Глава 24

1. Meeting in Shechem-Silom. 2–14. God's mercy to Abraham and his descendants. 15–24. A question for the people about the choice of religion and its decision. 25–28. Renewal of the Covenant with the Lord and its perpetuation. 29–33. The death of Joshua and the high priest Eleazar. 34–36. Addition to the text. Joshua 24:1. And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called the elders of Israel, and their rulers, and their judges, and their overseers, and they appeared before [the Lord] God. The second exhortation was also delivered by Joshua before the national assembly, which was animated by the thought of God and His presence: “they appeared before... God.” A national assembly was convened in Shechem according to the current Hebrew text, many later Greek copies and publications based on them (for example, the Complutensian Polyglot and the Aldinian Bible), with which the Slavic Bible agrees, as well as according to the translation of Blessed Jerome. On the contrary, in the ancient Vatican, Alexandrian and some later copies of the LXX translation, Shiloh is read instead of Shechem. The first of these readings can be called currently generally accepted, including our Russian literature 232. To prove its correctness, the particularly important significance of Shechem is pointed out as a holy city due to religious memories of the patriarchs, Abraham (Gen. 12:7) and Jacob (Gen. 33:19–20, 35:4) and according to the memory of a recent religious event, the location of which was the mountains located near Shechem, designated for this purpose by Moses himself (Josh. 8:30–35; Deut.11:29–30,27:4–26). When explaining the election of Shechem for the people's assembly under Joshua, however, an important difficulty is encountered, represented by the words of Joshua 24:26: “And he took a large stone and laid it there under the oak tree, which is near the sanctuary of the Lord” (according to the Hebrew text “bemikdash Jehovah”). “Sanctuary” was, as can be seen from Ex. 25:8, Lev. 12:4, etc., one of the names of the Tabernacle of Meeting. If Shechem was a place of public assembly, then the existence in it of the Tabernacle of the Lord, which was erected in Shiloh (Joshua 18:1), arouses bewilderment. This bewilderment for those who read the present chapter of the book of Joshua from the Slavic or Russian translation is intensified by the fact that Joshua 24:25 speaks of concluding a Covenant with the people “in Shechem, [before the Tabernacle of the Lord God of Israel].” The existence of the Tabernacle of the Lord in Shechem, clearly indicated in both verses in our domestic literature, is explained by the fact that at the time of the national assembly “the Ark of the Covenant was transferred from Shiloh to Shechem, where a temporary Tabernacle or tent was built near the oak grove of Moreh,” or that “the Tabernacle was brought from Shiloh 233. But there are no indications of the transfer of the Tabernacle or its greatest shrine to Shechem in the biblical text, as a result of which this explanation turns out to be nothing more than an assumption, devoid of any basis, why Western European commentators in modern times have abandoned it. The question of the “sanctuary of the Lord” (Josh. 24:26) or the Tabernacle in Shechem, if this particular city was the place of the people’s meeting during the time of Joshua, thus remains without proper resolution. This position of this question prompts us to turn to those above-mentioned lists of the LXX translation, according to which in Joshua 24:1,25 instead of “in Shechem” it reads “in Shiloh.” The originality of 234 of the last reading is evident from the fact that it is in the oldest copies of the LXX translation, that after the transfer of the Tabernacle of Meeting from Gilgal to Shiloh, the latter served more than once as a place of public meetings (Joshua 18:1,19:51,21:2,22:12), that the circumstances due to which Shechem was chosen for this are not indicated in the book of Joshua, and that, finally, with this reading, bewilderment is automatically eliminated, caused by what was said in Joshua 24:25–26 (regarding the meaning of the latter, see below). It is likely that in the ancient, pre-Ostrog Slavic translation, which follows the text of LXX according to its oldest copies, especially according to Alexandria, it read “in Shiloh” 235. Joshua 24:2. And Jesus said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: “Your fathers lived beyond the river of old, Terah the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods. The service of Abraham's ancestors to “other gods”, i.e. pagan, serves as an explanation and addition to what was said in Gen. 31:19–34,35:4. Joshua 24:4. He gave Jacob and Esau to Isaac. I gave Mount Seir to Esau as an inheritance; Jacob and his sons went over to Egypt [and there they became a great, strong and numerous people, and the Egyptians began to oppress them]. The words “[and they became a great people there]” belong to the Greco-Slavic translation; they are absent in the Hebrew text, but very similar ones are read in Deut. 26: 5–6. If these words were not in the original text, Joshua 24:5 would have no direct connection with the previous one. Joshua 24:9. Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, rose up and went to war against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you; “He went to war against Israel”, in LXX: (παρετάξατο τῷ Ισραηλ, slav. “take up arms against Israel”), i.e. was preparing for war with Israel (cf. Num. 22:6, Judg. 11:25), one of the means for which was the call of Balaam. Joshua 24:12. I sent hornets before you, which drove them away from you, the two kings of the Amorites; It was not done with your sword or with your bow. “Hornets” served as the same means of defeating the Canaanites during the Israelites’ struggle with them for the land of Canaan, just like those reptiles and insects with which the Lord struck Egypt (Deut. 7:18–20). In the book. Wisdom (Wis. 12:8) they are called “the forerunners of the army of the Lord,” sent so that they “little by little destroy” the Canaanites. In Palestine, hornets are found in large numbers and are distinguished by their particular size 236 . Joshua 24:14. So, fear the Lord and serve Him with purity and sincerity; put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the river and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. The exhortation “put away the gods” makes it clear that among the Israelites contemporary with Joshua there were those who had a tendency towards paganism, manifested in the fact that they combined the veneration of other gods with the worship of the Lord; the existence of images of the latter among the Israelites of that time is less indicated further in Joshua 24:23 with the words “put away the foreign gods 237 that are among you.” This inclination of a certain part of the Israeli people towards the pagan cult was evidently understood in the words of the ambassadors of the West Jordanian tribes “is the iniquity of Pehar not enough for us, from which we have not been cleansed to this day” (Joshua 22:17). In his first admonition, Joshua did not touch upon this dark side in the life of the then Israeli people, because it did not appear clearly and was hidden by another prevailing mood, which was expressed in devotion to the Lord (Joshua 23:8). Joshua 24:15. If it does not please you to serve the Lord, then choose for yourself now whom to serve, whether the gods that your fathers served who were beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live; but I and my house will serve the Lord, [for He is holy]. Since the cleansing of the people's service to the Lord from pagan superstitions could not be achieved by external measures, therefore Joshua, in order to achieve this goal, turns to the people's conscience, inviting it to decide the question of whom the people want to serve, whether the Lord or other gods, and the very formulation of the question eliminates the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe compatibility of both services. In making this proposal to the people, the Israeli leader acts in the same way as Moses (Deut. 30:15,19) and subsequently Samuel (1 Sam. 7:3). He limits his influence on the people’s decision to the action of his example only: “but I and my house will serve the Lord.” The words “[for He is holy]” are read only in the copies of the LXX translation; according to the Hebrew text, they are spoken by Joshua further, in Joshua 24:23. Joshua 24:18. The Lord drove out from us all the nations and the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we will serve the Lord, for He is our God. “Therefore we also will serve the Lord,” i.e. like Joshua and his House (Joshua 24:15). Joshua 24:19. Jesus said to the people: You will not be able to serve the Lord [God], for He is a holy God, a jealous God, who will not tolerate your iniquity and your sins. Joshua responds to the people’s expressed readiness to remain faithful to the Lord by pointing out the impossibility for him to “serve the Lord” the way he should serve Him, i.e. “in purity and sincerity” (Joshua 24:14), unless, of course, the people reject other gods. And the reason for this impossibility of performing a service pleasing to the Lord is indicated in the fact that “He is a Holy God” or “All-Holy” (according to the Hebrew text, the word “holy” is placed here in the plural “Elohim Kedoshim” to express the fullness of holiness that belongs to the Lord), “He is a jealous God, He will not tolerate your iniquity and your sin.” As possessing the highest moral purity, which lies in the concept of holiness, the Lord will not tolerate unclean, sinful service to Him, performed in violation of His commandment about disrespecting other gods (Ex. 19: 3-5), as a jealous God, the Lord will not tolerate His greatness being diminished through serving Him along with false gods. The impossibility of the people to perform service pleasing to the Lord, under the specified condition, is revealed and proven in order, of course, to bring them to the consciousness of the need and complete determination to “reject foreign gods and turn their hearts entirely to the Lord God of Israel alone” (Joshua 24:23). Joshua 24:25. And Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and gave them statutes and laws in Shechem [before the tabernacle of the Lord God of Israel]. “And he gave him decrees and law” (according to the Hebrew text “chok umishpat”), i.e. outlined the responsibilities that the people assumed through entering into a covenant with God, and the rights to receive the benefits promised to the executors of the divine commandments (Ex. 15:25, where the same expressions are used). For Shechem and the Tabernacle, see Joshua 24:1. Joshua 24:26. And Jesus wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a large stone and laid it there under the oak tree, which was near the sanctuary of the Lord. “And Jesus wrote these words,” i.e. what he spoke to the people in the name of God and what the people answered him, “standing before God in the book of the law of God” (Joshua 24:1–2), which means “the book of the law,” which Moses gave to the priests and elders (Deut. 31:9,24–26). To perpetuate the people’s decision and the renewal of the Covenant, Joshua “took a large stone and placed it 238 there under the oak tree 239, which is near the sanctuary 240 of the Lord.” This is the meaning of the last four words in the current Hebrew text. In the LXX translation 241 they correspond to “before the Lord” 242. This is how these words are literally translated in the pre-Ostrog translation “before the Lord” 243. According to this original Greek-Slavic translation, the biblical writer says in this place that a large stone was placed by Joshua “under the oak tree before the Lord,” and according to the current Hebrew text, “under the oak tree that is near the sanctuary of the Lord” or “in the sanctuary of the Lord.” Which of these two readings, represented by the main monuments of the biblical text, has an advantage on its side is evident from the fact that, as far as is known, no proper explanation has yet been given for the name “sanctuary of the Lord” read here in the current Hebrew text. The usual explanation among Western commentators 244 in the meaning of a “sacred place” near Shechem, commemorated by the construction of altars to the Lord on it in patriarchal times (see explanation on Joshua 24:1) is implausible because in no other place in the Bible is this place called a “sanctuary” or “sacred,” and some of the evidence given in support of this meaning even arouses bewilderment 245 . With the above assumption that the Tabernacle of the Lord was located in Shechem during the national meeting, the mention of the “sanctuary” near which the monument was placed becomes more understandable, but, in addition to the unfoundedness of the assumption itself, what especially speaks against the understanding of the “sanctuary” in the sense of the “Tabernacle of the Lord” is that in this case the Tabernacle is assigned a place that does not agree with the law, it turns out to be placed near an oak tree or terebinth, against which the words are directed Deuteronomy (Deut. 16:21) “Thou shalt not plant groves of any trees at the altar of the Lord God.” The name “sanctuary of the Lord”, which is thus incapable of a satisfactory explanation, read in this place according to the current Hebrew text, invites one to doubt the fidelity of the latter and to recognize the reading conveyed in the LXX translation as the original one. The meaning of the words of the biblical text according to this translation “and put it (i.e. big stone) there before the Lord” is that Joshua erected this monument in the name of the Lord, by inspiring faith in God and devotion to Him, and not to perpetuate his name. Nav.24:30. After this Jesus the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being one hundred and ten years old. Joshua did not leave himself a successor to govern the people because, of course, he considered the existing governing bodies, such as the elders and the High Priest, sufficient for this, given the then state of the people. For the burial place of Joshua and the addition to the biblical text made here by Greek translators, see Joshua 19:50,21:42. Joshua 24:31. And they buried him at the border of his inheritance in Timnath-sarai, which is on Mount Ephraim, north of Mount Gaasha. What is said here serves to confirm that the good mood indicated by Joshua (Joshua 23:8) and expressed by the people (Joshua 24:16-17,21) was predominant in him, as long as it found support for itself in the elders, “who have seen all the works of the Lord.” Joshua 24:32. And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel carried out of Egypt, were buried in Shechem, in a portion of the field which Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for a hundred coins, and which became an inheritance for the sons of Joseph. The burial of Joseph's bones taken out of Egypt (Ex. 13:19) was probably carried out shortly after the settlement of the tribe of Ephraim in Shechem, and was assigned to the end of the book so that the transmission of this information would not disrupt the sequential presentation of other events. The tomb of righteous Joseph (Kabr Yusuf), located in the Shechem Valley, 20 minutes from the source of Jacob (Bir Yaqub), is still revered not only by Jews and Christians, but by Samaritans and Muslims. Joshua 24:33. [After this] Eleazar the son of Aaron [the high priest] also died, and they buried him on the hill of Phinehas his son, which was given to him on Mount Ephraim. Eleazar, son of Aaron, in the LXX called ἀρχιερεὺς - “[high priest]”, was buried, in the Hebrew text, in “Giveat Pinchas” - (literally) “on the hill of Phinehas”, in the LXX (according to the Alexandrian list) ἐν Γαβααθ Φινεες - “Gabaath of Phineas”, according to the Slavic Bible, the place of this city is currently recognized as the village of Jibia on the Shechem road, southwest of Shiloh. – According to the Hebrew text and the translation of Blessed Jerome, the book of Joshua ends with Joshua 24:33. Joshua 24:34. [That day the children of Israel took the Ark of God and carried it with them, and Phinehas was priest in the place of his father Eleazar until he died and was buried in his city of Gibeath. Joshua 24:35. And the children of Israel went every one to his own place and to his own city. Joshua 24:36. And the children of Israel began to serve Ashtoreth and Ashtaroth and the gods of the surrounding nations; and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Eglon king of Moab, and he possessed them eighteen years]. The information presented here about what the Israelites did after the death of the high priest Eleazar and his son Phinehas is reported only in the Greek copies of the LXX translation and, in accordance with them, in the ancient and current Slavic translation. They are borrowed mostly from the book of Judges; so the words “taking the Ark of God, they carried with them” or, according to Lucian and some other lists: ἐν Ἰσραηλ - “in Israel, and Phinehas...” are similar to what was said in Judges 20:27–28, Joshua 24:35 is similar to Judges 2:6, Joshua 24:36 with Judges 2:13,3:7,14. In addition to the teaching aids of Archpriest M. Kheraskov and P. Vladimirsky, it is recognized as “correct” in op. V. K. Lebedeva, p. 348. See the tutorials above. Remaining faithful to the current Hebrew text, Western commentators recognize the word “to Shechem” as, of course, the original one, and what is read in the Greek copies “to Shiloh” is a change made by the Greek translators out of dislike for the Samaritan city, and they refer to Sir.50:28: “the foolish people living in Sikim.” But did the Jewish scribes, who left the word “to Shechem” unchanged in the text, have less dislike for the Samaritans than the Greek translators who put “Shilom” instead of “Shechem”? From the works. This is not visible to V.K. Lebedev, however. Tristram. The natural history of the Bible, 1880, p. 322. Prof.'s opinion N. Shchegoleva (“The Calling of Abraham and the Church-Historical Significance of this Event,” 1873, p. 100 ff.) that the teraphim are called “alien gods” here cannot be recognized as proven in view of what was said in Joshua 24 about the gods of the Amorites, who can also be included in the concept of alien gods. In Hebrew “vayekimega”, in LXX ἔστησεν – slav. "put" . In LXX τερέμινθον ( Β ), τερέβινθον ( Α ) – “terebinth”, from which it is clear that instead of “gaalla” LXX-t they read “gaela”. In the Hebrew text “bemikdash” – (literally) “in the sanctuary”, according to the translation of Blessed Jerome: in sanctuano Domini. According to the Vatican, Alexandria, Lucian and some other copies, Nav. 24 ends with the words ἀπέναντι Κυρίου - “before the Lord.” This original reading of the LXX translation was supplemented in Origen's Hexaplah by the introduction before ἀπέναντι of the term τῆς, referring to the preceding δρυὸς, as translated in Hebrew "gaalla" by Achila and Theodotion ὑποκάτω τῆς δρυὸς (Field). This introduced τῆς was changed into τὴν in those Greek copies in which instead of δρυὸς it is read τερέβινθον, this, one must think, is how the reading ὑπὸ τὴν τερέβινθον was formed τὴν ἀπέναντι Κυρίου, which is, for example, in the Moscow Greek Bible and with which the current Slavic translation “under Terebinth, which is before the Lord” is consistent. The given original text of the LXX translation ἀπέναντι Κυρίου shows that the Greek translators did not read the Hebrew word “asher” (“which”) in their former Hebrew text, but instead of “bemikdash” - “sanctuary” they read another Hebrew word corresponding to the one they used ἀπέναντι for example, “neged”, translated through ἀπενάντι in Joshua 3:16, or – “lifne”, translated through ἔναντι in Joshua 18:6. V. K. Lebedev, 369. Additional words like those that precede the words before the Lord were included in the Slavic translation by the Ostrog interrogators. See the above comments by Keil, Dillmann, Oettli. Proving the existence of a sacred place in Shechem, some of the commentators (Keil. Iosua, 178, 184) point out that the patriarch Jacob “under an oak tree near Shechem ... buried ... foreign ... gods” (Gen. 35: 4), as if the latter could tell the place anything other than its desecration. Also inappropriate is the reference to the fact that “at Shechem on Mount Gerizim and Ebal" the erection of the law took place in the land of Canaan (Keil. Ibid., or Interpretation of Archpriest Vladimir). The biblical text does not indicate that this event took place at the place where the patriarchs built altars to the Lord. Mount Ebal served as the place for the altar and the placing of the stones on which the law was written, and the altar of the patriarch Jacob was erected "in the field" ( Gen. 33:19–20) Places near Shechem associated with the names of the patriarchs Jacob and Joseph are indicated by local tradition in the Valley of Shechem (Holy Land, II, 337, 339, 340, 346, 347–348, 351–352). valley, in the plain, near the fountain of Jacob." Bible places, 197. You might be interested in: