Joshua 24:2 (DRB)

Passage

And he spoke thus to the people: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: Your fathers dwelt of old on the other side of the river, Thare the father of Abraham, and Nachor: and they served strange gods.

Nearby Context

Joshua 24:1 And Joshua gathered together all the tribes of Israel in Sichem, and called for the ancients, and the princes and the judges, and the masters: and they stood in the sight of the Lord:

Joshua 24:2 And he spoke thus to the people: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: Your fathers dwelt of old on the other side of the river, Thare the father of Abraham, and Nachor: and they served strange gods.

Joshua 24:3 And I took your father Abraham from the borders of Mesopotamia: and brought him into the land of Chanaan: and I multiplied his seed,

Joshua 24:4 And gave him Isaac: and to him again I gave Jacob and Esau. And I gave to Esau mount Seir for his possession: but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "spoke", "thus", "people", "saith", "lord", "israel", and "fathers". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "spoke" and "thus", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 1's "And Joshua gathered together all the tribes..." into verse 3's "And I took your father Abraham from...", so "spoke" and "thus" belong inside that flow. In Joshua context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "spoke" and "thus" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.