Joshua 24:3Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

The Septuagint states: But I took your father Abraham from beyond the river and led him throughout the land. In the Hebrew, this can be literally interpreted as ‘I brought him into the land of Canaan.’ It is indeed remarkable that the translators among the seventy chose to use ‘the whole land’ rather than ‘the land of Canaan’ here, unless they perceived the prophecy from a broader perspective, as they recognized the already fulfilled historical promise of the Lord. It was clearly foretold what was to transpire in Christ and the Church, when the genuine offspring of Abraham would be recognized not in those born of the flesh, but in those born of the promise.

To demonstrate that these statements are divinely inspired, Jesus remarked, ‘This is what the Lord God of Israel says,’ referencing Farrah, the ancestor of Abraham and Nahor. He included Nahor due to his maternal lineage, as Rebekah, Leah, and Rachel trace their heritage back to him. Additionally, he reveals that Farrah worshipped other deities, which led the Almighty God to set Abraham apart and bring him to the land of Canaan.