Joshua 24 · Verse 2

Joshua 24:2

And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods.
Joshua 24:2, King James Version

Joshua 24:2 in other translations

BSBAnd Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your fathers, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates and worshiped other gods.
WEBJoshua said to all the people, “The LORD, the God of Israel, says, ‘Your fathers lived of old time beyond the River, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor. They served other gods.
ASVAnd Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt of old time beyond the River, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor: and they served other gods.
YLTAnd Joshua saith unto all the people, ‘Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, Beyond the River have your fathers dwelt of old--Terah father of Abraham and father of Nachor--and they serve other gods;
DARBYAnd Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel: Your fathers dwelt of old on the other side of the river, Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served othergods.
BBEAnd Joshua said to all the people, These are the words of the Lord, the God of Israel: In the past your fathers, Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor, were living on the other side of the River: and they were worshipping other gods.
WebsterAnd Joshua said to all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor: and they served other gods.

What does Joshua 24:2 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

Jos 24:2-13. Relates God's Benefits.

2. Joshua said unto all the people--His address briefly recapitulated the principal proofs of the divine goodness to Israel from the call of Abraham to their happy establishment in the land of promise; it showed them that they were indebted for their national existence as well as their peculiar privileges, not to any merits of their own, but to the free grace of God. Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood--The Euphrates, namely, at Ur. Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor--(see Ge 11:27). Though Terah had three sons, Nahor only is mentioned with Abraham, as the Israelites were descended from him on the mother's side through Rebekah and her nieces, Leah and Rachel. served other gods--conjoining, like Laban, the traditional knowledge of the true God with the domestic use of material images (Ge 31:19, 34).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 2 On the other side of the flood - The river Euphrates. They served other gods - Probably Abraham as well as Terah his father was an idolater, till he received the call of God to leave that land. See on Gen 11:31 (note); Gen 12:1 (note).

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Joshua 24:1-14

We must never think our work for God done, till our life is done. If he lengthen out our days beyond what we expected, like those of Joshua, it is because he has some further service for us to do. He who aims at the same mind which was in Christ Jesus, will glory in bearing the last testimony to his Saviour's goodness, and in telling to all around, the obligations with which the unmerited goodness of God has bound…

Read the full comment on Joshua 24:1-14 →

Joshua 24:2 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיֹּ֨אמֶרvai.Yo.merand he saidH559
יְהוֹשֻׁ֜עַye.ho.Shu.a'JoshuaH3091
אֶל\־'el-toH413
כָּל\־kol-allH3605
הָעָ֗םha.'Amthe peopleH5971
כֹּֽה\־koh-thusH3541
אָמַ֣ר'a.Marhe saysH559
יְהוָה֮Yah.wehYahwehH3068
אֱלֹהֵ֣י'e.lo.Hei[the] God ofH430
יִשְׂרָאֵל֒Yis.ra.'ElIsraelH3478
בְּעֵ֣בֶרbe.'E.veron [the] other side ofH5676
הַנָּהָ֗רha.na.Harthe riverH5104
יָשְׁב֤וּya.she.Vuthey dweltH3427
אֲבֽוֹתֵיכֶם֙'a.vo.tei.Khemancestors yourH1
מֵֽעוֹלָ֔םme.'o.Lamfrom long agoH5769
תֶּ֛רַחTe.rachTerahH8646
אֲבִ֥י'a.Vi[the] father ofH1
אַבְרָהָ֖ם'av.ra.HamAbrahamH85
וַאֲבִ֣יva.'a.Viand [the] father ofH1
נָח֑וֹרna.ChorNahorH5152
וַיַּעַבְד֖וּvai.ya.'av.Duand they servedH5647
אֱלֹהִ֥ים'E.lo.HimgodsH430
אֲחֵרִֽים\׃'a.che.RimotherH312

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Joshua 24:2

  • Joshua 24:15

    And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

  • Genesis 31:30

    And now, though thou wouldest needs be gone, because thou sore longedst after thy father’s house, yet wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?

  • Ezekiel 16:3

    And say, Thus saith the Lord God unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite.

  • Isaiah 51:2

    Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.

  • Genesis 31:53

    The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge betwixt us. And Jacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac.

  • Deuteronomy 26:5

    And thou shalt speak and say before the Lord thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous:

  • Genesis 31:32

    With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, let him not live: before our brethren discern thou what is thine with me, and take it to thee. For Jacob knew not that Rachel had stolen them.

  • Genesis 31:19

    And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father’s.

  • Genesis 35:4

    And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.

  • Genesis 11:26-12:1

    And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot. And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees. And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah. …

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Your fathers.
Ge 11:26,31; 12:1; 31:53; De 26:5; Isa 51:2; Eze 16:3
served other gods.In the case of Abraham this was probably the case, till he was called to the knowledge of God, when above 70 years old.
15; Ge 31:19,30,32,53; 35:4

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Joshua 24:1

    And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God.

  • Joshua 24:2

    And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods.

  • Joshua 24:3

    And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac.

Read all of Joshua 24

Joshua 24:2 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Y dijo Josué á todo el pueblo: Así dice Jehová, Dios de Israel: Vuestros padres habitaron antiguamente de esotra parte del río, es á saber, Tharé, padre de Abraham y de Nachôr; y servían á dioses extraños.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Et Josué dit à tout le peuple: Ainsi dit l’ Éternel, le Dieu d’Israël: Vos pères, Térakh, père d’Abraham et père de Nakhor, ont habité anciennement au-delà du fleuve, et ils ont servi d’autres dieux;
German
Elberfelder 1871
Und Josua sprach zu dem ganzen Volke: So spricht Jehova, der Gott Israels: Eure Väter wohnten vor alters jenseit des Stromes, Tarah, der Vater Abrahams und der Vater Nahors, und sie dienten anderen Göttern.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
et ad populum sic locutus est: Hæc dicit Dominus Deus Israël: Trans fluvium habitaverunt patres vestri ab initio, Thare pater Abraham et Nachor: servieruntque diis alienis.