The Meaning of Joshua 24:25 Explained

Joshua 24:25

KJV: So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.

YLT: And Joshua maketh a covenant with the people on that day, and layeth on it a statute and an ordinance, in Shechem.

Darby: So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.

ASV: So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

So Joshua  made  a covenant  with the people  that day,  and set  them a statute  and an ordinance  in Shechem. 

What does Joshua 24:25 Mean?

Context Summary

Joshua 24:16-33 - Joshua's Last Service To His People
Joshua did well to discourage their proud vauntings, and to show that the people could not in their own might realize God's ideal, Psalms 105:4. The book of Judges is a bitter commentary on these lofty words.
What the stone of witness was to Israel, the ordinances of the Lord's Supper and Baptism are to the Church and to the world. The walls of our private chambers have listened to our prayers and tears. God help us to be true to them!
Joshua and the elders, while they lived, were a steadying influence to Israel. Such was the influence of the Apostles on the early Church. Let us learn the value of character. Compare Joshua 24:32 with Genesis 50:25 and Exodus 13:19. Take heart! The fulfillment of God's promise may tarry, but His word is sure as the morning light, Hosea 6:1-4.
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Chapter Summary: Joshua 24

1  Joshua assembles the tribes at Shechem
2  A brief history of God's benefits from Terah
14  He renews the covenant between them and God
26  A stone the witness of the covenant
29  Joshua's age, death, and burial
32  Joseph's bones are buried
33  Eleazar dies

What do the individual words in Joshua 24:25 mean?

So made Joshua a covenant with the people day that and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem
וַיִּכְרֹ֨ת יְהוֹשֻׁ֧עַ בְּרִ֛ית לָעָ֖ם בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֑וּא וַיָּ֥שֶׂם ל֛וֹ חֹ֥ק וּמִשְׁפָּ֖ט בִּשְׁכֶֽם

וַיִּכְרֹ֨ת  So  made 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: כָּרַת  
Sense: to cut, cut off, cut down, cut off a body part, cut out, eliminate, kill, cut a covenant.
יְהוֹשֻׁ֧עַ  Joshua 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יְהֹושֻׁעַ  
Sense: son of Nun of the tribe of Ephraim and successor to Moses as the leader of the children of Israel; led the conquest of Canaan.
בְּרִ֛ית  a  covenant 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: בְּרִית  
Sense: covenant, alliance, pledge.
לָעָ֖ם  with  the  people 
Parse: Preposition-l, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: עַם 
Sense: nation, people.
בַּיּ֣וֹם  day 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: יׄום 
Sense: day, time, year.
הַה֑וּא  that 
Parse: Article, Pronoun, third person masculine singular
Root: הוּא 
Sense: he, she, it.
וַיָּ֥שֶׂם  and  made 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: שׂוּמָה 
Sense: to put, place, set, appoint, make.
ל֛וֹ  for  them 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine singular
חֹ֥ק  a  statute 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: חֹק  
Sense: statute, ordinance, limit, something prescribed, due.
וּמִשְׁפָּ֖ט  and  an  ordinance 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular
Root: מִשְׁפָּט  
Sense: judgment, justice, ordinance.
בִּשְׁכֶֽם  in  Shechem 
Parse: Preposition-b, Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: שְׁכֶם 
Sense: son of Hamor, the chieftain of the Hivites at Shechem at the time of Jacob’s arrival.