Troublesome Topic: More Witnesses of the Former Covenant

This word usually means “depart from,” which means you are moving yourself away from something; but in this case the verb is in a form that is causative, to cause something to depart from you; in this form it carries the meaning of “remove”. The Israelites were to throw away the idols that were in their homes or on the high places, but they were also to remove themselves from such practices.

The words “the river” usually referred to the Euphrates River. Thus it is a reference to the gods served by the people from whom Abram was taken when God called him to move to Palestine.

While the text does not say “serve only YHVH,” it is strongly implied by the command to get rid of all other gods.

“wrong or unpleasant” carries both a moral sense and a personal preference idea. It can mean any of the following: “bad, wrong, evil” or “unpleasant, disagreeable.” I believe that, whenever double meanings were appropriate, the ancient Israelites understood both meanings to be intended. Here Joshua is leaving the door open; whatever their motivation for choosing other gods may be, that does not matter, “just make a clear choice.”

We could repackage what Joshua was saying like this, “If, after all that God has done for you, you choose to abandon Him, well, He is giving you that choice. But think about who you are abandoning. He proved He has more power than all the gods of Egypt combined; He proved He can keep you alive in the desert where there is no food or water; He proved He can keep your clothes and shoes from wearing out for forty years; He proved he can help you defeat enemies that are better prepared and more experienced in battle than you are; He proved He has control over the elements of nature such as the behavior of water; and He proved that He keeps His promises. Now if you think He has failed you, or if you think the price He asks of you is too high, you have the freedom to make this choice, and you can indeed turn your back on YHVH and walk away from him (but you would be stupid to do so).”

The meaning of “the river”: Throughout Scripture the phrase “the river,” without any other name or indicator, always refers to the Euphrates River. Why is it mentioned here? Abram’s family and relatives appear to have been worshippers of the deities that were common in their part of Mesopotamia. We don’t know for sure about Abram himself, but it seems that his family did so. There were apparently a few among the Israelites that still clung to those beliefs and they justified it by saying they were following the ways of their ancestors. That is mentioned specifically by Joshua to counter such attempts at justifying that brand of idolatry.

The meaning of the name “Amorites”: The word seems to mean “mountain dwellers,” “those who live on the heights,” from a root word which means “a prominence, a height” also “to make prominent by proclaiming it publicly,” or simply “to utter or speak.” In the one Hebrew verb form it meant “to be proud or boastful.” Therefore, at its simplest level it meant “mountain dwellers, or dwellers of the heights,” while at its more complex level it could possibly mean “Loud-mouth, arrogant dwellers of the heights.”

By mentioning the Amorites and adding “in whose land you dwell,” he was poking them, mocking them for even considering such a thing. Today we would say it something like this: “If you accept the gracious gift of land from the God who is capable of taking it from them and giving it to you, but then turn against Him to serve the gods who were unable to protect their people from us, that would be a special kind of stupid.”

Joshua was committed to personally following the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and also to being a good leader for his family. The alternative options he just finished laying out before them were not options at all for him and his family.

“responded” can mean “respond, answer, speak, shout, sing, or testify as a witness.” The word itself does not give any indication about the intensity of what is spoken, nor does the grammar utilized here contain an intensive verb form, but their actual words demonstrate a high degree of intensity. Therefore, in the translation column I have kept it as a simple response, while in the paraphrase column I describe it as an intense response.

This is the word Elohim. In this case it is not a proper name, rather it is just what the word would normally be, “gods.”

“bear” comes from a root word meaning “to lift, to rise up, to bear, or to carry.” It is sometimes used of “forgiveness” in the sense of “carry away,” but in this context the idea of “to bear” seems most fitting because “bearing” has the sense of “putting up with.”

“rebellious transgressions” is usually translated simply as “transgression.” However, it comes from a root word meaning “to revolt, or to rebel.” Therefore I have inserted the idea of rebellion to make clear how it differs from the next word used – “sins.”

“forsake” has a primary meaning of “leave.”

“utterly destroy” basically means “an end, or completion;” it also means “to bring to an end, thus destroy, annihilate, or exterminate.” It is a very strong word.