Lectionary Calendar
Tuesday, July 22nd, 2025
the Week of Proper 11 / Ordinary 16
Attention!
Tired of seeing ads while studying? Now you can enjoy an "Ads Free" version of the site for as little as 10¢ a day and support a great cause!
Click here to learn more!

Read the Bible

Contemporary English Version

Joshua 23:2

One day he called a meeting of the leaders of the tribes of Israel, including the old men, the judges, and the officials. Then he told them: I am now very old.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Government;   Thompson Chain Reference - Elders;   Leaders;   Religious;   The Topic Concordance - Marriage;  

Dictionaries:

- Holman Bible Dictionary - God;   Joshua, the Book of;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Government of the Hebrews;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Conquest of Canaan;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Writing;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Elder;   Judges, Book of;   Police Laws;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
So Joshua summoned all Israel, including its elders, leaders, judges, and officers, and said to them, “I am old, advanced in age,
Hebrew Names Version
that Yehoshua called for all Yisra'el, for their Zakenim and for their heads, and for their judges and for their officers, and said to them, I am old and well stricken in years:
King James Version
And Joshua called for all Israel, and for their elders, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers, and said unto them, I am old and stricken in age:
Lexham English Bible
Joshua summoned all Israel, their elders, heads, judges, and officials, and he said to them, "I am old and well-advanced in years,
English Standard Version
Joshua summoned all Israel, its elders and heads, its judges and officers, and said to them, "I am now old and well advanced in years.
New Century Version
He called a meeting of all the elders, heads of families, judges, and officers of Israel. He said, "I am now very old.
New English Translation
So Joshua summoned all Israel, including the elders, rulers, judges, and leaders, and told them: "I am very old.
Amplified Bible
that Joshua called all Israel, their elders and their heads and their judges and their officers, and said to them, "I am old and advanced in years.
New American Standard Bible
that Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders, their heads, their judges, and their officers, and said to them, "I am old, advanced in years.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Then Ioshua called all Israel, and their Elders, and their heads, and their iudges, and their officers, and said vnto them, I am old, and stricken in age.
Legacy Standard Bible
that Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders and their heads and their judges and their officers, and said to them, "I am old, advanced in years.
Complete Jewish Bible
Y'hoshua summoned all Isra'el — their leaders, heads, judges and officials — and said to them, "I am old; age is taking its toll.
Darby Translation
that Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers, and said unto them, I am become old, advanced in age;
Easy-to-Read Version
At this time Joshua called a meeting of all the older leaders, heads of families, judges, and officers of the Israelites. Joshua said, "I have grown very old.
George Lamsa Translation
And Joshua summoned all Israel, their elders, their heads, their judges, and their scribes, and said to them, I am old and well advanced in years;
Good News Translation
so he called all Israel, the elders, leaders, judges, and officers of the people, and said, "I am very old now.
Literal Translation
And Joshua called for all Israel, for its elders, and for its heads, and for its judges, and for its officers, and said to them, I have become old, I have gone on in days;
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
he called all Israel and their Elders, heades, iudges, and officers, and sayde vnto them: I am olde and well aged,
American Standard Version
that Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders and for their heads, and for their judges and for their officers, and said unto them, I am old and well stricken in years:
Bible in Basic English
Joshua sent for all Israel, for their responsible men and their chiefs and their judges and their overseers, and said to them, I am old, and full of years:
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Iosuah called for all Israel, and for their elders, their heades, their iudges, and officers, and sayd vnto them: I am olde and stricken in age,
JPS Old Testament (1917)
that Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders and for their heads, and for their judges and for their officers, and said unto them: 'I am old and well stricken in years.
King James Version (1611)
And Ioshua called for all Israel, and for their Elders, & for their Heads, and for their Iudges, and for their Officers, and said vnto them; I am old, and stricken in age.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Joshua called together all the children of Israel, and their elders, and their chiefs, and their judges, and their officers; and said to them, I am old and advanced in years.
English Revised Version
that Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders and for their heads, and for their judges and for their officers, and said unto them, I am old and well stricken in years:
Berean Standard Bible
he summoned all Israel, including its elders, leaders, judges, and officers. "I am old and advanced in years," he said,
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and the grettere men in birthe, and the princes, and dukis, and maistris, and seide to hem, Y `wexide elde, and Y am of grettere age;
Young's Literal Translation
and Joshua calleth for all Israel, for its elders, and for its heads, and for its judges, and for its authorities, and saith unto them, `I have become old; I have entered into days;
Update Bible Version
that Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders and for their heads, and for their judges and for their officers, and said to them, I am old and well stricken in years:
Webster's Bible Translation
And Joshua called for all Israel, [and] for their elders, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers, and said to them, I am old [and] advanced in age:
World English Bible
that Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders and for their heads, and for their judges and for their officers, and said to them, I am old and well stricken in years:
New King James Version
And Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers, and said to them: "I am old, advanced in age.
New Living Translation
called together all the elders, leaders, judges, and officers of Israel. He said to them, "I am now a very old man.
New Life Bible
Joshua called all Israel, their leaders, their heads, and the men chosen among them who judge between what is right or wrong. Then he said to them, "I am old and have lived many years.
New Revised Standard
Joshua summoned all Israel, their elders and heads, their judges and officers, and said to them, "I am now old and well advanced in years;
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
that Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers, - and said unto them, I, am old, advanced in days;
Douay-Rheims Bible
Josue called for all Israel, and for the elders, and for the princes, and for the judges, and for the masters, and said to them: I am old, and far advanced in years,
Revised Standard Version
Joshua summoned all Israel, their elders and heads, their judges and officers, and said to them, "I am now old and well advanced in years;
New American Standard Bible (1995)
that Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders and their heads and their judges and their officers, and said to them, "I am old, advanced in years.

Contextual Overview

1 The Lord let Israel live in peace with its neighbors for a long time, and Joshua lived to a ripe old age. 2 One day he called a meeting of the leaders of the tribes of Israel, including the old men, the judges, and the officials. Then he told them: I am now very old. 3 You have seen how the Lord your God fought for you and helped you defeat the nations who lived in this land. 4There are still some nations left, but the Lord has promised you their land. So when you attack them, he will make them run away. I have already divided their land among your tribes, as I did with the land of the nations I defeated between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. 6 Be sure that you carefully obey everything written in The Book of the Law of Moses and do exactly what it says. 7 Don't have anything to do with the nations that live around you. Don't worship their gods or pray to their idols or make promises in the names of their gods. 8 Be as faithful to the Lord as you have always been. 9 When you attacked powerful nations, the Lord made them run away, and no one has ever been able to stand up to you. 10 Any one of you can defeat a thousand enemy soldiers, because the Lord God fights for you, just as he promised.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

all Israel: Joshua 24:1, Deuteronomy 31:28, 1 Chronicles 28:1, Acts 20:17-35

and for their elders: Or, "even for their elders," etc.; for it is probably that Joshua gave the following charge only to the elders, judges, etc., to communicate to the people.

Reciprocal: Numbers 25:4 - all the heads Joshua 8:33 - all Israel Joshua 13:1 - Joshua 1 Kings 1:1 - and stricken in years 1 Kings 8:1 - assembled 1 Chronicles 23:2 - he gathered

Cross-References

Genesis 13:18
Abram took down his tents and went to live near the sacred trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar in honor of the Lord .
Genesis 23:14
"But sir," the man replied, "the property is worth only four hundred pieces of silver. Why should we haggle over such a small amount? Take the land. It's yours."
Genesis 23:16
Abraham accepted Ephron's offer and paid him the four hundred pieces of silver in front of everyone at the city gate. That's how Abraham got Ephron's property east of Hebron, which included the field with all of its trees, as well as Machpelah Cave at the end of the field.
Genesis 23:19
So Abraham buried his wife Sarah in Machpelah Cave that was in the field
Genesis 27:41
Esau hated his brother Jacob because he had stolen the blessing that was supposed to be his. So he said to himself, "Just as soon as my father dies, I'll kill Jacob."
Genesis 50:10
After crossing the Jordan River and reaching Atad's threshing place, Joseph had everyone mourn and weep seven days for his father.
Numbers 13:22
As they went through the Southern Desert, they came to the town of Hebron, which was seven years older than the Egyptian town of Zoan. In Hebron, they saw the three Anakim clans of Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai.
Numbers 20:29
the people knew that Aaron had died, and they mourned his death for thirty days.
Deuteronomy 34:8
The people of Israel stayed in the lowlands of Moab, where they mourned and grieved thirty days for Moses, as was their custom.
Joshua 10:39
They captured the town, and its nearby villages. Then they destroyed Debir and killed its king, together with everyone else, just as they had done with Hebron and Libnah.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Joshua called for all Israel,.... Summoned them together, whether at Timnathserah, his own city, he being old and infirm, and not able to go elsewhere; or whether at Shechem, where it is plain they were afterwards convened, Joshua 24:1, or whether rather at Shiloh, where the tabernacle was, is not certain; and by "all Israel" cannot be meant the whole body of the people, unless it can be thought to be at one of the feasts, when all the males in Israel appeared before the Lord; though this seems to be not a stated convocation, but occasionally made, and to be understood of the representatives of the people called together, as explained in the following clause:

[and] for their elders, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers; the first and is supplied, and another word or words may be supplied, as "even", or "that is", or the like, and so explanative of all Israel, namely, "their elders", both in age and office, especially the latter, the seventy elders, or who composed what in later times was called the great sanhedrim; and the "heads" of their tribes, the chief princes of every tribe; and their "judges" in their several cities, who heard and tried causes, and administered justice and judgment to the people; and their "officers", who attended on them to execute the judgment they pronounced:

and said unto them, I am old [and] stricken in age; which he observes as a reason of his calling them together to give them some advice and instructions before his death, and in order to command greater reverence of him, and respect to him, and to excite attention to what he had to say to them.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

All Israel, and for their elders - Omit “and,” which is not in the Hebrew. The meaning is that Joshua summoned to him all Israel as represented by its elders, etc. Deuteronomy 1:15. This gathering probably took place at the tabernacle at Shiloh.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Joshua 23:2. Joshua called for all Israel — There are four degrees of civil distinction mentioned here:

1. זקנים zekenim, the elders or senate, the PRINCES of the tribes.

2. ראשים rashim or rashey aboth, the CHIEFS or HEADS of families.

3. שפטים shophetim, the JUDGES who interpreted and decided according to the law.

4. שטרים shoterim, the OFFICERS, serjeants, c., who executed the decisions of the judges.

Whether this assembly was held at Timnath-serah, where Joshua lived, or at Shiloh, where the ark was, or at Shechem, as in Joshua 24:1, we cannot tell. Some think that the meaning here, and that mentioned in Joshua 24:1, were the same, and if so, Shechem was the place of assembling but it is more likely that the two chapters treat of two distinct assemblies, whether held at the same place or not.


 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile