Joshua 24:5

I sent Moses also and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them: and afterward I brought you out.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

24:1-14 We must never think our work for God done, till our life is done. If he lengthen out our days beyond what we expected, like those of Joshua, it is because he has some further service for us to do. He who aims at the same mind which was in Christ Jesus, will glory in bearing the last testimony to his Saviour's goodness, and in telling to all around, the obligations with which the unmerited goodness of God has bound him. The assembly came together in a solemn religious manner. Joshua spake to them in God's name, and as from him. His sermon consists of doctrine and application. The doctrinal part is a history of the great things God had done for his people, and for their fathers before them. The application of this history of God's mercies to them, is an exhortation to fear and serve God, in gratitude for his favour, and that it might be continued.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The other side of the flood - Better "On the other side of the river," i. e. the Euphrates. See the marginal reference.

They served other gods - Possibly the "images," or teraphim, which we find their ancestor Laban calling "his gods" (see the marginal reference); and of which it would seem that there were, as Joshua spoke, some secret devotees among the people Joshua 24:14, Joshua 24:25. It is not stated that Abraham himself was an idolater, though his fathers were. Jewish tradition asserts that Abraham while in Ur of the Chaldees was persecuted for his abhorrence of idolatry, and hence, was called away by God from his native land. The reference in the text to the original state of those who were the forefathers of the nation, is made to show that they were no better than others: God chose them not for their excellences but of His own mere motion.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

4. I gave unto Esau mount Seir—(See on [206]Ge 36:8). In order that he might be no obstacle to Jacob and his posterity being the exclusive heirs of Canaan.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

According to that which I did, i.e. in such manner, and with such plagues as I inflicted, and are recorded.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

I sent Moses also and Aaron,.... To demand Israel's dismission of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and to be the deliverers of them:

and I plagued Egypt according to that which I did amongst them; inflicting ten plagues upon them for refusing to let Israel go:

and afterwards I brought you out; that is, out of Egypt, with an high hand, and outstretched arm.

Geneva Study Bible

I sent Moses also and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them: and afterward I brought you out.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

5. I sent Moses also and Aaron] Comp. Exodus 3:10. This is the second proof of the Divine favour, the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt. The chief incidents of this great event are succinctly alluded to; (1) the mission of Moses and Aaron; (2) the infliction of the plagues upon Egypt; (3) the destruction of the Egyptians in the Red Sea.

I plagued Egypt] See Exodus 7-12. “Y smoot Egipt with many signes and wondris,” Wyclif. (1) The turning the water into blood; (2) frogs; (3) lice, or gnats; (4) flies; (5) murrain; (6) boils and blains; (7) thunder, lightning, and hail; (8) locusts; (9) darkness; (10) slaying of the firstborn.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 5. - And I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them. This verse implies that the Israelites possessed some authentic record which rendered it unnecessary to enter into detail. Add to this the fact that this speech is ascribed to Joshua, and that the historian, as we have seen, had access to authentic sources of information, and we cannot avoid the conclusion that the hypothesis of the existence of the written law of Moses at the time of the death of Joshua has a very high degree of probability. The word rendered "plagued" is literally smote, but usually with the idea of a visitation from God. And afterward I brought you out. The absence of any mention of the plagues here is noteworthy. It cannot be accounted for on the supposition that our author was ignorant of them, for we have ample proof that the Book of Joshua was compiled subsequently to the Pentateuch. This is demonstrated by the quotations, too numerous to specify here, which have been noticed in their place. We can only, therefore, regard the omission made simply for the sake of brevity, and because they were so well known to all, as a sign of that tendency, noticed under ver. 1, to abstain from that amplification of marvels common to all mythical histories. Had Joshua desired to indulge a poetic imagination, an admirable opportunity was here afforded him. Joshua 24:5

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Of this also he merely mentions the leading points, viz., first of all, the sending of Moses and Aaron (Exodus 3:10., Joshua 4:14.), and then the plagues inflicted upon Egypt. "I smote Egypt," i.e., both land and people. נגף is used in Exodus 8:2 and Exodus 12:23, Exodus 12:27, in connection with the plague of frogs and the slaying of the first-born in Egypt. The words which follow, "according to that which I did among them, and afterward I brought you out," point back to Exodus 3:20, and show that the Lord had fulfilled the promise given to Moses at his call. He then refers (Joshua 24:6, Joshua 24:7) to the miraculous deliverance of the Israelites, as they came out of Egypt, from Pharaoh who pursued them with his army, giving especial prominence to the crying of the Israelites to the Lord in their distress (Exodus 14:10), and the relief of that distress by the angel of the Lord (Exodus 14:19-20). And lastly, he notices their dwelling in the wilderness "many days," i.e., forty years (Numbers 14:33).