After these things, Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Yahweh, died, being one hundred ten years old.
Parallel Translations
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After these things, Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Yahweh, died, being one hundred ten years old.
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And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old.
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And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being a hundred and ten years old.
Cross-references (7)
Passages linked to Joshua 24:29 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Judges 2:8 Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Yahweh, died, being one hundred ten years old.
- Genesis 50:22 Joseph lived in Egypt, he, and his father’s house. Joseph lived one hundred ten years.
- Genesis 50:26 So Joseph died, being one hundred ten years old, and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.
- Deuteronomy 34:5 So Moses the servant of Yahweh died there in the land of Moab, according to Yahweh’s word.
- Psalms 115:17 The dead don’t praise Yah, neither any who go down into silence;
- 2 Timothy 4:7-8 I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith. From now on, the crown of righteousness is stored up for me, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day; and not to me only, but also to all those who have loved his appearing.
- Revelation 14:13 I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors; for their works follow with them.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 29. And it came to pass after these things,…
29. And it came to pass after these things, etc The honor of sepulture was a mark of reverence, which of itself bore testimony to the affectionate regard of the people. But neither this reverence nor affection was deeply rooted. The title by which Joshua is distinguished after his death, when he is called the servant of the Lord, took away all excuse from those miserable and abandoned men who shortly after spurned the Lord, who had worked wonders among them. Accordingly, attention is indirectly drawn to their inconstancy, when it is said that they served the Lord while Joshua survived, and till the more aged had died out. For there is a tacit antithesis, implying lapse and alienation, when they were suddenly seized with a forgetfulness of the Divine favors. It is not strange, therefore, if, in the present day also, when God furnishes any of his servants with distinguished and excellent gifts, their authority protects and preserves the order and state of the Church; but when they are dead, sad havoc instantly commences, and hidden impiety breaks forth with unbridled license.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jos 24:29 And it came to pass after these…
Jos 24:29 And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, [being] an hundred and ten years old.
Ver. 29. Joshua … the servant of the Lord, died.] This was the crown of all his commendation, and a greater title to be engraven on his tomb, than his was, who arrogantly and foolishly styled himself Kοσμοκρατωρ, Monarch of the World. This was Sesostris, king of Egypt, who reigned there in the days of Samson.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain This book, which began with triumphs, here ends with…
This book, which began with triumphs, here ends with funerals, by which all the glory of man is stained. We have here 1. The burial of Joseph, Jos 24:32. He died about 200 years before in Egypt, but gave commandment concerning his bones, that they should not rest in their grave until Israel had rest in the land of promise; now therefore the children of Israel, who had brought this coffin full of bones with them out of Egypt, carried it along with them in all their marches through the wilderness (the two tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, it is probable, taking particular care of it), and kept it in their camp till Canaan was perfectly reduced, now at last they deposited it in that piece of ground which his father gave him near Shechem, Gen 48:22. Probably it was upon this occasion that Joshua called for all Israel to meet him at Shechem (v. 1), to attend Joseph's coffin to the grave there, so that the sermon in this chapter served both for Joseph's funeral sermon and his own farewell sermon; and if it was, as is supposed, in the last year of his life, the occasion might very well remind him of his own death being at hand, for he was not just at the same age that his illustrious ancestor Joseph had arrived at when he died, 110 years old; compare Jos 24:29 with Gen 50:26. 2. The death and burial of Joshua, Jos 24:29, Jos 24:30. We are not told how long he lived after the coming of Israel into Canaan. Dr. Lightfoot thinks it was about seventeen years; but the Jewish chronologers generally say it was about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years. He is here called the servant of the Lord, the same title that was given to Moses (Jos 1:1) when mention was made of his death; for, though Joshua was in many respects inferior to Moses, yet in this he was equal to him, that, according as his work was, he approved himself a diligent and faithful servant of God. And he that traded with his two talents had the same approbation that he had who traded with his five. Well done, good and faithful servant. Joshua's burying-place is here said to be on the north side of the hill Gaash, or the quaking hill; the Jews say it was so called because it trembled at the burial of Joshua, to upbraid the people of Israel with their stupidity in that they did not lament the death of that great and good man as they ought to have done. Thus at the death of Christ, our Joshua, the earth quaked. The learned bishop Patrick observes that there is no mention of any days of mourning being observed for Joshua, as there were for Moses and Aaron, in which, he says, St. Hierom and others of the fathers think there is a mystery, namely, that under the law, when life and immortality were not brought to so clear a light as they are now, they had reason to mourn and weep for the death of their friends; but now that Jesus, our Joshua, has opened the kingdom of heaven, we may rather rejoice. 3. The death and burial of Eleazar the chief priest, who, it is probable, died about the same time that Joshua did, as Aaron in the same year with Moses, Jos 24:33. The Jews say that Eleazar, a little before he died, called the elders together, and gave them a charge as Joshua had done. He was buried in a hill that pertained to Phinehas his son, which came to him, not by descent, for then it would have pertained to his father first, nor had the priests any cities in Mount Ephraim, but either it fell to him by marriage, as the Jews conjecture, or it was freely bestowed upon him, to build a country seat on, by some pious Israelite that was well-affected to the priesthood, for it is here said to have been given him; and there he buried his dear father. 4. A general idea given us of the state of Israel at this time, Jos 24:31. While Joshua lived, religion was kept up among them under his care and influence; but soon after he and his contemporaries died it went to decay, so much oftentimes does one head hold up: how well is it for the gospel church that Christ, our Joshua, is still with it, by his Spirit, and will be always, even unto the end of the world!
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And they buried him in the border of his…
And they buried him in the border of his inheritance,.... In a field belonging to his estate; for they buried not in towns and cities in those times. The Greek version adds,"and they put into the tomb, in which he was buried, the stone knives with which he circumcised the children of Israel at Gilgal, when he brought them out of Egypt;''and an Arabic writer (e) affirms the same, but without any foundation:
in Timnathserah, which is in Mount Ephraim; which was his city, and where he dwelt; and of which See Gill on Jos 19:50; and his grave was near the city; here, they say (f), his father Nun, and Caleb also, were buried:
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on the north side of the hill of Gaash; of the brooks or valleys of Gnash mention is made in Sa2 23:30; which very probably were at the bottom of this hill.
(e) Patricides, p. 31. apud Hottinger. Smegma, p. 523. (f) Cippi Heb. p. 32.
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Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 29. Joshua the son of Nun - died]…
Verse 29. Joshua the son of Nun - died] This event probably took place shortly after this public assembly; for he was old and stricken in years when he held the assembly mentioned Jos 23:2; and as his work was now all done, and his soul ripened for a state of blessedness, God took him to himself, being one hundred and ten years of age; exactly the same age as that of the patriarch Joseph. See Ge 50:26.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain And after, &c. If Josue wrote this book, as…
And after, &c. If Josue wrote this book, as is commonly believed, these last verses were added by Samuel, or some other prophet. (Challoner) --- Scholastic History. (Worthington) --- Josue had governed Israel 17 years with the greatest prudence and fidelity. (Calmet) --- Some extend his administration to a longer period. (Haydock) --- He paid the debt of nature [i.e., he died] probably not long after the ratification of the covenant. It does not appear that he was ever married. (St. Jerome, contra Jov. 1.; St Chrysostom) --- The Scripture does not mention that the people mourned for him, as they had done for Moses, &c. Yet we cannot doubt but they would shew this mark of respect to his memory, on account of the many benefits which they had received from him. The Holy Ghost has vouchsafed to be his panegyrist, Numbers xxvii. 12., and Ecclesiasticus xlvi. 1., &c. Josephus ([Antiquities?] v. 1,) represents him as a most universal character, equally perfect in everything that he took in hand. His greatest honour is to have been so striking a figure of Jesus, whose name he bore, (Calmet) and whose sacred office in administering a second circumcision after he had caused the people to cross the Jordan, he so well described. Like him he introduces the faithful into the land of promise, overthrows their enemies, and establishes them in peace, taking care both at the beginning and at the end of his administration, to set before their eyes the will of the heavenly Father, the God who is both holy and jealous, ver. 19. Under Josue the Israelites are invincible, only as long as they continue faithful, chap. vii. But Jesus secures his Church both from infidelity and from the attacks of all her enemies, by his all-powerful grace. (Haydock) --- The Jews have attributed to Josue ten regulations, which are too trifling to have been made by him. (Selden, Jur. vi. 2.) --- The Samaritan chronicle embellishes the account of this great man with many surprising and puerile fictions, as if the true history were not sufficient to excite our attention. See Basnage and Serarius. (Calmet) --- The Jews say Josue died on the 26th of Nisan, unmarried. The Roman martyrology honours his memory on the 1st of September. (Salien, in the year before Christ 1453.) It is probable that the Egyptian or Tyrean Hercules, who encountered so many giants and difficulties, was no other than Josue, whose history the pagans have obscured with fables. (Vossius.) (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain HIS AGE AND DEATH. (Jos 24:29-30)
HIS AGE AND DEATH. (Jos 24:29-30)
Joshua . . . died--LIGHTFOOT computes that he lived seventeen, others twenty-seven years, after the entrance into Canaan. He was buried, according to the Jewish practice, within the limits of his own inheritance. The eminent public services he had long rendered to Israel and the great amount of domestic comfort and national prosperity he had been instrumental in diffusing among the several tribes, were deeply felt, were universally acknowledged; and a testimonial in the form of a statue or obelisk would have been immediately raised to his honor, in all parts of the land, had such been the fashion of the times. The brief but noble epitaph by the historian is, Joshua, "the servant of the Lord."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 29–33. Death of Joshua and Eleazar
29–33. Death of Joshua and Eleazar
29. And it came to pass] With the close of Joshua’s parting address comes the close also of his own life. The historian proceeds to bring the book to a conclusion, and tells us of (i) the death of Joshua; (ii) the conduct of the people after his death; (iii) the burial of the remains of Joseph, which had been brought out of Egypt; (iv) the death of Eleazar the high-priest.
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Joshua … the servant of the Lord, died] His work was now over. His work of war, and his work of peace. His age when he died was precisely that which Joseph reached (Gen_50:26), a hundred and ten years.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (29) An hundred and ten years old.—The mention in…
(29) An hundred and ten years old.—The mention in Jos_24:31 of “elders that prolonged their days after Joshua” seems to suggest that Joshua’s death was comparatively an early death.[15] Had he thought and laboured more for himself and less for Israel, he also might have prolonged his days. But, like his Antitype, he pleased not himself, and, like a good and faithful servant, he entered all the sooner into the joy of his Lord.
[15] Yet Brugsch states that the Egyptians “addressed to the host of the holy gods the prayer to preserve and lengthen life, if possible, to the most perfect old age of 110 years.” This may be a reminiscence of the life of Joseph, which reached this length (Gen_50:26).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The servant of the Lord. The theory of some…
JOSHUA"S DEATH AND BURIAL.
The servant of the Lord. The theory of some commentators, that this expression is evidence of a later interpolation because "the title only dates, from the period when Moses, Joshua, and others were raised to the rank of national saints," need only be noticed to be rejected. It is a fair specimen of the inventive criticism which has found favour among modern critics, in which a large amount of imagination is made to supply the want of the smallest modicum of fact. What is wanting here is the slightest evidence of such a "period" having ever existed, except at the time when these saints of the old covenant closed their labours by death. All the facts before us go to prove that Moses, as well as Joshua, was held in as high, if not higher, veneration at the moment of his death as at any other period of Jewish history. Died. His was an end which any man might envy. Honoured and beloved, and full of days, he closed his life amid the regrets of a whole people, and with the full consciousness that he had discharged the duties God had imposed upon trim. The best proof of the estimation in which he was held is contained in ver. 32.
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Vers. 29-33. The end of the work.
We now reach the conclusion of the narrative. Like every other biography, it ends with death. Well were it for us all if death came at the conclusion of a well spent life like Joshua"s.
I A GOOD MAN"S END. We read in the Book of the Revelation, "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord... their works do follow them." Few have been privileged to be "followed" by their works like Joshua. He led the Israelites into the promised land, and left them there. For many hundred years the seventy years" captivity excepted they dwelt there. For their rejection of Him of whom Joshua was the type they were cast out. But even now they remain a distinct people, and entertain hopes of a return to the land which, humanly speaking, Joshua gave them. If we ask the cause of this great success, whose results have lasted even to our own day, it is to be found in the unique character of the conqueror. Simple, straightforward adhesion to duty, intense moral earnestness, earnest piety, prompt and unquestioning obedience to God, the highest public spirit, the utter absence of all self seeking and ambition, mark a character altogether without parallel in the history of conquest. Conquest generally is associated with fraud and wrong. It has its origin in the greed and ambition of the conqueror; it is carried out amid injustice and oppression; it leaves its evil results behind it, and is avenged by the hatred of the oppressed, and by the sure and often swift collapse of a power founded in wrong. Cruel, according to our modern ideas, Joshua was, no doubt. But he was centuries in advance of his age; his cruelty was the result of a moral purpose. And we must remember that for our modern notions of cruelty we are indebted to Jesus Christ. It is a fact that God did permit (whether He ought to have done so is a question we cannot discuss here) men to live for thousands of years in ignorance of the true law of mercy. It is not strange, then, if Joshua was not in this respect conformed to an ideal which was not permitted to exist until Christ revealed it. In all other respects, he was the model of what a commander should be, and hence the durability of his work. We cannot hope to become so famous. Yet if we imitate Joshua"s obedience, earnestness, piety, unselfishness, we, too, may achieve results as durable, though it may never be known to whom they are owing. For a good deed never dies. It associates itself with the other good influences at work in the world, each of these producing good results on others, and thus steadily working on to the great consummation of all things. What Joshua was it is shame to us if we are not, according to our opportunities. For the Spirit of God is now freely shed forth in all the world, and given to them that ask it.
II THE MEMORY OF THE JUST IS BLESSED. Joseph"s bones were interred in Shechem. Thus we learn
(a) that patriarch"s affectionate love for his brethren, in that he desired in death to be among them, and would have his memory cherished as an encouragement to serve God faithfully. And
(b) we learn the duty of commemorating God"s saints. The extravagant veneration paid to saints and martyrs by those of another communion has caused us to be somewhat too neglectful of their memory. The martyrs of the Reformation are not commemorated among us. We publish biographies of our good men, and straightway forget all about them. Yet surely we might be greatly cheered and encouraged on our way by the recollection of the triumphs of God"s Spirit in our fellow sinners. Surely the pulses of the spiritual life may lawfully be quickened by a sympathy with the great and good who have gone before. Surely all noble examples, all holy lives, are a part of the heritage of the saints designed to advance God"s cause. The victories of God"s Spirit over the devil, the world, and the flesh, in various ages, among various nations, under various circumstances, will surely best encourage that catholic spirit of sympathy with all that is great and good, without which no Christian perfection can exist. "Let us then praise famous men, and our fathers that begat us." Let the Josephs and Joshuas of the new covenant be held in the deepest honour among us. And thus we shall rise from the contemplation of their struggles to the vision of the Great Captain of their salvation, by whom alone they had victory in the fight.
III THE INFLUENCE OF A GOOD MAN LIVES AFTER HIM. As long as the memory of Joshua"s personal influence was felt, so long did the children of Israel keep to the right way. Or rather, perhaps, we may better put it thus: the example and influence of Joshua gradually gathered round him a number of men like minded, who were placed in positions of authority, and who were capable, like him, of guiding and directing others. When they died, their places were filled by men whose recollection of Joshua"s conduct was less distinct, and who possessed in a less degree His power of ruling. Thus Israel fell into disobedience, and it is worthy of remark that when oppression brought them to their senses, it was Othniel, one of those on whom the example of Joshua may be supposed to have had most effect, that they looked for deliverance. We see these facts
(a) repeated constantly in the history of God"s Church.
(1) The great leader of a religious movement trains a number of men like minded, who guide and direct the movement in his spirit after he has passed away in the spirit, and for the ends that he intended. But
(2) a time comes when the first fervour of the movement dies away, when its principles become popular, and thereby vulgarised. They are corrupted by the admixture of the worldly element, the peculiar features of the system are unduly pressed, and deprived of that balance which they possessed in its founder"s mind by being kept in check by a wider sympathy and a larger grasp. From a revival of forgotten truths the movement degenerates into a sect or party; the salt has lost its savour, and there needs some other regenerator to arise, who shall give a new direction to the flagging spiritual energies of men. There is no need to give instances of this. They will occur in numbers to every student of history. Also
(b) the same truth meets us in the life of individuals. Whether in a public and private position, either as a minister of Christ, or as a member of a congregation, God is pleased to raise up some one whose life of piety is at once an encouragement and an incentive to others to lead the same kind of life. He dies, and for a long time his name is a household word to those who knew him. From his grave he is a preacher of righteousness to those who live near and where he is known. His example is brought forward, his words are quoted, to those who have never seen him. And so the tradition of his excellence lives on among those who come after him. Yet it grows fainter as the years roll on, until it becomes a tradition of the past. Others come in his place who knew him not. Other influences are at work in the pulpit where he preached, the parish where he laboured, the place where he dwelt. His influence has not really died out good influence, as we have said, never dies for the good seed he sowed sprung up in the most unexpected quarters, and in the most unexpected ways. But his own place knows him no more. His name is now but a shadow in the distant past. It is no longer an influence full of power. Very often there is a declension in the neighbourhood when the good man is taken away. Very often the aged who remembered him have too good cause to lament a change which is not for the better. But the good work goes on. The torch of love flames more brightly, now here, and now there. But God does not fail to raise up deliverers for His people. His Spirit does not cease to work powerfully in human hearts. His faithful servants still continue to battle against sin, and shall do so until He come again.
HOMILIES BY W.F. ADENEY Ver. 29. The death of Joshua.
It has been well remarked that "this Book of Joshua, which begins with triumphs, ends with funerals." All human glory ends in the grave. The longest life is soon passed. The most useful men are taken from their work on earth, leaving the unfinished task to other hands. Joshua being dead yet speaketh.
I JOSHUA IS AS EXAMPLE FOR US.
(1) His character is an example of
(a) courage,
(b) energy,
(c) independence,
(d) trust,
(e) unselfishness.
He is the type of the soldier of God, the pattern of active and masculine excellence.
(2) His mission is an example. Christians are called to possess an inheritance, to conquer the earth for Christ, to fight against and overcome the evils and temptations of the world.
(3) His career is an example. We see how Joshua was true to his character and fulfilled his mission. He served through a long life. There are some whose devotion is like morning dew. There are others who are roused for great deeds at critical moments, but are negligent in the longer intervals which are left for quiet service. It is a great thing to be long and continuously faithful. It is selfish to desire an early death. Rather, if it is God"s will, should we welcome the opportunity of long service.
(4) His end is an example. Joshua was faithful to death, and faithful in death. His last act was to bind the people to the service of God with a solemn covenant, and pledge his own devotion and that of his house. The Christian"s death bed should be a blessing to others.
II JOSHUA IS A TYPE OF CHRIST. Jesus is our Joshua, with marks of resemblance and of contrast to the Hebrew leader.
(1) Jesus Christ exemplifies in perfection all those good characteristics for which Joshua is famous. Though mild and gentle, our Lord was not weak and effeminate. Fidelity, firmness, courage, energy, are seen in Him to perfection. As the perfect man, he combined and harmonised the excellences of all good types of character.
(2) Jesus Christ, like Joshua, lived a life of warfare. Joshua was a warrior. Christ is a captain of salvation. He met constant opposition from men; He was opposed by the powers of Satan, and he conquered. Yet
(a) Joshua fought enemies of flesh and blood, Christ fought spiritual foes; and
(b) Joshua used the sword, Christ conquered by submission and suffering and sacrifice.
(3) Jesus Christ, like Joshua, is a Saviour.
(a) He delivers from real present enemies. He saves not only from the future consequences of evil, but from our present sins and troubles.
(b) He saves those who trust Him, follow Him, and fight with Him, as Joshua not only fought himself, but led the people to battle.
(4) Jesus Christ, like Joshua, leads His people to an inheritance, but in this there are no Canaanites remaining; it is "an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for us". (1Pe_1:4)
(5) Jesus Christ, unlike Joshua, ever liveth." Joshua lived to old age and died in honour, and was buried, and ceased to. serve his nation. Jesus Christ was cut off in early life and crucified in shame, but rose from the dead, and is now with tits people, and will remain till all have entered into their inheritance. W.F.A. (Mat_28:20)
HOMILIES BY E. DE PRESSENSE Ver. 29. The Death of Joshua
"After these things Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being a hundred and ten years old." Having thus reached the close of the life of Joshua, it is fitting that we should form a general estimate of Iris character and work. He occupies an honourable place among the great leaders of the people of God. He well deserves to be called a servant of the Lord, for this was the one aim and object of his life. His brow is not crowned with the halo of glory which lighted up that of Moses when he came down from the mount, where he had talked with God as a man talketh with his friend. He is a less sublime type of man, but not, therefore, the less admirable; for in the kingdom of God there is no room for rivalry among those who have fulfilled each his appointed task. First, Joshua was a man of implicit obedience to the Divine behests. He did nothing but that which was commanded him, neither more nor less. Second, he was a very humble man. He never took to himself, in any degree, the glory which belongs to God alone. After the most glorious battles in which he acted as commander, he forgot self in the fervent recognition of the invisible power of which he was but the organ, and his song of gratitude and praise went up to God alone. Third, he was a man of unfaltering faith and courage. His heart never failed him for an instant. He never doubted God; and it was from this confidence that he derived the boldness which he communicated to the children of Israel, to march undaunted against an enemy superior in numbers. Fourth, he united true love for his nation, manifested on repeated occasions, with holy severity when there was just ground for rebuke. Fifth, he was absolutely disinterested in all his service. He never dreamed of handing down his power to his children; his one thought was to do the will of God and to finish His work. When his task was done, he spoke words of solemn warning to his people, and then was gathered to his fathers, or rather to his God. A saintly and noble life truly, and one which teaches us the secret of success in the righteous war with evil. To obey, to be wholly consecrated to God, to believe in the fulfilment of the Divine promises, to fight fearlessly with eye fixed upon the Captain of our salvation, whose strength is perfected in weakness this is the unfailing secret of success for the Church. Joshua well deserves, not only by his name, but by his faithfulness and devotion to the cause of God, to be the type of our great Leader, "the Author and Finisher of our faith;" the true Joshua, who has conquered for us "a better country, that is a heavenly. E. DE P.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Joshua . . . died.
Jos_24:29-33
Joshua . . . died.
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The burials of distinguished saints
Within the compass of the five last verses of this book three deaths are recorded and three burial-places signalised by the deposited remains of the most distinguished saints. After all we have seen in Canaan, let us visit the sepulchre of Joshua. The short record given may be viewed as a simple, unvarnished memento, or monumental inscription (verses 29, 30). The place of his interment was in the lot of his inheritance, and may remind us how soon the seat of life becomes the repository of death. Short had been the date of his settlement: an hundred years before he obtained rest, and then but ten before he must lie down in his grave, not again to rise till the heavens be no more. What can be a greater or more convincing proof of still higher and nobler ends of Providence than any contained within the limits of this life, when even the most distinguished of Gods family, the most exemplary and useful of His children, are not suffered to continue by reason of death, but are early removed from the happiest scenes on earth! It bespeaks the greatness of man, and the more exalted provisions of glory the infinite goodness of God has secured in another world. The designs of His grace are too exalted, and the displays of His power too wondrous, to centre in any earthly lot, though equal in beauty and richness to Eden, when as yet the seat of innocence, perfection, and love. Timnath-serah was still the portion of his lot, even in death. Where he lived in possession, there he lay in possession, nor left any commandment, as Jacob and Joseph, for removal. It is remarkable how much this was the desire of the faithful, and of what moment, though not in itself, yet in its typical regards, they viewed a burying-place in the promised land. It was as if they thought upon the interests of their sleeping dust as well as the felicity of their undying spirits, and in still retaining their inheritance, even in a state of death, would claim for their bodies a share in the life to come; for He who had so richly provided for the one as well as for the other, in an inheritance entirely typical, would not have so essential a part of our redeemed nature for ever the prey of worms. Where the believer now rests, in what bed matters little, for Jesus is the resurrection and the life of all His people. A short inscription, which, as a plain monumental record of his character and age, claims in the solemn reflections here excited a moments pause: Servant of the Lord died, being an hundred and ten years old. What an important connection of age and dignity! What an honour to lie down at last under this character! This is the highest style of man. What he had done, and all which this book recorded of the mighty conquests achieved, was not here to be named; for in everything he had been but a servant, and only the willing instrument of Omnipotence. The title was all that need appear, or that any who know their own insignificance would desire. It is enough that they rest from their labours, and their works do follow. Joshua and all the saints, from infancy to age, through the long lapse of time, shall retain the record of truth, and in the character in which they died rise the servants of God. As now in the end of life it is said, The servant of the Lord died, being an hundred and ten years old, so then shall commence the history of eternity. The servant of the Lord arose the beginning, the first day, of immortality. From the tomb of Joshua let us go to the burying-place of Joseph: it is in the same inheritance, and not far distant. It is remarkable in the connected record of these burials that Joshua should have lived just the same number of years as this his distinguished ancestor, and that though not buried in the same spot, yet in the same inheritance, and not far distant from the same period. Never was there so singular a funeral: two hundred years dead before interment. Many, we may think, crowded to see it, and if the Church in heaven could have been witnesses, the sight must have yielded pleasure; for it was the burial of faith. And did it reach the glorified saint, the spirit long made perfect, or could he have looked down upon the purchased spot of his father, the desired resting-place of his bones, he would have known the fidelity of his brethren, and have rejoiced in the end of his faith. It became the inheritance of the children of Joseph, though he had stood a stranger in the land, when, in obedience to the dying request of his father, he buried him in the grave which himself was said to have digged (Gen_50:5). How remarkable that the place where Joseph obtained interment, and where at length he was gathered to his fathers, should turn out the inheritance of his sons; and that, though separated many years from his father in life, he should, as he, rest in Canaan, and find a grave even in his own inheritance. Oh! it was a sweet privilege to be entombed in his own inheritance, and to hold a place with both his sons and his fathers in what bespoke the common hope and claim of all the faithful. It was a choice spot, and where any saint would have wished to have been laid, and there to have rested in the hope of all that was, in the perfection of the Church and close of time, to open in the grandeur of the resurrection, when, as the heirs of promise, and the sons of immortality, they would rise to claim a fairer, brighter, and more lasting inheritance above the skies. The ground was a purchase (Gen_23:16-17). And now the purchase of Jacob became the burying-place of Joseph. The heavenly land is spoken of as a purchased possession, and that in no part ever to become a burying-place, but the seat of endless life and felicity to the whole Church of God. But, oh! what has been the purchase, what paid for it, by the eternal Son of God! One more burying-place within this inheritance is pointed out: And Eleazar the son of Aaron died, &c. As situated near Shiloh, this was, probably for its convenience, assigned as the residence of the high priest. We see the inheritances of Israel fast changing into the burying-places of the dead. It was not the land of immortality, not that state of being of which it is said, There shall be no more death, &c. In Canaan all must die, as well princes, priests, and rulers, as others; but in heaven none die: there natural evils and moral pollutions are for ever removed. (W. Seaton.)
Israel served the Lord.
Faithful adherence to engagements
The men of that generation remained faithful to their engagements. These men, who had themselves known all the works of the Lord that He had done for Israel, in bringing them into Canaan and in subduing the hostile nations, never forsook His worship for the worship of the idols of the laud, of whose boasted power they had witnessed so signal a discomfiture. The character and admonitions of Joshua were not forgotten. His disinterestedness, his energy, his singleness of purpose, his faith, had left a track of glory behind, as the sun, after he has sunk below the horizon, flings glorious hues and golden light over all the western sky. The men who had themselves seen the conquests of Joshua would have been doubly inexcusable if they had forsaken the worship of Jehovah. Like the disciple Thomas, because they had seen they had believed. How, indeed, could it have been otherwise? How could they, standing there in Shechem,--the site of Abrahams altar, of Jacobs well, of Josephs tomb, of Joshuas victories--refuse to believe in the Divine calling of the people Israel? (L. H. Wiseman, M. A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Jos_24:30. Timnath-serah] For the site of this place, see…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Jos_24:30. Timnath-serah] For the site of this place, see note on chap. Jos_19:50.
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MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Jos_24:29-31
THE CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE OF JOSHUA
Many of the noblest lives have an obscure origin and a lowly beginning. Joshua was born a slave. He was born about the time that Moses fled out of Egypt to Jethro. His name first occurs in the history when he was upwards of forty years of age (Exo_17:9). Eminent or obscure, every life must come to an end. No amount of greatness can confer physical immortality, and no depth of obscurity is sufficient to hide from infirmity, disease, and death. The pages of the Bible are portioned out in sections; on a few of those pages we meet with the Dame of Noah; on a few, that of Abraham, Moses, Joshua, or some other prominent man; then, when we have passed its section, the particular name, for the most part, occurs no more. Only the name of the Eternal belongs to the Bible throughout. The noblest of men appear only for a time, and then pass away, to make room for others. The Bible is a portrait of human life, and this feature of brevity is also a part of the picture. At this point of the great Scripture story, the name of Joshua begins to give place to those of the succeeding Judges.
I. Joshua’s great life and character.
1. His life was full of trying events. Moses selected him to lead the Israelites to their first battle. He was chosen, as a strong and wise and good man, to fill one of the most important positions among his people, and from the time of that choice to this time of his death the events of the national life were severely testing the manhood of the man, the capacity of the warrior and the statesman, and the piety of the servant of the Lord. After the trial on the battle-field of Rephidim, Joshua was proved in the matter of patience. For nearly six weeks he seems to have waited in a mysterious solitude, while Moses was upon the mount with God (cf. Exo_24:13; Exo_32:17). During that period the patience of Aaron and Hur and the elders had failed; they turned to idolatry, and the people with them. Yet Joshua took no part in the sin of the people, and was even ignorant that the calf had been made, attributing the idolatrous shouts of the multitude to “a noise of war in the camp.” God had tried the bravery of the soldier; He would no less severely prove the faith and patience of the servant. After the trial in solitude, Joshua was tempted in company. Ten of the spies became so many tempters of the remaining two to murmuring and unbelief. The hosts of Israel joined in the temptation. The loud vox populi was urgent and almost unanimous against the silent vox Dei which Joshua heard by faith in his own heart. But Joshua and Caleb were firm; they rent their clothes, and remonstrated together against the rebellious multitude. After the death of Moses, the life of this great man was simply full of events calculated to tax his faith and patience to the utmost. Jordan, Jericho, Ai, Bethhoron, and Merom are but a few of the more prominent names representing, not only Joshua’s conflicts with great difficulties and strong enemies, but, probably, severe conflicts with himself. Every crisis in the history of the invasion, every battle field, every day in the long and arduous work of dividing the land, must have brought to Joshua strong temptations to, in some way, forget or dishonour God. Joshua’s life was a prolonged excitement in the midst of great events, and each event was a new ordeal.
2. His character was as great as his life was eventful. If every day dawned ushering in for Joshua, in his personal life, some new battle, every night seems to have brought him some fresh victory. No word of direct blame is recorded against him throughout his whole history. Only once—when the elders took of the victuals of the Gibeonites, “and asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord,” and “Joshua made peace” with these deceivers—does there seem to be even a reflection upon his pious faithfulness to God. Among many other things in which this Joshua of the Old Testament seems to prefigure the greater JOSHUA of the New, so far as a sinful man could do so at all, his life beautifully points us to Him “who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth.” Even the beautiful life of Moses is grievously darkened by two transgressions—his murder of the Egyptian, and his unfaithfulness at Meribah; but no similar cloud throws its shadows over the character of Joshua. For absence of self-seeking, and love of his people; for bravery beautified by tenderness; for a strength of will so powerful to control the multitude, and yet a will so docile before the known will and mind of God; for unquestioning obedience in the execution of Divine commands, naturally and severely trying to his humanity and kindness; for a calm and even mind amidst great daily provocations and inducements to go astray; for purity of thought and feeling; for self-continence in the hours of great victories, and in the months and years that followed them; for quiet and continuous zeal for God’s glory and his country’s good; for real greatness in its union with deep and true humility: for all these things, and others, taken as a combination dwelling in a single character, the world has known few lives so noble as this life, perhaps none nobler, excepting the all-transcending life of Christ. So far as the history of his life is recorded, there seems nothing in which Joshua is open to the blame of men, and nothing in which he becomes subject to the reproof of God.
II. Joshua’s honourable death and burial.
1. Just before his death we come to what appear to have been the intensest moments of his whole life. Nothing can be more earnest and beautiful than his appeal to the elders, recorded in chapter 23, and the wonderful mingling of dignity, intensity, and love shewn in this chapter, in his pleading with the people. The two addresses shew us conclusively, that Joshua’s “long time” of comparative rest in his old age (chap. Jos_23:1) had in no way served to diminish, but rather to increase, his pious concern for himself and his people before God. The two addresses shew that, right up to the end, his life was a growth, not a decay. The death of such a man must of necessity be honourable and beautiful. Our life should be a growth as long as it lasts. There are too many who grow old and cold at the same time.
2. Joshua’s burial has a brief record, but one that befits his life (Jos_24:29). There is about it nothing ostentatious—nothing pretentious. “They buried him,” says the historian. Who are meant by this word “they”? The quiet pronoun reads as though it might stand for half the nation: like Joshua himself, it says so little, and yet seems to represent so much. “They buried him in the border of his inheritance.” That inheritance itself was one of Joshua’s noblest tributes. This dead man had become great in winning so much, and greater still in taking so little. It was meet that the great dead conqueror should be buried in the borders of his own meagre inheritance. Joshua could have no nobler memorial than to be buried in the borders of that comparatively poor estate in Timnath-Serah. Many men defeat their own greatest victories by their manner of disposing of the spoil. To thousands of “Christians,” every new conquest and every fresh success in life means as much more estate for themselves as is possible, and as much from their neighbour’s as can be conveniently added to their own.
III. Joshua’s holy and abiding influence. “And Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua.” Being dead, Joshua yet spake. His unselfish and holy life became an abiding power to hold all who had known him steadfast in the faith. The Hindoos have a beautiful epigram, which runs on this wise:
“Naked on parent’s knees, a new-born child
Thou sat’st and wept, while all around thee smiled:
So live, that sinking to thy last long sleep,
Thou then may’st smile, while all around thee weep.”
To Joshua himself, his end was, doubtless, peace; to all Israel, it must have been a season of deep and sincere sorrow. And yet, to the mighty host who had known this great man as their leader, these days of gloom and heaviness had a brightness that was slow to fade away. In the eloquent words of the late Bishop Wilberforce, “As on the dark sky, when some flashing meteor has swept across it with a path of fire, there remains still after that glory has departed, a lingering line of light; so was it with this mighty man, glorious in life, and leaving even after he was gone the record of his abundant faithfulness still to hold for a season heavenward the too wandering eyes of Israel.” Thus ever does a good and holy man outlive himself.
OUTLINES AND COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Jos_24:29-30.—“SUNSET ON MOUNT EPHRAIM.”
“Here is a glorious orb in the old world sinking peacefully to rest behind the pastoral hills of Ephraim. Joshua was in every sense of the word a great character, a saintly hero,—the man not only of his age, but of many ages. If his name does not shine so conspicuously amid the galaxy of patriarchs and ancient worthies, it is very much because, as has been said of him, ‘the man himself is eclipsed by the brilliancy of his deeds:’ like the sun in a gorgeous western sky, when the pile of amber clouds—the golden linings and drapery with which he is surrounded—pale the lustre of the great luminary.
“Four elements of strength appear to stand out conspicuously in Joshua’s character, and which distinguish him pre-eminently in the Old Testament as ‘the warrior saint.’
“
I. Zeal for God’s honour. This seemed to have been his paramount aim and motive through life. Examples: It was so at the passage of the Jordan; in the interview with the Captain of the Lord’s host; in the rearing of the altar at Ebal; in the addresses at Shiloh and Shechem.
“
II. Deference to God’s law. Like every true and loyal soldier, he acted up to the orders of his superior: the reading of the Law at Ebal; the commemorative ‘altar of whole stones;’ the counsel offered in chap. Jos_23:6, and the urgent words in chap. Jos_24:27.… Amid the duties and difficulties, the cares and perplexities of life, how many a pang and tear would it save us if we went with chastened and inquiring spirits to these sacred oracles! This antiquated volume is still the ‘Book of books,’ the oracle of oracles, the beacon of beacons; the poor man’s treasury; the child’s companion; the sick man’s health; the dying man’s life; shallows for the infant to walk in, depths for giant intellect to explore and adore.
“
III. Dependence on God’s strength. ‘Certainly I will be with thee,’ was the guarantee with which he accepted his onerous responsibilities as leader of the many thousands of Israel. In this spirit Joshua cast himself upon God at the time of his defeat at Ai, and in the battle with the five kings of the South at Beth-horon—the Marathon of ancient Canaan.
“
IV. Trust in God’s faithfulness. When Joshua first undertook to lead the armies of Israel, this was the warrant and encouragement on which he set out: ‘I the Lord am with thee whithersoever thou goest.’ … When the land had been partitioned to the various tribes, Joshua records this emphatic attestation, ‘There failed not aught of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel: all came to pass’ (chap. Jos_21:45).… As surely as Joshua’s zeal and trust and fortitude crowned his arms with victory, so surely, if we, in the noble gospel sense, ‘quit us like men, and be strong,’ God will give us the rest He promises—the rest which remains for His people.”—[J. R. Mac Duff.]
JOSHUA’S HUMILITY AND SELF-FORGETFULNESS.
“Two things are very characteristic of Joshua’s great virtue of modesty:
“
1. His humility and unselfishness in regard to any possessions or advantages for himself or his family. He appropriated nothing forcibly as his own. No claim is put forward to any reward for his long and faithful service. No boastful allusion is made either to his courage or to his patience.
“
2. His remarkable forgetfulness of self in his most solemn concluding addresses to the assembled people. It is very striking to observe how his own credit is not accounted of at all. It is still, in fact, as if even now he were standing before Moses, as his minister and servant.”—[Dean Howson.]
THE EFFECT OF JOSHUA’S VICTORIES
“We who live in these later days can see that the whole history of man hung upon the issue of those battles in the plain of Jericho and on the hills of Beth-horon. What other conflicts have ever decided so much for humanity? Joshua stood on those fields of blood the very world-hero, bearing with him all its destinies. If Israel had been subdued by the Canaanites, if the separated seed had been mingled with the heathen, if it had learned their ways, if the worship of Moab and Chemosh and Moloch and Astarte had superseded the worship of Jehovah, how had all the grand designs of redemption been frustrated in their development! The cry of Joshua after the flight at Ai would have been the despairing utterance of the race of men: ‘And what wilt Thou do unto Thy great name?’ ”
“More almost in Joshua’s history than anywhere besides may the troubled soul—perplexed and harassed by the sight, on this sin-defiled earth, of wars, battles, slaughters, pestilences, earthquakes, miseries, and treasons—rest itself, though it be with the deep sob of a present broken-heartedness, in the conviction that God has a plan for this world; that in the end it does prevail; that the Baalim of heathen power must fall before Him, and that His kingdom shall stand for ever and ever in its truth and righteousness and love.”—[Bp. Wilberforce.]
JOSHUA A TYPE OF CHRIST
“In more various points, and with a closer similarity of outline than belongs, perhaps, to any other figure in the Old Testament, is Joshua the type of Christ. His very name begins the great intimation. Changed by Moses—doubtless at the mouth of the Lord—from Oshea, ‘welfare,’ to Jehoshua, or Jesus, ‘God the Saviour;’ it pointed him out as the figure in the earthly of the heavenly deliverer. Joshua is pre-eminently one of the people whom he delivers; he has worked with them in the brick-kilns of Egypt, he knows their hearts; in all their afflictions he has been afflicted.
“When Joshua has entered on his leadership, prophetic acts, full of typical significance, begin with a wonderful minuteness to repeat themselves. He, and not the great lawgiver, is to bring the people into Canaan: Moses must depart to secure his every word of promise being fulfilled to Israel, as the law must pass away and be fulfilled before the spiritual Israel could enter on that kingdom. At the river Jordan Joshua is shewn by God to Israel as their appointed leader; there God began to magnify him. As Jesus comes up from the river Jordan, the heavens open, the Holy Ghost descends, and the voice of God declares, ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’ From Jordan’s bed Joshua took twelve stones to be for evermore a witness to the people of their great deliverance; from His baptism in Jordan Jesus began to call His twelve apostles, the foundation stones of that church which witnesses to every generation of the redemption of the sons of Abraham by Christ. Twelve stones Joshua buried under the returning waters of Jordan; and over the first twelve Jesus let the stream of death flow as over others.…
“Before Joshua departed, he called to him on that mountain of Timnath-Serah, which he was about to leave, all the heads of the tribes, and with the chant of a prophetic voice set before them all the grand future, which, if they clave steadfastly to God, should certainly be theirs; and so before He ascended into the heavens did the great Captain of God’s spiritual army appoint to meet upon a mountain top in Galilee the heads of all the tribes into which His church should multiply; and there, looking with them over the far outstretched dominions of the earth, utter to them, Joshua-like, the words of wonder which rang for ever in their ears, ‘All power is given unto me in heaven and on earth: go ye therefore, and evangelize all nations.’
“Yea, and yet again, after a higher sort than belongs to this present world, was Joshua but the type of Jesus. For it is He who, for each one who follows Him, the true High Priest, divides the cold waters of death, setting against their utmost flood, even when that Jordan overfloweth his banks, as he doth all the harvest time, the ark of the body which He took of us, and in which God dwelleth evermore; so making a way for His ransomed to pass over. It is He who hath gone before to prepare amongst the many mansions of His Father’s house the place which the golden lot marks out for us. It is He who hath trodden down all our enemies. It is He who hath built the golden city upon the ‘twelve foundation-stones which bear the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.’ It is He at whose trumpet sound, when the seven days of the great week are accomplished, the walls of Babylon shall fall. It is He who goeth forth conquering and to conquer, until all His enemies are put under His feet; and so the last type of this life of wonders shall be fulfilled, and the true Joshua, from the exceeding high mountain of His Timnath-Serah, shall look around Him on the tribes of God, and see them all at peace; the prayer-promise which was breathed in time fulfilled in eternity: ‘Father, I will that those whom Thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which I had with Thee before the world was.’ ”—[Bp. Wilberforce.]
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Jos_24:32. The bones of Joseph, etc.] “It does not follow from the position of this statement at the end of the book, that the bones were not buried till after the death of Joshua.” [Keil.] The statement, however, is inserted to show that the oath which their fathers had given to Joseph had not been forgotten or neglected by the Israelites. Moses, in his turn, had been mindful of the trust (Exo_13:19).
Jos_24:33. A hill that pertained to Phinehas] Heb.=“the hill of Phinehas,” or “Gibeah of Phinehas,” in the same manner as we afterwards hear of “Gibeah of Saul.” The word Gibeah is in the construct state. If a proper name, which seems unlikely, it should be read “Gibeath-Phinehas.”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Jos_24:29-33
THE SOLDIER, THE SERVANT, AND THE PRIEST
I. The faithful warrior. Joshua comes before us as the leader of the militant host of God. The first we see of him is on the battle-field at Rephidim. Throughout almost his whole life he is seen in connection with war. During the closing years of his life, though no longer fighting, we think of him as the conqueror at peace. As has been suggested, the lines from the “Ode to the Duke of Wellington” may be taken as not inaptly describing some of the strongly marked features of this great ancient captain’s life:—
“The man of long-enduring blood,
The statesman-warrior, moderate, resolute,
Whole in himself, a common good.
… The man of amplest influence,
Yet clearest of ambitious crime;
The greatest, yet with least pretence:
Great in council and great in war,
Foremost captain of his time,
Rich in saving common sense,
And, as the greatest only are,
In his simplicity subtime.
O good gray head which all men knew,
O voice from which their omens all men drew,
O iron nerve to true occasion true,
O fall’n at length that tower of strength
Which stood four-square to all the winds that blew!”—Tennyson.
Whatever else he may have been, in Joshua we have the man who, above all others in history, may be emphatically called “the soldier of God.” And the great warrior was faithful: Scripture has against him no complaint whatever.
II. The faithful son and servant. “And the bones of Joseph,” etc. What Joshua was in the field, that was Joseph in the family. Singularly enough, they both died at exactly the same age (cf. Gen_1:26). As with Joshua, Joseph’s life, two hundred years before, was full of temptation. The dying words of Jacob fitly tell us, “The archers sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him.” But Joseph, no less than Joshua, was faithful: “His bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob.” Scripture makes no complaint, either, against Joseph.
III. The faithful priest. “And Eleazar the son of Aaron died.” With a similar faithfulness Eleazar also appears to have served both his generation and his God. We do not know the exact time of either his birth or death.
These three blameless lives, resting here together at their close, in the records of Old Testament history, seem half to shadow forth the threefold work of the coming Saviour. Joseph is the faithful prophet, whose dreams foretell his life, and whose life begins both to foretell and to inaugurate the coming fulfilment of God’s covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; Eleazar is the faithful priest, whose very name—“the help of God,” or “one whom God helps”—is strangely akin to that of Joshua; while Joshua himself, as the ruler of the host of Israel, serves to conclude the number of the sacred trio which, whether intentionally or not, points with much suggestiveness to Jesus the Saviour, who is, in His own person, at once Prophet, Priest, and King.
OUTLINES AND COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Jos_24:30.—THE GRAVES OF MOSES AND JOSHUA.
1. The grave of the one great man was perfectly well known, and accurately marked, while that of the other was altogether unknown. The monument has little to do with the man.
2. One man was buried by his fellows, the other by his God. Who shall say which was the more loved by God? God’s various treatment of His servants does not arise from His varying love, but from their differing wants. Probably the Israelites of the days of Moses could not have borne to know where Moses lay.
THE TOMB OF JOSHUA
“Lieut. Conder says of the tomb of Joshua: ‘This is certainly the most striking monument in the country, and strongly recommends itself to the mind as an authentic site. That it is the sepulchre of a man of distinction is manifest from the great number of lamp niches which cover the walls of the porch: they are over two hundred, arranged in vertical rows, and all smoke-blacked. One can well imagine the wild and picturesque appearance presented at any time when the votive lamps were all in place, and the blaze of light shone out of the wild hill-side, casting long shadows from the central columns. The present appearance of the porch is also very picturesque, with the dark shadows and bright light, and the trailing boughs which droop from above.’ The tomb is a square chamber, with five excavations on three of its sides, the central one forming a passage leading into a second chamber beyond. Here is a single cavity, with a niche for a lamp; and here, there is good reason to believe, is the resting-place of the warrior chief of Israel. It is curious that when so large a number of travellers come annually to Palestine, so few visit a spot of such transcendent interest.”—[S. S. Teacher.]
Jos_24:31.—THE HOLY INFLUENCES OF A HOLY LIFE.
I. The fruits of a man’s life are of the same kind as the seed. “Israel served the Lord.” They did not serve the devil. They did not serve idols. They did not even serve themselves. Joshua served Jehovah—that was the seed; Israel, too, “served Jehovah”—that was the fruit. As the seed, so the harvest. “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
II. The fruits of a life that is really holy are both abundant and abiding
1. “Israel served the Lord.” Not here and there an Israelite, but Israel generally. God’s fields yield better than many think they do.
2. “Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days,” etc. Joshua’s influence was greatest on those who knew him best. “The elders” were so filled with his spirit, that, even when he was taken from them, they continued to lead the people Godward. Those who had seen most of Joshua became new centres of power to convey his pious spirit to others. The influence of many, for good, diminishes as others come near to them. That life must be blessed indeed that so holds all who are round about it in the service of God, that when the life itself is removed, they who have seen it continually perpetuate it in others.
III. The good fruits of a holy life are through a natural growth, but by the grace of God.
1. There is growth through processes that are natural. The effect of example. Men’s love of realness. The influence of a strong will, made strong by the sense of right, on men of less faith and fervour.
2. The great cause of growth is in the grace of God. The men were influenced, not merely by what Joshua was, but by “all the works of the Lord” which Joshua had done. Joshua’s holy life would have done little, but for the memory of God’s presence, as at Jordan, and Jericho, and Ai, and Beth-horon.
See how much human reasoning and human creeds are at the mercy of a good and God-honoured life. There must have been in Israel many men quite as able as those who in the following generation professed to doubt God, and turned to idols. The lives of men like Whitfield, the Wesleys, Henry Martyn, Bishop Patteson, or even the lives of pious soldiers like Col. Gardiner, Hedley Vicars, and Henry Havelock, are sufficient to upset the reasonings of hosts of men who, but for such lives, would presently say that Scripture “evidences” were not good enough to satisfy what they would then call their “intelligence.” There is no argument against goodness and unselfishness and love, such as were seen in Joshua.
Jos_24:32.—THE HONOUR WHICH GOD PUTS UPON FAITH.
In order to gather the true force of its teaching, this verse must be read in its connection with the dying utterances of Joseph (Gen_1:24-25). Taken in this connection, it suggests the following considerations:—
I. The faith of a man who had very little help from sight. When Joseph said, “God will surely bring you out of this land,” there was very little in the appearances of things to encourage his trust.
1. Faith that has once taken hold on the living God can bear very much thwarting in things which are visible. (a) Joseph had believed in God when a mere lad. His two dreams. These were told in such simple trust, that even his fond father was offended. His brethren saw that he believed, and they called him “this dreamer.” (b) But Joseph’s early faith had a severe shock. How about his trust in God when his brethren gathered to kill him? How did he feel about the truth of his dreams when he was in the pit? How did his faith hold out when he found himself sold now to the Ishmeelites, and now to the Egyptian captain, as a slave? How about his faith in the benefits of integrity, when for being true to himself, true to his master, and true to his God, he was cast into prison? What had become of his dreams, when for the space of two years, or, as some think, seven or eight, he lay in custody, burdened with his bondage, and troubled still more with conflicting thoughts? “Until the time that his word came, the word of the Lord tried him.” How could he believe this other promise, and give “commandment concerning his bones,” when there seemed so little prospect of its fulfilment? Just because, all his life long, God had been training His servant to trust, “not in the things which are seen, but in the things which are not seen.” Joseph had lived to see his dreams come true. His father and his brethren had bowed down to him, though it had often seemed that he could never look upon them again. God had trained His servant to trust, not because of appearances, but in spite of them.
2. True faith contemplates life and death with equal calmness. Joseph said, “I die;” and the knowledge of approaching death brought no trouble, and wrought no disturbance to his faith.
3. Faith reckons the promise of God to be of infinitely more value than earthly possessions. Joseph had said, “Ye shall carry up my bones from hence.” He shews us in that single commandment what he really thought of all his glory in Egypt. He had won his honours in Egypt. His grave would be revered there. His children, apparently, might look for good positions in the land for which their father had wrought so much. All this, compared with God’s promise of Canaan, was nothing to Joseph. He persisted in feeling only a stranger and a sojourner in the land, Nothing therein he “called is own.” His great heritage was in God’s covenant. “Carry up my bones,” said the dying man; Carry them up to the place where God will dwell with His people.
4. Firm faith in death is the outcome of a true heart in life. Joseph had been faithful, and held fast his integrity. Joseph had shewn a spirit of gracious forgiveness towards his brethren. This was the man who could trust God in death.
5. Such faith gathers something of its strength from the faithful who have gone before. The trust of dying Joseph was very like the trust of dying Jacob. Joseph’s father had preceded him in this very matter in which the son afterwards followed. The faith of the son reads almost like a reflection of the bright faith of the father (cf. Gen_47:29-30; Gen_48:21-22; Gen_49:1; Gen_49:24-25). We who believe now, owe much to the faith of those who believed before us. As is the faith of the fathers, so, at least sometimes, is the faith of the children.
II. The faith of a man who honoured God honoured by God. “And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem.” In the very place where Jacob had bought ground of the children of Hamor, and where he had built an altar, calling it, “God, the God of Israel,” there did God enable Joseph’s descendants to lay their believing ancestor’s bones.
1. Our faith should rest, not in appearances, but in the living God. He endures well who endures “as seeing Him who is invisible.” And such faith God ever honours. The honour may be long in coming. It was two hundred years after Joseph had so believed, that God thus magnified his trust. But the recognition came at last. God’s “visions,” given to a believing soul, are all “for an appointed time.”
2. We should be more ready to look on the fulfilments of the Divine word than on what seem its failures. We know when God’s word does come to pass; we only think when we conclude it has failed. The promise of Canaan was given first to Abraham. But Stephen tells us, “God gave him none inheritance in it, no, no not so much as to set his foot on” (Act_7:5). To Isaac and Jacob and Joseph, also, the promise may at times have seemed to have failed. Yet, here it is, all fulfilled. We know little about failures. We only see a little way. All time is God’s. What men hastily deem God’s failures to fulfil His promise, are often the very beginnings of its fulfilment. (a) It had been so in Joseph’s life. It was at the pit of Dothan that God began to fulfil Joseph’s dream that his father and brethren should render him obeisance. Precisely at the point where Joseph might have been tempted to say, “My dream has all come to nought,” there God began to fulfil the dream. It was by the prison that so “tried” Joseph, that God put His servant close to the throne of Pharaoh. Just where Joseph would be most cast down, God was lifting him up. Every step of his life which might tempt him to think of failure, was one more advance of God towards fulfilment. (b) It was no less so in Joseph’s death. The Pharaoh “who knew not Joseph” could not arise till Joseph was gone. Then the oppression made way for the liberation. The “bitter bondage” was God’s pathway to full liberty. When we say, with Tennyson,
“What am I?
An infant crying in the night,
An infant crying for the light,
And with no language but a cry,”
we too often forget that the very night out of which we cry is necessary to the morning. God ever makes His darkness precede His light. Not the morning and evening, but “the evening and the morning were the first day;” and such has it been with all days since.
III. The honour which God puts upon the faith of the dead, an encouragement gladly noted by the faithful living. Believing chroniclers saw that their forefathers had believed not in vain, and so they wrote down here this record of the burial of Joseph’s bones. The believing love not only to say, “He that believeth shall not be confounded,” but presently to bear their testimony that such have not been confounded. To mark God’s fulfilment of His faithful word, strengthens our own faith; it strengthens, no less, the faith of others.
THE TIME OF THE BURIAL OF JOSEPH’S BONES.
“This burying of the bones of Joseph probably took place when the conquest of the land was completed, and each tribe had received its inheritance; for it is not likely that this was deferred till after the death of Joshua.”—[Dr. A. Clarke.]
Jos_24:32.—THREE GENERATIONS OF HIGH PRIESTS.
“After the fathers shall come up the children; so, after the fathers do the children go down also to the grave. The men who had seen God’s mighty works in the wilderness gave place to men who would have to walk more by faith, and less by sight.
At the very close of these records of Joshua—one of the persons who most significantly, of all the Old Testament characters, prefigures the coming Christ—we have this statement, in a single and final verse, about three generations of high priests. Two of these generations had already passed away; the remaining one waited for a season to usher in yet other successors. These also, though by contrast tell us of Him who is a priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedec; who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.” “For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath which was since the law maketh the Son high priest, who is consecrated for evermore.”
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain 3. The Epilogue
3. The Epilogue
CHAPTER 24:29-33
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1. Joshua’s death and burial (24:29-31)
2. The bones of Joseph buried (24:32)
3. Eleazar’s death (24:33)
Moses, the instrument through whom the law was given, was buried by the Lord, no doubt a hint that some day the Lord would put away the law, with its curse, as we learn in the New Testament. Joshua was buried by the people in his own inheritance; he died ten years younger than Moses, that is 110 years old. Joseph had reached the same age, having died some 200 years before. Gen 50:25, Exo 13:19 and Heb 11:22 must be consulted to understand the burial of his bones recorded here. They had carried those bones all through the wilderness and never attempted to bury them till they were settled in the land. The book closes with the account of Eleazar’s death.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 110 years old
110 years old
"one hundred and ten years old" (See: Numbers)
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Timnath Serah ... Mount Gaash
names of places (See: How to Translate Names)
translationWords
Joshua
servant
Yahweh
inherit
Ephraim
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 24:29-33 The tombs of a venerated ancestor and two…
24:29-33 The tombs of a venerated ancestor and two revered leaders provided the final notice that Canaan was indeed Israel’s land. However, significant work, vigilance, and even fighting still lay ahead.
24:29 Joshua’s ancestor Joseph had also attained the age of 110, which was considered the ideal lifespan by ancient Egyptians.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.