约书亚记 23:2

Chinese NCV (Simplified)

約書亞就把全體以色列人、他們的長老、首領、審判官和官長，都召了來，對他們說：“我已經老了，年紀不小了。

Parallel Translations

Chinese Union (Simplified)
就 把 以 色 列 众 人 的 长 老 、 族 长 、 审 判 官 ， 并 官 长 都 召 了 来 ， 对 他 们 说 ： 我 年 纪 已 经 老 迈 。

Contextual Overview

¹ The Lord gave Israel peace from their enemies around them. Many years passed, and Joshua grew very old. ² He called a meeting of all the elders, heads of families, judges, and officers of Israel. He said, "I am now very old. ³ You have seen what the Lord has done to our enemies to help us. The Lord your God fought for you. ⁴ Remember that your people have been given their land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea in the west, the land I promised to give you. ⁵ The Lord your God will force out the people living there. The Lord will push them out ahead of you. And you will own the land, as he has promised you. ⁶ "Be strong. You must be careful to obey everything commanded in the Book of the Teachings of Moses. Do not stray from it either from the left or the right. ⁷ Don't become friends with the people living among us who are not Israelites. Don't say the names of their gods or make anyone swear by them. Don't serve or worship them. ⁸ You must continue to follow the Lord your God, as you have done in the past. ⁹ "The Lord has forced many great and powerful nations to leave ahead of you. No nation has been able to defeat you. ¹⁰ With his help, one Israelite could defeat a thousand, because the Lord your God fights for you, as he promised to do.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

all Israel: Joshua 24:1, Deuteronomy 31:28, 1 Chronicles 28:1, Acts 20:17-35

and for their elders: Or, "even for their elders," etc.; for it is probably that Joshua gave the following charge only to the elders, judges, etc., to communicate to the people.

Reciprocal: Numbers 25:4 - all the heads Joshua 8:33 - all Israel Joshua 13:1 - Joshua 1 Kings 1:1 - and stricken in years 1 Kings 8:1 - assembled 1 Chronicles 23:2 - he gathered

Cross-References

Genesis 13:18
So Abram moved his tents and went to live near the great trees of Mamre at the city of Hebron. There he built an altar to the Lord .

Genesis 23:14
Ephron answered Abraham,

Genesis 23:15
"Sir, the land is worth ten pounds of silver, but I won't argue with you over the price. Take the land, and bury your dead wife."

Genesis 23:16
Abraham agreed and paid Ephron in front of the Hittite witnesses. He weighed out the full price, ten pounds of silver, and they counted the weight as the traders normally did.

Genesis 23:19
After this, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre. (Mamre was later called Hebron in the land of Canaan.)

Genesis 27:41
After that Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing from Isaac. He thought to himself, "My father will soon die, and I will be sad for him. Then I will kill Jacob."

Genesis 50:10
When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, near the Jordan River, they cried loudly and bitterly for his father. Joseph's time of sorrow continued for seven days.

Numbers 13:22
They went through the southern area to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak lived. (The city of Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)

Numbers 20:29
and when all the people learned that Aaron was dead, everyone in Israel cried for him for thirty days.

Deuteronomy 34:8
The Israelites cried for Moses for thirty days, staying in the plains of Moab until the time of sadness was over.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Joshua called for all Israel,.... Summoned them together, whether at Timnathserah, his own city, he being old and infirm, and not able to go elsewhere; or whether at Shechem, where it is plain they were afterwards convened, Joshua 24:1, or whether rather at Shiloh, where the tabernacle was, is not certain; and by "all Israel" cannot be meant the whole body of the people, unless it can be thought to be at one of the feasts, when all the males in Israel appeared before the Lord; though this seems to be not a stated convocation, but occasionally made, and to be understood of the representatives of the people called together, as explained in the following clause:

[and] for their elders, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers; the first and is supplied, and another word or words may be supplied, as "even", or "that is", or the like, and so explanative of all Israel, namely, "their elders", both in age and office, especially the latter, the seventy elders, or who composed what in later times was called the great sanhedrim; and the "heads" of their tribes, the chief princes of every tribe; and their "judges" in their several cities, who heard and tried causes, and administered justice and judgment to the people; and their "officers", who attended on them to execute the judgment they pronounced:

and said unto them, I am old [and] stricken in age; which he observes as a reason of his calling them together to give them some advice and instructions before his death, and in order to command greater reverence of him, and respect to him, and to excite attention to what he had to say to them.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

All Israel, and for their elders - Omit “and,” which is not in the Hebrew. The meaning is that Joshua summoned to him all Israel as represented by its elders, etc. Deuteronomy 1:15. This gathering probably took place at the tabernacle at Shiloh.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Joshua 23:2. Joshua called for all Israel — There are four degrees of civil distinction mentioned here:

1. זקנים zekenim, the elders or senate, the PRINCES of the tribes.

2. ראשים rashim or rashey aboth, the CHIEFS or HEADS of families.

3. שפטים shophetim, the JUDGES who interpreted and decided according to the law.

4. שטרים shoterim, the OFFICERS, serjeants, c., who executed the decisions of the judges.

Whether this assembly was held at Timnath-serah, where Joshua lived, or at Shiloh, where the ark was, or at Shechem, as in Joshua 24:1, we cannot tell. Some think that the meaning here, and that mentioned in Joshua 24:1, were the same, and if so, Shechem was the place of assembling but it is more likely that the two chapters treat of two distinct assemblies, whether held at the same place or not.