Joshua 24:16
in Joshua 24The people replied, “Far be it from us to forsake the LORD to serve other gods!
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the people answered and said, Far be it from us that we should forsake Jehovah, to serve other gods;
KJV
And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods;
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This verse in Joshua 24
Commentary
4 notes on this verseGod forbid that we should forsake the Lord - That they were now sincere cannot be reasonably doubted, for they served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and the elders that outlived him, Jos 24:31; but afterwards they turned aside, and did serve other gods. “It is ordinary,” says Mr. Trapp, “for the many-headed multitude to turn with the stream - to be of the same religion with their superiors: thus at Rome, in Diocletian’s time, they were pagans; in Constantine’s Christians; in Constantius’s, Arians; in Julian’s apostates, and in Jovinian’s, Christians again!
This site's exposition
The people replied
on Joshua 24:16-18
The people answer with an accurate recital: "the house of slavery" is the phrase of Exodus 20:2, the great signs are the plagues, and the protection on the way is the wilderness. Nothing in it is wrong, which makes Joshua's answer in verse 19 hard to read. Judges 2:7 says they served the Lord all Joshua's days, and Judges 2:10 says the next generation did not know him.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And the people answered and said,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth--After having enumerated so many grounds for national gratitude, Joshua calls on them to declare, in a public and solemn manner, whether they will be faithful and obedient to the God of Israel.
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּ֤עַן | vaiyaan | and it answered | H6030 → | 331 times |
| הָעָם֙ | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| וַיֹּ֔אמֶר | vaiyomer | and it said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| חָלִ֣ילָה | chalilah | far be it | H2486 → | |
| לָּ֔נוּ | lanu | to <the> us | ||
| מֵעֲזֹ֖ב | meazo | from forsaking | H5800 → | 215 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| לַעֲבֹ֖ד | laavod | to serve | H5647 → | 288 times |
| אֱלֹהִ֥ים | ʾelohim | gods | H430 → | 2601 times |
| אֲחֵרִֽים׃ | ʾacherim | other | H312 → | 166 times |
וַיַּ֤עַןand it answered
vaiyaanH6030 →331 times
הָעָם֙the people
haamH5971 →1873 times
וַיֹּ֔אמֶרand it said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
חָלִ֣ילָהfar be it
chalilahH2486 →
לָּ֔נוּto <the> us
lanu
מֵעֲזֹ֖בfrom forsaking
meazoH5800 →215 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יְהוָ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
לַעֲבֹ֖דto serve
laavodH5647 →288 times
אֱלֹהִ֥יםgods
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
אֲחֵרִֽים׃other
ʾacherimH312 →166 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
1 Samuel 12:23As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you. And I will continue to teach you the good and right way.
it leads to
- Colossians 1:9
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and…
- Romans 1:9
God, whom I serve with my spirit in preaching the gospel of His Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you
- 2 Timothy 1:3
I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience as did my forefathers, as I constantly remember you night and day in my prayers.
- 1 Thessalonians 3:10
Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking from your faith.
- Colossians 1:9
Through
Romans 6:2Certainly not! How can we who died to sin live in it any longer?
it leads to
- 1 John 3:9
Anyone born of God refuses to practice sin, because God’s seed abides in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.
- Colossians 3:3
For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
- 1 Peter 2:24
He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. “By His stripes you are healed.”
- Romans 7:4
Therefore, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear…
- 1 John 3:9
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Joshua

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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.
