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Joshua 24 · a question people ask

Did Abraham's family worship other gods?

In the text

Joshua gives the LORD's words: "Your fathers lived of old time beyond the River, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor. They served other gods" (24:2). Genesis names Terah only in its eleventh chapter (Genesis 11:24-32) and never says this; Joshua 24:2 is where the Bible says it. The verse names Terah; it doesn't name Abraham as one who served those gods, and Genesis doesn't say he did. It says what the LORD did: "I took your father Abraham from beyond the River" (24:3). In Genesis the LORD told Abram, "Leave your country, and your relatives, and your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you" (Genesis 12:1). Joshua then tells Israel, "Put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River" (24:14).

The verses

“Joshua said to all the people, “The LORD, the God of Israel, says, ‘Your fathers lived of old time beyond the River, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor. They served other gods. I took your father Abraham from beyond the River, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his offspring, and gave him Isaac.”
Joshua 24:2-3 · World English Bible
““Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth. Put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, in Egypt; and serve the LORD.”
Joshua 24:14 · World English Bible
“Now the LORD said to Abram, “Leave your country, and your relatives, and your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you.”
Genesis 12:1 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Joshua 24

Joshua 24: Choose today whom you will serve

Joshua's "as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD" (24:15) ends a sentence that first offers a different choice: if serving the LORD seems evil, choose which other gods. Abraham's own father "served other gods" (24:2), and the book's last stone is the only one it calls a witness, because "it has heard all the LORD’s words" (24:27).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions