeed him in the leadership of Israel. Verse 7 ends with a series of four prohibitions. Doing these things would (and eventually did, for Israel) constitute a progression of involvement in idolatry; thus, Joshua’s counsel was sound. If Israel had been careful not even to “mention the names” of Canaan’s gods and goddesses, they would not have been tempted to “swear by them,” then to “serve them,” and, finally, to “worship them” wholeheartedly (lit., “Do not prostrate yourselves before them”). This remains a sound principle for avoiding evil, especially that which sorely tempts us. If we stay far from the beginnings of iniquity, we are less likely to be attracted to it, because its true character will be more obvious. Also, if we do begin to be attracted, we will notice it more readily, and can invoke God’s help to resist.

“Cling tightly” (23:8) is the same verb used in Genesis 2:24 of a man clinging to his wife, and in Ruth 1:14 of Ruth clinging to Naomi. To cling tightly, passionately, to God is to render impotent the temptation to stray off toward other gods, whatever the form or abstraction in which they may appear.

The end of 23:10 features a participial construction expressing God’s continuing action and character, without regard for time: literally, “for Yahweh your God, he is the one who fights for you, just as he promised you.” God had fought for Israel in the past (e.g., 10:11-14), and would continue to fight for them in the future.