Joshua 24:22
in Joshua 24Then Joshua told them, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the LORD.” “We are witnesses!” they said.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you Jehovah, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses.
KJV
And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the Lord, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses.
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This verse in Joshua 24
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
We will serve the LORD!
on Joshua 24:21-22
Ye are witnesses against yourselves is a legal move rather than a rhetorical one. Covenant documents name witnesses, and Deuteronomy 30:19 calls heaven and earth to that office, while here the people are made witnesses to their own oath. Their answer opens by contradicting what Joshua has just said.
This site's exposition
You are witnesses against yourselves
The same exchange closes a sale in Ruth 4:9 to 11, where Boaz tells the elders they are witnesses and they answer, We are witnesses. You have chosen answers the choose for yourselves of verse 15. The choice is now on record.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And Joshua said unto the people,.... In reply to their answer and resolution: ye are witnesses against yourselves, that ye have chosen you the Lord God to serve him; that is, should they, after this choice of him, which they had so publicly declared, desert his service, and go into idolatry, their testimony would rise up against them, and they would, be self-condemned: and they said, we are witnesses; should we ever apostatize from the Lord and his worship, we are content to have this our witness produced against us.
He promises himself that they would never forget the solemnities of this day; but, if hereafter they should break this covenant, he assures them that the professions and promises they had now made would certainly rise up in judgment against them and condemn them; and they agreed to it: " We are witnesses; let us be judged out of our own mouths if ever we be false to our God." 2.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
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.
Ye are witnesses against yourselves - Ye have been sufficiently apprised of the difficulties in your way - of God’s holiness - your own weakness and inconstancy - the need you have of Divine help, and the awful consequences of apostasy; and now ye deliberately make your choice. Remember then, that ye are witnesses against yourselves, and your own conscience will be witness, judge, and executioner; or, as one terms it, index, judex, vindex.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
You are witnesses against yourselves. Yehoshua foresaw that in the future, they would undermine [the covenant] in the days of Yechezkeil and say, “We want to be like the [other] nations,” and therefore he was so hard on them now.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֨אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוֹשֻׁ֜עַ | yehoshua' | Joshua | H3091 → | 218 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הָעָ֗ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| עֵדִ֤ים | ʾedim | [are] witnesses | H5707 → | 70 times |
| אַתֶּם֙ | ʾatem | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| בָּכֶ֔ם | bakhem | on <the> yourselves | ||
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אַתֶּ֞ם | ʾatem | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| בְּחַרְתֶּ֥ם | bechartem | you have chosen | H977 → | 171 times |
| לָכֶ֛ם | lakhem | for <the> yourselves | ||
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| לַעֲבֹ֣ד | laavod | to serve | H5647 → | 288 times |
| אוֹת֑וֹ | ʾoto | <obj.> him | H853 → | 10935 times |
| וַיֹּאמְר֖וּ | vaiyomeru | and they said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| עֵדִֽים׃ | ʾedim | witnesses | H5707 → | 70 times |
וַיֹּ֨אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
יְהוֹשֻׁ֜עַJoshua
yehoshua'H3091 →218 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הָעָ֗םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
עֵדִ֤ים[are] witnesses
ʾedimH5707 →70 times
אַתֶּם֙you
ʾatemH859 →1094 times
בָּכֶ֔םon <the> yourselves
bakhem
כִּֽי־that
ki-H3588 →4482 times
אַתֶּ֞םyou
ʾatemH859 →1094 times
בְּחַרְתֶּ֥םyou have chosen
bechartemH977 →171 times
לָכֶ֛םfor <the> yourselves
lakhem
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
לַעֲבֹ֣דto serve
laavodH5647 →288 times
אוֹת֑וֹ<obj.> him
ʾotoH853 →10935 times
וַיֹּאמְר֖וּand they said
vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times
עֵדִֽים׃witnesses
ʾedimH5707 →70 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
Psalms 119:11I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You.
it leads to
- Psalms 37:31
The law of his God is in his heart; his steps do not falter.
- Colossians 3:16
Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to…
- Psalms 40:8
I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your law is within my heart.”
- Jeremiah 15:16
Your words were found, and I ate them. Your words became my joy and my heart’s delight. For I bear Your name, O LORD God of Hosts.
- Psalms 1:2
But his delight is in the Law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night.
- Psalms 37:31
Through
Luke 10:42But only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, and it will not be taken away from her.”
it leads to
- Psalms 27:4
One thing I have asked of the LORD; this is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the…
- Psalms 16:5–6
The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; You have made my lot secure.
- John 10:27–28
My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.
- Psalms 27:4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Joshua
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
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.