Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Joshua exhorts the Israelites to the worship of the true God and to the observance of His law, and to avoid the society and marriages of the pagans: 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 Canaanites, he threatens them with God's curse and every evil.
Vulgate Text: Joshua 23:1-16
1. And after a long time, when the Lord had given peace to Israel, all the surrounding nations having been subjected, and Joshua being now old and very advanced in age: 2. Joshua called all Israel, and the elders and the princes and leaders and judges, and said to them: I have grown old and am of advanced age; 3. and you see all that the Lord your God has done to all the surrounding nations, how He Himself has fought for you; 4. and now since He has divided for you by lot all the Land, from the eastern part of the Jordan to the Great Sea, and many nations still remain: 5. the Lord your God will destroy them and remove them from before you, and you shall possess the Land, as He has promised you. 6. Only be strong and be careful to keep all that is written in the book of the law of Moses; and do not turn from it to the right or to the left: 7. lest after you have gone in among the nations that will be among you, you swear by the name of their gods, and serve them, and worship them; 8. but cling to the Lord your God, as you have done to this day. 9. And then the Lord God will remove before you great and most powerful nations, and no one will be able to resist you. 10. One of you will put to flight a thousand men of the enemy: because the Lord your God Himself will fight for you, as He has promised. 11. Only take the greatest care to love the Lord your God. 12. But if you choose to cling to the errors of these nations that dwell among you, and to intermarry with them and form friendships: 13. know now that the Lord your God will not destroy them before you, but they will be for you a pit and a snare, and a stumbling block at your side, and thorns in your eyes, until He removes you and scatters you from this excellent land which He has given you. 14. Behold, I today am entering the way of all the earth; and with your whole heart you shall know that of all the words which the Lord promised to give you, not one has failed. 15. As therefore He has fulfilled in deed what He promised, and all prosperity has come: so He will bring upon you whatever evils He has threatened, until He removes you and scatters you from this excellent Land which He has given you, 16. because you will have transgressed the covenant of the Lord your God which He made with you, and will have served foreign gods and worshipped them, swiftly and speedily the fury of the Lord will rise against you, and you will be removed from this excellent land which He has given you.
Verse 1: Joshua Calls All Israel
1. JOSHUA CALLED ALL ISRAEL, — namely the princes and leaders of all the tribes, and the others who could conveniently come. And he called them to Timnath Serah, says Serarius, or rather to Shiloh, as Masius thinks; for in Shiloh was the tabernacle with the ark, in which God dwelt.
Verse 7: Do Not Swear by Their Gods
7. LEST, etc. YOU SWEAR BY THE NAME OF THEIR GODS. — By an oath here and elsewhere Scripture understands the entire worship of God; for by whatever god one worships, by that god one also swears, and frequently: for many are inclined to swear by the name of their god. The Hebrews prefix: And you shall not mention the name of their gods; which even now the more devout Jews observe so strictly that they never dare to name idols or gods — Jupiter, Venus, Mars, etc. Let Christians hear and imitate this, in whose mouths Hercules, Jupiter, Venus, etc. so often resound; let them understand that this is a sin.
Verse 13: A Pit, a Snare, and Thorns in Your Eyes
13. BUT THEY WILL BE FOR YOU A PIT. — St. Jerome reads pachat, that is, pit; but others read pach, that is, snare; for so the Hebrews have it: they will be for you a snare and a stumbling block and a scourge at your side, and thorns in your eyes. All of which can be understood not only of the scandal of punishment and divine vengeance, but also of guilt. For by the snares, says Masius, and nets of association with the impious, especially idolaters, and by the enticements of alluring sinful pleasure, the worship of God is first hindered; secondly, once the soul is bound by it, it is easily driven by it as by a whip to every sort of wickedness: and then it is blinded to such a degree that it can no longer behold the splendor of truth.
Verse 14: The Way of All the Earth
14. BEHOLD, I TODAY AM ENTERING THE WAY OF ALL THE EARTH — that is, of all mortals dwelling on the earth. It is a metonymy; which elsewhere is expressed by synecdoche: "I am entering the way of all flesh," that is, the way of death; for all flesh, that is, every human being, tends toward it, as if to say: Behold I hasten to death, behold I am gradually dying, death hangs over me; for breath and life are leaving me. For "I enter," the Septuagint translates apotrechō, that is, I run through, I run out; for our life is a continuous race toward death, especially in old age and the final years.
AND WITH YOUR WHOLE HEART YOU SHALL KNOW, — that is, you shall know fully and plainly, or as if to say: attend and acknowledge with your whole heart.