Joshua 24:25
in Joshua 24On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people, and there at Shechem he established for them a statute and ordinance.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.
KJV
So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.
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This verse in Joshua 24
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Made a covenant with the people - i. e. he solemnly ratified and renewed the covenant of Sinai, as Moses had done before him Deu 29:1. As no new or different covenant was made, no sacrifices were necessary.
This site's exposition
Joshua made a covenant for the people
on Joshua 24:25-26
Joshua recorded these words in the Book of the Law of God, putting a hand other than Moses into it. Gill and Keil add it to the roll of Deuteronomy 31:24-26; others read a separate record at the sanctuary. The stone stands near "the sanctuary of the LORD", though the tabernacle was at Shiloh, and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown suppose the ark was brought over, as at Judges 20:27.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
31 , &c.) and now the second time. It is here called a statute and an ordinance, because of the strength and perpetuity of its obligation, and because even this covenant bound them to no more than what they were antecedently bound to by the divine command. Now, to give it the formalities of a covenant, 1.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
A statute - He set or established that covenant with them, that is, the people, for a statute or an ordinance, to bind themselves and their posterity unto God forever.
So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day,.... Proposing to them what was most eligible, and their duty to do, and they agreeing to it, this formally constituted a covenant, of which they selves were both parties and witnesses: and set statute and an ordinance in Shechem; either made this covenant to have the nature of a statute and ordinance binding upon them, or repeated and renewed the laws of Moses, both moral and ceremonial, which had been delivered at Mount Sinai, and now, upon this repetition in Shechem, might be called a statute and ordinance there.
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.
Joshua made a covenant - Literally, Joshua cut the covenant, alluding to the sacrifice offered on the occasion. And set then a statute and an ordinance - He made a solemn and public act of the whole, which was signed and witnessed by himself and the people, in the presence of Jehovah; and having done so, he wrote the words of the covenant in the book of the law of God, probably in some part of the skin constituting the great roll, on which the laws of God were written, and of which there were some blank columns to spare. Having done this, he took a great stone and set it up under an oak - that this might be עד ed or witness that, at such a time and place, this covenant was made, the terms of which might be found written in the book of the law, which was laid up beside the ark. See Deu 31:26.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּכְרֹ֨ת | vaiyikhrot | and he made | H3772 → | 288 times |
| יְהוֹשֻׁ֧עַ | yehoshua' | Joshua | H3091 → | 218 times |
| בְּרִ֛ית | berit | a covenant | H1285 → | 284 times |
| לָעָ֖ם | laam | to the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| בַּיּ֣וֹם | baiyom | on the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הַה֑וּא | hahu' | <the> that | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| וַיָּ֥שֶׂם | vaiyasem | and he established | H7760 → | 584 times |
| ל֛וֹ | lo | for <the> it | ||
| חֹ֥ק | chok | a decree | H2706 → | |
| וּמִשְׁפָּ֖ט | umishpat | and a judgment | H4941 → | 422 times |
| בִּשְׁכֶֽם׃ | bishkhem | at Shechem | H7927 → | 63 times |
וַיִּכְרֹ֨תand he made
vaiyikhrotH3772 →288 times
יְהוֹשֻׁ֧עַJoshua
yehoshua'H3091 →218 times
בְּרִ֛יתa covenant
beritH1285 →284 times
לָעָ֖םto the people
laamH5971 →1873 times
בַּיּ֣וֹםon the day
baiyomH3117 →2304 times
הַה֑וּא<the> that
hahu'H1931 →1879 times
וַיָּ֥שֶׂםand he established
vaiyasemH7760 →584 times
ל֛וֹfor <the> it
lo
חֹ֥קa decree
chokH2706 →
וּמִשְׁפָּ֖טand a judgment
umishpatH4941 →422 times
בִּשְׁכֶֽם׃at Shechem
bishkhemH7927 →63 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
Exodus 15:25And Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log. And when he cast it into the waters, they were sweetened. There the LORD made for them a statute and…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 8:2
Remember that these forty years the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you in order to know what was in your…
- Psalms 66:10
For You, O God, have tested us; You have refined us like silver.
- Judges 3:1
These are the nations that the LORD left to test all the Israelites who had not known any of the wars in Canaan,
- Judges 3:4
These nations were left to test the Israelites, to find out whether they would keep the commandments of the LORD, which He had given their fathers through Moses.
- Judges 2:22
In this way I will test whether Israel will keep the way of the LORD by walking in it as their fathers did.”
- Deuteronomy 8:2
Through
2 Chronicles 23:16Then Jehoiada made a covenant between himself and the king and the people that they would be the LORD’s people.
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 29:10
Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the LORD, the God of Israel, so that His fierce anger will turn away from us.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- 2 Chronicles 29:10
Through
Nehemiah 9:38In view of all this, we make a binding agreement, putting it in writing and sealing it with the names of our leaders, Levites, and priests.”
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 34:31
So the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the LORD to follow the LORD and to keep His commandments, decrees, and statutes with all his heart and all his soul,…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Nehemiah 10:1
Now these were the ones who sealed the document: Nehemiah the governor, son of Hacaliah, and also Zedekiah,
- 2 Chronicles 34:31
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Joshua
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonConquestJoshuaMoses' minister and successor, one of the two faithful spies; he led Israel across Jordan, around Jericho, and through the conques…
- PlaceCentral hill countryShechemThe city between Ebal and Gerizim where Abram built his first altar in the land, where Joshua set the people to choose whom they w…
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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.