Bible Strands
Joshua 24:21
“No!” replied the people. “We will serve the LORD!”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The people address Joshua directly at the close of his covenant speech, rejecting his conditional offer to choose foreign gods. They speak collectively to declare exclusive loyalty to Yahweh.
The words — לֹא (lo') renders as "no" or "certainly not," and כִּי (ki) operates as an emphatic particle introducing the affirmation. The phrasing structurally closes the previous debate with an unqualified rejection of alternatives.
The thread — This declaration parallels Exodus 19:8, where Israel verbally commits to obey divine commands, while standing in contrast to Exodus 20:19 and Deuteronomy 5:27, where the crowd asks Moses to relay God's words rather than endure direct divine speech.
Why it lands — The verse records a definitive verbal boundary between exclusive Yahweh-worship and syncretism. Readers must evaluate whether their stated commitments function as binding choices or merely temporary preferences.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the Lord.
Cross-references
- Exodus 19:8 And all the people answered together, “We will do everything that the LORD has spoken.” So Moses brought their words back to the LORD.
- Exodus 20:19 “Speak to us yourself and we will listen,” they said to Moses. “But do not let God speak to us, or we will die.”
- Deuteronomy 5:27 Go near and listen to all that the LORD our God says. Then you can tell us everything the LORD our God tells you; we will listen and obey.”
- Isaiah 44:5 One will say, ‘I belong to the LORD,’ another will call himself by the name of Jacob, and still another will write on his hand, ‘The LORD’s,’ and will take the name of Israel.”
- Exodus 24:3 When Moses came and told the people all the words and ordinances of the LORD, they all responded with one voice: “All the words that the LORD has spoken, we will do.”
- Exodus 24:7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people, who replied, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.”
- Deuteronomy 26:17 Today you have proclaimed that the LORD is your God and that you will walk in His ways, keep His statutes and commandments and ordinances, and listen to His voice.