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.
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.