Commentaria in Josue
Chapter Twenty-three. Synopsis of the Chapter
Josue exhorts the Israelites to the worship of the true God, and to the keeping of his law, and to avoid the society and marriages of the Gentiles: if they do this, he promises them every blessing of God; if they do not, but turn aside to the idols and vices of the Chanaanites, he threatens them with the curse of God and every evil.
1. And after a long time, after that the Lord had given peace to Israel, all the nations round about being subdued, and Josue being now old, and far advanced in years: 2. Josue called for all Israel, and for their elders, and for the princes, and judges, and masters, and said to them: I am old, and far advanced in years: 3. and you see all that the Lord your God hath done to all the nations round about, how he himself hath fought for you: 4. and now since he hath divided to you by lot all the land, from the east of the Jordan unto the great sea, and there remain many nations: 5. the Lord your God will destroy them, and will take them away from before your face, and you shall possess the land as he hath promised you. 6. Only take courage, and be careful to observe all things that are written in the book of the law of Moses: and turn not aside from them, neither to the right hand nor to the left: 7. lest after that you are come in to the Gentiles, who will be among you, you should swear by the name of their gods, and serve them, and adore them: 8. but cleave ye unto the Lord your God, as you have done until this day. 9. And then the Lord God will take away before your eyes nations that are great and very strong, and no man shall be able to resist you. 10. One of you shall chase a thousand men of the enemies: because the Lord your God himself will fight for you, as he hath promised. 11. This only take care of with all diligence, that you love the Lord your God. 12. But if you will embrace the errors of these nations that dwell among you, and make marriages with them, and join friendships: 13. know ye for a certainty that the Lord your God will not destroy them before your face, but they shall be a pit and a snare in your way, and a stumbling-block at your side, and stakes in your eyes, till he take you away and destroy you from off this excellent land which he hath given you. 14. Behold this day I am entering into the way of all the earth, and you shall know with all your mind that of all the words which the Lord promised to perform for you, not one hath failed. 15. Therefore as he hath fulfilled in deed what he promised, and all things prosperous have come: so will he bring upon you all the evils he hath threatened, till he take you away and destroy you from this excellent land which he hath given you, 16. because you have transgressed the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and have served strange gods, and adored them: then quickly and speedily shall the fury of the Lord rise up against you, and you shall be taken away from this excellent land which he hath delivered to you.
2. JOSUE CALLED FOR ALL ISRAEL,—namely the princes and chiefs of all the tribes, and the rest who could conveniently come. He called them, however, to Thamnath-sare, says Serarius, or rather to Silo, as Masius thinks; for in Silo was the tabernacle with the ark, in which God resided.
7. LEST YOU SWEAR BY THE NAME OF THEIR GODS.—By swearing Scripture here and elsewhere understands the worship of other gods; the worship of other gods; for the god whom each one worships, by him he also swears, and that frequently: for many are prone to swear by the name of their god. The Hebrews prefix: And make no mention of the name of their gods; which even now the more religious Jews observe so strictly that they never dare to name idols or gods, Jove, Venus, Mars, etc. Let Christians hear and imitate this, in whose mouths Hercules, Jupiter, Venus, etc. often sound; let them feel that this is a sin needing expiation.
13. BUT THEY SHALL BE A PIT.—St. Jerome reads pach, that is, a pit; others read pach, that is, a snare; for so have the Hebrews: they shall be to you for a snare, and a stumbling-block, and a scourge at your side, and a thorn in your eyes. All which can be taken not only of scandal, punishment and divine vengeance, but also of guilt. For by the snares and nets of fellowship with the impious, especially idolaters, and by the allurements of the blandishing pleasure of sin, first the worship of God is hindered; second, when the soul has once been bound by them, it is easily driven to every shameful deed as by a scourge; and presently it is so blinded that it can no longer look upon the splendour of truth, says Masius.
14. BEHOLD THIS DAY I AM ENTERING INTO THE WAY OF ALL THE EARTH,—that is, of all mortals living on the earth. It is a metonymy; what elsewhere is said by synecdoche: “I am entering into the way of all flesh,” that is, the way of death; for to it tends all flesh, that is, every man, as if to say: Behold I hasten to death, behold I am gradually dying, death is upon me; for my spirits are failing, and life is forsaking me. For “I am entering” the Septuagint translate poreuomai, that is, I run through, I run forth; for our life is a continual course to death, especially in old age and the last stage of life.
AND YOU SHALL KNOW WITH ALL YOUR MIND,—that is, you shall fully and plainly know, or as if to say: with all your mind attend and acknowledge,