Joshua 24:27

Jos 24:27 And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the LORD which he spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God.

Ver. 27. Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us.] It shall represent your covenant to your consciences, and convince you of singular perfidy, in case you falsify. We read in Livy that a certain governor of the people called Aequi, bade the Roman ambassadors tell their tale to the oak that stood next them, saying that he had somewhat else to do than to give them audience. To whom they replied, Et haec sacrata quercus audiat faedus a vobis violatum, Then let this holy oak hear and bear witness that ye have broken your covenant.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jos 24:27. It hath heard — It shall be as sure a witness against you as if it had heard. This is a common figure, whereby the sense of hearing is often ascribed to the heavens and the earth, and other senseless creatures.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

24:27 This stone has heard: See study note on 22:27.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Rather than man’s dissimulation should not be punished, the dumb creatures shall cry for vengeance.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 27. This stone - hath heard all the words] That is, the stone itself, from its permanency, shall be in all succeeding ages as competent and as substantial a witness as one who had been present at the transaction, and heard all the words which on both sides were spoken on the occasion.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

27. this stone shall be a witness] So in Gen_31:48; Gen_31:52, Laban says to Jacob, “This heap is a witness between me and thee this day;” and in Deu_31:19; Deu_31:21; Deu_31:26, Moses says, “Write ye this song for you … that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel.”

for it hath heard] By a poetical prosopopœia Joshua describes the stone as hearing the words of God, since it had been set up for the purpose of reminding the people of the promise which they had made unto the Lord, and, in case they should be unfaithful, of bearing witness against them.

lest ye deny your God] “Ne forte postea negare velitis et mentiri Domino Deo vestro,” Vulgate. “Lest perauenture çe wolden denye aftirward, and lye to çoure Lord God,” Wyclif. Comp. Jos_7:11 (Heb.); Job_31:28; Pro_30:9; Lev_19:11-12.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Joshua said unto all the people,.... The chief of them now gathered together, and who represented the whole body:

behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; of the covenant now made, and the agreement entered into, as the heap of stones were between Jacob and Laban, Gen 31:45,

for it hath heard all the words of the Lord which he spake unto us; this is said by a figure called "prosopopaeia", frequent in Scripture, by which inanimate creatures are represented as hearing, seeing, and speaking, and may signify, that should the Israelites break this covenant, and disobey the commands of the Lord they had promised to keep, they would be as stupid and senseless as this stone, or more so, which would rise in judgment against them. Nachmanides (d) a Jewish commentator, interprets this stone of the Messiah, the same as in Gen 49:24,

it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God; for a memorial and testimony to prevent them from going into atheism, a denying of the true God, or into apostasy from him, and into idolatry and false worship. The Targum of which is,"behold, this stone shall be to us as the two tables of stone of the covenant, for we made it for a testimony; for the words which are written upon it are the sum of all the words of the Lord which he spake unto us, and it shall be unto you for a memorial, and for a testimony, lest ye lie before the Lord.''

(d) Apud Masium in loc.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

It hath heard. This is a figure of speech, by which sensation is attributed to inanimate things; and they are called upon, as it were, to bear witness in favour of the great Creator, whom they on their part constantly obey, (Challoner) which is the best manner of hearing. They rise up to our confusion. (Theodoret, q. 19.) (Worthington) --- The oriental writers delight in these strong figurative expressions, which are not confined to poetry. Jesus Christ says, that if the children were silent, the stones would cry out, Luke xix. 40. See Numbers xiii. 33., and Genesis iv. 10. (Calmet) --- Lest. Hebrew, "it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest you deny your God;" or literally, "lie unto your Elohim." (Haydock) --- The expression often means to revolt and prove faithless, Deuteronomy xxxiii. 29., &c.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

It hath heard; it shall be as sure a witness against you as if it had heard. This is a common figure, called prosopopaie, whereby the sense of hearing is oft ascribed to the heavens and the earth, and other senseless creatures, as Deu 32:1; Isa 1:2; Jer 2:12.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

A witness. (see note on Jos_22:27) For it hath heard. Joshua speaks by a poetical figure of the stone, as though it had intelligence. The stone was taken from the very place where they stood, and within earshot of the words which had been spoken. Thus it became a more forcible memorial of what had occurred than if it had been brought from far. Ye deny your God. To deny is to say that He is not. The Hebrew implies "to deny concerning Him," to contest the truth of what has been revealed of His essence, and to disparage or deny the great things He had done for His people. The whole scene must have been a striking one. The aged warrior, full of years and honours, venerable from his piety and courage and implicit obedience, addresses in the measured, perhaps tremulous, accents of age the representatives of the whole people he has led so long and so well. Around him are the ancient memories of his race. Here Abraham pitched his tent in his wanderings through Canaan. Here was the first altar built to the worship of the one true God of the land. Here Jacob had buried the teraphim, and solemnly engaged his household in the worship of the true God. Here was the second foothold the children of Abraham obtained in the promised land (see ver. 32), a foretaste of their future inheritance. The bare heights of Ebal soared above them on one side, the softer outlines of Gerizim rose above them on the other; and on their sides, the plaster fresh and the letters distinct and clear, were to be seen the blessings and the curses foretold of those who kept and those who broke the law. In the midst, Shechem, in a situation, as we have seen, of rare beauty, bore witness to the fulfilment of God"s promise that the land of their inheritance should be "a good land," a "land flowing with milk and honey." No other place could combine so many solemn memories; none could more adequately remind them of the fulness of blessing God had in store for those who would obey His word; none could be fitter to impress upon them the duty of worshipping God, and Him alone.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

It hath heard - It shall be as sure a witness against you, as if it had heard. This is a common figure, whereby the sense of hearing is often ascribed to the heavens and the earth, and other senseless creatures.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

people

This refers to the Israelites.

this stone will be a testimony ... It has heard all the words

The stone that Joshua set up is spoken of as if it were a person who heard what was spoken and would be able to testify about what was said. (See: Personification)

should you ever

"if you ever"

translationWords

Joshua

testimony

Yahweh

testimony

God

inherit

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Behold this stone will be witness against us, etc. [Here Rashi quotes from Targum Yonasan]: This stone will be for us as the two stone tablets of the covenant, for we have made it for a witness, since the words written on it [the stone] are almost similar to all the words of God that He spoke to us. This verse can also be explained according to its plain meaning: for it [the stone] has heard the words that I have spoken to you, on behalf of the Omnipresent.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.