Josue 24:1

Nova Vulgata

Congregavitque Iosue omnes tribus Israel in Sichem et vocavit maiores natu ac principes et iudices et praefectos, steteruntque in conspectu Dei;

Parallel Translations

Clementine Latin Vulgate (1592)
Si acceperit homo uxorem, et habuerit eam, et non invenerit gratiam ante oculos ejus propter aliquam fœditatem : scribet libellum repudii, et dabit in manu illius, et dimittet eam de domo sua.

Jerome's Latin Vulgate (405)
Congregavitque Josue omnes tribus Israël in Sichem, et vocavit majores natu, ac principes, et judices, et magistros: steteruntque in conspectu Domini,

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Joshua: This must have been a different assembly from that mentioned in the preceding chapter, though probably held not long after the former.

Shechem: As it is immediately added, that "they presented themselves before God," which is supposed to mean at the tabernacle; some are of opinion that Joshua caused it to be conveyed from Shiloh to Shechem on this occasion, to give the greater solemnity to his last meeting with the people. The Vatican and Alexandrian copies of the Septuagint, however, read חכש, both here and in Joshua 24:25, which many suppose to have been the original reading. Dr. Shuckford supposes that the covenant was made at Shechem, and that the people went to Shiloh to confirm it. But the most probable opinion seems to be that of Dr. Kennicott, that when all the tribes were assembled as Shechem, Joshua called the chiefs to him on that mount, which had before been consecrated by the law, and by the altar which he had erected. Genesis 12:6, Genesis 33:18, Genesis 33:19, Genesis 35:4, Judges 9:1-3, 1 Kings 12:1

called: Joshua 23:2, Exodus 18:25, Exodus 18:26

presented: 1 Samuel 10:19, Acts 10:33

Reciprocal: Genesis 48:21 - God Genesis 49:24 - the shepherd Exodus 5:6 - officers Numbers 13:8 - Oshea Deuteronomy 31:14 - presented Joshua 8:33 - all Israel Joshua 17:7 - Shechem 1 Kings 8:1 - assembled 1 Chronicles 23:2 - he gathered 1 Chronicles 28:1 - assembled 2 Chronicles 10:1 - Shechem Psalms 60:6 - Shechem Psalms 108:7 - Shechem

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem,.... The nine tribes and a half; not all the individuals of them, but the chief among them, their representatives, as afterwards explained, whom he gathered together a second time, being willing, as long as he was among them, to improve his time for their spiritual as well as civil good; to impress their minds with a sense of religion, and to strengthen, enlarge, and enforce the exhortations he had given them to serve the Lord; and Abarbinel thinks he gathered them together again because before they returned him no answer, and therefore he determined now to put such questions to them as would oblige them to give one, as they did, and which issued in making a covenant with them; the place where they assembled was Shechem, which some take to be Shiloh, because of what is said Joshua 24:25; that being as they say in the fields of Shechem; which is not likely, since Shiloh, as Jerom says u, was ten miles from Neapolis or Shechem. This place was chosen because nearest to Joshua, who was now old and infirm, and unfit to travel; and the rather because it was the place where the Lord first appeared to Abraham, when he brought him into the land of Canaan, and where he made a promise of giving the land to his seed, and where Abraham built an altar to him, Genesis 12:6; where also Jacob pitched his tent when he came from Padanaram, bought a parcel of a field, and erected an altar to the Lord, Genesis 33:18; and where Joshua also repeated the law to, and renewed the covenant with the children of Israel, quickly after their coming into the land of Canaan, for Ebal and Gerizim were near to Shechem, Joshua 8:30;

and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers: Joshua 8:30- :;

and they presented themselves before God; Kimchi and Abarbinel are of opinion that the ark was fetched from the tabernacle at Shiloh, and brought hither on this occasion, which was the symbol of the divine Presence; and therefore the place becoming sacred thereby is called the sanctuary of the Lord, and certain it is that here was the book of the law of Moses, Joshua 24:26; which was put on the side of the ark,

Deuteronomy 31:26.

u De loc. Heb. fol. 94. I.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Shechem, situated between those mountains, Ebal and Gerizim, which had already been the scene of a solemn rehearsal of the covenant soon after the first entry of the people into the promised land Joshua 8:30-35, was a fitting scene for the solemn renewal on the part of the people of that covenant with God which had been on His part so signally and so fully kept. The spot itself suggested the allusions to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, etc., in Joshua’s address; and its associations could not but give special force and moving effect to his appeals. This address was not made to the rulers only but to the whole nation, not of course to the tribes assembled in mass, but to their representatives.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

CHAPTER XXIV

Joshua gathers all the tribes together at Shechem, 1;

and gives them a history of God's gracious dealings with

Abraham, 2, 3;

Isaac, Jacob, and Esau, 4;

Moses and Aaron, and their fathers in Egypt, 5, 6.

His judgments on the Egyptians, 7.

On the Amorites, 8.

Their deliverance from Balak and Balaam, 9, 10.

Their conquests in the promised land, and their establishment

in the possession of it, 11-13.

Exhorts them to abolish idolatry, and informs them of his and

his family's resolution to serve Jehovah, 14, 15.

The people solemnly promise to serve the Lord alone, and mention

his merciful dealings towards them, 16-18.

Joshua shows them the holiness of God, and the danger of

apostasy, 19, 20.

The people again promise obedience, 21.

Joshua calls them to witness against themselves, that they had

promised to worship God alone, and exhorts them to put away

the strange gods, 22, 23.

They promise obedience, 24.

Joshua makes a covenant with the people, writes it in a book,

sets up a stone as a memorial of it, and dismisses the people,

25-28.

Joshua's death, 29,

and burial, 30.

The people continue faithful during that generation, 31.

They bury the bones of Joseph in Shechem, 32.

Eleazar the high priest dies also, 33.

NOTES ON CHAP. XXIV

Verse Joshua 24:1. Joshua gathered all the tribes — This must have been a different assembly from that mentioned in the preceding chapter, though probably held not long after the former.

To Shechem — As it is immediately added that they presented themselves before God, this must mean the tabernacle; but at this time the tabernacle was not at Shechem but at Shiloh. The Septuagint appear to have been struck with this difficulty, and therefore read σηλω. Shiloh, both here and in Joshua 24:25, though the Aldine and Complutensian editions have συξεμ, Shechem, in both places. Many suppose that this is the original reading, and that Shechem has crept into the text instead of Shiloh. Perhaps there is more of imaginary than real difficulty in the text. As Joshua was now old and incapable of travelling, he certainly had a right to assemble the representatives of the tribes wherever he found most convenient, and to bring the ark of the covenant to the place of assembling: and this was probably done on this occasion. Shechem is a place famous in the patriarchal history. Here Abraham settled on his first coming into the land of Canaan, Genesis 12:6-7; and here the patriarchs were buried, Acts 7:16. And as Shechem lay between Ebal and Gerizim, where Joshua had before made a covenant with the people, Joshua 8:30, c., the very circumstance of the place would be undoubtedly friendly to the solemnity of the present occasion. Shuckford supposes that the covenant was made at Shechem, and that the people went to Shiloh to confirm it before the Lord. Mr. Mede thinks the Ephraimites had a proseucha, or temporary oratory or house of prayer, at Shechem, whither the people resorted for Divine worship when they could not get to the tabernacle and that this is what is called before the Lord; but this conjecture seems not at all likely, God having forbidden this kind of worship.