Joshua 23:2
in Joshua 23he summoned all Israel, including its elders, leaders, judges, and officers. “I am old and well along in years,” he said,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
that Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders and for their heads, and for their judges and for their officers, and said unto them, I am old and well stricken in years:
KJV
And Joshua called for all Israel, and for their elders, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers, and said unto them, I am old and stricken in age:
⋯
This verse in Joshua 23
Commentary
9 notes on this verseJoshua 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, etc., 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 Jos 24:1, we cannot tell.
This site's exposition
the LORD had given Israel rest
on Joshua 23:1-2
The rest of verse 1 repeats the narrator's summary at 21:44, and verse 9 repeats its other half, that no one could stand against them. Hebrews 4:8 takes up the word: if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day. Joshua is "old and well along in years", as at 13:1 and as David is at 1 Kings 1:1.
This site's exposition
I am old and well along
The chapter names no place, and readers have set this assembly at Shiloh, where the Tent of Meeting had stood since 18:1. Chapter 24 sets the second assembly at Shechem. Moses opened his own farewell at Deuteronomy 31:2 the same way, with his age of a hundred and twenty years.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
), probably to consult about the common concerns of their land, and to set in order that which, after some years' trial, being left to their prudence, was found wanting. Joshua's speech to them as the opening, or perhaps at the concluding, of the sessions, to hear which was the principal design of their coming together.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Because, if they would be prevailed upon to serve God and cleave to him, they, by their influence on the common people, would keep them faithful. If great men be good men, they will help to make many good. Joshua's circumstances when he gave them this charge: He was old and stricken in age (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
And Joshua called for all Israel,....
He was old and dying; they would not have him long to preach to them; therefore let them observe what he said now, and lay it up in store for the time to come. The discourse itself, the scope of which is to engage them if possible, them and their seed after them, to persevere in the true faith and worship of the God of Israel.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The place of assembly was most probably Shiloh. The occasion of convening it was the extreme age and approaching death of the venerable leader; and the purport of this solemn address was to animate the chosen people and their posterity to a faithful and unswerving continuance in the faith and worship of the God of Israel.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
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. Deu 1:15. This gathering probably took place at the tabernacle at Shiloh.
The words behind it
14 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּקְרָ֤א | vaiyikra' | and he summoned | H7121 → | 733 times |
| יְהוֹשֻׁ֙עַ֙ | yehoshua' | Joshua | H3091 → | 218 times |
| לְכָל־ | lekhol | <to> all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| לִזְקֵנָיו֙ | lizkenav | <to> elders its | H2205 → | 178 times |
| וּלְרָאשָׁ֔יו | ulerashav | and <to> leaders its | H7218 → | 599 times |
| וּלְשֹׁפְטָ֖יו | uleshofetav | and <to> judges its | H8199 → | 202 times |
| וּלְשֹֽׁטְרָ֑יו | uleshoterav | and <to> officials its | H7860 → | 25 times |
| וַיֹּ֣אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲלֵהֶ֔ם | ʾalehem | to them | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אֲנִ֣י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| זָקַ֔נְתִּי | zakanti | I am old | H2204 → | 27 times |
| בָּ֖אתִי | bati | I have come | H935 → | 2568 times |
| בַּיָּמִֽים׃ | baiyamim | in <the> days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
וַיִּקְרָ֤אand he summoned
vaiyikra'H7121 →733 times
יְהוֹשֻׁ֙עַ֙Joshua
yehoshua'H3091 →218 times
לְכָל־<to> all
lekholH3605 →5413 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
לִזְקֵנָיו֙<to> elders its
lizkenavH2205 →178 times
וּלְרָאשָׁ֔יוand <to> leaders its
ulerashavH7218 →599 times
וּלְשֹׁפְטָ֖יוand <to> judges its
uleshofetavH8199 →202 times
וּלְשֹֽׁטְרָ֑יוand <to> officials its
uleshoteravH7860 →25 times
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אֲלֵהֶ֔םto them
ʾalehemH413 →5510 times
אֲנִ֣יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
זָקַ֔נְתִּיI am old
zakantiH2204 →27 times
בָּ֖אתִיI have come
batiH935 →2568 times
בַּיָּמִֽים׃in <the> days
baiyamimH3117 →2304 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Deuteronomy 31:28Assemble before me all the elders of your tribes and all your officers so that I may speak these words in their hearing and call heaven and earth to witness against them.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 32:1
Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
- Deuteronomy 4:26
I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live long upon it,…
- Deuteronomy 30:19
I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose life, so that you and your descendants may live,
- Luke 19:40
“I tell you,” He answered, “if they remain silent, the very stones will cry out.”
- Deuteronomy 32:1
Through
1 Chronicles 28:1Now David summoned all the leaders of Israel to Jerusalem: the leaders of the tribes, the leaders of the divisions in the king’s service, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and the officials…
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 23:2
Then he gathered all the leaders of Israel, as well as the priests and Levites.
- 1 Chronicles 11:10–47
Now these were the chiefs of David’s mighty men, who, together with all Israel, bolstered and strengthened his kingdom, according to the word of the LORD concerning Israel.
- 1 Chronicles 27:1–34
This is the list of the Israelites—the heads of families, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and their officers who served the king in every matter concerning the divisions on rotating military duty…
- 1 Chronicles 23:2
Through
Joshua 24:1Then Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel at Shechem. He summoned the elders, leaders, judges, and officers of Israel, and they presented themselves before God.
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 10:19
But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your troubles and afflictions, and you have said to Him, ‘No, set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the…
- 1 Samuel 10:19
About Joshua
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.